Page 5 of Never Fake Date the Financier
3
ADRIAN
I’m screwed.
Who knew finding a fake date for my brother’s wedding could be so hard? Then again, I’ve been focused on work, ignoring the self-inflicted complication until it finally smacked me in the face. My six-month buffer has crumbled along with the likelihood of my finding someone to play the part of my fake girlfriend.
“What’s her name again?” Asher asks.
I cough. “Gabriella.”
Asher folds his arms as he leans back in his chair. “Gabriella?”
I give a tight shrug and then glance at my computer monitor. “Gabriella…”Swallow.“Barbera.”
There’s a brief silence. I can hear my heart beating. I think I can hear Asher’s thoughts. And then he laughs. Deep and rumbling. I can’t remember the last time Asher laughed like this before.
But I can’t blame him. If he were in this position, I’d likely respond the same. I screwed myself, plain and simple. My little white lie not only has a name, she has an entire backstory that I’ve fed piecemeal to my family. She loves hiking and kayaking. Eats a vegetarian diet, dabbling in veganism now and then. Loves Star Trek and Harry Potter and has a dog named Scout. And that’s all I can remember off the top of my head. I have no idea what else I told my mother about her. Every time she’d ask about her, I’d make something else up. I should’ve made a cheat sheet because, at this point, I’m sure my family knows my girlfriend better than I do.
Girlfriend. Jesus. I contemplated faking a breakup with my… fake girlfriend, but after reading the email my mother sent me a while back, I knew I was in too deep. She’s planned all sorts of activities for us based on the story I’d spun her. She’s so excited to meet her that I think she’s more invested in that than the wedding.
I glance at Asher as he pulls himself off the floor. “Are you done?”
He wipes away tears. “You can’t call it off?”
I shake my head and then spin my monitor around for him to read my mother’s email. He scans it for a few moments.
“Jesus. Your mom is invested.”
“Yup.”
“How did you let it get this far?”
I run a hand through my hair. “I’ve been a little busy running the company while you’ve been running around with Lilah.”
Asher smiles as he sits back down. “Never thought I’d hear an excuse cross your lips.”
“Not an excuse. It’s a fact.”
“And the most pertinent fact in all of this is that you’re the one who got yourself in this situation in the first place.”
I clench my jaw. “And I’m asking you for a little help.”
We spend the next fifteen minutes brainstorming a way to get me out of this mess, but we’re no closer to a solution than when we started.
Asher leans back, staring at the ceiling for a few moments. “I could give Sofia a call. She’s in town for a few weeks, and I’m sure she’d be game to play pretend. But if you touch her…”
I sigh. He can’t be serious. “My family knows Sofia.”
Asher relaxes. “Right. Too bad. Could’ve been an easy fix.”
Why didn’t I keep this simple? No concrete details. Just a girlfriend and nothing more. But that wasn’t a possibility with my mother. Once she learned I had a new girlfriend, she dug in her claws, wanting to know every last detail about her since I told her she couldn’t meet her. She’s filming on location and wouldn’t be back until just before the wedding.
My fake girlfriend is a movie star… what was I thinking?
“I’m going to have to come clean.”
Asher studies me for a few moments and then nods to my computer screen. “Good luck breaking that news to your mother. She’s acting like she just gained a new daughter. Two including Sariah. Hire one of our actresses for a weekend. They’d love something like this.”
