Page 33 of Face Off With Fate

Those blue eyes of his danced with a challenge. Jackass knew I was spouting out nonsense. None of the other women were asked to prove they could act.

I sucked my teeth, jotting down nonsense on the pad. “We needed to see if you can act under pressure, but appar⁠—”

“But wouldn’t it be better to act out being his girlfriend?” Lauren’s eyes slid to him. “I’d be happy to do that.”

“Well, you won’t be his girlfriend.” For the second time, words poured out of my mouth before my brain could think through the implications.

Lauren’s smile dropped.

“No, no.” She popped out of her chair. “I…I can act out walking a dog. I was just⁠—”

“Thank you so much for coming in, Lauren.” I forced a smile and stood. “But I’m afraid we’re going in a different direction.”

“That’s not fair.” Her voice rose two octaves, taking on a screeching quality. “My agent said you told him this was the perfect pairing. And you’re going to go a different direction because I won’t walk a fucking fake dog?” She turned to Monroe, face flushed as she pointed a finger my way. “Josh, I am so sorry if I’m overstepping, but your PR manager is a joke. I’d be happy to share my⁠—”

“You are.”

Her brows pulled together. “I’m sorry?”

“You are overstepping, and I don’t appreciate you talking about my people like that.”

Something lodged in my throat at his words, because truthfully, she was right. What the hell was I thinking with that whole little charade?

“It was nice meeting you.” Monroe stood, offering her a hand. “I hope everything works out well for you, Lauren.”

She stared, slack-jawed. “You are so not invited to my podcast,” she said, ignoring his hand and gathering her purse.

The slam was deafening, and my stomach dropped.

Seconds ticked by, and tension crackled between us.

“What the hell was that, Graciella? She checked all the boxes on this list you gave me.” He waved the paper in my face. “You even typed, ‘She’s the one,’ at the bottom.”

I blew out a breath, picking at my middle finger. Guess him having my back was all for show.

“Look, she seemed like a sweet girl, but she’s not right.”

His expression darkened. “And how exactly could you tell? Her dog walking technique wasn’t up to par?” The words dripped with frustration.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Exactly. What would she do if she needed to improvise in the moment? She couldn’t even do it in an interview.”

He shook his head and made his way toward the same door our last candidate had just left through.

“And she liked you too much,” I called after his retreating back. Unease curled low in my stomach when he paused over the partial truth, glancing back at me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I followed the polished grain of the table with the tip of my finger, attention trained on the grooves.

The truth danced on the tip of my tongue.

“Graciella, look at me.”

My eyes popped up at the growled command. There was at least six feet between us, but he felt too close for what I was about to say. My throat worked once before the words tumbled out.

“I didn’t like the way she looked at you. Like you two really had a shot at being a couple…” I straightened my back, schooling my face. “And that goes against your rules, right?”

Monroe stilled, other than his grip tightening on the door handle, and a flicker of surprise lit his eyes. He’d probably expected a lie, but I’d given him the truth. Or at least part of it.