Page 17 of His Perfect Woman

“But they didn’t meet through the site,” Trent argued.

“No, but their own happiness is still inspiring. And we can put it as motivating them more than ever to bring other couples together, now that they’ve found true love,” he defended.

“I think inspiring happiness and true love is a stretch,” Camille muttered under her breath.

“Exactly.” Trent stabbed a pen in the air. “No offense, but you two obviously cooked this whole thing up, and when the media sees straight through that—they’ll tear us to shreds. We’ll be worse off than when we started.”

“Aren’t you in our finance department?” Lucas asked him, looking perturbed. “How exactly is any of this within your job description?”

“Marketing budget,” he shot back quickly.

“But not marketing opinion, because professionally...you have none,” I told Trent with a death stare. He was only sitting in that room because of me, and now he had the audacity to be working against me.

“Jack is right, as reluctant as I am to admit it.” Lucas shrugged. “Logically, featuring Victoria and me makes the most sense.”

I felt a pang. Why the hell was he reluctant to admit it? This whole thing was his idea. Surely he understood that after announcing it so publicly, before I had even agreed to it, it would quickly become the talk of the town.

“Lucas and I would have to discuss this privately,” I said. “But yes, it’s definitely worth considering.”

“How am I the only one who sees what a disaster this is?” Trent gaped incredulously. “I may not be a PR expert, but I know enough to realize the press are like vultures. They’re on high alert for any sign of a scandal, and this whole fiasco is like a wet dream for them.”

“The only thing you need to concern yourself with is the budget,” Lucas fumed in a low grumble, barely keeping his obvious rage contained.

“And as far as the budget is concerned,” I added, “this would actually save us money. We have to compensate the featured couples, of course.”

Joshua, who had seemed hungover and half-asleep up until that point, suddenly perked up. “Why don’t we offer them goods instead of money? Like a trade?”

Camille deadpanned. “We offer matchmaking services,” she said dryly. “They’re already matched. What exactly are we supposed to offer them?”

“Maybe Lucas can sleep with the girls in the couples as payment,” Trent hissed under his breath—just loud enough that we were all almost positive we’d heard exactly what he said, but still quiet enough for us to let it slide without questioning him. Of course, that didn’t stop Lucas from shooting daggers across the table with his eyes. If we weren’t in such a precarious position, I was certain he’d be fired on the spot.

“The budget is already worked out for compensation,” I sighed, trying to bring them back to focus. “The details of the plan are solid, okay? We’re good. And if everyone trusts my judgment, I’ll make my final pick for which couples to feature by the end of the day. As for Lucas and me...we’ll talk. And update everyone. As I said before.”

Trent muttered yet another snide remark under his breath, but this time it was drowned out by the shuffle of everyone gathering their things to leave. I felt so wound up that it was a little hard to breathe as they filed out the door. In some ways, it had gone better than I’d expected. In others, I was hit with even more negativity than I had accounted for.

Lucas stayed behind and shut the door once everyone was gone. “Let’s talk.”

“Right now?” I huffed.

“Why not? You sure you’re okay with this?”

“No, I’m not sure.” I shook my head. “But if we’re doing this thing...it’s kind of my professional duty to do it all the way to make it all the more believable.” I tried not to think about last night...which was about as believable as it got. We didn’t have to fake anything in the bedroom, that was for damn sure. “Surely you knew we’d have to be very public about our relationship. That’s the whole point of it.”

He nodded in agreement. “I know. Hey, this was my idea. And obviously, I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m just...checking in, you know. Making sure you’re ready to be announced to the world as Lucas Meadows’s fiancé.”

“I think you already did that part,” I quipped.

He looked out the door for a moment, glaring over the office floor. “Hey. One more question. I know you and Trent obviously aren’t a thing, but did you ever...date...or fuck...or anything like that?”

I let out a dramatic, groaning sigh. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. We’ve never been anything but friends.”

“Huh,” he grunted. “Gotcha. Okay, well...I better get to work. Good job today. You killed it.”

I sank down in my chair as he walked out. It hadn’t exactly felt like I killed it, but it was over now.

10

Lucas

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