Blair’s face is still super red from the choking, and even if her eyes are still teary, I can tell she can speak now. Only she doesn’t seem sure what she wants to say. She shakes her head, drops the mug on the bar, and starts massaging her temples. “Okay, let’s pretend for a second I don’t find this whole idea completely absurd, and that I’m keeping an open mind.” She looks back up at me. “Who is this guy? Where did you find him? And you asked him to move in? In my room? Without even asking me?”

I lean back against the stove, keeping the bar between us in case she decides to throttle me. She’s right, I should’ve at least asked her first, but I was desperate, and that’s what I tell her. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do…”

“But why do you need to live together?”

“We have to fool my family for a whole week, and it needs to be a good act… so we need to appear comfortable around each other.”

“But who is this person?”

“An actor. I hired him off the KCU’s database.”

“Have you worked with him before?”

“No.”

“So you’ve invited a complete stranger to live with you?”

“Desperate times, desperate measures.”

“But he could be a psycho, a rapist, a serial killer.”

“I’m sure he’s none of those things.”

“Yeah? How sure?”

“You can tell for yourself. He’ll be here in…” I check my watch. “Half an hour.”

“WHAT?” Blair shoots up from her stool and starts pacing around, shaking her head. “He’s coming over tonight? But where will he sleep?”

“The couch? I thought you were spending the night at Richard’s.”

“And what if I were? You would’ve let him sleep in my bed without even asking?”

“Oh, come on. We’ve always used each other’s rooms to host friends and family when the other was away, without asking.”

“Yeah, right. Friends and family, not complete strangers who—”

“Well, what was I supposed to do?” I raise my voice as tears of frustration fill my eyes. “Be the good girl, go home, and let Julia have everything she wants? Hasn’t she taken enough from me? I won’t let her win this time.”

“Okay, let’s calm down here.” Blair’s face softens. “The engagement and Paul joining your family for the holidays have been huge shocks. But is hiring this dude really the only answer?”

“If you have a better idea that will let me keep my sanity and my room back home, shoot…”

Blair goes to sit on the couch, and after a moment I join her. I can almost hear the wheels in her brain turning, trying to find an alternative solution. But after five minutes of scrunching her face and staring into space, she turns toward me, defeated.