Page 66 of In the Frame

He grins back. “It is funny. Some people complain about their lover finding another. I’m complaining about the rival ballet scooping my man. But it was a promotion he couldn’t say no to. I understood.”

“There is transport to Birmingham, you know. It could happen if you want to make it happen.”

“It’s a bit complicated. Now he has a new local lover, and I need to move on.”

“Why are men like this?”

“As a man, I can safely say I have no idea.” Michael laughs, and so do I. “Let me get the next round.”

He does, and we settle in over pints, catching up on news back home. The latest in village scandals or rumors of a new build or who bought the Johnson residence after it sat on the market for a year. Or a favorite tree falling last winter that we used to climb on as kids.

“What are you going to do about this developer boyfriend of yours?” Michael asks finally. He twists his glass in his hands.

“Well, he’s only a fake boyfriend, officially,” I clarify. “An important detail. I really should tell him this weekend whether we’re still on for next Saturday night. Because otherwise, he will need to find another date, or I will need to find a tux. Which is another nightmare.”

“What do you want to do?” Michael tries. “Do you want to see him again?”

“Yes. Of course. But it’s impossible. It’s only going to make things worse⁠—”

Michael puts up a hand to stop me in my tracks. I gulp down some lager to stop talking. “So you like him.”

“I like him. I really don’t like his business plans, though. It’s hard to separate the two.”

“Then you should go.”

“Liking him,” I point out, “wasn’t part of our fake arrangement. That was… superfluous.”

Michael laughs with delight. “Sounds amazing. Love superfluous feelings getting mixed up in your schemes.”

I shake my head. “It’s a whole mess.”

“Well, maybe go and talk to him. Convince him to buy something else. Like, there’s got to be loads of other things he can buy, right? It doesn’t need to be the art studios.”

“I don’t know. He’s rather stubborn when he puts his mind to something, I’ve got that much.” But despite my reservations, I really want to see Florian again. Even if it’s one last time. Which is probably selfish and silly and only going to make things harder. But I want to see him in black tie. And honestly, I want to know more about Florian, which isn’t helping and is, in fact, guaranteed to complicate my feelings even more.

“You’re stubborn too.” Michael chuckles. “I remember.”

“Not that stubborn… but yeah, you’re probably right. Maybe I should consider going. Just to clear the air if nothing else.”

“Does this fake boyfriend have a name?”

“Mm. Florian.”

“Ooh, I like that.” He brightens. “Do you have a photo? I need all the details.”

“You’re so nosy,” I tease Michael.

“Need to suss out the competition, that’s all.”

Shaking my head, I pull out my phone and do a search on Florian’s full name. And there are imposing photographs of him. On the cover of a business magazine, a corporate profile on De Ligt Holdings.

“Let me see,” Michael entreats, holding out his hand for my phone, and I pass it over. He lifts his eyebrows. “Definitely hot.”

“Yeah. It’s terrible,” I complain. “Too hot. Also, he’s very posh, or at least he is now, and has a fancy house and a fancy car, and I live in a house share with a bunch of other people.”

He waves me off. “He’s obviously interested in you, right? If you have some kind of arrangement.”

“Well, maybe,” I concede. “It’s mutual.”