Page 6

SAVANNAH

T he hallway felt suffocating, like it still held the static of everything that had just happened behind that door. Like his voice and his touch hadn’t quite faded from the air around me. I walked fast, trying to leave that heat behind before I let it get in my head and mess up my whole day.

My heels clacked too loudly on the marble floor as I walked toward the elevators.

My blouse stuck to the back of my skin which was damp with sweat.

My hands were shaky. I still wasn’t sure I was breathing right.

There was moisture in places there shouldn’t be, and my head was a mess of what-the-heck and please-sir-more battling for dominance.

The moment I stepped into the elevator, the doors slid shut behind me with a rush, and I finally let out a breath.

Then the mirrored walls caught me. Hair slightly mussed.

Lipstick rubbed mostly off. The faintest sheen of perspiration clung to my neck.

My cheeks were pink from heat, and to anyone else, they’d think I just ran a mile.

“Jesus,” I grimaced, reaching up to smooth my hair and swallowing back the noise rising in my throat.

This couldn’t happen again. This couldn’t be a thing with Dominic. Not with everything at stake. What would Dad say? Because if I thought things would be bad six years ago when he was running for office the first time, how much worse would it be now that he’d held that office for five full years?

But my body wasn’t listening. It still pulsed—every nerve ending hummed from the way he’d gripped my hips and buried himself deep. God, I?—

The elevator dinged as it arrived at the eighth floor, where the PR division offices stretched in a long line of glass and chrome.

The doors slid open and I stepped out, blinking hard and forcing myself to return to the world of press releases and spreadsheets.

I could not afford to spiral out of control on my second day here.

Except Vanessa Roarke was already standing there, arms crossed, a sly smile curving her mouth like she knew exactly what I’d just done.

I bristled before she even spoke, because like any good girl, I was paranoid that my indiscretions would be caught and I’d be exposed.

I never did anything wrong. At least, I never meant to.

“Got a second, Bennett?”

“Not really,” I muttered, sidestepping toward my office. This woman didn’t work for me or for Raven & Rhodes. She worked for Dominic, and since the merger wasn’t official yet, I didn’t have to answer to her.

She moved with me as I clicked my way up the marble floor toward my office. “You’ll want to hear this,” she chimed, and I winced as I braced myself for whatever it was she was going to say.

I paused, trying to get a read on her. I didn’t know Vanessa well, but there was a sharpness in her tone and a confidence in her posture that told me she didn’t come down here for small talk.

“Fine,” I said. “Walk and talk.”

She matched my pace, her heels clicking in tandem with mine as we moved briskly down the hallway together. “The CEO met with Mr. Knight after your planning session. They’re greenlighting the investor rollout package. Branding, press, everything. And they want you as the face.”

I slowed but didn’t stop walking. We were nearing my office, and I hoped this conversation would be over before then. “The face?”

Vanessa nodded and waved her free hand around as she clutched a portfolio folder to her chest with the other.

“Well, you and Dominic. You two present well. They want the public to see you and Dominic as a power couple—reliable, attractive, and perfectly in sync.” Her words almost choked me.

I had to swallow a knot constricting my throat.

I’d heard of companies branding their executives to gain shareholder approval, but this seemed far-fetched.

“Cohesive?” I asked. I sucked in a deep breath and glanced nervously at the door to my office, where the emblazoned name on the door didn’t have as much sparkle this time around. Maybe it was because my conscience was tainted with shame and guilt now.

“Look,” she said, stopping at my office door, “This is a compliment. The camera will love you two. Chemistry sells. You’re the strategist. He’s the bankroll.

It’s catnip for the press.” She shrugs. “Besides, R & R shareholders need something to believe in. The board is sketchy on this merger as it is, but with their shareholders restless, they’ll never settle into a full contract.

We have to make Dominic shine.” I hated the sound of his name on her lips. Hated it.

I stared at her, struggling to form a response as the weight of her words sank in.

Humanizing Knight was the play, which I understood.

I told him myself that he wasn’t the people’s billionaire.

Men like Gates and Musk got attention for their exploits or large families with happy children on camera.

A powerful, wealthy, single billionaire just oozed cockiness and arrogance. Softening him was crucial.

“They’re not asking you to lie,” she added quickly. “Just…lean into the narrative. We position it as a workplace romance. Build some buzz. Get people emotionally invested.”

“Fake date him?” I asked, scoffing. I started to chuckle as the irony of the situation coiled around my chest. It kept my lungs loose and functioning, otherwise I might have wretched right there.

“Sell the story…” Vanessa narrowed her eyes at me and cocked her head.

“Jesus Christ,” I breathed.

Vanessa’s smile widened like this was her favorite kind of mess. “You okay?” Her head tilted back as I sighed hard. Fate wasn’t just tossing me into the fire, it was burning me alive.

“Peachy,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

She walked off without a care in the world, and I stood frozen in front of my office door, my head spinning.

Fake date him? Be his media girlfriend? I could barely sit through a meeting without reliving the way he tasted.

My phone buzzed with a text notification, the screen lighting up with Thea’s name and a message that made me feel equal parts relief and comfort.

Thea: 11:14 AM: Lunch? You owe me the rest of the tea.

Savannah: 11:15 AM: Pick the place. I’m already spiraling.

The next forty-five minutes were unbearable.

I couldn’t sit still, couldn’t finish a sentence without my mind circling back to Dominic—his hands, his mouth, the way my name sounded on his lips—and then spinning straight into Vanessa’s voice, pitching a corporate fantasy that felt like a setup for emotional collapse.

By the time I made it up to the rooftop patio for lunch, my pulse was still erratic, and I was one anxious breath away from cracking wide open.

The rooftop was quiet. Urban chic with reclaimed wood, iron beams erected as a pergola, and a hefty smattering of climbing, flowering vines to offer shade.

Thea waved me over from a cozy table near the railing where the view of the city stretched for miles.

She already had our lunches set out and a broad smile that told me the morning with the boys hadn’t been all torture.

“Sit. Tell me everything.” She patted the table and grinned at me as she picked up her paper cup and bit the end of the straw between her teeth.

I collapsed onto the seat across from her, leaned my elbows on the table, and tried not to scream.

“They want me to fake date him.” There was no crafty way to state how stupid it sounded.

I could’ve named a thousand women in this city to set him up with, but they chose me.

I was certain he wasn’t innocent of suggesting me.

Thea blinked. “They want you to what?” She coughed and spluttered through her drink and set it down, taking a napkin to dab away droplets of orange pop from her chin.

“Vanessa—the PR lady for Knight Holdings—says the board thinks Dominic and I have chemistry. And they want to capitalize on it. Brand it. Use it to sell the rollout so shareholders see him as a good guy.”

Thea continued to choke on her soda as she said, “They want you to fake date him? Him?” Her eyebrows rose, but it was the last thing I saw before I nodded and dropped my head into my hands.

“Oh, honey,” she cooed as I felt her hand wrap around my arm.

“Right?” I sighed, then I looked up at her and let my shoulders sink. There was no way I was telling her what happened only moments before that, at least not until I understood it all. Dom and I had chemistry—that had never changed. But my lack of professional decorum felt like a moral failure.

She waited until I looked at her. “Are you going to do it?”

I hesitated, long enough for her to sigh.

“Bills are stacking up, Savannah. Preschool tuition isn’t going to wait.

Your resume needs this experience, and the visibility alone could open doors you haven’t even knocked on yet.

” Her grimace spoke volumes. She was concerned, as was I.

I did need this job, and I owed it to her to make sure she got her shot to do what she wanted, finish her degree.

“I know,” I grumbled, turning my attention toward the sandwich wrapped in wax paper lying in front of me. I unwrapped it and took a bite, chewing carefully as my wheels turned. If I refused this, it would put me on Mr. Vance’s red list already, and that wasn’t good for my future at Raven & Rhodes.

“Then what’s the problem?”

I lifted my head. “The problem is that I know what it feels like to sleep with him. And I know what it felt like to keep his babies a secret. And I am not okay with having to sit across from him and smile and pretend, Thea. It was a one-night stand, but I had real feelings for him for a while.” Feelings I wasn’t certain ever left.

She exhaled. “You think this thing—this fake-dating charade—might turn into something real?”