Page 11 of The Purest Fake

“But there’s nothing wrong with me compensating you for your time.”

“Maybe not, but I won’t accept anything from you.”

“So are you saying you’re agreeing to fake a relationship with me?”

She smiles and shrugs. “Sure. Why not?”

I inhale fully for the first time since I arrived, then release the breath with a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You may regret this arrangement.”

“Why would I?”

She stretches her arms out. “I don’t know if you can handle all this fun.”

I grin. “I’m confident in my abilities.”

“So tell me the plan, Coop.”

“That’sboyfriendto you.”

She laughs. “I think you mean boytoy. I am a few years older than you, after all.”

“I don’t really have a plan yet. I figured I’d ask you first.”

“We need to come up with one.” She crosses to the other side of the kitchen and rifles through a drawer. When she returns, she sets a pad of paper down and clicks the top of the pen in her hand. “Step one should be us coming up with our backstory.”

“We met through Rogan and Autumn this summer and we started seeing each other.”

“Right, and we only made it official recently,” she adds, her pen moving across the paper. “Step two, I need to know when to block off time in my schedule.”

“I have a charity event Wednesday night that I’m required to be at.”

“That works for me, but I’ll need all the details so I know what I should wear.”

“I can text you all the details, and I want to add a stipulation to our agreement.” She nods, and I continue, “If you need something to wear for any of the events we go to, I’m paying.”

“I can deal with that. Just so you know, I’m going to talk to Autumn about our arrangement. She’s my best friend, and her knowing will be helpful to me. I’m guessing she and Rogan will be attending some of the same events as us.”

He nods. “I plan on telling Rogan too, so it only makes sense that Autumn’s in on it as well.”

“You’ll need to let me know the schedule as soon as you can so I can make a note.” She drops the pen on top of the pad.

“Should we shake on it?” I ask.

She rounds the island and I slip from the barstool. She opens her arms. “I’m a hugger.”

I move forward and we share a quick embrace. “You’re awesome for doing this.”

She waves her hand “Pfft. I’m awesome in a lot of ways, which you’ll be learning firsthand soon enough, boytoy.”

CHAPTER 3

SCARLETT

“Are you sure these jeans don’t make my ass look huge?” Autumn asks.

“Shut up. You’re bootylicious, and Rogan’s sure to take a bite out of it later. Wear heels with them,” I say.

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