✨EXCERPT: WORST FAKING IDEA by Angela Casella releasing May 14th!
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“Let me get this straight. You want me to pretend to be your secret boyfriend, and in exchange, you’ll set me up with your cousin?”
“Sure!” she says quickly, her tone overly bright. “Let’s go with that. It sounds like an even exchange.”
“That’s an even worse idea than your original one.”
A familiar displeasure spills into her expression. “Fine. There must be something else you want. Something I can do for you…”
It suddenly hits me that there is something I need help with. Something I’ve been worrying about.
“Can you dog-sit next weekend? The band has a couple of shows in Atlanta. I’d need you to stay in my house, though. My dog’s a little…particular.”
She brightens, her whole face lighting up with hope, and of course she’s even more beautiful like this. Looking at me like I could be the solution to all of her problems rather than the cause of them. “Of course! I told you. I’d be a great pet owner.”
“All right.”
“I’m sure your dog and I will get along great,” she gushes.
I’m less sure, but I’ll give Nora this. She’s good at getting what she wants from people.
Just like she’s about to get what she wants from me.
“Okay,” I tell Nora, holding out my hand for a shake. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
The wattage of her face somehow increases further, and I’m surprised by how much it lightens my own mood to see her happy like this, knowing I played a part in it. Even if it was by agreeing to a ridiculous lie.
“You’ll pretend you’re my secret boyfriend in exchange for dog-sitting? Hell, yes.” She slips her small hand in mine. Her middle finger is slightly crooked, arcing to the right by a few millimeters, and I crush the urge to trace it as I give her hand a firm shake.
“So this is what it feels like to make a deal with the devil.”
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