Her hair was black like mine, but she kept it in a stylish bob that made her look flirty and innocent. She was neither.

“Did his lawyer send you the paperwork he said he would after our call?” I zipped my platform thigh-high boots and stood to lace my corset. I was well past making rookie mistakes like lacing my corset before zipping my boots.

“Yeah, I haven’t dug in yet, but it’s meticulously spelled out from what I’ve seen so far. Clean bill of health. Straightforward language in the agreement. His attorney is kind of giving me a lawyer boner. I’ve never done a contract relationship quite like this before, but have been training for this day my whole life by reading anonymous celebrity gossip forums. Can I put a clause in there that says he can’t lose his six-pack?”

“Is that a thing?” I asked. “That can’t be a thing.”

I didn’t need to be thinking about his six-pack. Nor did I need to acknowledge how much time I’d accidentally spent looking at it when I’d searched him online earlier.

I didn’t get the answer from Ophelia because Victoria walked into the room and stood behind us, raising an eyebrow expectantly. In a long gown, with straight, ice blonde hair, she reminded me of a cross between a valkyrie and Morticia Addams.

I’d had the hots for her since the first time I’d laid eyes on her, but the feeling had never been reciprocated. When I was a brand new submissive just learning the ropes, I’d followed her around like a besotted puppy, wanting only to be more like her and possibly to fuck her stupid.

As I grew in skill and confidence, I stopped worshipping her and got over my crush. Now she was just my hot boss.

She leaned against the wall. “Aren’t you going to thank me?”

“Ummm, how about thanks for the fucking heads-up?”

Ophelia cackled delightedly. Victoria simply said, “You know you would’ve said no if I’d asked ahead of time. We wanted Alex Chase to show up in person and dazzle you. It seems you’re the one who did the dazzling if he wants you for a whole month.”

“Dazzle me? That arrogant dick is almost the reason I said no. How am I supposed to ‘date’ that?”

I turned to Ophelia. “Can we include a clause that says he’s not allowed to talk?”

“Just. Be. Pretty.” She pretended to spell out, then held her phone up with a picture of him that was supposedly from last night. The caption explained it was him with a beauty influencer, whatever the hell that meant, named Alicia, who was kissing him on the cheek. She was cute.

Ophelia cackled. “Hashtag total fuckboy…”

What did I care if he was getting ass when it was offered? I’d probably take Alicia the beauty influencer home too. But I couldn’t help wondering if it had been taken before or after he’d asked to fake date me. If he couldn't lock it down for one night, was he even going to be able to pretend to be faithful to our relationship or did I need to worry about being humiliated by a cheating scandal with my soon-to-be fake boyfriend on top of everything else?