Page 6 of Confessions of a Smutty Romance Author

“What?” Charlotte asked. “This is the best-case scenario.”

“Don’t we have to ask Jonas first?” I said. “He’d have to say yes too.”

Cohen cracked a smile. “I’ll call him now.”

“Hurry,” Charlotte said. “The sooner Jenny gets things patched up with the studio, the sooner I can do damage control on this whole mess.”

The room went quiet as Cohen lifted his phone. Even Ralphie stayed perfectly still, his black eyes taking in the crowd in his living room.

“Put it on speaker,” Birdie asked.

Cohen obliged, and ringing emanated from his phone speaker.

“Yello?” Jonas said.

I cringed.

Birdie hit my side and whispered, “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

True.

“Hey, Jonas,” Cohen said. “I’m in kind of a tight spot, and I was wondering if I could ask you a favor.”

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Jonas asked.

Birdie whispered, “He really is a good guy.”

Cohen held his fingers to his lips and said, “You know Mara? She got in a bit of trouble today and she’s needing a boyfriend—a fake boyfriend just to make appearances with her until her movie airs in six months.”

“Cohen, I—”

“Don’t make a decision yet. Go out to lunch with her, talk about the details. I’m sure there’s a way you both can get some good out of the situation.”

Jonas was quiet for a long moment.

“It would be a real favor to me,” Cohen said.

The silence drew out until finally Jonas said, “Just lunch.”

“Great! She’ll meet you at Waldo’s Diner. Say around one?”

I nodded quickly. I’d take what I could get.

“Make it one thirty,” Jonas replied. “See you later.”

Cohen hung up and gave a hopeful shrug. “That’s good news, right? At least he’ll meet with you about it.”

“Now I have to convince an accountant to go out with me. Just when I thought I couldn’t get any lower.” I put my head in my hands, and Birdie rubbed my back.

“He’s going to love you,” she said.

Charlotte leveled her gaze at me. “You better make sure he does, or your career’s over before it even began.”

3

Jonas

I didn’t really have time to go to lunch, but for Cohen, I would. Mara was Birdie’s friend, and from what I knew of her, my exact opposite. She was a writer, and she worked whatever hours she wanted whenever she wanted. She was always either drinking a cocktail or a coffee, and that was basically her two personalities, as far as I knew. But Cohen said she needed help. And for my friend, I’d at least hear the girl out.

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