Chapter 6
PHOEBE
I closed my eyes, resting my forehead against the cool window. I needed to find a second job—right away. I’d sent a ton of applications but mostly got standard rejections saying my profile didn’t fit their requirements.
No wonder. I’d spent five years managing a doctor’s office. Still, I was hopeful that if I did a good job as a part-timer, they’d increase my hours at H I knew backing out now would put him in an even worse position. “No, of course not. Tell me more.”
“The dinner is tomorrow evening.”
“What?” My voice was high-pitched.
“If you have plans, we can work around them.”
“I have no plans for the foreseeable year, Griffin. Really, I’m yours whenever you want.”
There was a pause before he said, “Good to know.” His voice was playful. Wait, no, it was more than that. It was… flirty?
I replayed my words in my mind and blushed. Why did I have to phrase it like that?
I cleared my throat. “So, where exactly are we going?”
“I don’t have the location yet, but I’ll tell you as soon as I book something. I’ll pick you up and then drop you off.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“And we’ll keep things simple. We’ll say that we’ve been dating for the past six months, but you’re a very private person. That’s why there are no pictures of us together.”
I played with the pendant at my neck, biting the inside of my cheek.
“You disagree?”
“Ha, you can tell that from silence? You’ve got skills.”
“In my experience, when someone doesn’t reply, it’s because they think I’m wrong.”
“I’m just thinking. By the way, are there pictures of you and other women?”
“Yes…that’s what got me in this mess in the first place. But it’s all circumstantial. I can argue that they were business meetings.”
“Right. My past month has kind of been a shit show, so now I’m going to have to sort of invent a whole new persona.”
“No, that’s not what we’re going to do. No lying. We should keep everything vague,” he went on. “You say you worked at a doctor’s office, and then I’ll try to steer the conversation to business.”
I bit my lip this time. This was a business dinner. The other guy wasn’t going to pry and ask for details about my personal life, but I needed more details about Griffin.
“If we’re going to pretend that we’ve been dating for six months, I need to know more about you.”
“Sure. Like what?”
“Ummm… not even sure where to begin, honestly.”
“I can stop by your place early tomorrow, and we can talk for a while.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. That way everything you tell me will be fresh in my mind.”
“I look forward to seeing you, Phoebe.”
“I do have a question,” I said. “What kind of outfit will I need?” Most of my stuff was still packed. I’d have to find something.
“Just a dress, something you’d wear to a restaurant.”
I wondered if it was a fancy restaurant. Then I realized that Griffin Sterling would never go to a cheap one, and his business partner wouldn’t either.
“All right, I’ll dig something up and knock their socks off.”
“I know you will.”
After hanging up, I stood from the porch, smiling for no reason as I went into the house. I was going to a fancy-ass dinner with the hottest guy on the planet tomorrow. I took it as a sign that my life was slowly turning around.
After changing into some comfy clothes, I cooked a paella, humming along to my favorite Spotify list. I was a bit on edge, waiting for Griffin to send me the details. I checked the phone a few times while I was eating, but he didn’t message me until later that evening.
Griffin: It’s all set. We’re meeting tomorrow at seven o’clock. Should I come by your place at five?
Phoebe: Make it four. I have LOTS of questions.
Griffin: You can start firing away now.
Phoebe: Nah. If I start, we’ll be up all night.
Griffin: I don’t mind.
Goose bumps erupted across my skin for some reason. I imagined him saying it in that low, seductive voice of his.
Phoebe: I’ll see you tomorrow, Griffin.
The next day, I was on pins and needles. I’d woken up to a few more job rejections in my inbox and also an email from Marshall.
I’ve thought more about the price. Let’s lower it by 10K.
I broke out in a sweat at the words. That would still leave us a margin of a few thousand bucks as profit.
I couldn’t believe that I’d once looked at this house with dreamy eyes, thinking it was where we’d spend the early days of our marriage.
I envisioned myself cooking a few times a week, maybe even having a small vegetable garden in the back.
We’d save as much as possible. Then in a few years—
I shook my head. Why was I playing that scenario in my mind over and over again?
Because I still couldn’t pinpoint the moment when our visions of the future started diverging. When did he start dreaming about a future without me? And why didn’t I see it?
Since I had to find a dress for the evening, I bit the bullet and unpacked all of my bags. I was starting to accept that my situation was semipermanent. Even if we did manage by some miracle to get an offer right away, it would take time before the bank cleared it.
Another wave of sadness overtook me. That big red suitcase was the one I’d prepped for our trip. I’d bought special outfits for the occasion, including a few sexy beach dresses.
My eyes watered. Damn it. I wanted to close that suitcase and donate everything to Goodwill. But I couldn’t afford to.
I knew the dress I needed for tonight was in there.
I’d bought it especially for the trip, figuring I could wear it the evening Marshall proposed.
In my mind, I’d been certain that I could guess when it would happen.
It was a gold Stella McCartney dress that was high around my neck and reached the floor.
I’d hesitated when buying it. Even with the slashed price, it was an extravagance.
Even though Marshall made bank from the practice, I rarely splurged or even asked for gifts.
I’d been determined that we save for our next home.
To find out that he’d spent all those savings with someone else was excruciatingly painful to say the least.
I held the dress in front of the ancient mirror in the living room. It looked like something out of a scary movie—like a ghost may walk out of it any second. But I didn’t have another one, so I couldn’t get rid of it. The dress was truly exquisite, and I had some beautiful heels to pair it with.
I set it on the couch and got to work. I didn’t have to go into the office every day, which was a relief. The commute was grueling, and my assigned seat once I got to the office was far from any windows. I preferred the comfort of my own home.
The day passed by insanely quickly. Good thing, as I was getting more nervous with every hour.
At three o’clock, I realized I had to start getting ready. I got up from the couch and checked my phone. I had a missed call from Veronica, so I dialed her number.
“Hey, bestie,” she said instead of hello. “What are you doing tonight? Want to hang out together?”
“I can’t,” I replied.
“You’ve got plans? Oh thank God.”
I winced. I’d been a bit clingy lately, calling her every day.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “Actually, you know what? You don’t even have to tell me. Oh, who am I kidding? I do want to know. Are you going to have fun?”
“Now that you’re asking, something funny happened the other day. Griffin Sterling called.”
“The Greek god from the bar? Hallelujah! Some good things can happen on this planet. I kept beating myself up that I didn’t get his number for you or something.”
“He tracked me down on Instagram. One thing led to another, and tonight I’m going with him to a dinner with a potential business partner. I’m pretending to be his girlfriend.”
There was a pause, and then Veronica asked, “You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you? You’re just going to stay home and curl up with a book.”
“No. I’m so serious. I dug out the gold dress from my red bag.”
“Holy shit, you are serious. I need details.”
“Apparently, the business partner who walked out on him at the bar didn’t like his womanizer reputation. And, as I said, one thing led to another.”
“I still need more details. You have to fill in the blanks.”
I summarized my conversations with Griffin, and she went silent again.
“Veronica, stop doing that. You’re freaking me out.”
“I’m sorry, but who are you, and what have you done with my best friend? This is the funniest thing you’ve done in a long time. Probably ever.”
“I don’t know. You had to be there to hear that conversation unfold. Griffin can be very charming.”
“Wait, he coerced you into this?”
“No, no. God, no. That’s not what I meant.
It’s just the way he talks. Everything seems so easy when he says it.
Like ‘Huh, what’s the big deal? We can just pretend we’ve been dating for six months.
No one is going to ask questions.’ Then the second we finished the conversation, I realized how far off he was.
Like, hello? Of course someone is going to ask questions. We can’t just ignore them.”
“You sound happy,” Veronica said.
I couldn’t help my grin. “I know. It’s insane, but I am.”
“I’m glad. You deserve the distraction.”
“I think it’s going to be fun.” I might be nervous as hell, but I didn’t have any doubt that the evening would take Marshall and the rest of this mess off my mind.
“Oh, by the way, please wear the lucky underwear I gifted you for the trip.”
My face turned beet red in an instant. “Wh-Why would I do that?” I stammered.
“You don’t want any panty lines showing through the dress, do you?”
I cleared my throat. “Really, Veronica?”
“What other reason would I possibly have?”
“I don’t know. Your mind works in unique ways.”
“Oh, that it does. And yet not in a million years would I have imagined that you’d play Griffin’s fake girlfriend to help him secure a business deal.”
I winced. “Wow. When you put it like that…”
“No, no, no. Don’t let my rambling talk you out of it, okay? Have fun. That’s all that matters.”
“Yep. I’m going to have to hang up now. I need to make myself presentable. Griffin will be here in an hour.”
“Early dinner?”
“No, that’s at seven o’clock. I asked him to come earlier so we could get the story straight and stuff like that.”
“Mm, uh-huh. I see.”
Her voice was a bit off, but I didn’t have time to overthink things right now. I had lots to do.
After hanging up, I took out some accessories, putting them on the dining room table.
Then I grabbed my portable steamer and removed all the wrinkles in the dress before jumping into the shower.
My hair was my favorite part of me, so I took extra time and care with it.
After applying a conditioner and two sets of masks, I started styling it with the curling iron to make very defined curls, then brushed them out to create beach waves.
It was my favorite look, though Marshall had hated it. But now I was free of him, so I could do whatever I wanted.
I was about to start with my makeup when the doorbell rang. I gasped, checking the time. Holy shit! How is it four o’clock already? I could have sworn I just got in the shower. Damn it, being on time was definitely not my forte.
I dashed to the front door, checking the peephole to make sure it was him. Yep, it was Griffin. I swung the door open wide.
“Phoebe—” He stopped talking abruptly, looking straight at me and then down my body.
Then I remembered I was wearing a pretty revealing beach dress. Shit! I’d put on a camisole that reached down just past my ass after the shower, but I’d planned to change before he arrived.
I felt my cheeks heat up.
Well, this is a great start.