Page 41 of The Boss I Can't Stand
Sex dreams that had increased in number and intensity to an alarming degree since he’d cradled me against his chest so snugly. Since I knew what it felt like to be held by him. I shivered and flushed with heat simultaneously. “Exactly,” I said, forcing the word out. “Two totally different things. Anyway, what’s going on?”
Ro handed me the papers she’d been holding.
“A script?” The title read: A BREAKFAST FOR TWO.
“This is an outline for your breakfast date,” Ro explained.
“He had the date scripted?” My lips curled back in horror. Was he really that convinced I was going to screw this up? I know I hadn’t exactly been selling this fake engagement all that well, but I was sure we could manage to sit across from each other in a café long enough for some hired tabloid goon to snap a photo without me ruining everything.
“His brother’s fiancée whipped it up,” Ro explained. “You know she works onEnd in Fire? I wonder if she can introduce me to the guy who plays Cade. I just want to see if his abs are real. And possibly lick them. Anyway,” Ro sang, “You both need to be ready to rehearse in an hour.”
“Rehearse?” I laughed. “Absolutely not. I have costumes to fix.”
“And you have a very capable team to handle that for you,” Ro said.
A mixture of annoyance and some other confused feeling twisted up inside me. “I’m not going on pre-pretend dates with Finn.”
“The two of you dating is kind of what this whole fake engagement hinges on,” Ro said.
“Yes, well, I’m notrehearsingfor them.” How awkward. Pretending to be engaged was one thing, but having to do a dry run of the date? This was getting ridiculous.
“We’ve all established what a bad liar you are,” Ro said. “Which is why you need the practice. We’re not aiming for Oscar-worthy here, but judging by what I’ve heard of that first interview Jillian did, things were a little awkward and stilted.”
“Because Finn was freaking me out with the Prince Charming act!” I insisted.
“Well, then you both need the practice,” she said. “To seem more natural together.”
I rubbed my temples. I really didn’t have time for this.
“C’mon,” Ro said. “You can do this! We’ll make the masses fall for you and Finn, get everyone talking aboutEvery Day, and then we can stomp Trey’s war movie into the ground.”
I wanted that to happen. Very much. But this was never going to work.
“Don’t worry,” Ro said. “I’m going to be there the whole time you’re rehearsing, making sure you’re comfortable with everything, just like a good director should.”
I honestly didn’t know if having Ro there was going to make this experience better or worse. Having Finn there to watch me crash and burnwithoutan audience already sounded mortifying enough. “Fine,” I sighed. “I’ll do the rehearsal.”
“Great!” Ro said. “Now let’s run over your lines.”
The practice fake date, as Ro was now calling it, was set up on a tiny soundstage I must have walked past a thousand times since I’d started at Hart of Gold.
“Hey,” I said, walking into the space. Finn was already there, barking orders at two set dressers who’d decorated the space to look like Le Café du Soleil, the trendy little joint down the street where we planned to actually have our date. Cast and crew frequented the place when they were sick of the coffee at craft services. And their French toast was to die for.
“Hey,” Finn said. “You ready?”
“Well, I was supposed to be fixing pants for X.”
He waved away a napkin the set dresser set down. “Paisley’s got that covered.”
“How do you know?” I said.
“Because I stopped by the costume shop first thing and told them they’d have to hold the fort down for a couple hours.”
He did? “I don’t need you ordering my assistants around.” I was more than capable of delegating my own work.
“I wasn’t ordering anyone. I was checking to see if this could be accommodated this morning without turning everything upside down. As much as we need to do this, I also need this movie to be properly costumed.”
I crossed my arms, glancing down at the food the set dressers placed on the small bistro-style table between us. A wave of something warmand delicious hit me. “Is this real?” I asked, pointing down at the French toast on my plate.
