Page 20 of Pretend To Be Mine

“Oh, yes. This is the one for the first party.” She circled me, adjusting the fabric at my shoulders. “You look like a dream. Romantic, soft, exactly the kind of image Adrian needs right now. Damn, you’re going to be fun to dress.”

I caught my reflection in the three-way mirror and barely recognized myself. The dress transformed me into someone elegant, someone who might actually belong at Adrian Blackwell’s side.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” I whispered.

“Believe it, honey.” Annika’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out, her eyes scanning the screen. Her expression shifted. “Okay, change of plans. We need to get you prepped right now.”

“What? Why?”

“Because apparently, you have a press conference in half an hour.”

My stomach dropped. “What? No. I can’t. The ink isn’t even dry on the contract.”

“Ready or not, it’s happening.” Annika was already moving. “Take that off.”

She walked away and a few seconds later she stepped behind the screen where I stood in my bra and panties.

“Try this one.”

It was a cream-colored dress that looked like something Princess Catherine would wear.

“Annika, I can’t do a press conference. I don’t know what to say, I don’t know how to stand.”

She took my face in her hands, forcing me to meet her eyes. “Elizabeth, listen to me. I’m going to get you ready. Mary Jo, our makeup artist, is going to make you look like a million dollars. And you’re going to walk out there and stand next to Adrian and smile. That’s all you have to do. Can you smile?”

I nodded weakly. “I mean, not right now, but yeah.”

“Then we’re golden. Now get dressed. You have twenty-eight minutes till showtime.”

7

ADRIAN

Iwas playing it cool, but the text message I got from Dash had me considering running upstairs instead of waiting for the elevator. I was going to choke him. And then throw him from the window of his office.

But I kept it cool. I sent Annika a text and let her know I needed Elizabeth ready now and then I very calmly strolled through the office like the world wasn’t shifting under my feet.

I found Dash standing at the windows in his office with his phone pressed to his ear, nodding at whatever the person on the other end was saying. Briggs sat at the small table in the corner, laptop open, typing like his fingers were on fire.

I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Which one of you scheduled a press conference already?”

Dash glanced over his shoulder, held up one finger in a “just a minute” gesture, and went back to his call. I felt my blood pressure spike.

Briggs looked up from his laptop, reading my expression immediately. “Dash set it up this morning. He was going to tell you⁠—”

“This morning? Elizabeth signed the contract forty-five minutes ago.”

“I know, but⁠—”

“But nothing.” I moved into the room. My body was vibrating with frustration. “We agreed I would have time to prepare her. To ease her into this. You can’t just throw her to the wolves without warning. What if she hadn’t agreed to the deal?”

“Adrian, take a breath.” Briggs was trying to be the diplomatic one. He was going to use his lawyer bullshit on me.

I wasn’t having it. “She’s not a professional, Briggs. She’s my friend’s sister who agreed to help us out. This isn’t fair to her.”

Dash ended his call and turned around, completely unfazed by my anger. “Fair? Since when does fair enter into this equation? We have a job to do.”

“Don’t start with me right now.” Everything just got very real very fast. I wasn’t sure I was ready. Shit, I barely agreed to the stupid ruse. I was not expecting to announce my engagement. I felt like this was something a guy should work up to. “Why would you schedule something without consulting me first?”