Page 48 of Pretend To Be Mine

She looked calm.

Well, calmer than she would have looked yesterday.

“Awesome. And just so you know, my chat can get a little wild. They’re going to be typing comments the whole time, and some of them might be… creative. Just ignore anything weird and focus on me, okay?”

“Nothing is off limits,” I said. “Ask whatever you want.”

“Oh, I like you already.” Liza grinned. “Okay, we’re going live in thirty seconds. Remember, just have fun with it. This is supposed to be a celebration, not an interrogation.”

Liza’s entire demeanor shifted as the camera went live, her energy somehow ramping up even higher. “What’s up, Pizza Lovers! Your girl Liza here and do I have a treat for you today. I’m talking about fashion royalty, people. I’m talking about the engagement everyone is losing their minds over. Please help me welcome Adrian Blackwell and his gorgeous fiancée, Elizabeth Laramie!”

Comments started scrolling on the side of the screen, a rapid-fire stream of reactions from viewers.

“OMG IT’S REALLY THEM”

“Who is mister frownie face?”

“Talk about HAWT”

“She’s so pretty!”

“I want her dress”

I felt Elizabeth tense slightly beside me as she noticed the comments. I squeezed her hand gently. “Breathe,” I said with a smile.

“Let’s jump right in,” Liza said. “Everyone is DYING to know how you two met. I mean, Adrian Blackwell, confirmed bachelor, suddenly engaged? Give us the story!”

I prepared for this question. We already had the story ready. “We met at a fashion show. It was one of those industry events where everyone’s there to see and be seen, but I saw Elizabeth across the room and everything else just faded away into the background.”

“He’s exaggerating,” Elizabeth interjected. I glanced at her in surprise. She was smiling, playing along naturally. “I was standing in the corner trying not to spill champagne on myself.”

“But you were watching the collection,” I added, building on her improvisation. “Really watching. I thought, here’s someone who actually cares about the craft, not just the celebrity.”

“So, you went over and talked to her?” Liza prompted.

“I did. Turns out Elizabeth is a designer herself. A brilliant one. We started talking about design theory and construction techniques, and three hours later we were the last ones in the venue.”

“Elizabeth, what was your first impression of Adrian?” Liza asked.

She looked up at me. “Honestly? I thought he was going to be intimidating. His reputation precedes him.” Elizabeth’s smile turned slightly mischievous. “But then he started geeking out about dart placements and I realized he was just as much of a design nerd as I am.”

Liza clapped her hands together. “I love this! So it was love at first sight!”

“Just look at her. Who wouldn’t fall in love?”

The chat exploded with heart emojis and comments about relationship goals.

Liza asked a few more softball questions. Elizabeth handled them beautifully, her nerves barely showing.

Then Liza leaned forward with a gleam in her eye. “Okay, Elizabeth, I have a question for you. Tell the world something no one knows about Adrian Blackwell. Give us that Liza Pizza exclusive.”

I froze.

We hadn’t prepared for this. I had no idea what she’d say. Would she panic? Make something up that didn’t make sense? Or worse, accidentally reveal something that would expose the fake nature of our relationship?

Elizabeth turned to the camera with a confident smile. “Well, I’m glad you asked that. I think the world would be shocked to know Adrian Blackwell loves models.”

My stomach dropped. What was she doing?