“Get what?”
“Why you’re single. Fine boy, no game. It’s a tragedy.”
“I’m holding back,” he said, his lips twitching up, as if she’d just pressed a switch.
“Is that so?”
“Trust me, it’s for your own good.” He leaned a little closer and lowered his voice, the depth of it sending a tingle down her spine. Suddenly, the distance between them felt shorter, the air warmer.
“If I tried to flirt with you, and I mean really tried? You would want to see me again, and we already know that’s abadidea,” Drew added.
He was right. As they stood face-to-face in the tiny, unseasonably warm storage room, she couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she’d gone to an after-party with him last night. The thought was so enticing that it made her want to open the door, leave the press office, and get as far away from Drew as she possibly could. She was on a long streak of good decision-making, and he posed a threat to the progress she’d made. But he could also be the perfect solution to a more pressing problem. So, she decided to outline her plan.
“Remember how we told each other all of those secrets on New Year’s?”
His expression turned uneasy. “How could I forget?”
“And remember how we concluded that because we’re bothmessed up in our own specific ways, there’s no way the two of us could ever work out?”
“Which is why you ran away.”
“I didn’t run away. Well, maybe I did run. But that’s not the point,” she said, slightly embarrassed.
“So, whatisthe point?” Drew asked. His eyes were searching for something. He leaned forward a little, the space between them shrinking. “Or did you just lure me into a closet because you wanted to see me?”
Under any other circumstances, she would have enjoyed this banter. Ari liked flirting. It felt like playing a game. Tossing the conversation back and forth until someone made the perfect move. But she couldn’t let herself flirt with Drew, not like this. Because she’d come to the press office with a serious proposal. She was determined to lay it out without letting herself get distracted by the tension between them. So, she took a breath, reminded herself to stay focused, and cut to the chase.
“What I came to ask you is, Drew… will you be myfakeboyfriend?”
She regretted it the moment the words left her mouth.
“Your…fake boyfriend?” he asked, looking just as confused as he’d been the first time she’d asked.
“You know,Pretty Woman,The Proposal,To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.”
He nodded, but she could tell he had no idea what she was talking about. “Okay, let me rephrase that. Why do youneeda fake boyfriend?”
Ari sighed. She wanted to sugarcoat it, but there was no point in pretending.
“It’s messed up, but basically… my ex-boyfriend is kind of intense, and I know he’ll keep finding reasons to ‘bump into me’ for as long as we’re both in the Village. Guys like that only acceptthat someone is unavailable if they’re in a new relationship. So, I figured the best way to keep him out of my hair for the next two weeks would be to have a fake boyfriend.”
“That… is kind of messed up,” Drew said, looking concerned. But Ari didn’t need his worry, so she shrugged it off.
“I’m a woman living in a patriarchal society; everything’s kind of messed up.” She shrugged again and forced a chuckle. “It goes against all of my feminist beliefs, but I spent the whole morning trying to come up with a solution, and this feels like my best bet,” she admitted.
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“Why?”
“Because he doesn’t know you and neither do my friends. So, it would be much easier to paint a picture of a secret whirlwind romance with someone who’s a complete stranger to them.”
“But I thought you said you’d sworn off men?”
“I had—I mean, I have,” she said, surprised he’d remembered. “It’s just that my time in the Village would be a lot smoother if everyone knew for certain that me and Harrison weren’t going to get back together.” She knew how ridiculous it sounded when she said it out loud. Ari absentmindedly spun the watch Harrison had bought her around her wrist. A part of her wanted to give it back to him or give it away completely. But it was almost like a reminder. Her way of never allowing herself to forget that, while the best parts of Harrison would always appeal to her, he wasn’t the man she wanted him to be below the surface.
“Do you want to get back together with him?” he asked, curious.
