“That’s all you’ve got for me? ‘It’s going great’?”

“I don’t want to give anything away and spoil the surprise.” I ground my teeth in a grimace, then poured it on even thicker. “But the town is everything I expected it to be and more. I promise you’ll be impressed.”

“I believe it. The cookie movie had four million viewers. Match that with your story, and the full-time job is yours.”

Four million? The listicles I’d published during my temporary gig at Tea had each garnered somewhere between five thousand and fifteen thousand views. My blood ran cold. Was he out of his mind? “I’m not sure I can—”

“Ha!” Derek’s laughter reverberated through the phone line at such a high volume over the next several moments, Finn could probably hear it in his room. “Oh, Adina. Of course I don’t expect your story to be read by four million people.” The cackling continued.

My body begged to be relieved of the tension he’d just caused, but I was still afraid to breathe.

“Let’s aim for twenty thousand unique hits. And send me your résumé with the completed article.”

“Will do!” I accepted his challenge of reaching twenty thousand readers with an outward confidence that disguised how doubtful I was in my ability to stream together even four hundred words.

After we ended the call, I turned the phone on silent and crawled back under the covers into the fetal position. How did I get here? Derek had finally green-lit one of my pitches and I’d blown it. And rather than come clean, I’d full-on lied to him. I promise you’ll be impressed. I called him DerDick, but what if the problem was me, not him? Maybe he knew something I didn’t—that I was a decent stand-in for a real journalist in a pinch but didn’t have what it took to do it for a living.

I swatted the notion away like a fly and closed my eyes. It wasn’t over until it was over. If I was lucky, my dreams would show me the way out of this mess or at least inspire me in the right direction.

*    *    *

I opened my eyes and stretched out in bed, then checked the time on my phone. It was past seven. I’d napped for almost three hours and missed a text from Kate, undoubtedly inquiring about Garrett.

Please tell me you’re still with the sexy handyman. How many interrupted kisses have you guys had so far?