BooksBarbecue
Back First Comes Love
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

The question takes me off guard. I can’t exactly say, “Because I want my sister to rot with jealousy when I bring her dream guy home for Christmas.” He already thinks I’m nuts.

“We haven’t worked together in the past, so there wouldn’t be a conflict.”

Diego keeps his eyes trained on me for the longest time. “Am I the only actor in your agency’s database you haven’t worked with before?”

What else can I say to convince him? Only one plausible reason I can think of. “No,” I admit. “But you were the best-looking one.”

I don’t even think I’m lying right now.

My answer seems to have satisfied him. He smiles, forcing all the air out of my lungs. Now I get what breathtaking means.

Using basic yoga training to steady my respiration, I ask, “Then we have a deal?”

He offers me his hand. “Deal.”

After we shake on it, he pulls on his coat and guides me out of the Santa closet.

“So how is this going to work?” he asks once we reach the mall exit.

The cold night air hits us the moment we step outside. It’s freezing, and I’ve already had enough excitement for one day. So I say, “It’s late now. Why don’t we discuss the details tomorrow over lunch?”

“Okay.”

“You’ll find a missed call from me on your phone from about an hour ago. I’ll text you a place in the morning.”

“All right, boss.” As he says “boss,” Diego winks at me. Then he turns around to climb on a monstrous black bike that he starts with a roar. “See you tomorrow.”

I watch him put on a black helmet and speed away into traffic. I can’t believe he even has a bike. I really picked the perfect man for the job.

***

The next day, I’m the first to arrive at the restaurant. I’ve picked a taqueria not too far from my office, but not too close, either. The last thing I need is to run into a colleague while I’m negotiating contract terms with my fake boyfriend.

Wow, I still can’t believe I’m doing this, and that someone else has joined me in this crazy plan. I stare at the list of “hot topics” I’ve printed out, not sure Diego has grasped the full extent of what he agreed to yesterday. Might be my fault for being accidentally-on-purpose vague enough not to scare him away, but today I need to be one hundred percent assertive about what I want out of this deal.