Chapter 1
He Asked a Stranger to Pretend She Loved Him for Seven Minutes and She Became the One Woman He Couldn’t Lie To
The first thing Ethan Cole ever said to Hannah Brooks was, “I’ll give you five hundred dollars if you sit at my table and pretend you’re in love with me.”
Hannah stopped so suddenly that the woman behind her nearly walked straight into her.
She turned.
Ethan sat alone beside the tall front windows of Bellamy’s Grill in downtown Richmond, Virginia, wearing a charcoal suit that probably cost more than Hannah’s monthly rent. One hand rested beside an untouched glass of bourbon. His jaw was tight. His eyes, however, weren’t on Hannah.
They were fixed across the dining room.
Hannah followed his stare.
A beautiful blonde woman had just walked in with a tall man in a navy jacket. The woman spotted Ethan almost immediately.
Her expression changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Recognition.
Surprise.
Then something Hannah recognized all too well.
Satisfaction.
Hannah looked back at Ethan.
“Oh,” she said.
Ethan frowned. “Oh what?”
“You’re trying to make your ex jealous.”
“I’m not trying to make her jealous.”
“Sure.”
“I’m trying to make it clear that I’ve moved on.”
Hannah glanced at the empty chair opposite him.
“By hiring a stranger?”
“For seven minutes.”
“Why seven?”
“I panicked.”
That nearly made her smile.
Nearly.
Hannah folded her arms. She wasn’t dressed for her shift yet. Her black uniform was still folded inside the tote hanging from her shoulder. She’d arrived early because the city bus had miraculously decided to cooperate for once.
“I don’t know you.”
“I know.”
“You could be insane.”
“I’m beginning to suspect I am.”
“And I have work.”
“I’ll explain to your manager.”
“You definitely don’t know my manager.”
Ethan finally looked directly at her.
For the first time, Hannah saw past the expensive suit.
There was something wounded in his face.
Not heartbroken exactly.
Humiliated.
That was worse.
She knew that look.
She had worn it herself once.
Across the room, the blonde woman whispered something to the man beside her. They both looked toward Ethan.
Ethan saw it.
His shoulders stiffened.
Hannah sighed.
“Keep your five hundred dollars.”
Ethan blinked.
“But I’ll take pie.”
“What?”
“If I’m going to be your emergency girlfriend, I want pecan pie.”
“That’s it?”
“With ice cream.”
“Done.”
Hannah dropped her bag beside the empty chair and sat.
“Seven minutes,” she warned.
Ethan exhaled like a man whose lawyer had just told him the jury came back innocent.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
She leaned closer, smiling sweetly.
“If your ex comes over, I’m telling her we met at a clown convention.”
Ethan stared at her.
Then, for the first time that night, he laughed.
It was a real laugh.
And across the restaurant, Lauren Pierce noticed.
That had been the entire point.
But suddenly, Ethan didn’t care nearly as much as he thought he would.
Three months earlier, Lauren had been the woman he planned to marry.
They had a venue reserved outside Charlottesville, invitations half-designed, and a deposit sitting on a photographer whose name Ethan could no longer remember.
Then he’d driven to Lauren’s apartment one afternoon because she’d left her laptop charger at his house.
Grant Mercer answered the door.
Barefoot.
Wearing Ethan’s college sweatshirt.
Grant had been one of Ethan’s friends.
Not his closest.
But close enough to have attended his birthday dinners.
Close enough to know the wedding date.
Close enough to look Ethan in the face at business events while sleeping with the woman Ethan intended to marry.
Lauren had cried.
Grant had apologized.
Ethan had done neither.
He simply left.
Afterward, he made rules.
No serious relationships.
No second chances.
No believing promises simply because someone said them beautifully.
Most importantly, no woman would ever again have enough access to his life to humiliate him that way.
The rules had worked.
Until Friday night.
Until Hannah sat down.
“So,” she said, opening the menu. “What’s your name, fake boyfriend?”
“Ethan.”
“Hannah.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“It would’ve been nicer under less pathetic circumstances.”
He gave her an offended look.
“You agreed to help me.”
“I agreed to eat pie.”
A server approached, saw Hannah, then stared.
“Hannah?”
