“Social media,” Halston adds. “The guy isn’t online at all.”
“I know,” I say, before I can stop myself. Dammit.
Klein’s eyes are wide as he drinks his water. It’s quiet as I wait for him to finish because I know,I just know, he’s not going to let that admission pass without comment.
He makes a show of finishing every drop in his cup before he says, “I am most grateful for the ammunition you’ve handed me.”
On a rumbled groan, I say, “Don’t pretend you haven’t searched my name online.”
“Looking you up was the last thing I wanted to do.”
Ouch.
But it’s good that he’s hurting my feelings. We don’t need any of this getting messy. If we’re too nice to each other, we might end up exchanging more bad kisses in abathroom. If we’re really going to do this, it’s best to keep things clean.
Halston leaves the bar to go to the kitchen and check on our food.
“What do you think?” I ask.
Klein pushes his hair off his forehead, and it falls back into the same place he pushed it from. “I think,” he starts slowly, the tip of his tongue coming out to brush over his bottom lip, “it’s an idea fraught with peril.”
I gesture with my hand between us, likekeep going. “And?”
He frowns. “I’m never going to get a publishing deal if I don’t have an online presence.”
“Who told you that?”
“My cousin, who is, sometimes regrettably, also my agent.”
“Your cousin/agent is correct.”
“When is the wedding?” he asks, rubbing his thumb over his lower lip. It’s distracting, setting an ache to the tops of my thighs.
I uncross, then recross my legs. “Six weeks from today, but we would fly out in five weeks.”
Halston appears, sliding two plates of steaming eggs, corned beef, and hash browns toward us across the bar, along with a side of green chili sauce and flour tortillas.
The delicious smell curls around my face, and I know I said I was starving, but this is on a whole new level of ravenous. I dig in, paying no mind to the people around me. It’s just me and this plate of food now smothered in green chili, and I will be the victor.
“Let’s do it,” Klein says after a minute.
A thrill races through my body. Is this for real?
I’ve just taken a huge bite of food, so there’s nothing for me to do but shake my head in agreement while my mind races at the prospect of taking a fake boyfriend to a weeklong island wedding and parading him around my loved ones.
Halston, who I’m learning in addition to being protective of Klein, is also an instigator, grabs a napkin from somewhere beneath the bar. Pulling a pen from a cup next to the register, she writes out a short and not at all legally binding contract.
She shoves the pen at Klein. “Sign,” she instructs.
Klein reads it out loud. “I, Klein Madigan, agree to accompany Paisley—” He purses his lips and glances up to Halston. She urges him on with a nod of her head. “PaisleyWhatsHerFaceto an island for one week where I will pretend to be her boyfriend.”
He takes the pen and crosses out WhatsHerFace, writing my last name above. “Royce,” he informs Halston.
“Proceed,” she instructs.
He slides the napkin to me. I swallow my bite and read. “I, Paisley WhatsHerFace, agree to create and run a social media profile for Klein Madigan for the duration of six months.” I frown. “Six months?” That is far longer than I want Klein in my life. I pictured being done with this by June, shaking his hand at the airport, and going our separate ways upon our return.
She raises an eyebrow at me. “Do you want to show up lonely to that island paradise, participating in whatever it is people do during an entire week of wedding festivities?” A grimace develops on her face as she speaks,making it clear a week of wedding festivities is a fate worse than death to her.
