Page 16 of Eternal Hoptimist

For the next few minutes, he told me about the brewery's history. I admired that he’d made his dream come true.Yup. Definitely have a competency kink.As far as potential kinks went, that wasn’t so bad.

The server brought our drinks. They were a deep-rose color, with several blossoms floating on top. I assumed they were edible since no one warned me otherwise.Ethan watched me as I took a drink. The first taste I noticed was similar to the hibiscus tea my mom enjoyed but with a hint of rose. A bite of gin followed, with a warmth from the cardamom rounding it out. I’d had nothing like it before.

“This is amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it.” His chest puffed as he leaned back in his chair.

I shifted in my seat as my mind teased me with X-rated ways to bring about that level of satisfaction in him. We sipped quietly for a moment while I tried to get myself under control. It was ridiculous how I responded to him. “You mentioned you have an idea?”

Ethan’s easy demeanor shifted into something more nervous. “I’ve got a great-aunt back in Kansas who owns land that’s been in my late great-uncle’s family for several generations. There’s a developer who wants to build a big housing development and retail monstrosity. She doesn’t want to sell, but she’s the only one who hasn’t.” I must’ve made a face because he said, “Exactly.”

“I’m sorry that’s happening to her.” I rarely dealt with buying land from homeowners, but I’d heard horror stories from colleagues.

“I want to propose a trade. Your time for my time.”

What do I need his time for?“I’m not following.”

“Sorry. I’m not going about this right.” He ran his hand through his hair.

I exuded patience while enjoying another sip of the drink, though my mind raced while trying to sort out what he was getting at. I’d outwaited many in my career.

“I’m hoping you can advise me on how I could help Rosie. I don’t know what to do, who to talk to, what to research or how to help her, but I’m the only one willing to help her try to keep the place she loves so much.” He sounded dejected as he masterfully played my heartstrings.“In exchange, you can tell your coworkers you have a boyfriend.” He made a voilà gesture.

My eyebrows shot up.

He hurriedly continued, “You mentioned you were being considered for a promotion, and you’d be considered more favorably if you were in a relationship. If you need me to show my face and play boyfriend, I could do that.”

“Like attend work events?”

He excitedly pointed at me. “Yes! I know you joked that you’d hired a date before, but I think we could pull this off. We’ve got chemistry.” Ethan’s gaze dropped to my lips.

I licked them. “We do.”

“You’ve got the knowledge I need, and I can be who you need. I clean up nicely and can hold my own among snooty people.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “What makes you think the people I work with are snooty?”

“Aside from your assistant, the fact that you’re worried about your single status stopping your promotion for one.”

The laugh escaped. “I can’t argue with your logic.”

“You’ll think about it?”

The idea was ridiculous.I can’t pretend to have a partner togetpartner.I should say no outright because it was preposterous. Nothing good would come from pretending to have a boyfriend.

With a decline poised on my lips, I thought about the property tour earlier. If I were “dating” Ethan, I could’ve made up some Christmas story on the spot. I could join small talk before meetings about everyone’s families. I could bring Ethan to the upcoming fundraiser my firm sponsored.

A pretend boyfriend I actually knew might be a perfect solution. I would appear enthusiastic when I talked about Ethan because I genuinely liked him. I wouldn’t need to stress about working too much and ignoring him because it wasn’t real. No need to create a person from scratch, which I could never pull off because I was a terrible liar. I could ease the stress about his aunt from Ethan’s eyes.

“How do you feel about suits and awkward small talk over dinner?”

Ethan’s smile overtook his face. “Two of my favorite things.”

TEAM TAP THAT GROUP TEXT

Ty: A & E, where are you guys at for dinner? I just had a PB&J on questionable bread out of desperation and need to live vicariously through your Portland exploits

Austin:Caleb and I are at that Mexican restaurant we went to for Ty’s birthday a few years ago

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