My lipstick now looks like a hundred fucking bucks. And since it’s Givenchy La Rouge, it might as well be.

Am I high maintenance for reapplying lipstick between courses? Maybe, bitches, maybe, but I have an irrepressible fear of being that ho sitting at the table with her lip liner standing out like a neon bar open sign. So fucking sue me, ya hear?

“What are you two conspiring about?” I ask, watching Aaron scoot his chair away from Cassie while I slide back into my own seat.

“Birthday surprise,” says Cassie, just as Aaron says, with the exact same confidence:

“Politics.”

“Uh-huh,” I say with a suspicious little smile. “Okay, spill. What are you two planning?”

“Aaron was just saying that your suite has the best view of the northern lights,” Cassie says quickly.

Aaron opens his mouth to talk and closes it again like a fish sucking in water. Finally, he opts for a charming smile.

Smooth move. He’s got a great fucking smile. It melts hearts and panties alike.

I feel so much closer to him now that he’s let me in on his life. I still don’t really know anything about his business. But this is a big step. One I feel like will lead to even bigger ones before long. The thought warms my heart.

“So I’ve heard,” I agree. “I think we’ll see them tonight, even. You and Ethan should come up later. We can all lie in bed and watch them together.”

Cassie snorts, then she nods toward Ethan, who is now being introduced to the restaurant’s head chef. “You must be joking. At this rate, he’ll be here all night. We’ll end up leaving at midnight after he’s learned every dishwasher’s name and gotten us invited to not less than twelve home-cooked meals.”

“That bastard is too charming for his own good.” Aaron laughs, shaking his head and reaching for his drink.

“Yeah,” Cassie says. She rests her chin in her hand and sighs a dreamy sigh. “Like a drunk golden retriever. You kids will have fun without us, though. Maybe we’ll take you up on it some other time.”

Is something going on? Oh, fucking totally. I’m not dumb, or at least, not until I’m a few bottles of wine deeper into the night.

But what the hell, I guess. If my sister doesn’t want to tell me something, it’s probably for a reason. As long as Aaron isn’t planning on proposing or any of that dumb shit, I’m happy to just haul him off to the room after dinner and have my way with him, as promised.

“I’m really enjoying it here, you know,” I say, smiling at Aaron. “Hotel Gimsteinn with you was a good choice.”

Aaron smiles back at me, and yeah, there they go. My panties. Melting right off of me.

“Finally, right?” Cassie interjects. “That tacky double date I wanted. You guys really pulled through on this one.”

She sounds so impressed with us that I can’t help but laugh. Cassie and Aaron are quick to join in.

To my surprise, Ethan returns to the table with a smile on his face and, as far as I can tell, only three or four new friends.

“You guys ready to go?” he asks, tucking the chef’s business card in his pocket.

“I think Chloe and I are,” Aaron says, getting up and squeezing my hand. “When we get back to the hotel, though, mind if branch off for a bit? Alone time.”

He winks at Cassie while she gives Ethan a look that I don’t quite understand, which is saying something, since we spoke our own made-up language together until we were nine.

“Uh, yeah, sure!” Ethan says with a smile.

“I’ll go tell the valet we’re ready.” Aaron nearly fucking jogs over to ask for our limo.

So, yeah. Something’s going on here. But like, whatever.

If Ethan isn’t going to be schmoozing with the wait staff and scoring us free dessert, I actually have something more important to talk to him about.

“Cass,” I say, motioning to my lips. “You’ve got a lip liner emergency, babe.”

“Aw, fucksticks,” Cassie says.

She practically jogs to the bathroom. What the hell is up with everyone tonight?

“Ethan,” I say, taking my chance while I’ve got it. I dive across the table and grab his sleeve before he can jog away himself. “I need a favor.”

“Hundred bucks,” Ethan says without missing a beat.

I pull a stink face. “You’re a billionaire!”

“Yeah,” Ethan agrees, “but Cassie thinks it’s funny to demand money for, uh, ‘favors’ too. Which is kind of cute and kind of hot, if I’m being honest…which I don’t need to be,” he says, blushing. “But look, I wanna get blown tonight, and I don’t want to have to go back to the ATM.”

“I’ll remember this the next time I see you choking on shrimp scampi,” I say with a scowl.

I pull a hundred out of my purse and hand it over. Ethan looks like he’s just seen Santa for the first time.

“That only happened once,” he reminds me. “And they were damn good shrimp scampi.”

“Whatever.” Cue eye roll. “I need you to pretend to be, um, a guy named Mr. Bad Boy. One of my work personas. I pretend to be him online, pick up women for a, uh, work clients. I kiiiiinda based this persona off of you anyway.”

“He chokes on shrimp scampi too?”

“No, Ethan, he chokes on pussy. On account of he gets so much of it.”

“Yeah,” Ethan says, nodding. “Fair. So what do I do?”

“I agreed to meet this woman, Ms. Winters, back at the hotel bar. She’s…fascinating.”

“Wait. You’re ditching Aaron for a girl?”

Okay, I’m not gonna lie. I’m not proud of this, only actually, yes I am.

I smack him. Oh, I smack him hard.

But look, he was asking for it. Begging for it, practically!

“She’s expecting a guy,” I explain as Ethan snickers. “A handsome, wealthy billionaire. And since he’s, y’know, based on your slutty ass, you’re a perfect stand-in.”

I can see the wheels turning in Ethan’s head as he mulls over the situation. Which honestly ought to be moot, because I’ve already forked over his dirty blowjob money, and he’s already revealed to me way too much about my twin sister’s sex life for me to be comfortable with.

“Okay,” Ethan says finally. “But I’m not sleeping with her. Cassie would kill me.”

And look, I’m not gonna lie.

I smack him again—so hard that he’s still holding his cheek in stunned agony when Cassie returns from the bathroom, lipstick freshly applied. Aaron follows her over, tilting his head toward the door.

Limo’s ready.

Time for action.

“You gonna fill me in on all of that nodding and winking and giving each other meaningful looks earlier?” I ask Aaron as he offers me his arm.

“Huh?” To Aaron’s credit, when he’s trying to seem oblivious, he almost gets there. But there’s a reason he’s a…whatever he is, and not an actor.

Unless he is an actor, I guess. That would explain why he doesn’t want anyone to know about it: he’s fucking terrible.

“There’s something going on, Aaron. Smart girlfriend, remember?”

“Maybe I’m just trying to get you alone for a little bit,” he says, lowering his hand from the small of my back to the curve of my ass.

He cups my ass cheek and squeezes it, and I nearly yelp in delight.

“Are you trying to distract me with your sexuality?” I ask, giggling in accusation.

“Is it working?” Aaron shoots back with a dirty grin.

“Might be,” I admit, grabbing him by his tie.

I drag him back to the limo like that, leading him by his tie like it’s a leash.

“I’m not your golden retriever, you know, Chloe,” Aaron growls in my ear as we get into the limo. “But when we get back to that room, I might just make you my bitch.”