“Thank you.” She put her hand on his knee and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “You’re a good guy, Jasper.”
He flipped his collar up Grease-style as she backed away. “You’re totally killing my bad-boy image here.”
She tilted her head, a quizzical look on her face. “Wait, you had a bad-boy image?”
“Hey,” he said in mock offense and reached for her.
She laughed and stood before he could grab her. “I’ll email you that list of businesses. And if I bring Cal to your show tonight, will you come out for drinks with us afterward?”
“Of course.” He fixed his collar and smoothed it down.
“Great.” She bit her lip. “By the way, just FYI, Cal has Tourette’s, too, but he has more verbal tics. So he’ll say some stuff that doesn’t make sense in the conversation. Usually snippets of song lyrics.”
Jasper nodded. “Got it. Thanks for the heads-up.”
“Also…”
“What?” he asked when she hesitated.
Her nose and cheek tics cycled through their dance. Something was bothering her, but all she said was “Never mind. See you later.”
Then, she lifted her hand in a quick goodbye and strode off toward the stairs that led back to her office. Only when she was out of sight did his brain finally come back online and retrieve the snippet of conversation he’d been reaching for earlier.
“No, I’m not a virgin. I dated my best friend in college.”
Her best friend.
Hell. That had to be the guy who was coming into town. Hollyn didn’t have a long list of friends. She definitely wouldn’t have a long list of best friends.
That was what she’d almost told him just now but chickened out on. He was going out for drinks with her ex. The only other guy she’d slept with. Fantastic.
He wasn’t particularly bothered by meeting someone’s ex-boyfriend. If Hollyn and Cal wanted to be together still, they would be. But he had no idea if she had an ulterior motive. She should’ve briefed him. Was she trying to make the guy jealous? Prove something? Was Jasper supposed to be cool and friendly? Overly affectionate and protective?
He didn’t like not knowing Hollyn’s motivation or his role.
Well, this should fun. Not awkward at all.
He turned back to his business plan. Suddenly, the numbers seemed like they might end up being the easiest thing on his agenda today.
* * *
Five Fake-Dating Movies to Binge This Weekend
By Miz Poppy
When I was figuring out what movies I wanted on my docket last weekend, I realized I was in the mood for a fake-dating marathon. You know the trope. For some reason—sometimes financial, sometimes revenge-related, sometimes for a wedding date—two people who (often) don’t like each other decide that the best solution to their current predicament is to fake date. There are rules to be followed, à la Fight Club: don’t tell anyone what’s really happening, keep your stories straight, decide on the appropriate level of public affection, decide whether you’re actually going to sleep together, and most importantly, do not fall in love. So simple in theory. So hard in practice.
Another version of this setup is when only one partner knows it’s fake and is being paid or encouraged to trick the other person into a relationship. The person in the dark has real feelings. Though those movies can work (fine, fine, who can resist Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You?), I’m not including them here in this list because that version of this plot has a sharper, crueler edge. In my perfect world, fake dating should be all about the consent on both sides. No one wants to fall in love and realize they’ve been duped.
So, want to fake it this weekend? Here are my top picks:
1. Pretty Woman
2. The Wedding Date
3. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
4. Can’t Buy Me Love
A knock sounded on Hollyn’s door, startling her from her blog post. She grinned and snapped her laptop shut, rushing to the front door to open it.
“Someone order a houseguest?” Cal asked, filling up her doorstep and smiling wide.
“Cal!” Hollyn breathed in the familiar cedar-soap scent of her old friend as Cal stepped through her doorway, dropped his bag with a thunk onto her floor, and enveloped her in one of his big, all-encompassing bear hugs. “Oh my god,” she said into his shoulder, her voice muffled by his shirt. “It’s so good to see you.”
Cal picked her up off her feet and kissed the crown of her head, his broad body making her feel like a little kid again. He set her down and gave her an affectionate smile. “Back at you, my panic station chicken.”
She groaned and shut the door behind him. “I refuse to accept that as a new nickname.”
He sniffed. “Too late. Burned into the brain.”
“Don’t make me kick you out this early in your visit,” she said, giving him a stern look.
“Don’t do that. I’ll be good. I feel like it’s been rolling stone rolling stone forever.” He gave her an up-and-down look, his shoulder lifting in a shrugging tic he’d had since she’d known him. She’d changed into a white sundress and gold sandals right before he’d arrived, forgoing her usual blend-in-to-the-background Miz Poppy wear since she was off duty tonight. He let out a low whistle. “Looking sharp, Tate. Rolling stone. Taking me out on the hella good town tonight? Am I underdressed?”
She took in Cal’s black T-shirt from The Glorious Sons concert he’d told her he’d gone to a few weeks ago and his dark jeans. His wavy brown hair was shoulder length now and tucked behind his ears. He’d also grown out his scruff to the just-woke-up-and-rolled-out-of-bed look. Cal had always been cute, but in the last two years, he’d moved into the hot-guy-in-a-band zone. “You look rock-star chic. Are women throwing their panties at you onstage yet?”
His lips curved, dimples appearing and his shoulder ticcing again, giving him this image of nonchalance. “It’s not 1987 on the Sunset Strip so no, hella good, but I do all right. And are you saying I look pretty, Tate?”
He mimed fluffing his hair, and she snorted. “You look great. Honestly. And not underdressed. We’re not going anywhere fancy. I was thinking shrimp po-boys for dinner and an improv show for our evening entertainment. You game?”
“Improv?” he asked. “I thought we were going to panic station check out some local bands.”
That had been the original plan, but she hadn’t yet told him about Jasper. She hoped just introducing them after the show would be the easiest route, so she could avoid Cal giving her the third degree beforehand. Jasper could win him over with that easy charm of his. “Maybe tomorrow. Tonight is a local improv group. I think you’ll like the show.”