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And then he’s gone. Out the door and out of sight for the next two weeks.
I pull my phone from my pocket. A new text from an unknown number sits unopened. A small smile plays on my lips as I wonder what kind of mischievous comment he might have sent me. But when I open it, disappointment replaces my eagerness.
Hey, it’s Kai.
So simple. All business.
Well, I asked for exactly that.
I rub my forehead, sigh, pick up my coffee cup, and trudge back to the register to finish my shift.
***
“So, you’re going to have to kiss him how many times?” Leah raises her eyebrow as she picks up a slice of pepperoni pizza from the box in front of her.
We’re sitting on the floor of her apartment, cueing up a fresh episode of The Bachelor, Leah’s favorite guilty pleasure.
“Um, well, there are at least two kisses in the script, eight shows a week…for at least three months, so like, I don’t know, a couple hundred times,” I reply flatly, taking a bite of my bland salad—the strict diet I’m already placed on.
“And there’s a sex scene too?” Leah asks.
I set my fork down. “Yeah, kinda. But it’s just a job. I’m getting paid for it.”
“I really don’t think they’d have to pay you to do that,” she murmurs with a grin.
“Leah…” I groan. “It’s not like that. He pr-”
“Yes, he promised you,” she completes my sentence. “I know, I know. Let me know how long that one lasts.”
I glare at her. “You don’t believe him?”
She licks her lips as she swallows a bite of pizza. “I believe he intends to keep his promise. But I don’t for a second think he can actually do it.”
I hate that she’s probably right.
“And I don’t think you can either,” she adds.
“What?” I look at her with wide eyes. “Of course I can!”
She tilts her head at me sympathetically. “Oh, Soph…you’re completely smitten. If you think you can go the next five months seeing him every day…kissing him…whispering sweet nothings to each other…letting him practically dry hump you…and not fall for him, you’re seriously kidding yourself.”
“Oh my God…Leah… We’ll be acting.” I scrunch my nose. I have more confidence in myself than that. “And I will not be falling for him. There’s nothing there worth falling for. I was caught off-guard that night at the club. But it won’t happen again. It’s just purely physical attraction.”
“Yeah, until it becomes more than that…” she mutters quietly, turning up the volume on the TV as the show begins.
“No. It will never be more than that.” My voice comes firm.
She shrugs. “Suit yourself. But I don’t believe it. I give it a month.”
I cross my arms and stare at the screen, watching the host introduce the bachelorettes for the new season, parading out in front of the man they all pine for. The fact that Leah thinks it will be so easy for me to fall for someone like Kai is appalling. He’d make a good bachelor, stringing along dozens of women with his practiced set of lines. He’s just another overly confident, testosterone-laden flirt with only one thing on his mind.
She clearly doesn’t know how seriously I’m going to take this role.
Well, I’ll prove her wrong.
***
“My name is Nick Sokolov. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sophie.” My dialect coach extends his hand to mine.
