I bit my lip, glancing at Lily.
It’s just fake dating. It’s not that serious.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Let’s do it. Let’s give him hell.”
I signed the contract in one stroke. When I handed it back to Derek, our fingers touched for just a moment, and neither of us pulled away. His skin felt hot against mine, and I resisted the urge to hold his hand, remembering how warm and perfect it felt that afternoon when I had bandaged it.
“Now we are fake lovers?” I asked, even though the word felt odd on my tongue. Especially when Derek was looking at me like that.
“Fake-lovers, indeed,” he said, smirking.
We shook hands as if it was a business deal. His large hand felt warm, and I had to force myself to let go before I did something stupid. Like pulling him close and demanding him for the kiss that my phone had interrupted.
Rule number four: Don’t catch feelings.
That was either the best or worst decision I had ever made. Possibly both.
“So,” I asked. “Do we post the photos now or wait until morning?”
I was surprised that Derek had already planned so much ahead, and I was glad that he was thinking things through. I had always liked that about him. I didn’t have to plan or think too much whenever I was with him because he would always take care of everything, and I could relax.
Like the time I went into labor and Jack wasn’t with me and I was freaking out, but he had talked me through everything and stayed by my side the entire time.
“What better time than now?” He said, pulling up social media on his phone, and swiped through one of our pictures from the deli. “Let’s strike while the iron’s hot. By the time Jack wakes up tomorrow, this will be everywhere.”
“What do we caption it?”
I saw his thumbs type something and leaned over his shoulder and let out a small chuckle.
The caption read: Some things are worth the wait.
“I think the kids call it cringe nowadays, Derek. It’s either romantic or ominous.”
“That’s the point,” he said with a grin before posting the photo.
My heartbeat increased knowing our pictures were uploaded. Now it was public, making us very real.
“There’s no going back now,” he said.
I nodded as my phone started buzzing with notifications since he had tagged my profile. Comments, likes, and messages flooded in, asking me where my ring was or where Lily was.
It’s going to be okay.
“We should practice,” Derek said, and I nearly choked on water.
It had been a couple of days since our couple post, and Jack had started sending me threatening emails since I was ignoring his texts and calls.
We had scheduled our first public outing at a charity gala where we would officially debut our ‘relationship,’ and I was totally not freaking out about it.
“Practice what?”
“Kissing,” he said it so casually, like he was suggesting we rehearse a presentation. “For appearances at the gala tonight. People will expect us to be... affectionate. Very affectionate.”
Affectionate?
“Uh-huh. Of course,” I nodded, blood rushing to my face. “That makes sense.”
It made sense and we had signed a contract. Public displays of affection were explicitly outlined in clause three, subsection B. It was practical, professional and absolutely nothing to be nervous about.
