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“We need to tell people.”

“Probably.”

“Noah, we’ve been invited to Brad’s engagement party.” She paused. “Next month.”

“Then we’ll tell them after Brad’s party,” he said.

Claire let out a weak laugh, though her narrowed eyes suggested she had noticed how conveniently he kept moving the deadline. Noah knew exactly how convenient it was. He had no intention of pointing that out.

“At this rate, we’ll still be pretending at Christmas,” she retorted.

They stopped in the hallway between their apartments. Noah leaned against the wall. “So we’re doing this.”

“I guess so. I guess we’re just dating now.”

“Fake dating.”

“Of course. This is temporary. We’ll fix it in a few weeks. For real.”

“Right. The rules.”

“Exactly. And we do not. . .” She hesitated. “Make it weird.”

Noah’s mouth twitched slightly. “Define weird.”

“You know what weird is.”

“I don’t think I do, Claire.”

He arranged his expression into one of complete innocence. Claire’s glare told him she did not believe it for a second. Finally, she said, “Most importantly, no real feelings.”

That landed differently. The air shifted. Just slightly.

For the first time all evening, Noah couldn’t hold her gaze. His smile disappeared. Not slowly. Completely.

“Right,” he said. Too calm. Too quick. “Of course.”

Claire studied him for half a second too long. Then she nodded, though he couldn’t tell whether she believed him. “Goodnight, Noah.”

She slipped inside and closed the door before he could answer.

Noah stood outside her door. He didn’t move right away. Just stood there. Staring at the wood like it had personally insulted him.

“No real feelings,” he repeated after her door closed.

A humorless laugh escaped him. That would have been a useful rule several months ago. Now it was far too late.

For the first time in a long time, Noah Carter, the man who fixed things, had no idea how to fix this.

CHAPTER 15

The Bookstore

Noah’s POV

Claire and Noah had gone out for dinner and somehow ended up wandering through Union Square afterward, with no particular reason to go home yet. Apparently, their fake relationship had expanded to include Saturday night dinners out, though neither of them acknowledged that they would have spent the evening together anyway.

They were walking down the street when Claire suddenly came to a halt. “Noah!” she gasped, grabbing his arm to stop him.