“I may have said that this girlfriend is a nurse named Sami.”
I tip all the way back and land on the ground with a muffledwhumpf.
“Whoa, are you okay?” Josh leaps to his feet and rushes to his railing, reaching toward me like he can close the gap enough to help me up.
Our balconies aren’tthatclose, so I struggle to my elbows and glare over at him. “What iswrongwith you?”
He shrinks back like he can hear the glare in my tone.
“I panicked,” he said. “You’re the last date I went on.”
I right my chair and climb into it. “You can’t hire an escort to play a nurse named Sami. What if she likes the role so much that she makes it her new alias? And word gets around? And then people get confused thatI’mthe escort?”
“That’s not going to happen,” he says.
“How do you know?” I demand. “Have you done this before? Do you have so much escort experience that you know how these things go?”
“Not really. But I’m not hiring an escort, so I’m pretty sure none of that’s going to play out.”
“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses.” I cross my arms and pull my quilt tight.
“Sami,youbrought up the escort, not me.” He sounds exasperated.
“I’m disgusted you even considered it,” I tell him.
“I didn’t—” He breaks off and takes a deep breath. “Sami? What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Not being your fake girlfriend.”
“How do you know that’s what I was going to ask you?”
I turn to squint at his outline. “Is that what you were going to ask me?”
Long pause. “Yes.”
“No.”
“Do you have plans?”
“Yes. Not being your fake girlfriend.”
“But do you have a gig tomorrow night?”
“No,” I admit.
“Then you’re free.”
“Also no.”
“You just said you don’t have a gig.”
“I said I don’t have one tomorrow night. Idohave one tomorrow afternoon in San Antonio until four. Factor in pack-up time, drive time, washing-my-hair time, and there’s no way I can make it to dinner. But also, I don’t want to go.”
“I could pay you,” he says, and when I suck in a sharp breath, he hurries to add, “Not likethat.”
“Do not make me put on my Doc Martens and do some stomping.”
“I meant I could pay you what you would make for a show. Because you’d be putting on a performance. Downside: you’d have to eat at the country club. Also, Presley. Upside: the food is good. Also, money.”
