Page 35 of The Temporary Fiancée
“Just don’t forget that it’s temporary,” he says with a shrug. “You don’t want to hurt her, remember?”
“Of course I won’t. All I said was that it’s nice to have her around. The situation’s still simple, guys.”
“It is for now,” Cole comments.
I sigh through my nose, switching the weight to my left arm. I start to repeat the reps on the opposite side; thirty is more than I was planning for, but I don’t mind. “It’ll be easy to keep things easy. We’re both chill people. None of this has to get complicated—relax.”
“See, that’s exactly how I thought it would be with Riley,” Cole says. “And it wasn’t. I fucked up, and I hurt her.”
“And that turned out fine,” I point out.
“Yeah,” he scoffs. “In a way that you’re specifically trying to avoid. And did you miss the part where I said,I hurt her?”
“Olivia and I both know what’s going on here,” I say, letting the weight fall to my side. “We established ground rules. It’s all taken care of.”
At that, Cole and Declan exchange a glance, and the latter shakes his head. “Right,” he says drily. “Ground rules. That’ll help.”
“Listen.” Cole’s voice is firm, and it catches my attention. He’s not doling out advice anymore; there’s a warning in his tone. “Olivia’s happiness is important to Riley, which means it’s important to me, too. Got it?”
“Of course. I’m not going to hurt Olivia.” As serious as Cole sounds, I can’t help but roll my eyes. The guys seem way more concerned than they need to be. We have a literal contract in the works. There’s not very much room for things to go haywire.
There’s a flicker of doubt in the back of my mind, though. If there’s no room in our arrangement for any kind of mess, then it has all the more potential to blow up in our faces.
I shake my head, clearing those thoughts.We’re both more than capable of handling this. We’ll be okay.
In the mirrors that cover one wall of the private gym, I can see my reflection. My expression looks much less confident than I want it to.
“We both agreed to no feelings, no sex,” I add quickly, trying to convince myself as much as I’m trying to convince Cole and Declan. “It’s a clear-cut situation. Nosex,guys.” I don’t mention that we’ve already hooked up, though privately, I wonder if that makes things more complicated.
Cole nods, his lips pursed, and glances over at Declan. Declan’s brow furrows, but he says, “I suppose that would make things simpler.”
“It’s just business,” I continue. “We’re two friends doing each other a favor. That’s it.”
“If you say so, Reed,” says Cole, shrugging. He continues his stretches, bending over to touch the floor. For a minute or so, it’s quiet between the three of us. The silence is tense and uncertain, but at least they aren’t grilling me anymore.
“Sophie was on the phone with Riley yesterday,” Declan mentions offhand, changing the subject—at least somewhat. “They were talking about going out with Olivia. Something about the ring.”
“Oh, fuck.” I set the weight down on one of the benches. “I’m gonna have to get a ring, aren’t I?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Declan says with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure the girls have a plan. Sophie and Riley were going to take Olivia window shopping. They’ll send you pictures of the rings she likes.”
“Oh. That’s good.” For some reason, I’m glad about that—it’s a load off my mind. I really want to get Olivia a ring she’ll like, even though this is fake.
I take a deep breath, picturing a ring on her finger. A dozen cut gemstones flash through my thoughts, and as I close my eyes, I can visualize them perfectly.
Then I shake myself. I glance over at Declan. “Shoulders,” I say, and he nods.
“Yeah. Shoulders.”
As we move across the gym toward one of the machines, I still can’t fully tear my thoughts away from Olivia’s window shopping trip, or any of the hypothetical rings I’m imagining.
It’s not something I ever expected to imagine.
This is really happening.
“Absolutely not.”Olivia folds her arms, her posture stiff, making her look taller than she really is as she stares down the exasperated marketer across the table. “No way.”
“This is a crucial part of the agreement,” the man insists. “And it’s not even a huge issue. We need you to agree to at leastthreepublicized interviews?—”
