Page 4 of Yes, Love

I poured a glass of white wine and handed it to Kitty with a smile. Then I filled one more with red and handed it to Dominic. “Why, thank you, your highness.” He smirked at me and followed Jeanie and Kitty into my living room.

Your highness? Seriously? I glared at the back of his sexy head and marched toward my living room, my heels making a satisfying click against the expensive tile floor. He wasn’t the first person that alluded to the fact that I acted like some sort of privileged royalty. Sienna and Evan used to call me Queen Ava in high school, but I took it as a compliment. Hell yes, I was a queen. I owned that shit. I wouldn’t let Dominic’s slight stick.

“So,” Jeanie began. “Let’s work out the details of this little arrangement.”

Kitty leaned forward, nodding eagerly. “Yes. I think this is going to be so good for the both of you.”

Our publicists were still talking, but I was already bored with the conversation. I sipped my wine and let my eyes travel across the room to Dominic. He’d opted not to sit and instead leaned against the fireplace mantle, eyeing my crystal chandelier with a smirk. Asshole. I was sure I could fuck that smirk right off his face.

Out of the blue, he said, “Absolutely not. I won’t lie to Lucy.” Our publicists must have been talking about needing everyone’s discretion to pull off this fake relationship.

Kitty sighed and rubbed her temples. “Dom, we’ve been over this. Our story needs to be airtight for this plan to work.”

Oops. I’d already told Sienna about the fake boyfriend thing. She wouldn’t say anything, though.

Dominic rolled his eyes and drained his glass of wine. “Fine. But this lasts five months, not six.”

Kitty opened her mouth to protest, but Jeanie cut her off. “Five months is all we need. Thank you, Dominic.”

“Brilliant.” Dominic set his empty glass on the mantle and glanced over at me. “You reckon sex will be on the table, Ava?”

Kitty choked on her wine.

I let out my perfect, camera-ready laugh. “It’s hard to say, Dominic. Let’s keep our pants on and see how the first date goes.”

Dominic chuckled and shook his head. “Knowing you, it’s on the table.”

I gaped at him. The spell his good looks had cast on me when he walked through the door quickly melted away. We’d known each other two minutes, and he was already being a jerk. “Excuse me?”

“I did my research, Ava Mills. You’ve got quite the reputation.”

“How dare you?” I spat at him, immediately pissed off. “How dare you presume to fucking know me from reading tabloid articles?” I gripped my glass tight enough to shatter it. Nobody could know a single real thing about me from reading rumors. Hell, you couldn’t even really know me from watching my Youtube channel or TikTok videos. My influencer persona was perfectly crafted.

“Ooh, am I making you angry? I’ve heard you’ve got a proper hot temper, too.” Dominic smirked at me.

“Okay, okay!” Kitty stood and held up her hands. “Let’s keep it civil!” She shot Jeanie a worried look as if to say, “Are you sure this is going to work?”

I stood and calmly placed my glass of wine on my coffee table. Dominic wasn’t wrong. I did have a temper, but I wasn’t going to let him get the best of me tonight. I was going to be fucking precious, just like everyone wanted me to be. “Aw, don’t worry, ladies. We’ll keep it civil.” I coated my voice in sugary sweet syrup. I walked over to Dominic, making sure my hips swayed enough to tease him. Then I placed a hand on his chest and gave him a wicked grin. “I have a feeling we’re going to get along just fine, Dominic. Because maybe all of those articles you’ve read about me are true. Maybe I will fuck you, and maybe it will be so good that you’ll be saying, ‘Lucy who?’ by the time I’m done with you.”

I traced the top button of his shirt, and Dominic scoffed and peeled my hand off his chest. “Right then. Kitty, are we done here?” He gave his publicist a lazy glance. “I’ve got shit to do.”

Kitty sighed and nodded. “Just, please show up at the party this weekend to ‘meet’ Ava.”

Jeanie glued on another one of her frightening smiles. “You’re asking too nicely, Kitty. Show up at the party or lose everything you’ve built.” She gave me a pointed look.

I rolled my eyes and let out an irritated hiss, which seemed to amuse Dominic. “Not too keen on dating me either, Ava? Don’t worry. I’ll be a model boyfriend for the cameras so you can keep your lipstick empire.”

I shot him a glare and snapped back, “Perfect. And I’ll be a model girlfriend for the cameras, so everyone stops feeling so sorry for you.”

“Brilliant. See you next week.”

“Can’t wait.” I rolled my eyes at the back of his head as he walked toward my front door, followed by his publicist. Oops. I meant to be sweet.

Ava Mills, the darling makeup artist and YouTuber, was supposed to be a ditzy sweetheart. That’s the persona I wore when I started the channel as an eighteen-year-old. I’d outgrown that image, but the world had me frozen in time, and their message to me was clear: Be who we want you to be or disappear.

“Your follower count isn’t going up like it should, either. Pictures with Dominic will help. I’ll schedule a few photoshoots for the two of you.” Jeanie typed something into her phone. “Be nice at the party.” She tossed back the rest of her wine and left her glass on my kitchen countertop. Jeanie waved at me over her shoulder as she walked out my front door, too.

I listened to the click of the heavy door as it closed and stood alone in my 4,000 sq. ft. house — my mausoleum. I almost laughed at the similarities between myself and my house. We were both pretty on the outside, empty on the inside.

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