I thought a lot.

That night, all through my shower—where I imagined myself fake-kissing Leo—and my reheated dinner. All through my tossing and turning in bed, torn between nightmares of things going badly, of Leo trying to steal me from Cameron, and dreams of me falling harder for Leo than I already was with Cameron.

The next morning, I thought through my routine, guzzling down additional coffee to make up for the sleep I'd lost. Through my long road to work, headphones in, not listening to any of Leo's or SMASH's songs. Through my quick pit-stop at LaDurée to grab a box of macarons, extra sugar to help me focus; and then some more while I typed up notes for Mr. Ivy.

Cameron texted me, and I answered him, but I avoided the topic of our conversation. He'd accepted that I needed time to think this through, but I hadn't specified how long I'd take, and he hadn't given me a deadline. Despite that, I had to hurry—Leo's reputation was on the line, the longer I took to make a decision.

Something so important shouldn't have rested on my shoulders. I admired Leo, I'd enjoyed meeting him, seeing that he was everything I'd dreamed him of being, and more. But his stupid decisions weren't on me, weren't my fault, weren't mine to fix. Was my admiration of him enough to want to play his fake girlfriend while I real dated his assistant? Was that a task I could handle on top of all the others I had in my personal life?

I didn't tell Daphne about it as we sat down for lunch. She saw me distracted, but she must have sensed it was something I didn't want to talk about, because for once, she didn't push. Instead, she went on and on about a celebrity she'd been testing new products on for one of her columns, and how their skin had had a bad reaction.

Why me? I kept wondering about that, most of all. Yes, Leo had met me, and yes, we'd seemingly gotten along, but that was for one evening. A few hours. He had no reason at all to ask me to be his fake girlfriend; it made no sense. Not when he had millions of others to choose from, and plenty of them would accept in a heartbeat, no questions asked. People who were unattached and had nothing to lose.

He was four months too late. Had he not canceled our meet-and-greet, had he showed up and gotten to know me that way, before Cameron...things would have been different. I'd have said yes in a matter of seconds.

But right now, every second counted, and I had thousands of questions. Namely: Cameron. What was his part in all this? What would he do if I said yes? And why had he told me about it so calmly, yet looking so darn sad?

If the decision was indeed up to me, what was the big deal about me saying no? Why hadn't he declined for me, reminding everyone that I was his? I wouldn't have minded, wouldn't have been offended. He could have disagreed in my name and I never would have known about it.

Where had that passion gone? Like when he'd lashed out in the car, upset with Leo being all over me. This time, he hadn't put up a fight. He hadn't stepped in and claimed me, like he had the night I met Leo.

What changed?

"I haven't made up my mind yet," I said, accepting his phone call that night, exactly twenty-four hours after he'd confessed to me what Leo wanted. I'd picked up a fresh bottle of rosé on the way home, planning to soak in my tiny bathtub and let the bubbles mix with my drink and fizzle up in my head. Somehow, I figured that might help me choose what path to take.

"I know, I know. But how are you?" Cameron's voice came through the line strained, concerned. "Your texts were vague today."

"Can you blame me?" I was on the sofa and halfway through my first glass. My feet were up, I'd unhooked my bra, and my brain was drowning in options and what-if's and burning queries I'd kept to myself all day. "You informed me that your super famous, super rich rockstar of a friend and employer wants to fake-date me to restore his image. Me. An absolute nobody. And you didn't step in for me, you didn't stand up and say no, because I'm yours, your girlfriend. So yeah, I'm vague."

I hadn't meant to unload all that on him, but in truth, I was upset with him, too. This had fallen out of nowhere, and he'd acted a bit too nonchalant about it, as if it were a common occurrence. He'd done nothing to ward Leo off.

It hit me. "Wait." I sneered, then remembered he couldn't see me. "You said when that he met your significant others, things went wrong..."

"No. Not like that." He shifted in his spot. "He's never asked to fake-date any of my significant others before you. He only met them, and...anyway, this is not that. Trust me, this situation is a first for me, too. That's why my reaction is so lacking, Emma. I don't know what to do."

"You shouldn't have let it get this far." I swirled the liquid in my glass. "You've seen him fake-date others. You're familiar with...how it all works."

There was a subtle change in Cameron's voice. "And you have questions?"

"I do, yeah. Is that okay? Because it's been bugging me. What would it all entail? What would I, the hypothetical fake girlfriend, have to do?" I took a sip and enjoyed the crisp liquid as it flowed down my throat.

"There's quite a list of shit." I could tell Cameron winced as he spoke. "Posing for pictures while you go out to eat or clubbing or go on walks, things like that. Making it look genuine, authentic. You'll have to draw paparazzi to you, get them to write about you. Holding hands, hugging...kissing," I knew he grimaced at that, "convincing everyone that you and Leo have been together for a while, but hiding. It's demanding and time-consuming."

"Clearly." I chugged a few more swigs of the wine, not savoring it as much.

"I'll be honest with you," he said; a breathiness in his tone implied he was walking. "Others that we've hired gave up within a few months. That's why so many of his relationships didn't seem to last long; it's because he was a lot to handle. The press is a lot to handle, too. It's a complete change of lifestyle, and it's hard."

The term hired spooked me. "These people get paid?"

"With all the work they have to put in to fix his reputation, yeah, they're compensated. And their help wildly contributed to helping him...but he goes and fucks it up again, all the time."

Money was always at the forefront of my mind, as much as I hated admitting it. With my low-paying position at LuXe, I'd once hoped to get a second job, but I was so busy I never had the time. But this...getting paid to pose as someone's girlfriend...that didn't sound like a half-bad gig. And if it was all staged, all pretend...

"That's a bonus point, I guess. But it would be tough with my schedule." I recalled how he'd flinched when I implied he'd get in trouble if I refused; but if he told them I was considering this, would that buy me more time to debate it? Would it buy him more time? "Look, I want to give this some serious thought. I want to help you and him out, but I'm still having difficulty with it. It's so strange, so...awkward. Me? Are you sure he meant me?"

"He said he wanted Emmaline, my girlfriend." Cameron's breath hit the receiver, heavily. "He wasn't referring to anyone else."

"And with my job," I pinched the bridge of my nose, "I don't think I can make it work. I assume I'd need to be available at the drop of a hat to accommodate Leo, and you know I can't do that. Mr. Ivy's demands will always come first. If I lose this position...I'm never going to get where I want to be, Cam."

"If that's all that's stopping you, then it's not a problem. If you consent to this, Leo's team will pay you, like I said. It's a shit-ton more than what you make at LuXe, I promise you that." He huffed. "You wouldn't need that damn job anymore."

I gritted my teeth. "Yeah, but that damn job is important to me, as much as I hate it. I'm there for a reason. It's my only way to get ahead, to make a name for myself in the industry."

"I know, I didn't mean to—"

The words flowed out of me without restraint. "I need that recommendation on my resume, that ladder to climb to reach my goals, to move higher into the fashion reporting world." As bad as it made me sound, I didn't care. My career was my focus, my ambition, and I thought I'd made that clear to Cameron.

"I know, Emma." I imagined his frustration, the lines drawing across his forehead, his lips down-turning. "But that job is killing you. It's fucking with your self-esteem, your self-worth. I don't want to advocate for you to play around as Leo's girlfriend, but this is an opportunity. Yeah, LuXe might help you with your resume, your portfolio; but Leo will help you, guaranteed. Dating him would open some doors for you, have you thought of that?"

There he was vouching for Leo, subtly shifting me in that direction. He didn't want me to do it, and yet he was telling me if I did, it'd help me in my future endeavors?

I grabbed a pillow, squeezing it tight to my chest as I set the phone down and put Cameron on speaker. "I want to make it in the fashion world based on my talent, not based on who I know, who I'm dating."

"Then you can set aside a bunch of money, move to a better apartment in a better area with better opportunities for you. The money..." He released a breath that I interpreted as impatience. "It's worth it, believe me. I wouldn't be pushing you towards this if it wasn't. Putting my feelings aside, this could be beneficial for you."

Why was he putting his feelings aside? That bugged me the most.

"And what about for us? How does me fake-dating your boss do anything for our relationship?"

He groaned, though I got the impression that he was trying to keep it low, to ensure I didn't hear it. "It saves me and my job, which is beneficial to our relationship, isn't it?"

My hands curled into fists. "I don't like this, any of it. We've been in such a great place, you and I, and I'm having feelings, and this—"

"—again, I know. This is devastating. I'm pissed at Leo. But I see the positive in things whenever possible. If you do this for a few months, it'll be worth it in the long run. A few months of letting him wine and dine you, and pretending to like each other, love each other. Go on a tour with us. Maybe attend an award show. A walk in the park, literally."

"Wow." I clenched my core, holding in my immediate thoughts.

The things flooding my brain were hurtful; towards myself, and towards Cameron. And towards Leo, too. For being so bold as to think he could demand to date someone who was unavailable to him. For thinking that due to his billionaire rockstar status, he could get everything and anything he wanted. That he could toss money at the first pretty girl he met and put her in such a shitty situation.

"Am I some kind of high-level escort to a celebrity, then? If I accept this, is that what I become?" I heard his mouth open to reply, but I wouldn't give him a chance to apologize. "No, Cameron. No. This is too much, and I'm not sure I can do it."

Without waiting for him, I pressed the red button and hung up the call, staring at the screen as it turned black.

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