Page 35 of Official

“What about Teddy, though? He’ll see all of this.”

I grimace, recalling his promise to cut off my favorite body part. “We’ll tell him the truth and explain the plan. He can’t get mad if our relationship is fake and strictly an online show. It’s perfect.”

She crosses her arms over her tantalizing chest. “And what’s in it for you?”

“It would honestly boost my own stock, so to speak.” I shrug, but inside, my heart is two stupid comments away from leaping out of my chest. “I could use any extra publicity before we start filming in the fall, and I hear you have quite the following.” I wink and internally pat myself on the back for thinking on my feet so quickly.

I’ve trained my creative muse well after years of practice in the writing room.

“It’s an audience built on fitness,” she points out as if it’s news to me.

“So? They still watch TV, don’t they? You do.”

She nods, sinks her teeth into her lip some more, then squints at me. “We’ll use each other, then?”

“Not use.Help.” I grip both her arms and slide my palms up and down them. “It’s a win-win.”

Small trails of salt still line parts of her tan skin, even though we rinsed off before we left the beach. Her tank top is hiked up above the waistband of her cut-off shorts, revealing a sliver of golden skin. She’s every wild fantasy, which is probably the reason I say what I do next.

“Even if I don’t get anything in return, I’m still happy to do whatever you need,” I rasp.

Her lips part.

“I could use the public boost, but seriously, I got lucky and walked away from the Zoey mess unscathed. Let’s be honest—I had nothing to really worry about it in the first place. Everyone in Hollywood is sleeping with each other.” I laugh, but it’s soft and nervous. Why am I sweating? And why the fuck am I trying so hard to convince her to do this? “Let me share my good fortune.”

“If you want to do some good to earn that luck, buy yourself a Prius.” She snorts.

“Whoa.” I hold my hands out. “That’s even crazier than this idea.”

“So you admit pretending to date is crazy?”

“Of course, it is. This trip was crazy too, but look how it turned out.” I squeeze Sam’s shoulders and turn her toward the tropical view outside my sliding door, then whisper in her ear, “What do you say?”

Her frown transforms into a smile, and she leaps into my arms, squealing. “Let’s do it! Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

I squeeze my arms around her narrow waist, enjoying her seductive scent of salt and summer wrapped in one ball of energy. Then I set her down on her feet and put some distance between us before I get too overwhelmed by the perfect way she fits into my embrace.

Pretend.

We’re now friends who are pretending to be a couple—all for show.

I rub my hands together and ask, “What’s the first step?”

“Pictures, of course. The backbone of social media.” She pulls her phone out of the back pocket of her scant shorts and snaps her fingers. “Oh, and I do need to address the incident. I’ll forego the explanation and just give a quick apology for not doing my due diligence. Then I’ll follow it up with pictures of you and me. Hopefully, they’ll be so excited by our… deep and meaningful love story… they’ll forget the whole humiliating thing.”

I laugh. “You’re an evil genius.”

“Not evil.Smart.” She shrugs, sticking her tongue out. Pointing to the sliding door that leads to our adjoined patios, she tilts her head. “Natural sunlight is the best for pictures, and I want our grand announcement to be epic.”

“Wow. Dating you is going to be exhausting, isn’t it? What with constantly looking good and everything.” I pat my hair down in exaggeration.

She crosses the room and squeezes my hand, bringing her lips only an inch from mine. It jolts my body to attention, hard and humming.

“Good thing we’re not really dating.” Her cheeks split into a wide grin, and in a blink, she yanks my arm to lead me outside. With her fingers near the handle, she stops and lets go of me to grab the leis from the desk.

I catch my breath as I follow her bouncing form, asking myself one question over and over again.

Is this a good idea?

I don’t fucking think so.

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