Page 30 of Pretend To Be Mine

Elizabeth looked beautiful but stiff. In every shot where I was touching her, her smile was forced, her posture wooden, her eyes slightly panicked.

The pictures wouldn’t convince anyone we loved each other.

“I know you said she’s not a professional, but we’re going to need her to relax. You don’t want these pictures going out.”

He was right. Of course he was right.

“Let’s call it for today,” I said. “We’ll reschedule.”

“You sure? We could keep trying⁠—”

“I’m sure. This isn’t working and pushing it isn’t going to help.” I looked over at Elizabeth, who was standing awkwardly by the backdrop, looking lost.

I walked over to where she was standing.

“I’m sorry,” she said immediately. “I know I’m doing terrible. I’m trying, but⁠—”

“Hey, it’s fine. This isn’t your fault.” I kept my voice gentle, even though frustration was simmering under my skin. “You’ve never done this before.”

“What happens now?”

“Come back tomorrow. We’re going to do a training session. It’ll help. I promise.”

She looked doubtful but nodded. “Okay. Tomorrow. I can do that.”

There was a little voice in the back of my head that said it was anything but fine. But we were already in too deep. There was no turning back now.

10

ELIZABETH

Iarrived at the studio first thing in the morning with a knot in my stomach that had been there since I’d woken up. Yesterday’s failed photoshoot kept replaying in my head. I had felt like a fish out of water. That wasn’t a good metaphor because a fish would have been flopping. I was still as a statue with about as much personality.

I was so embarrassed. Adrian was a natural in front of the camera. After a little Googling, I figured out why. He was a model. I was engaged to a freaking model! Of course I was going to look ridiculous trying to keep up with him.

But today I was going to do my best to look like the woman he was going to marry. The pictures from the press conference had actually looked pretty good. For those, I’d only had a five-minute tutorial. Surely, with a real training session I could loosen up enough to look like a human instead of a robot.

When I walked in, the first person I saw was Sebastian. He was lounging in a director’s chair with one leg crossed over the other, looking like he’d just stepped out of a photoshoot himself. And he wasn’t alone.

The two models from the fitting room—both impossibly tall and beautiful—flanked him like matching bookends. One was draped across the arm of his chair, the other leaning against his shoulder, both laughing at something he’d said.

And all that confidence I tried to pump into my veins evaporated the second I saw them.

“Elizabeth!” Sebastian called out when he saw me, disentangling himself from the women. “Welcome to modeling boot camp. These lovely ladies are Natasha and Simone. They’re going to help us turn you into a camera-ready goddess.”

Natasha—or maybe it was Simone, I couldn’t remember which was which—gave me an assessing look. “She’s got good bones. We can work with this.”

“Thanks?” I said uncertainly.

Sebastian grinned. “Don’t worry, we’ll be gentle. Mostly. Adrian should be here any minute. He texted saying he got held up with a phone call.”

As if summoned, the studio door opened and Adrian walked in. He was wearing dark jeans and a black button-down with the sleeves rolled up, somehow managing to look both casual and devastatingly handsome. His eyes found me immediately. I felt that now-familiar flutter in my stomach.

“Morning,” he said, setting down a coffee carrier with five cups. “Figured everyone could use caffeine.”

The models descended on the coffee like beautiful, graceful vultures. I hung back, trying not to stare at Adrian’s forearms. When had forearms become so distracting?

“Alright,” Adrian said, all business now. “Elizabeth, the issue yesterday was that you looked uncomfortable. So today we’re going to practice until being in front of a camera feels natural. We’ll try different things. Whatever it takes.”