“I can hook you up with one of those,” he said, a wicked grin lifting his lips.
“Stone, if you’re thinking of who I’m thinking, you’re diabolically brilliant,” Ms. Birdie said.
“Ryder,” Stone replied.
Frankie gave an evil laugh. “You’re suggesting we feature Isabella’s last-lover-before-marriage, your brother, for our first column?”
Stone nodded.
“I love it,” Frankie said, glancing at Isabella with raised eyebrows as if daring her to veto the idea.
“He was never my lover,” Isabella snapped. “And I don’t think you can call him a playboy.”
“Agree to disagree,” Stone said quietly. “Last week he had three dates in one day.”
“Oh.” Isabella looked a little sad at the revelation.
Sophie jumped in before another disagreement could escalate between the two editors. She’d find out more about the soap opera playing out in front of her later. Right now, she wanted to seal the deal. “Excellent. I have a guy for my first column, and it sounds like Stone’s on board to spend a week getting to know me.”
“Is she right?” Frankie asked him.
He nodded curtly. “Just as long as our daydreamer here can assure me she will keep all feelings to herself,” Stone added. “I’m not looking for a real-life professional daydreamer girlfriend.”
“As if my heart would ever get excited about the likes of you.” Her heart might be filled with daydreams of butterflies and joy, but it wasn’t stupid. It knew when to protect itself, and if ever there was a reason to protect, it would be against Stone.
As if reading her thoughts, he gave her an assessing look that made her just a little bit scared. Damn, he had the whole enforcer persona down to an art. Not good. Not good at all for her plans to sweet talk men into agreeing to the part of real-life book boyfriend hero and go to the highest bidder at auction. Then again, imperfect plans were better than none.
Weren’t they?
Or had her lovely pitch just become what grandfather liked to call FUBAR?
Fucked up beyond all recognition!
Chapter 5
Stone hesitated outside Sophie’s apartment. A pastel pink plaque hung on the door. On it, written in a swirling white cursive, were the words:Beware: Unattended Book Boyfriends May Be Claimed.
He grunted. It was because of her damn hard-on for book boyfriends that he’d just endured a makeover byNaked Runway’sGlam Team which had ended with a wig being glued to his scalp before he’d had a chance to sayhell no.
Never in his life had he loathed something as much as he’d loathed that experience. This coming from a man who had grown up in the foster system for a big chunk of his young childhood.
Right now, he had one goal and one goal only. Convince Sophie that making him look like a cinnamon roll hero hadn’t worked. It was a look he could not pull off.
If she didn’t burst out laughing and wholeheartedly agree the moment she opened the door, then she was totally warped by her ideals versus reality.
The snug pastel sweater that had been foisted upon him by a dude named Ziggy, along with the comment that it would “soften Stone’s rugged masculinity,” would no doubt show up in Stone’s next nightmare. And don’t even get him started on what he thought of Alberto’s underhanded tactics.
Prepared to be laughed at, he raised his fist and rapped his knuckles against the door.
As if she’d been standing on the other side, waiting for him to knock, Sophie immediately answered. Only she didn’t laugh. With a perfectly blank expression, she looked him over like he was a new piece at an art gallery.
“Well?” Why in the hell didn’t she look shocked? “Are you ready to admit you were wrong? I cannot pull off this whole pastry boyfriend thing.”
“It’s called a cinnamon roll hero, and I’ll admit nothing of the sort.” She slowly cocked her head to the left. “Pink is a nice color on you.”
He narrowed his eyes. Suspicion built inside him. Why didn’t she look even a little startled? “Were you looking at me through the peephole? Did you get all your laughing out of your system before you answered the door?”
“Of course not. I was reading when you knocked.” She held up a book,VOGUEish, as if for proof.
