Page 127 of Boyfriend of the Hour

“Is that right?” Carrick asked. “Got a little book club going between you?”

“Actually, yes,” I said a little too quickly. “We just read, um…”

“The Great Gatsby,” Nathan supplied. “It’s a classic. In honor of the apartment.”

I snorted, unable to keep back the laugh. He really did remember every little thing.

“Nate’s favorite book, huh?” Carrick replied, looking at me.

My eyes bugged. “Oh, yeah. Man, it’s so good, don’t you think?”

I wasterribleat this. I hadn’t been able to fake book discussions in high school either, so why had I chosen to lie about one now?

“Joni had never read it, so I read it to her,” Nathan said smoothly as he went back to playing with my hair.

The calming effect was instant.

“Oh, yeah? What was your favorite part, Joni?” Carrick asked. “Hope you paid attention. Nate was obsessed with that book in college.”

Oh, Nathan, you adorable, beautiful dork.

“Well, the part about Gatsby, of course,” I replied, fully conscious of how lame my response was.

“Who is…?” Carrick pressed.

I frowned. What was this, a book report? I never passed those either, even when I had legitimately tried to read the book. “The main character, obviously.”

“The one who defrauds people into thinking he’s someone else,” Nathan put in. He looked down at me. “It doesn’t matter how rich he is, how many parties he throws, he can never be something he’s not, which is really just a man from North Dakota.”

“It’s a good lesson,” Carrick remarked, looking at me. “There are some worlds you just can’t break into. No matter how good the costume.”

I blinked as remnants of the plot—at least the one I knew—came back to me. “Oh,right! Yeah, the movie version was kind of crazy, though. Leo DiCaprio is hot enough to play that Gatsby guy, but I did not think Beyoncé fit the twenties.”

“We like to compare the adaptations to the books,” Nathan confirmed oh-so-naturally. Which, for him, was about as stiff as one of his cutting boards.

As lies went, these weren’t our best. Nathan didn’t seem to have any experience at all with bullshitting people, and I had a feeling his brother knew that very well. Which was why I threw my legs over Nathan’s knees and pulled his face back to mine for another kiss, this one with enough tongue to last a solid minute.

Or at least until Carrick was uncomfortable enough to clear his throat.

Twice.

When I sat back up with a satisfied grin, Nathan looked a bit dazed. He shook his head and smiled. I was full of grins.

Carrick glowered at both of us.

“If you’re done,” he said. “It’s getting late.”

Nathan sighed and gently removed my legs from his. “Did you get a room at the Waldorf or the Plaza? I’ll have the doorman call you a car.”

Carrick was still eyeing me like I was about to grow a nose like Pinocchio. Whatever we thought we were doing, it wasn’t working. Not with him.

“Actually, I think I’ll just crash here,” he said. “Avoid the snow. Spend some time with my brother. Get to know his girl.”

Dread sank to the bottom of my stomach as I stood too. “Um…well…”

Carrick leered. “That’s okay, isn’t it? I assume you’re sharing a bedroom, so there’s a free room, right?”

Nathan and I traded petrified glances. There was absolutely no way out of this.