Grace, nooooooooo!

Her friends knew what they were doing, however. Camille was eating it up, and Kelli looked positively livid.

“But I can provide a real relationship,” Kelli whined. “Julie has to use a guy for a fake one.”

Camille nodded at Julie as though Kelli hadn’t spoken. “I like it. We can call it ‘Undercover Girlfriend.’ Good work, Ms. Greene. I look forward to reading your draft.”

Mitchell’s steady, kind face flashed before her eyes, and she felt sick to her stomach.

“Wait, Camille!” she blurted out. Grace and Riley shot her warning looks, which she ignored. “The undercover-girlfriend aspect isn’t really shaping up like I’d hoped, and I was thinking a new direction, maybe—”

Camille held up a hand. “Your first draft is due in just a couple of weeks. And while I certainly don’t doubt that you can pull something else together, it won’t be as strong as your original idea or what Kelli can offer.”

“But—”

“Either you can go through with your original plan or Kelli can cover your spot in this issue. What’ll it be?”

Julie felt something fierce throb at her temple. She wanted to rage at Camille, who was being completely bullheaded and unreasonable, but that was futile.

Her heart demanded that she step aside. Her career wasn’t worth the pain. Not to herself, and certainly not to Mitchell.

She had opened her mouth to concede when she caught sight of Kelli grinning broadly and already scribbling something in her glittery purple notebook.

“I’ll do it,” she heard herself say. “I’ll finish what I started.”

Camille looked pleased. Kelli looked constipated. Grace and Riley looked worried.

And Julie felt even more ill.

The rest of the meeting passed in a blur, and when it was over, she nearly bolted from the stifling conference room, desperate for fresh air.

Grace and Julie flanked her on either side as they steered her toward the elevator instead of their shared office.

“Sorry,” Grace said quietly. “I didn’t realize how conflicted you were over this until it was too late.”

“Me neither,” Riley said by way of apology. “What are you going to do now?”

Julie gave a mirthless laugh. She had no choice. “Now? Now I pull out the big guns.”

“Threesome?” Riley asked.

“No. Movie night.”

Chapter Nine

“I think I made a mistake.”

Colin halted in the doorway in surprise, his coffee sloshing over the side of his company mug. “Jesus, Forbes, what the hell are you doing in my office?”

Certainly not catching a glimpse of Liberty Island. Colin really did have a shitty view. But Mitchell didn’t spare the ugly office building out Colin’s window a second glance. He barely even registered it.

For the first time in his professional career, he was camped out in a colleague’s office, waiting to get some advice.

“What’s this about a mistake? Did the Fox deal not go as planned?” Colin asked as he grabbed a tissue and dabbed the coffee off his hand.

“Fuck the Fox deal. This is about the bet. You know that ridiculous plan we came up with after one too many shots of Maker’s Mark?”

Colin grinned. “Of course I know the bet. The whole floor knows about the bet. I have a pool going.”

Mitchell ground his teeth. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“Nope. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to plant the seed. That way people won’t be surprised when we switch offices in a few weeks. After you lose.”

But Mitchell wasn’t thinking about winning or losing.

He was thinking about what would happen if news got back to Julie. Having it be between him and Colin was one thing. But the entire office?

“You idiot,” Mitchell growled. “Do you have any idea how fast gossip travels in this town?”

Colin shrugged as he plopped into his swiveling desk chair, immediately beginning to spin and reminding Mitchell of a troublemaking sixth grader. “Don’t worry, dude. They all know the stakes. And everyone’s been cautioned to be careful around Greg Parsons. He’ll turn around and tell Grace, and she’ll babble to her best friend and ruin all the fun.”

Even if Greg didn’t tell Grace, all it would take was one loose-lipped intern, and this shit would be all over the gossip columns.

As if trying to keep Julie at arm’s length when she seemed determined to wriggle under his skin wasn’t stressful enough, now he had the added pressure of having to make sure she didn’t find out about the bet. A bet that had officially gone from being a spontaneous error in judgment to the worst decision of his life. He’d thought it would be a helpful reassurance that he wasn’t a docile, wife-seeking drone.

Instead it was a sad reminder that he was a complete son of a bitch.

And if Julie found out about it . . . Mitchell’s stomach twisted at the thought.

He wanted to punch the smug expression from Colin’s face, but he knew it would only be a deflection of his own guilt. Colin might have instigated the dumb bet, but Mitchell should have refused outright. Or at least he should have opted out once he realized she wasn’t some fluffy ditz who could be easily set aside when it was over.

Do it now. Call it off now. It was the smart decision. The right decision. But that would mean failure. Not something Mitchell had ever suffered lightly.

And truthfully, underneath the guilt of it all, Mitchell wasn’t ready to let it go.

For the first time he could remember, he genuinely looked forward to spending time with a woman. With Julie, there was no suffocating pressure. No expectation that he always be “on.”

They simply enjoyed each other in bed and out of bed, and there was never any tedious thought or talk of what they were or where they were going. Hell, Evelyn hadn’t been able to go a month without sitting him down for a “compatibility check” to make sure they still had the same goals.

Evelyn. God, that night at the opera had been up there with every man’s worst nightmare. He’d half expected John Blake to come at him with a shotgun. He might have preferred it. Instead the senator had treated him the way he always had—like a son.

And Evelyn—he hadn’t realized how much he’d hurt her. Maybe he hadn’t let himself realize. Somehow he’d convinced himself that she was like him, going along with the relationship simply because it was expected. But seeing her again, with her heart in her eyes, had ripped at him.

Because while she’d been making eyes at him, he’d only had eyes for Julie.

Julie, with whom there was none of the garbage, none of the boring stuff. Nothing but laughs and sex and fun. There was never any sign that she was trying to wangle a ring from him or turn his office into a nursery.

At least there hadn’t been until last night.

He took a deep breath and sat in the chair across from Colin. He wasn’t used to sharing confidences with anyone, much less coworkers, but he needed help. Advice.

“Julie suggested we stay in this weekend,” Mitchell blurted out. “For a movie night.”

Colin paused in the obnoxious swaying of his swivel chair. “Uh-oh.”

Exactly. Mitchell had nothing against staying in on weekend nights. He actually preferred it. He hated crowds, hated “the scene.” He and Evelyn had made a Friday ritual out of checking out the latest independent film releases, usually with a bowl of healthy air-popped popcorn and a bit of olive oil. Evelyn didn’t eat animal fats, so butter hadn’t been an option.

But he knew what movie night meant. It meant that you were a couple.

Mitchell didn’t know which had alarmed him more: that the fun-loving Julie had even suggested it, or that he’d been aching to agree. A movie night with Julie wouldn’t have resembled anything he’d experienced with Evelyn. For starters, she’d want to watch one of those tacky, blockbuster affairs. And from the way she’d devoured her greasy fish and chips that first night, he doubted she’d have a problem with butter on her popcorn.

The prospect was oddly appealing.

Colin read his expression correctly and gave a gleeful guffaw. “You said yes, didn’t you? I knew it. You’re falling for this girl. There’s no way you can see someone casually without convincing yourself she has future potential.”