“Nice to meet you,” Ruby said.

Amber skimmed her eyes over Ruby, appraising her like she was a piece of antique furniture. “So you’re Ruby. I’d tell you ‘I’ve heard so much about you,’ but Yvonne hasn’t told us a thing. She’s been keeping you secret all this time.”

“What can I say?” Yvonne took Ruby’s hand and drew it into her lap. “I wanted Ruby all to myself.”

Ruby’s skin tingled at Yvonne’s touch. Why was she so jumpy? This was just another pretend girlfriend gig.

A waitress, dressed in a corset and stiletto heels, came over to take their drink orders. As soon as she was gone, Amber sat forward, examining Yvonne and Ruby.

“So,” she said. “How did the two of you meet? Yvonne said it was on one of her trips to Vegas.”

“I already told you the story,” Yvonne said.

“I want to hear it from Ruby. When you talk about the two of you, it’s like pulling teeth.”

Ruby wasn’t surprised that Yvonne had been unconvincing when telling her friends about her ‘relationship’ with Ruby. Fortunately, Yvonne’s friends seemed to think her reluctance when it came to discussing the topic was a personality quirk.

Ruby was a much better actress than Yvonne. And right now, all eyes were on her.

It was time for her to earn her million dollars.

“We met at a bar in Vegas,” Ruby began. “I’d just finished work for the night and was having a drink. Yvonne was sitting at the bar by herself, so I went up and talked to her.”

“Oh?” Amber’s voice was tinged with amusement. “You were the one who made the first move?”

Ruby glanced at ‘her wife,’ who was struggling to hide her discomfort. “I tried to, but Yvonne made it clear she wasn’t having any of it. I had to work hard to win her over.” That much was true. It garnered a smirk from Gabrielle. “Then we got talking, had a few drinks, and one thing led to another. Yvonne flew back here the next day, but we kept in touch, and we started seeing each other casually whenever we got the chance.”

“And how exactly did you end up married?” Amber asked.

“Well, over time, things between us became less casual. Over time, we realized we had serious feelings for each other.” Ruby gazed lovingly at Yvonne for effect. “That was when we decided to tie the knot. It just felt right at the time.”

Ruby glanced at Amber and Gabrielle. It was clear they weren’t convinced.

“Okay, honestly?” Ruby said. “We were both completely drunk when we decided to get married. But once we woke up the next morning, we talked about our feelings and decided we wanted to stay married. We both wanted to be together, but we hadn’t had the courage to do anything about it until that night. The feelings had always been there.”

This time, when Ruby looked at the other women, they were studying Yvonne, who had managed to maintain her usual inscrutable expression throughout Ruby’s story. Nerves flitted in Ruby’s stomach. Could everyone see through the ruse?