Page 49 of Pretend To Be Mine

“Girl, everyone knows that,” Liza said, waving a dismissive hand. “The Blackwell brothers and models? That’s old news. Give me something juicy!”

“Model airplanes, Liza.” Elizabeth’s smile widened. “Mostly World War Two era. He’s got a room full of them.”

For a second, genuine shock rendered me speechless.

Liza practically jumped out of her chair. “Adrian Blackwell, fashion icon, builds model airplanes? Now that’s a Liza Pizza exclusive!”

I felt heat creep up my neck—actual embarrassment, something I hadn’t experienced in years. “It’s not that interesting, Liza.”

“Are you kidding? This is adorable. You heard it here first, Pizza Lovers. Adrian Blackwell is secretly a history nerd!”

The chat went absolutely insane.

“NERD ALERT”

“Aww that’s actually so cute”

“She knows him so well!”

“SOULMATES”

“He’s good with his hands”

“Relationship goals.”

“I love this, men with hobbies!”

Liza was eating it up, bouncing in her seat. “Okay, okay, I need to know more. What kind of planes? Does Elizabeth help you build them?”

“We actually haven’t built one together yet,” Elizabeth said before I could answer. “But soon. When we’re together, there’s not a lot of time to build models.”

She said it with just enough innuendo to get the message across.

“That’s so sweet!” Liza clutched her heart dramatically.

The interview continued for another ten minutes, but the model airplane revelation had become the highlight.

By the time we wrapped, I’d gone from mortified to actually enjoying the conversation. Elizabeth had taken what could have been an embarrassing revelation and turned it into something humanizing. It made me seem more accessible and real.

As soon as Liza logged off, the studio door burst open. Sebastian, Briggs, and Dash all piled in.

“We’re already trending,” Dash said. “I couldn’t keep up with all the comments. They were blowing up all over social media.”

“You’re joking,” I said.

“Not even a little,” Dash said. “You two killed it.”

Briggs was reading something on his own phone. “The engagement from this interview is through the roof. Everyone’s talking about how genuine you two seem. The women are impressed with how Elizabeth clearly knows the real you. This is exactly the narrative we needed. Well done.”

“People love it,” Dash added, scrolling through comments. “They’re calling you relationship goals. They think Elizabeth is the best thing that ever happened to you. They want to know where she got her dress.”

Sebastian was still grinning. “I have to say, I had my doubts after Friday’s photoshoot disaster. But whatever you two did to fix things, keep doing it. You’re magic together now.”

16

ELIZABETH

Adrian had suggested coffee after the interview wrapped, saying we both needed caffeine and a chance to decompress after the Liza Pizza whirlwind. And of course, he had to make a joke about my shitty coffee offerings this morning.