The Fake Girlfriend Contract

Chapter 1

The city always looked prettier from inside expensive buildings.

Sabrina Sanders noticed that every time she worked events at the Ashford Hotel.

From the ballroom windows, New York glittered beneath the dark sky. Gold lights stretched across crowded streets full of people who would never step foot inside places like this unless they were carrying trays or cleaning glasses.

People like Sabrina.

"Table nine needs another bottle," her manager snapped as she pushed through the kitchen doors. "And smile for once. You look like you're attending a funeral."

Sabrina balanced a silver tray against one hip and forced a smile so fake it hurt her face.

"Better?"

"Terrifying," Chloe said, appearing beside her with two champagne flutes balanced expertly in one hand. "You look like you're about to poison somebody rich."

"Depends how much they tip."

Chloe snorted.

The kitchen buzzed with controlled chaos. Chefs yelled over one another while waiters rushed in and out carrying plates of food that probably cost more than Sabrina's monthly rent.

Soft jazz drifted from the ballroom beyond the doors.

A charity gala tonight. Which meant celebrities.

Which meant rich people pretending to care about social issues while drinking six hundred dollar wine.

Sabrina adjusted the pins threatening to fall from her dark hair and grabbed another champagne bottle.

"Do you know who's here tonight?" Chloe whispered dramatically as they walked back toward the ballroom.

"If you say a billionaire tech genius, I'm quitting immediately."

"Lucas Cooper."

Sabrina paused mid-step.

"The actor?"

"The actor," Chloe confirmed. "Apparently his production company donated some ridiculous amount of money."

Sabrina groaned softly.

"Great. So the entire female population of Manhattan will suddenly forget how to behave."

"You say that now, but if he smiled at you..."

"I'd ask him to move because he's blocking the tip jar."

Chloe laughed hard enough to nearly spill champagne.

The ballroom doors opened before Sabrina could say anything else.

Conversation shifted instantly.

People turned.

Whispers spread.

Phones lifted subtly into the air.

Celebrity gravity.

Sabrina looked up automatically and immediately understood the reaction.

Lucas Cooper stood near the entrance surrounded by photographers and hotel staff, looking like he belonged on a magazine cover instead of in real life.

Tall.

Dark suit.

Dark hair pushed carelessly back.

Sharp jawline expensive enough to have its own security detail.

Annoyingly attractive.

The internet loved Lucas Cooper in the obsessive way people only loved celebrities who seemed effortlessly untouchable. Every few months another clip of him went viral. Laughing during interviews. Helping fans. Walking red carpets looking unfairly beautiful.

Sabrina had seen enough edits on TikTok against her will to recognize him instantly.

Still, up close he looked different somehow.

Colder.

His smile didn't quite reach his eyes while he shook hands with wealthy investors near the entrance. He looked polished down to the smallest detail, but there was something distant about him too, as if he'd mentally checked out hours ago and left his body running on autopilot.

Interesting.

Not that it mattered.

Men like Lucas Cooper existed in entirely separate universes from women carrying catering trays.

"Earth to Sabrina," Chloe whispered. "You're staring."

"I'm observing."

"With heart eyes."

"With judgment."

"Sure."

Sabrina rolled her eyes and continued through the crowd.

The gala blurred together after that.

Champagne.

Laughter.

Rich people discussing charity between conversations about vacation homes and designer watches.

At one point Sabrina overheard a woman near the bar say, "Lucas looks exhausted lately."

Another replied, "He's probably still spiraling after that model dumped him."

"Or after those cheating rumors."

Sabrina tuned them out.

Celebrity gossip felt exhausting even secondhand.

By ten o'clock her feet were killing her.

By ten-thirty she wanted to fake her own death.

And by ten-forty-two she accidentally collided with Lucas Cooper hard enough to dump champagne directly down the front of his suit.

The sound of crystal smashing against marble floors cut through the ballroom like gunfire.

Everything stopped.

Sabrina stared in horror at the spreading stain across Lucas's black jacket.

"Oh my God."

Several nearby conversations died instantly.

A woman gasped.

Somewhere behind Sabrina, Chloe muttered, "No way."

Sabrina wanted the floor to open beneath her immediately.

"I am so sorry," she blurted, crouching automatically to gather shattered glass before someone screamed at her. "That was completely my fault."

A sharp sting sliced across her palm.

Great.

Now she was bleeding too.

"Don't do that."

The voice above her was calm. Deep.

Sabrina looked up.

Lucas Cooper was staring down at her. Not angry, surprisingly. Just tired.

His jacket was soaked with champagne.

One sleeve dripped onto the marble floor.

A tiny cut marked his wrist where glass must have caught him.

Sabrina stood quickly, mortified.

"I swear I usually only assault regular people."

For half a second he simply looked at her.

Then, unexpectedly, the corner of his mouth twitched.

Not a celebrity smile.

Not polished.

Real amusement.

"Well," he said smoothly, glancing down at his ruined suit, "that's reassuring."

Several cameras flashed near the ballroom entrance.

Paparazzi.

Even inside.

Sabrina grimaced.

Of course.

A hotel manager rushed over looking horrified enough to pass out.

"Mr. Cooper, I am incredibly sorry..."

"It's fine," Lucas interrupted flatly.

The manager turned sharply toward Sabrina.

"You need to be more careful."

Heat rushed instantly into her cheeks.

"I said it was an accident."

The manager ignored her completely.

"We'll have your suit cleaned immediately, sir."

Lucas's gaze flicked briefly toward Sabrina's bleeding hand.

"She cut herself."

Sabrina looked down.

Blood dotted her palm from where she'd grabbed broken glass too quickly.

Fantastic.

The manager sighed heavily like she was personally ruining his life.

"Go clean that up."

"I'm okay."

"You're bleeding on the floor."

"Wonderful observation skills."

"Sabrina," Chloe hissed somewhere behind her.

Right.

Job.

Needed that.

Sabrina forced herself silent.

Lucas watched the interaction quietly, expression unreadable.

For some reason that irritated her more.

Rich famous men always stood there calmly while other people cleaned up their messes around them.

"You should get that looked at," Lucas said eventually.

His voice was softer now.

Sabrina blinked once.

"I'll survive."

"Optimistic."

"I try."

Another camera flash lit the ballroom windows.

Lucas's expression hardened instantly.

Interesting.

He hated paparazzi.

Or at least tolerated them poorly.

A blonde woman in a silver dress suddenly appeared beside him, slipping a manicured hand onto his arm naturally.

"There you are," she said lightly. "I've been looking everywhere."

Model pretty.

Tall.

Effortlessly glamorous.

The kind of woman magazines described as breathtaking.

Sabrina immediately stepped back.

There it is, she thought.

That world.

Lucas glanced toward the woman briefly.

Not warmly.

Not coldly either.

Just detached.

"This is Vivienne," he said to no one in particular.

Vivienne's eyes flicked dismissively over Sabrina's catering uniform before returning to Lucas.

"They're waiting for photos."

Of course they were.

Lucas exhaled quietly, like the idea exhausted him.

Then his attention shifted back toward Sabrina unexpectedly.

"You should probably stop picking up broken glass with your bare hands."

Something about the comment sounded almost dry.

Sabrina folded the bloodied napkin around her palm.

"You should probably stop standing in the middle of walkways."

Vivienne looked mildly scandalized.

Lucas, however, looked entertained.

A dangerous expression on someone that attractive.

The manager looked moments from cardiac arrest.

"I'll pay for the cleaning," Sabrina added quickly before anyone else could speak.

Lucas frowned immediately.

"No."

"I ruined your suit."

"I own other suits."

"Must be nice."

For the first time, something flickered properly across his face.

Not annoyance.

Awareness.

Like he'd suddenly noticed the difference between them in a way he hadn't before.

The silence stretched half a second too long.

Then Vivienne tugged lightly on his arm.

"Lucas."

And just like that, the moment vanished.

The distant celebrity expression slid back into place so smoothly it almost felt rehearsed.

"Right," he said quietly.

Sabrina stepped aside automatically.

He paused before walking away.

"You're still bleeding," he said.

"You're still dripping champagne."

A real laugh escaped him then.

Short.

Unexpected.

It changed his whole face for a second.

And unfortunately, Sabrina noticed.

Vivienne certainly did too.

Her expression tightened almost invisibly before she guided Lucas toward the photographers waiting near the ballroom entrance.

Within seconds flashes exploded around them.

Perfect celebrity couple.

Perfect smiles.

Perfect image.

Sabrina watched Lucas slide effortlessly into public charm while cameras captured every angle.

He looked incredible on display.

Completely unreal.

"Holy hell," Chloe whispered, suddenly appearing beside Sabrina. "You flirted with Lucas Cooper."

"I absolutely did not."

"He laughed twice."

"He was being polite."

"He looked at you like he wanted to keep talking."

Sabrina snorted.

"He looked at me like I committed felony assault against designer clothing."

"You're insane if you think that man wasn't interested."

Sabrina grabbed another tray before Chloe could continue.

"Interested in suing me maybe."

But even as she moved back into the crowd, her attention drifted unwillingly toward the ballroom entrance again.

Lucas stood surrounded by cameras now, one hand resting lightly against Vivienne's waist while reporters shouted questions.

He looked calm.

Confident.

Untouchable.

Like someone born for attention.

Then, for the briefest moment, his eyes lifted across the room.

Straight toward Sabrina.

And held.

Not long enough for anyone else to notice.

Just enough.

Something strange twisted low in her stomach.

Then Vivienne leaned toward him, whispering something in his ear, and Lucas looked away first.

The spell broke instantly.

Sabrina exhaled slowly.

Ridiculous.

Absolutely ridiculous.

She was reading into nothing because celebrities had a way of making ordinary interactions feel cinematic.

That was probably half the reason people became obsessed with them.

By midnight the gala finally began dying down.

Sabrina's feet throbbed so badly she considered amputation a realistic solution.

She disappeared briefly onto one of the empty balcony corridors overlooking the city, grateful for five seconds of silence away from the ballroom noise.

Cold air brushed against her skin.

Below, New York moved endlessly beneath glowing streetlights.

Beautiful from far away.

Exhausting up close.

"You disappeared."

Sabrina startled slightly.

Lucas Cooper stood near the balcony doorway, jacket removed now, sleeves rolled carelessly to his forearms.

Without the polished red carpet image he looked younger somehow.

Still beautiful.

Unfortunately.

"You celebrities really need to stop appearing behind people like serial killers."

"I was looking for fresh air."

"There's an entire city full of it outside."

"That sounds inconvenient."

Sabrina laughed before she could stop herself.

Lucas looked mildly surprised by the sound.

Interesting.

Maybe people usually laughed at him instead of with him.

"You survived the photographs," she said lightly.

"Barely."

"Your sacrifice will be remembered."

A faint smile tugged briefly at his mouth before disappearing again.

Up close, exhaustion sat heavily beneath his eyes now that cameras weren't around.

Not physical exhaustion exactly.

Something deeper.

"You hate this stuff," Sabrina realized aloud.

His gaze shifted toward her.

"Hate what?"

"This." She gestured vaguely toward the ballroom. "The performance."

For the first time all evening, Lucas looked genuinely caught off guard.

Then his expression cooled carefully.

"You don't know anything about me."

The words weren't harsh.

Just automatic.

Defensive.

Sabrina lifted both hands slightly.

"Relax, Cooper. I'm not writing a documentary."

His jaw tightened faintly.

Another wall going up.

Interesting.

"You should go back inside," he said after a moment. "Before your manager starts panicking again."

"Probably."

Neither moved.

The city glowed around them in heavy silence.

Then voices echoed somewhere down the hallway.

Lucas stepped back immediately, distance sliding into place like instinct.

There he is again, Sabrina thought.

The version people see.

"Goodnight, Sabrina."

The way he said her name startled her slightly.

Low.

Careful.

Like he was testing how it sounded.

"Goodnight."

He disappeared back toward the ballroom before she could say anything else.

And somehow, standing alone beneath the New York skyline, Sabrina had the strange unsettling feeling that tonight was going to change her life.

Not because Lucas Cooper was famous.

But because for a few seconds on that balcony, he hadn't looked famous at all.