Page 40 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

“Okay but we’re not exes or a couple.”

“Right. But this is reality TV, which means there’s nothing real about it.”

Easton was quiet as he continued looking over the paperwork.

Normally, in this situation Grace would remain quiet and wait for the person she was negotiating with to come back with a counter, but in this case, she heard herself pleading her case. “And I know that you need to work on your book, but it’s only a six-week commitment and I’ll do most of the work. Also, there’s a four-day break over Thanksgiving so it’s more like a five-and-a-half-week commitment. And you said your mom loves Ben and Lauren, just think how excited she’d be to see you on one of their shows.”

Grace was really going for the gold bringing his mom into this. She had to. She needed a direction for her life and this was it.

Finally, he lifted his head. “Just so I’m clear, you’re asking me to go on this TV show and pretend we’re a couple.”

“I know it’s a big ask. But that’s why I’m cashing in my IOU.”

“No,” he answered flatly.

Grace’s heart deflated faster than a bouncy house with Edward Scissorhands in it.

“No?” she repeated.

“I won’t pretend that we’re a couple.”

From the emphasis he put on the word pretend, Grace had a pretty good idea where this was going. “I don’t think we should start a relationship for a television show.”

“People get married for television shows.”

He wasn’t wrong. “I just, I think that if we actually tried to be together while we were filming, it could get…complicated. I don’t want to be distracted by my personal life. What if we find out we don’t like each other, or get in stupid fights? Being together could get…messy.”

“I’m sorry, Grace. I’m not going to lie. I don’t feel comfortable doing that.”

Grace was known for being the top mediator in the firm. Whenever two sides couldn’t come together, they called in the Ice Queen. Part of what made her so good was that she never got emotionally involved or invested in either side. She stayed completely detached and offered fair and reasonable compromises. That is what she needed to do now.

“Okay, how about this. During the show, we will be together-ish.”

“Together-ish?” he repeated slowly.

“Yes, we take sex and anything physical off the table. You know how people are friends with benefits, well we’ll be the opposite, we’ll be together with no benefits.”

“That sounds like pretending we’re a couple.”

“You didn’t let me finish. We will be a couple in name only while the show is filming but once it’s over, we can renegotiate the terms.”

Easton stared at her for a moment. He hadn’t refused right away, which was a good sign, and she could see that he was considering her terms. “So, you’re saying that during the show, we will be together but not have a physical relationship. And after the show…”

“If we get selected, and if we do the show, then after its over if we are even still speaking to each other, then sex will definitely be on the table.” Grace could feel her heart pounding so hard in her chest she wondered if Easton could hear it across the table.

A slow smile spread across Easton’s face. “I’m in.”

She needed to make sure she’d heard him right. “You’re in?”

“Yes, I’m in.”

She was so happy she wanted to jump up, throw her arms around him, and kiss him so bad she could barely stay in her seat. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember why she’d thought it was such a good idea to take sex off the table, especially since this table looked so solid and would be the perfect place for sex.

---