Page 2 of Faking with the Bad Boy Billionaire

The rest of the ride was a quiet one. The music played low in the background while Josephine kept scrolling through names, the driver was tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel softly along with the music, and the city noise was drowned out by the fact the windows were rolled up. When they pulled up to Josephine's apartment, she slid him an extra twenty in cash for the tip, on top of what she gave on the app, and slid out of the car.

"Thank you so much! I hope you get to go home and rest up now!" Josephine gave a small wave and stepped back to close the door.

"You're welcome, Miss! You go rest up, too!" With that, she closed the door and watched him drive off.

Josephine entered the building and stopped at the mailboxes, pulling out everything she had avoided for the last few days. Bills, more bills, advertisements, and an invitation for Steven's club event are coming up. She was about to throw them all out and text Steven that she had received it when the idea popped into her mind. She could get Steven to play along!

Maybe.

It was worth a shot.

She pulled herself together with a steely resolve while in the elevator. She exited the elevator on her floor and made her way, as quietly as possible, past Old Lady Jensen's door before taking a breath inside her apartment. She took off her heels, tossed the clutch down on the little entry table, and entered the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. She tapped her fingernails on the counter and stared at her phone. She knew she would ask a lot from her friend, but she was unsure if he would actually go along with her fake fiancé thing.

She tipped the glass back and picked up her phone. She was going to do it. She was going to ask Steven and let that be that. She typed out a few texts before erasing them, feeling like they sounded horribly cheesy and not like herself. She set the phone down and walked away from it, shaking her head, thinking that would have been ridiculous.

Her phone dinged with a text notification. She walked back and picked up the phone, cringing instantly.

Let us know what your man says!

Josephine rolled her shoulders back and took a deep breath before scrolling through her contacts, finding Steven's name, and pressing the call button.

The first ring and Josephine already regretted the decision.

On the second ring, Josephine tapped her hand on her leg, trying to remind herself why she was doing this.

The third ring, and Josephine was terrified that he would actually pick up and she would have to go through with the entire façade.

Finally, she was waiting for the voicemail when she heard a low voice on the other end, "Josie? How are you?"

Josephine checked to make sure she was still breathing.

"Jo?"

"Yes, hi. I'm here." She forced the words out quickly.

"What's going on? You sound a little off." His voice was so smooth and steady. Josephine could picture him sitting in the high back chair at his large wooden desk in his office.

"So, here's the deal: I have a favor to ask of you." She spit out the initial line as fast as she could.

"Okay, what is this favor?" He sounded intrigued, but Josephine wasn't totally convinced.

Josephine cleared her throat and spit it out, "I need you to be my fiancé at this charity thing for my work."

Chapter two

Steven

Everythingthatcouldgowrong at Steven's club on a regular night went awry. He had been running back and forth, trying to clean up everyone else's messes, from the DJ to the doorman and everyone in between. When he finally got into his office, he slammed the door closed; thankful everything had slowed to a crawl in time for closing. He needed some time outside of the club. He poured himself some scotch and sat at his desk, relaxing his muscles. He loosened up his tie and stared at the security screens lining the wall. This wasn't exactly how he thought the night would end, but end it did.

He is going through the promotional party plans Evie had left for him when his phone rings. He fished it out of his pocket and sat it on the desk.

Josephine? He looked at the time and then answered the phone. "Josie, how are you?" He waited for what felt like forever before asking again, "Jo?"

"Yes, hi. I'm here." She sounded a little anxious, which was unlike her.

"What's going on? You sound a little off." Steven leaned forward against the desk on his elbows. He put one hand over the other and waited.

He heard her take in a deep breath before rambling out, "So, here's the deal: I have a favor to ask of you." Josephine never asked for favors. She was always the one to dole them out to others without asking for anything in return. Steven's interest was immediately piqued by where this conversation was going.

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