“You can blast me on that same blog. Say I’m a scumbag who just wanted to get internet famous or some shit. I’m the grumpy bartender in town and you’re the quiet, nice girl. They’ll believe I was being a douche more than they’ll care about you lying.”

Sloane’s eyes narrowed again. “And what if I still didn’t want to play along now? Would you tell my secret? Is this blackmail?”

Again, Brady didn’t like the implication that he was a jackass. At least not like that.

“If you don’t want to do this, you can walk away now. I’ll keep your secret.”

“And what about Carol?”

“We can just say it was a joke. We thought it would be funny.”

Sloane sighed. “Which would be almost as much ammo for her to use as knowing about Marcus.” She took another small moment to look at him in thought. When she spoke again, it was slow. Deliberate. “If we do this, how long do we do it for?”

That wasn’t something Brady had thought about yet.

Seeing that Felicity, his Felicity, was engaged to Marcus had been a sucker punch. He’d known the two had gone on a date once, but he hadn’t heard anything else about it. He figured that meant they were through. But then there he’d been, standing behind the bar and reading the status update less than a minute after he’d found out another woman, Sloane, was wrapped up in the pretty boy. It had been enough to make him act.

Get a win for the bar? Check.

Keep the Robertson family from growing their ego even more? Check check.

“How long are you in town for?”

“I have a wedding to work in three weeks,” she answered. “My bosses are okay letting me lie low here until then. Plus, I work remotely when needed.”

“Perfect. Then that will be our timeline. For three weeks, we can play at being a couple. After that, we come up with a reason for our split and make it public. Something that doesn’t make me look like a jackass.”

“Or make me look like the most awkward person alive.”

Brady felt his eyebrow rise. “Does that mean you’re in?”

Sloane looked around the clearing—for what, he didn’t know—but then she heaved a long sigh.

She stuck out her hand. “If this helps, at the very least, to get Carol off my back, then I’m game.”

Brady placed his hand in hers. It was soft and warm and small. Just like her.

They shook.

“Then it looks like we have a deal.”

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

This time, Sloane didn’t have the luxury of blaming her bad decisions on drinking too much. No. This time she’d made the bad decision with a mostly clear head and a slightly intrigued libido.