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“Would you fake date Jude if he asked you to?”

“That would never happen.”

“Because you’d say no?”

“No, because Jude wouldn’t be able to keep his trap shut. He’d blow our cover immediately.”

I laugh. She’s right. But there’s that little smile again.

“Anyway, you’re the one going on a fake date,” she reminds me, glancing at her watch. “In ten minutes.”

My stomach plunges with nerves.

“Well, I’m not going to go over the top with this,” I say as I slip into the dress we picked out together a few minutes later. “I don’t see much of Eli as it is at work, and just because we’re pretending to be together”—I swallow down the nerves that threaten to come up at that—“doesn’t mean that’ll change.”

“No. Nothing will change at all,” Nora says.

But her lips are pinched again, and she won’t look me in the eye.

Twenty minutes later I hardly recognize myself. I haven’t gotten dressed up in a long time—at work I normally wear a black button-down and black pants, my hair pulled back and makeup demure. Classy and in the background, the way restaurant staff are meant to be.

“You look incredible,” Nora says, her hands clasped under her chin as I look in the full-length mirror in the hallway.

She chose my outfit: an emerald green sweater dress with a scoop neck and a hem that falls to just above my knees, along with dark tights and black ankle boots. I chose the dangling brass earrings and subtle makeup. With the black leather motorcycle jacket, I feel like I used to back in New York, back when I imagined a different future for myself.

“Reese, is that a smile I see?”

I frown. “Nope. Not at all.”

But of course that only makes my lips turn up again.

I don’t know why I’m smiling. I’m still dreading this date. But dammit, I look good—I feel good, for the first time in a long time.

It doesn’t last.

My phone buzzes, and a moment later, both of us are heading down the stairs, each step giving me increasing dread. Nora’s got Rufus on a leash—she begged me to let him stay with her tonight, promising it wasn’t because she wasn’t expecting me to go home.

“You’re going to be fine,” Nora says when we reach the bottom step and push into the lobby.

Rufus barks, pulling on his leash. “Rufus!” I exclaim. But my heart is racing, seeing Eli’s truck out there. Seeing the man walking around to the passenger side.

And goddammit, he looks handsome as hell.

CHAPTER5

Reese

TRACK:Gerry Rafferty, “Right Down the Line”

Eli’s not wearing a coat, even though the October air is brisk. He’s in a dark navy suit jacket that fits his broad shoulders impeccably. The pale blue shirt he wears under it is unbuttoned at the top and is tucked into slim jeans that encase his long legs. His thick, dark hair flops adorably onto his forehead as he thumbs something into the screen.

What have I done? What thehellhave I done? Eli’s the man I dread seeing. The man I barely acknowledge when we do see each other. The one who either sends my stomach plummeting each time I dosee him or fills me with hot rage.

“You can let him go,” I tell Nora. “Unfortunately, Rufus loves him.”

Eli looks up as Rufus bounds toward him.

“Hey, buddy!” Eli exclaims, getting down and catching my dog with open arms. He laughs as Rufus laps at his face, then vigorously scratches my completely disloyal dog behind the ears.