Whatever. Luke tugged at the sleeves of his too-short dress shirt, rolled just below his elbows. Julia had commented on the shirt. Said she liked it. She’d even mentioned how it matched his eyes. Pleasure rippled through him, and he had to admit, Jay might be onto something with the dressing up thing.

“What are some of your favorite rom-coms?” Julia asked, pulling his attention back to the conversation.

Luke hesitated, surprised to realize he didn’t have a ready answer. Did he have a favorite? He’d never really thought about it. Over the years, he’d watched a metric ton of romantic comedies with Penelope. Many of them multiple times. He watched them because they made Pen happy. He liked the movies well enough, sure, but he didn’t love them like Pen did. “Honestly, I’m not sure I can pick one.”

“Really?” She quirked a dubious brow. “I would have thought anyone participating in this game must have at least one favorite.”

“Not necessarily,” Curt said, shaking his head and butting into the conversation.

Julia shifted her gaze. “Why are you here, then?”

“A wedding.”

“What?” She squinted at him in disbelief. “Is that your cover story, or backstory or whatever?”

“Nah, I can’t remember what that sheet they gave me said. My buddy is getting married here this weekend. For real. On Sunday.” Curt gestured with his butter knife toward another table. “That’s him over there with his finacée. This whole thing was her idea. Thought it would be romantic to act out some movie shit. Invited the whole group of us, all the bridesmaids and groomsmen, to get here a week early.”

“The entire wedding party?” Julia asked.

“Except the maid of honor.” Curt brushed bread crumbs from his jersey. “She’s the bride’s sister and is kind of a pain in the ass.”

Luke bit back a laugh. This guy was a character and they weren’t even paying him.

“Well, now that we know why Curt is here, anybody else care to share why they chose to come here this week?” Julia wondered.

Luke spared a glance across the table again. Currently, Zach was nuzzling the blond woman’s neck. And she didn’t seem to mind at all. He supposed he should be glad to see her enjoying herself, but he thought the reviewer would be eager to gather this kind of information, learn why people chose to participate in this game, what they were hoping to get out of the experience and all that. At the moment, she seemed interested in only one experience. Luke cleared his throat.

Zach lifted his head and met Luke’s eyes. There was a challenge in Mr. Rom-Com Hero’s face. A What are you gonna do about it, boss? look.