~~Julie~~ Oh, god. I don't know what came over me. The person standing at the door, eyes wide, is a cleaning guy. “Uh, sorry,” he mumbles, backing away quickly, clearly not wanting to deal with whatever weird situation he just walked into. I step away from Luke, shaking my head. “See? This is what happens when you drag me into a closet to fix my life.” “What happens?” he asks, leaning against the wall. “People see.” “And?” I roll my eyes. “You’re impossible.” “Yeah, but you like me anyway,” he says with a wink. I don't say anything else. I just grip Luke's hand and start pulling him out of the closet, toward the hallway. My pulse is racing, though whether it's from the cleaning guy busting in or the fact that Luke had been way too close just a minute ago, I’m not sure. “Alright, Mr. Martinez,” I say, once we're fully outside. “Back to the real world.” Luke raises an eyebrow. “We were just getting started.” I shoot him a look. “I don’t know what kind of start you think
I feel the blood drain from my face as Ryan’s eyes slowly turn toward me, his expression unreadable. That stare—cold, calculating—sends a chill down my spine, but I don’t flinch. I won’t give him the satisfaction.“What the hell is this, Julie?”I take a deep breath, trying to play it cool even though my heart is pounding in my chest. “What does it look like?” I ask. I lean back into my seat and cross one leg over the other.Ryan's jaw tightens. “It looks like you’ve got some explaining to do.”“Do I?”God, I hate this. Why is it always a performance with him? Why does he get to be the one who’s angry?Emily, who’s still clutching her phone like it’s a live grenade, glances nervously between the two of us. I can tell she’s trying to figure out how to mediate without getting caught in the crossfire. Good luck with that.“Uh, maybe we should just…” she starts.I cut her off with a sharp look. “Who sent that video, Emily?”She hesitates, eyes flicking to Ryan as if hoping he’ll rescue he
I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Excuse me?”“You heard me,” he says, stepping closer, his eyes blazing with fury. “Whatever you’ve started with Luke—it ends. Now.”I meet his gaze head-on, refusing to back down. “I don’t tell you who to date, Ryan. So what gives you the right to dictate who I see?”“This is different, Julie!” Ryan shouts, his voice booming through the room. “He’s my business partner! This could ruin everything!”“Everything?” I repeat, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “By ‘everything,’ do you mean your business, or your little arrangement with Emily?”Ryan’s face flushes with anger, and I can see the veins in his neck bulging. “Don’t you dare bring her into this.”“Oh, why not?” I fire back. “She’s already here, isn’t she? I mean, she’s right there, living in our house, sitting on my couch. So why the hell shouldn’t I bring her into it?”Ryan clenches his fists, and for a moment, I think he’s going to explode. But instead, he takes a deep breath, his voice low. “E
My eyes immediately narrow.Ryan?I step closer to the bouquet, already feeling the tension in my chest. It can’t be Ryan. He hasn’t sent me flowers in years—our relationship had never been the romantic, spontaneous kind. I pull the small note attached to the bouquet. The handwriting is neat but not familiar. My heart does a weird little flip as I read.“Glad we’re back on, fake girlfriend. You’re stuck with me now. Forever… or at least until Ryan comes to his senses—Luke.”A laugh bubbles up in my throat, catching me off guard. Of course. It’s Luke. Who else would be so damn cheeky? I snatch my phone out of my bag and dial his number, my fingers drumming on the edge of the desk as I wait.He answers after the first ring. “Good morning, Julie.”I roll my eyes, though I can’t help the smile that creeps across my face. “Flowers? Really, Luke?”“Hey, you texted me, remember? Saying the deal is back on. I asked myself what a fake boyfriend could get as a ‘welcome back’ gift to his fake gi
I swallow hard, my throat dry as his words hang in the air between us, thick and heavy. My brain is screaming at me to push him back, to tell him to stop this ridiculous game, but my body has other ideas. Heat rushes through me, and my mind refuses to form a coherent thought. Before I know it, he’s closing the remaining distance between us. Another step, and we’re practically nose to nose. His breath is warm on my skin, his scent filling my senses, and I’m frozen, caught in the web of whatever this is.“Make a choice, Julie,” Luke says.I need to say something, anything, but my brain is short-circuiting. All I can focus on is how close he is, how his eyes flicker with amusement and something darker, more dangerous.“Julie,” Luke says, “you’ve got that look.”“What look?” I manage to ask, though it comes out more breathless than I’d like.“The one that says you’re thinking way too much,” he whispers, his lips dangerously close to mine now. “You’re overthinking this. Just go with it.”
~~Luke~~I think something’s wrong with me. And that something is a five-foot brunette whose heart belongs to someone else.Julie’s standing on the deck, wide-eyed and practically glowing as she takes in the view of my yacht. The way her lips are parted, eyes slightly wide, it’s like she’s just seen a unicorn. I can’t help but follow her gaze, half expecting to see something new, something I must’ve missed after all these years of owning the damn thing. But no, it’s still the same sleek, luxurious vessel that’s been my playground for a while now. Maybe she’s seeing it with some kind of magical filter. “You really haven’t been on a yacht before?” I ask, leaning against the railing, arms crossed.She turns. “Do I look like the kind of person who lounges around on yachts?”“Well, this is New York. Your husband’s a billionaire. Half the billionaires in the city own one of these, and the other half have been on one or two. I’m just surprised you’ve been missing out.”“Yeah, well, I guess
Julie laughs, but it’s more nervous than before. “That’s the point, right? I mean, it's supposed to look real.”I watch her carefully. I don’t even know how to answer that without giving myself away. I see something flicker in her eyes—something unsure, maybe even vulnerable. But she brushes it off, returning her focus to the iPad, as if that will shield her from whatever tension is building between us.“Let’s get back to the plan,” she says.And so we dive back into the details, hammering out strategies and scenarios, but all the while, I’m watching her, realizing what I really want.I want Julie.I’m determined to get her.I’m going to play along with her stupid plan—because one way or another, she’s going to end up mine.~~~I drop Julie off in front of Paragon Jewels, my eyes following her as she steps out of the car. She adjusts her blouse, throws a glance at the building, then back at me. Her smile makes me wonder if she can read my thoughts. God, I hope not. If she knew the wh
I lean back in my chair, forcing myself to stay calm. My face gives nothing away, but I feel the tension coiling in my muscles, especially in my jaw. The silence stretches between us. Even the hum of the air conditioning feels deafening, and the ticking of the wall clock sounds like gunfire.The nerve of Ryan O’Brien to come at me with a question like that. I take a deep breath. No way am I letting him see me lose it. Not now.I let my body relax, settling deeper into my chair. When I finally speak, my voice is calm. Too calm. “I’ve read about you, Mr. O’Brien,” I say. “Harvard, right? Top of your class in Business Administration. And what was it? A Master’s degree in International Economics? Impressive.” I tilt my head, narrowing my eyes just a little. “Tell me, at what point during all those years of education did they teach you it’s okay to ask your business partner a question like that?”Ryan's face remains neutral, but there's something in his eyes. Smugness? I’m not sure, but i