Chapter 3
INA
The alarm on my phone went off at four in the morning. For a solid ten seconds, I genuinely forgot who I was and what city I was in. Setting an alarm this early should be illegal. No one should be awake at this hour besides bakers and cat burglars.
I considered calling in sick. My bed was feeling extra cozy and toasty. No one could blame me for sleeping a few more hours. No one but my boss, Dane Kavanaugh.
Getting out of bed and navigating the subway system in the dark to get to some warehouse in the depths of the city felt like it should come with hazard pay.
But I promised myself I was going to be the kind of employee who showed up and went above and beyond.
I wasn’t going to let a little thing like ungodly early morning hours get in the way of doing my job.
Before long, I stumbled out of my apartment building into the frozen January darkness. A chill wind sent a shiver through my bones. On the bright side, it helped clear some of the cotton stuffing in my head.
The more awake I got, the more I buzzed with nervous energy.
It had become my default state over the past three weeks.
Three weeks of being Dane Kavanagh’s full-time executive assistant.
Three weeks of sitting at my desk directly outside his office, managing his schedule, fielding his calls, and doing my very best to be efficient and invisible.
I was definitely succeeding at the last part. Sometimes I considered checking the mirror to see if I still existed. Had I died of embarrassment after the Secret Santa exchange, and now I was a ghost refusing to give up her dream job?
Dane barely spoke to me. When he needed something, he messaged me on Slack. He walked past my desk all the time but he rarely even glanced in my direction. If I delivered him coffee, he said nothing.
I convinced myself it wasn’t just me. He wasn’t a very personable guy. That was all. Surely, it had nothing to do with the bright pink mug incident at Christmas. The mug he definitely wasn’t using.
I made it to the address Lucas had sent me. It was a little sketchy but I trusted Lucas.
Inside was chaos. The coffee must be extra caffeinated this morning. I needed to track some down. Production crew members rushed around with equipment, working like army ants. People set up lights on tall stands, creating pools of daylight in the cavernous space.
A set had been constructed in the center. It was all very Cupid’s Arrow with its strategic pops of pink and gold against an otherwise minimalist backdrop.
And there, in the middle of all of it, was Dane.
My heart stuttered the way it had been doing every time I caught a glimpse of him over the past three weeks. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit. I knew it was designer and expensive. He, of course, looked far sexier than any boss should.
Well, sexy with his broody, cranky look.
A makeup artist was trying to apply powder to his face while he leaned away like she was holding a knife instead of a big fluffy brush. Even from across the warehouse I could see the muscle ticking in his cheek that meant he was seriously annoyed.
“Ina!” Lucas materialized beside me, looking far too awake and energetic for five in the morning.
He was holding a travel carrier with multiple coffee cups and thrust it into my hands.
“Perfect timing. Can you distribute these? I need to go tell Dane he’s not under attack. We’re all on the same team.”
“Godspeed.” I took the coffee carrier and watched Lucas speed-walk toward where Dane was now actively arguing with the makeup artist.
Honestly, I was on Dane’s side. The dude was perfectly handsome just the way he was. He was masculine and gorgeous and the slightly rough exterior made my knees weak and wobbly. If I was fourteen, I would have been doodling his name in my notebooks and staring at pictures of him in my locker.
But I was an adult now, able to compartmentalize my personal feelings. At work, I kept things professional. Even when I worked beside pure temptation itself.
I tore my gaze away from my boss and wiped the drool from my mouth. People needed coffee. I snagged one for myself and drank as I passed them out. The tray didn’t take long to thin out.
Lucas was now arguing with the director about something, gesturing wildly with his hands.
The director was shaking her head. Dane wore his perma-scowl.
Meanwhile, Heidi, the marketing manager, was pacing back and forth while talking rapidly into her phone, her expression getting progressively more furious.
“This is a disaster,” I heard her say as she stalked past me. “I don’t care what her excuse is—no, you know what? I do care. Tell her team that she’s blacklisted from any future Cupid’s Arrow campaigns. Yes, I’m serious. Do I sound like I’m joking?”
I winced and tried to make myself smaller. Maybe I could find more coffee to stock my tray.
“Ina.” Heidi had spotted me, phone still pressed to her ear. She covered the microphone. “Is that coffee?”
I nodded and offered her the last cup. She took a grateful sip and went back to her call. What followed was a very creative string of profanity. Now there was a woman who needed decaf.
I turned my attention back to Lucas and Dane.
“It needs to come off,” Lucas was saying. “We need you to look rumpled. Casual. Like you’re a real person who found real love, not a CEO who sleeps on a pile of money at night.”
“I am a CEO,” Dane said flatly. “I wear suits all the time.”
Lucas shook his head and tried to peel the jacket off of Dane. “We need warm. We need approachable. We need ‘I found my soulmate and my life is complete.’”
Dane glowered. “Who the fuck said I’m unapproachable?”
I tried not to smile but failed.
Lucas’s exasperated reply was drowned out by the fury of the marketing manager.
“That’s it!” Heidi’s voice rang through the warehouse. She threw her hands in the air, phone still clutched in one of them. “I am done with New York models. Done! Finished! They’re all unreliable, over-priced, and incapable of showing up when they say they will!”
The entire warehouse went silent.
Heidi spun in a slow circle, her eyes scanning the space like a predator looking for prey. And then they landed on me.
Oh no.
“Coffee queen,” she said, pointing directly at me.
I looked behind me. There was no one there.
“Me?” I asked, hating how high-pitched my voice sounded.
“You’re about five-seven, right? Same height as the model we were supposed to have.
” She started walking toward me and I looked for an exit.
“And you’re already here, which is more than I can say for our professional model who apparently decided that sleep was more important than a six-figure campaign. ”
“I’m just here to help with coffee,” I said, holding up the now-empty carrier like it might protect me.
“Great. You’ve helped with coffee. Now you’re going to help with the commercial.” She plucked the carrier from my hands and thrust it at a passing crew member.
I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t understand. Do you want me to go get the model?”
“No, my dear, I want you to stand in for the model.”
I laughed. Because she had to be joking.
Heidi did not laugh with me.
“Stop, dear, you’ll get laugh lines,” she said. The lack of a smile made it clear that she was, in fact, deadly serious. “You’re the right height, you’re on set, and unless you have some kind of moral objection to being a model, I need you on that set in the next five minutes.”
“But I’m not—I don’t know how to model.” I looked around desperately for someone to save me. Lucas was grinning. The director was nodding thoughtfully, looking me up and down like she was already imagining how I’d look on camera.
“It’s just a rehearsal,” Lucas said, appearing at my side with that easy smile that probably convinced people to do insane things on a regular basis. “No pressure. We just need to block out the scene, make sure everyone knows where they’re supposed to be. You’ll be great.”
“I’m wearing jeans,” I said weakly.
He was already guiding me toward the set, one hand on my elbow like he was afraid I might bolt. Which was fair, because I absolutely wanted to run.
I had run track in seventh grade but I was always dead last. So outrunning someone like Lucas was not in the cards.
I found myself standing on the set under lights so bright I could feel them warming my skin. Dane sat in a red velvet throne, which was another idea from Lucas.
Lucas convinced him to lose the suit jacket. Now his white shirt was unbuttoned just enough to show a hint of collarbone. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing forearms that I definitely wasn’t staring at.
Nope, not even a little.
“Alright,” the director said, clapping her hands together.
“Ina, right? You’re going to be his girlfriend for this scene.
Very simple. Dane says his lines, you enter from stage right, take his hand, and position yourself next to him.
Then you’re going to put your arms around his neck and kiss his cheek. Can you do that?”
Could I kiss my boss’s cheek on camera while pretending to be his girlfriend?
“Sure,” I heard myself say. “No problem.”
The director smiled. “Great. Let’s walk through it once. Dane, whenever you’re ready.”
I moved off to the side, trying to calm my racing heart. No big deal. Just me and my extremely attractive boss who barely spoke to me pretending to be in love for a commercial about a dating app.
Totally normal. Nothing weird about this at all. As long as my racing heart didn’t explode, everything would be fine.
Dane cleared his throat and looked directly at the camera.
“I’m Dane Kavanagh, and a few weeks ago I was named New York City’s Most Eligible Bachelor of 2026.
” He paused, and I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
“But that’s not actually true. Because I’m not eligible. I found my soulmate on Cupid’s Arrow.”
He extended his hand toward me. The director nodded. My cue.
Shit. My pulse was pounding so hard my eardrums felt like they might burst.
I walked into the frame, hyper-aware of every step. If I tripped and fell flat on my face, I would walk back to Wyoming.
When I reached him, I slid my hand into his outstretched one. Electricity crackled where we touched. I looked up and met his eyes. His pupils were dilated slightly, and my cheeks started to heat.
He pulled me gently to my spot beside the throne he was perched on.
I had to remind myself to breathe as I draped my arms around his neck.
This close, I could smell his cologne. It was fresh and woodsy.
I could see the faint stubble along his jaw, like he’d skipped shaving this morning. Heat radiated off his skin.
His cheeks were turning ruddy under that stubble, a flush creeping up his neck. Was he blushing?
Dane Kavanagh, the grumpy CEO who barely acknowledged my existence, was blushing.
The director’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “Now look at each other. Lovingly. Like you’ve found your person and nothing else matters.”
I didn’t have to fake it. Looking at him, this close, with his silver eyes locked on mine and his warmth seeping into my skin, I felt like I’d found my one and only.
He tilted his head up slightly, and I leaned down. My heart thundered so loudly I was sure everyone could hear it. I was supposed to kiss his cheek. It wasn’t supposed to be erotic but it was.
He inhaled a sharp breath.
“Cut!”
The word echoed through the warehouse. Reality slammed back into me like a bucket of ice water.
I stepped back so fast I nearly tripped over my own feet. The silence in the warehouse was deafening. All I could hear was my own heartbeat, which was so hard anyone could have taken my heart rate just by looking at me from twenty feet away.
“Damn,” Lucas said, and even though he was clearly trying to whisper, it echoed through the space like a gunshot.
I looked at him. He was staring at us with wide eyes and a slowly spreading grin. The director and Heidi were looking at each other, some kind of silent communication passing between them that I couldn’t decipher.
Dane was still sitting in that ridiculous throne staring at me like he’d never seen me before.
“Well,” Heidi said slowly, breaking the silence. “That’ll do.”
“Perfect,” the director said. “That was absolutely perfect.”
My stomach dropped.
“Ina, what’s your schedule like Friday?” Heidi asked.
“Friday? I’ll be at work. At my desk. Being Dane’s assistant.” I looked at Dane for help, but he seemed frozen.
“Not anymore,” Heidi said cheerfully. “I’m blocking off your entire day. Congratulations, you’re our new female lead.”
“I’m what?”
“The chemistry is insane,” the director said, nodding enthusiastically. “I haven’t seen anything that natural in years. If we used a model, it would have looked fake. But this? This looks real.”
Lucas was practically vibrating with excitement. “This is brilliant. This is perfect!”
I looked at Dane again. He blinked, seeming to come back to himself. His jaw tightened, and for a moment I thought he might actually shut this whole thing down.
He stood up, not quite meeting my eyes, and addressed the room at large. “We’ll reconvene Friday for the actual shoot.”
And then he walked off the set.
Lucas appeared at my side. “Congratulations,” he said. “You’re officially a Cupid’s Arrow commercial star.”