Page 98 of The Billionaire Mismatch

“Say that again,” Henry says.

“Should I?” I ask. “Because I’m pretty sure I just gave you a heart attack and might have sent you into a coma.”

“No, he’s right,” Kiersten says after taking a breath. Thank God. I was starting to think she had awake sleep apnea. Is that a thing? “I need you to say that again. Not just for us. But so you can hear it yourself.”

“I’m falling in love with him,” I repeat.

“Him who?” Henry asks.

“Luca! Luca Laurent,” I exhale. “I am falling in love with Luca Laurent.”

“Damn,” Henry lets out. We have exactly five minutes before we are supposed to go on the air for another episode of our catfish series. I decided that given the blowout with Sadie and the wine induced, balcony conversation with Luca, they needed to know. Especially since they are probably assuming I’m going to give an update on air.

Which, I’ve decided, I’m not. Not lying to anyone anymore means everyone. Luca, Sadie, Kiersten, Henry, and yes, my listeners. Four down…a couple hundred thousand to go.

“This is…” Kiersten stammers.

“Crazy, I know,” I say.

“I was going to say not going to work,” she says.

I blink. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you’re in love with him, that derails everything,” she goes off.

“Oh, I’m well aware,” I say.

“The series is going to go flat. And God only knows what it’s going to mean for the podcast,” she says.

“I was talking about my life,” I say back. “You think I wanted this?”

“I think it could have been prevented,” she says, and my mouth pops open in disbelief.

“Oh, right, because we have a say in who we fall in love with,”

“A little bit. I mean, some people are off-limits,” she says.

“What was I supposed to do?” I ask. “I was literally going out with him on dates to dinner and parties and hotels and–”

“The hotel part was your doing,” she snorts. “Nobody made you sleep with him.”

“Are you for real right now?” I ask, and Henry steps in.

“Ladies. This is a bit of a conundrum for sure,” he starts.

“It’s a fucking catastrophe,” Kiersten cuts him off. “Next she is going to tell us that she doesn’t want to do the podcast anymore.”

“I’m going to do the podcast,” I cut in, “but I do think the listeners need to be informed. I mean, I was wrong. We were all wrong. Luca isn’t what people think and–”

“Oh my god, you cannot be real right now!” Kiersten goes off. “You are literally throwing an iceberg in front of the Titanic right now,”

“I think that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?” I ask.

“Oookay!” Henry says over us, making his second attempt to gain control over the room. “This is not ideal. Obviously, if Olivia is in love with the king of catfish–”

“He’s not the king of catfish,” I say. “I feel like you guys aren’t hearing me.”

“Oh, we are hearing you alright,” Kiersten says. “You’re telling us you’re going to tank our most successful series to date all because being wined and dined is your type.”