Page 1 of Faking with the Bad Boy Billionaire

Chapter one

Josephine

Walkingdownthecatwalkin yet another outfit made for her body type, Josephine Price was just another blonde-haired, hazel-eyed model living in Miami, Florida. She was enjoying the modeling show. It was always so fast and so fulfilling. She has always loved publicity, even as a child. She used to model as a child, but now she has blossomed into a beautiful woman. She got into it early. Her parents pushed her. It was good for her, though, and there was always something to gain.

After the show, she was always flocked to. Many other advertisements sent their recruiters to hire new faces. Josephine's was one in a million. She may have blonde hair, but she was nothing like a ditzy model like those before her. Some models had left them with a bad reputation. Their witless nature is not helping her in the slightest. She was supporting herself, though. She didn't have a manager. She managed her own career after turning twenty-one. She wanted to prove to all those that she could hear she could defy all the odds and come out on top. She used to tell her childhood friend, Steven Calhoun, that she would be a better model than Paris Hilton. In her mind, she was. She loved most of the attention. However, there were drawbacks. There was always someone hitting on her and asking her out. She was tired of having to reject them. All her friends constantly asked her about her love life or the lack thereof.

It was true. Josephine always went home after work. She wasn't really a partygoer. Josephine wanted to keep her wits about her. She played it safe. Josephine went home, prepared dinner, and always found some movie or a TV show to watch. She even dabbled in a bit of video gaming. Josephine enjoyed the little things. This day was another one of those days where she just wanted to forget she was alive.

After finishing the set for the day, she had her friends come up and greet her as they dressed back into their everyday clothes. They may have been able to keep the clothes they modeled, but they couldn't leave the studio in them. They had been seen in them, and their modeling agency never wanted them to get mauled outside with the products on—part of their protection policy. While a fan had never attacked Josephine, she had been stalked numerous times in the past. There had been several things left on top of her car before. The police had to be involved, and the guy was found and served papers showing she had placed a restraining order on him. The guy had gotten it through his head, she hoped, at least.

While she was with her friends, two unlucky men had been bold enough to ask her out. She had rejected both. This specific night, she was done with their prying and constant asking. "I have a fiancé. I'm sorry. I can't date anyone. He's all I ever need." Josephine replied to the guy who asked her out tonight. Hank Thomas.

"You have a fiancé? Where is he, and why have we never met him?" Hank asked her. He was seriously getting on her nerves. All she wanted to do was go home and get off her feet.

"He is busy as always, but you all have not met him because I do not trust you bunch of delinquents to keep quiet about some of the stories we share." Everyone laughed at her joking response.

"Well, tell us about him." At that moment, the server popped back up, and Josephine took that moment to pretend her phone had been going off. She held up her finger, stood, and walked out of the VIP area as quickly as possible. Josephine went into the large, overly dramatic, and gaudy bathroom with a smile on her face. The second she entered the stall, her arm went up, and she leaned against the stall door. The small groan that escaped her was not unnoticed.

"You okay in there?" A tiny voice asked over the sounds of the music leaking in through the door as it opened and closed.

"Yeah, just having one of those nights where I would rather be home than out after a long week." She responded before standing up tall and adjusting her outfit before walking back out.

"Oh, I have had those nights too." A tiny brunette was leaning against the sink and watched her come out. As soon as they made eye contact, Josephine could tell she was trying to place where she recognized her from.

"Are you hiding from something in here?" Josephine moved to the mirror and pulled a lipstick out of her small clutch before applying it to her lips.

"Just needed a break. Sometimes, the only place people leave you alone is the bathroom." Josephine smiled at the girl's answer, fully understanding the feeling.

"I completely understand." Josephine played with her hair briefly, then nodded at her reflection. "I hope your secret break is helpful. Have a great night." Josephine opened the door, letting the music drown her own thoughts back out before making it back to the table.

"There you are! We were worried about where you ran off, too!" Lana and Hank were leaning really close to her to make sure she heard.

"Had to answer a work call, and I also had to get into the bathroom while the line was nonexistent." Josephine tried to play off her discomfort around the gossip in front of her. It was clear to her that everything she said, including the lie she told about her marital status, would be known to everyone in town by tomorrow.

"Was it about the charity dinner next week?" Josephine looked away, trying to pretend she was interested in the crowd.

"No, but what event?" Lana pulled her phone out and opened the e-mail from their boss.

"I am sure you have one too." Josephine could have kicked herself for not going through her e-mail that morning. She whipped her phone out and frantically made her way to the unopened message that went out to everyone.

"Found it! I don't know how I missed this!" She is going through the e-mail, noticing she has to reply sooner than later about her attendance.

"You should bring this fiancé of yours! We would all really like to meet him." Hank was staring her down, waiting for her to crack and say that there wasn't actually a man in the picture for her, but Josephine refused to break under the scrutinizing gaze of this man.

"I will ask him if he is available when he gets home from work tonight." She slides her phone into her clutch and stands again. "Speaking of, I would really like to get home and prepare for that." She flashed her camera-ready smile at the pair and excused herself from the table. She gave loose and awkward hugs goodbye before shuffling across the dance floor and to the bar's main entrance.

Standing there waiting for her driver to arrive, she stared at the app. She watched as the driver slowly crept closer and closer. All she wanted to do was get out of there and back home to the safety of her little bubble. Finally, she realized she said she might bring someone and panicked. She started going through names in her phone of who she could ask. She even debated finding a dating service that would basically hook her up with someone for just the night, but then she nixed that idea because she felt like paying for someone's company might get leaked to the press. The last thing she needed was for a scandal to blow up in her face while she was at the height of her career.

Her driver showed up with a giant smile plastered on his face.

"Long night, Miss?" He seemed friendly, but Josephine was in no mood for discussion.

"Ready for it to be over." She caught his eyes in the rearview mirror and gave a small and tired smile.

"I understand that. I was almost home but decided one more pickup wouldn't hurt anybody." Josephine was extremely grateful that this man had decided to pick her up. She was unsure how long she would have had to wait for the next available driver.

"I am very grateful for your decision to stay on a bit longer." She was genuinely happy with how lucky she had been in that moment.

---