Page 28 of Accidentally Falling for My Fake Wife

“I’m kidding,” he spits out. “Well, maybe I am. First, let’s see what my assistant finds out tomorrow.”

“The assistant who may have forgotten to file my paperwork?” I ask, pulling into the coffee shop's parking lot. From the window, I see Susie at one of the tables, and a wry grin crosses my lips.

“No, mynew, competent assistant, ” Finn responds. “She’s on top of it, and I have no doubt she will have news for me tomorrow. As soon as I know something, I will call you.”

“Okay. I’ll wait for your call.” I hang up before Finn responds. The woman I’m watching intently, the one who is staring at her laptop, has redirected my attention.

After Finn’s news, I need a peppermint tea, but finding Susie here is a very welcome surprise.

The grin across my face widens as I realize I have the perfect excuse for talking to her.

Chapter Eleven

Susie

The blinking cursor isback, and my mind is a void of emptiness. My stomach is in a knot and swirling at what this means. In all the years that I’ve been writing, I’venevermissed a deadline.

Norma, my editor, called earlier to see how things were moving along. When I told her they weren’t, I could hear the disappointment in her voice. The pressure that’s been building inside me feels like a balloon at capacity ready to burst. All it needs is one more breath.

I started rambling uncontrollably, and Norma immediately cut me off.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” she said in a soothing voice, obviously trying to talk me off of the proverbial ledge I was on. “Your fans will initially be disappointed at the delay, of course, but we’ll just switch up our marketing plan and tell them the novel took an unexpected turn that required you to go back and rework some of it. You never disappoint. You keep at it until it’s perfect. They’ll love it!”

“If I can actually come up with a story,” I mumble. The background is filled with the faint noise of people placing orders, and the sound of the espresso machine as it hums. I take a sip of my lukewarm latte, letting the familiar sounds soothe me.

“Susie, I have faith that you’ll pull it together and get an even better story than you originally planned. How long do you think you will need?” Norma asks, completely choosing to overlook the fact that I am at an impasse.

When she’s met with silence, she tries a different tactic. “I’ll check in again early next week, okay? But for now, we’ll push the deadline back by a few months.”

“Okay. Thanks, Norma.” I lean my head in my hand and let out a sigh. A few months will give me a little time to breathe so I can take a small creative break.

But I’m not ready to give up yet today. I close my eyes, hover my hands over the keyboard, and will myself to come up with something; anything.

A frustrated breath escapes me. Nothing. I have absolutely nothing.

The tightness in my chest is all-consuming, and I take a slow, deep breath, hold it for a second, and slowly exhale.

I know the exact moment the void appeared: yesterday, after my conversation with Adam and then Chase.

My feelings for both Adam and Chase are wrapped up in a ball of weird emotions. It’s affecting my writing—no, not just my writing, but my life, and I have no idea what to do about any of it.

The fact that I was mashing them together to create a perfect dream man for this story doesn’t help.

How do I separate my real feelings from fiction?

My phone buzzes, and my heart nearly leaps out of my chest at the possibility of it being Chase. When I see Brie's name, it dropsto my stomach like a bowling ball, and disappointment washes over me, leaving me drained.

Brie has been texting all day long about Pleasant Hollow’s gossip column’s most recent post starring the one and only Brianne Woodbury and Joshua Owens.

A wry grin raises the corner of my lips at both her and my big brother’s reaction toTea Time’sexclusivevideo highlighting one very questionable interaction at the stadium yesterday. To be honest, I’m more surprised that it tookTea Timethis long to talk about the attraction they very obviously have toward each other.

Of course, I’ve watched the video multiple times. It’s brilliant. Whoever filmed it caught them at the perfect moment, and the chemistry jumps off the screen.

My curiosity is piqued about who could’ve recorded the video, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s one of Josh’s teammates. This is total speculation on my part with absolutely zero proof, except for the fact that Josh has repeatedly mentioned how his teammates are always bringing up Brie.

I pull out my phone and click theTea Timelink to watch the video for the thousandth time. But instead of watching Josh and Brie, my eyes linger on Adam.

I don’t miss the light in his eyes or the smile on his face while he’s talking to me. Nor do I miss the way my heart does a little somersault, but at the same time, it free falls to the bottom of my stomach.

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