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I’m too loud. Too annoyingly happy, while he’s way too uptight and cranky.

There may have always been a spark between us, but only on a physical level. I think Monty finds me attractive, but a real relationship would never, ever work between us.

“Maggie! Do you have any plans this weekend?” I ask when I track down my best friend in the office, finding her in the copy room.

“Nope. I’m staying in no matter what Wyatt tries to lure me into.”

“Then could you do me a huge favor and babysit Mr. Jingles from tomorrow until Monday evening?”

“Of course. Why? You finally taking a vacation?”

“Sort of. Monty wants me to go with him to Saint Christopher island and pretend I’m his fiancée. Oh, and he’s agreed to pay you a grand for pet sitting on such short notice.”

Maggie shakes her head and says, “Whoa. Hold on. How about you back this truck up and start from the beginning.”

“Okay,” I agree as I take a deep breath. “Do you have any plans this weekend?”

“Not that part! Skip to the part about you pretending to be Monty’s fiancée.”

I give her the cliff notes version of the lie. Her jaw gapes open the entire time.

“How has his mom never met Vanessa before? She doesn’t have social media? Won’t she have seen Vanessa in a photo with Monty?”

“Apparently not.”

“Wow. That is…one crazy favor.”

“Right? Those vacation days are going to be so worth it, though. Not to mention I’m going to try and get Monty drunk. He needs to chill the fuck out before he has a heart attack.”

“You know…this is all sounding like it could get super complicated with him being your boss and all,” Maggie starts.

“It’ll be fine. It’s Monty. He doesn’t cross lines.”

“Sure. Yeah. But we only know him here in the office. He could be totally different outside of work, out of the suits, you know?”

“I don’t think he ever loosens up, even on weekends.”

“Right, well, either way, my best friend is an attorney⁠—”

My indignant gasp interrupts her mid-sentence.

“Sorry. Obviously, you’re my best friend now. I meant my college bestie is an attorney in Wilmington. I can give him the details and have him draw up a contract, you know, just to make sure your employment here is covered no matter what happens while you’re doing this crazy ass favor for the boss.”

“That sounds like a lot of trouble. Are you sure he won’t mind?”

“I’m sure. He loves this sort of thing. His name is Teddy. Theo actually. I’m the only one who calls him Teddy.”

“Yes, Maggie. You’ve mentioned your college bestie Teddy once or two million times.”

“I have?”

“Yes!” She would probably never admit it, but I’m pretty sure she has a crush on the man even though she’s with Wyatt.

“Well, anyway, I’ll shoot Teddy an email and give him your phone number in case he needs more details.”

“Okay,” I agree. “I know Monty’s good for all the extras, but it’ll annoy the shit out of him to have to read the whole document and sign it. So have Teddy make it as long as possible with just boilerplate language.”

“Of course. He’s an expert at drawing things out. Attorneys get paid by the hour, you know.”