“Did you say the press will be there?”

She winced slightly. “I am going to be calling the paps to anonymously report seeing him with a date.” My mouth opened in disbelief as she continued, “I was going to tell you. It’s fine. It won’t be a big deal, but, Sutton, this is part of the arrangement. You’ll be fine.”

“How can you be so sure?” I suddenly felt like I couldn’t handle any of this. Not dinner. Not the press. Not even being in Joseph’s presence under the pretense that we were dating and, what ... in love?

“Because there’s two hundred thousand non-pesos riding on it.”

Kayla’s words hit me like a two-by-four to the side of the head. I’d already forgotten about the money. I nodded toward her, pulled myself together, and walked back into my bedroom to tell Joseph that dinner tomorrow was a go.

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT the hell to wear even though I knew where we were going. I’d never been there, of course. The restaurant was not only out of my budget, but also out of my fun zone. It wasn’t the kind of place you went to have a good time and let loose. For whatever reason, this dinner in the public eye had me squirming.

I looked at the pile of clothes that now covered my floor and almost called the whole thing off. The biggest issue was that I wanted to look like I belonged on Joseph’s arm, but I also wanted to feel like myself, and I wasn’t sure how to merge the two into one.

Blowing out a breath, I picked up the black cocktail dress from the floor and put it back on. It was form-fitting, hugging my curves without being too revealing. With the right necklace and a pair of earrings, I could dress it up a little more. Kayla came bursting through my door without knocking and let out a whistle.

“Oh, damn. You sure you want to date Joseph and not me?” she said, and I laughed.

I loved Kayla but only as a friend even though, sometimes, I wondered if it would be easier to date a woman. Then, I remembered all of Kayla’s horror stories and realized that we were all equally screwed up and that dating was hard.

“It’s okay?”

“You look stunning. It’s perfect. He’ll be here in ten.”

“Okay,” I said before spraying some hair spray into my hair. I’d curled it earlier, and the subtle waves were already falling out. I touched up my eye makeup, darkening my smoky eyes a tad more, which made the green color stand out.

For some reason, I seemed to be working really hard to impress him. I’d be lying to myself if I said I was doing it for the press. I knew that I wasn’t.

Our door buzzed, and I heard Kayla press the button for the intercom before telling Joseph I’d be right down.