The Fake Girlfriend Rules

“Right now? You don't maybe want to talk first?”

“Yeah, now's good. Toss it to me. Maybe it's Jim with some good news. You really pulled it off last night. Eileen loved you. If we get this job, Jim might have to put you on the payroll.” He chuckles and smiles big.

This conversation is never going to happen. He's just going to pretend everything is fine and nothing is weird.

“Fine, here.” I wait for him to look over at me, and toss his phone to him. “I hope you get it too. Who knows when or if I'll find a job.”

“You will. I know you, you might get frustrated, but you never give up.” He opens his phone. The light mirrors in his eyes as he reads his message and cracks eggs blindly with his free hand.

“I better not have any shell bits in my eggs,” I say, giving up on any other conversation. One day we'll have to cross this bridge, he's just not ready right now.

“I'm a pro, haven't you learned that yet?”

“I've learned a few things recently about you, but you being a good cook isn't one of them.” I bite the tip of my tongue as I smirk.

We can both crack jokes about last night. Not just you.

“Well,” he says smugly, leaning against the counter as he whisks the eggs. “Maybe I shouldn't tell you that my message is from Jim. . .”

He looks up at me, and I expect to hear him tell me that they got the contract for the project. I lean over our island counter and arch my brows. Doug lets the silence linger between us longer than I want.

“And? You got the job?”

“That, and. . . to throw some icing on the cake, you got yourself an interview today.”

“A what?” I ask, straightening my back, and clutching the blanket tight.

“You better go put on something cute. Eileen wants to see you at eleven.”

“Wait. . .” I hold up my hand, brows furrowing into the bridge of my nose. “You're fucking with me, aren't you? You're just screwing with me because I busted your balls about your cooking.”

He turns the phone so I can see the screen. “See for yourself.”

“Oh my God, you aren't joking.” I snatch the phone out of his hand and read the message a couple more times. “I can't believe this. Why? Why would she want to hire me for anything? I don't know anything about movies.”

“Because you have an amazing personality, Lyl, and people love you. You have a lot more to offer than you think. Just because you don't know the movie business, doesn't mean you can't learn it.”

I lay his phone down on the counter and rest my forehead against my hand. “I'm shocked, Doug. I actually had fun last night at dinner with her, but I never expected it turn into anything.”

“It's called networking, Lyl. You know people who introduce you to people, and bang!” he calls out. “You get a job. You know what this means right?”

“What?”

“It means that we're going to have to keep up this act since Eileen thinks we're dating.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. We both agreed, one night, that's it.”

“Do you want a job? A better paying job?” He's scrambling the eggs in the hot pan as the toast pops up in the toaster, but his eyes are steady on mine.

“Of course, I do.”

“Then we need to keep playing pretend.” Doug lays the spatula down and turns off the stove. “So, I think it'll be a good idea for us to really get into our roles.” He takes two firm steps toward me, and around the counter to where I'm standing. “We need this to look one hundred percent real.”

“And how do you think we should do that exactly?” I twist, leaning my back against the counter, and gripping the blanket with both hands.

He walks his fingers across my hips, cupping both my sides. I'm looking up at him, up at this mountain of a man, with a rock-hard chest and steppingstones for abs.

He licks his lips as he steps between my legs. “With lots of practice of course.”

“Practice? What do you mean by practice?”

“How about I just show you what I mean?”

6

Douglas

Just say yes, I think to myself as I watch her suck in a shallow breath and hold on to it. It's as if she's afraid to let it go, like she might deflate and get shot around the room like a deflating balloon.

“We're still in control, Lyl,” I say, trying to help her see that this is all part of what we need to do.

If she wants this as much as I do, all she has to do is say yes. Yes to a new future. Yes to a new career, a new life, a new her. This isn't a complicated decision. This is our survival.