“Thank you.” I nod at the cocktail waitress as she hands me my cosmopolitan that I ordered a few minutes ago at the bar.

“You’re welcome, miss.” She gives me a cheery smile and scurries away.

I take a nervous sip, drawing the flavor to my lips and tongue but I’m too anxious to actually enjoy and savor the drink.

I’m parked in a booth as far away from Ethan’s reserved table as I can possibly get, yet still close enough that I’m able to observe their actions and get a decent look at Ms. Winters. I can’t wait to push this through and finally get to meet her—indirectly.

I drum my manicured nail tips on the booth top, impatiently fidgeting while I glance on Ethan’s side of the room. He has yet to arrive at his previously reserved table.

Fuck, I hope he doesn’t bail on me.

No, he won’t. He’s a great guy and always keeps his promises.

Great, so apparently my mind is opting to go with the total basket case tonight as I fret and worry over something that hasn’t even happened yet. I can’t help it. If it isn’t happening according to plan, then something could still come up and make it all go wrong.

I love it when my mind loves to play tricks on me and mix up little imaginary yet substantially nightmare-scale scenarios.

Of course, I’m being sarcastic. Whoever wants that feeling? I hate it when my mind gets in that mode, but yet here we are.

Kidding aside, I totally trust Ethan. He’s going to be a great stand in for me. I even think he has a background in theater…Although don’t quote me on that. I could be wrong.

Either way, he’s taking one for the team like a champ, and I know after tonight, I’ll owe him big even if I don’t necessarily want to do him any more favors. I’m especially grateful that he agrees to help me with my plotting, scheming and devising of my plan.

I should do an evil laugh in this moment as I visualize everything coming together, but I’m totally not going to. I’m trying to mask myself and be concealed in the dark, remember?

I probably look like a freak recluse to people who come back here. They’ll probably take one glance at me and wonder why the hell I’m all by myself tucked away into a corner.

Oh well, I don’t have time to worry myself and care what other people think of me right now. I have a job to do, and that’s to finally reveal the true identity of the elusive and mysterious Ms. Winters.

Maybe I’ll even find out her first name after tonight, I wonder as I chuckle on the inside. Imagine that. The mystery woman that every man on Thebadboys.net wanted to have, but never got is finally revealing herself to another woman. The woman outsmarting her.

I’m completely in the clear with Aaron right now too, so it works out perfectly. When we arrive back at the hotel from dinner, I told him that I wanted to check out the hotel spa to determine if it’s worthy of us trying out tomorrow.

Since we apparently enjoy the spas here, I think it’s a great excuse to slip away for a little while. To my relief, he’s going along with my idea to take a few moments apart. It’s only for a little while.

After I finally find out the true identity of Ms. Winters, I’ll have all the time in the world to have amazing sex with Aaron while we glance out at the fabulous night time views from our room.

For now, my goal is to make my boss, the real Mr. Mr. BadBoy, happy and to bring him the results of a well sought-after prize.

Aaron is currently getting some work done, so at least he has something to entertain him while I’m away. On second thought, it’s work, so it may not be entertaining, but how the hell should I know? He’s so vague about his job that I don’t know much about it.

I just hope he gets plenty to occupy him, and doesn’t get a wild hair and come down to the bar and spot me.

I take another sip of my Cosmopolitan, aiming to calm down just a few notches…or twelve. I need to plateau here, and the alcohol will aid in my efforts to remain cool, calm and collected.

Shit!

I nearly choke to death on my drink when I notice Ethan walk in. I quickly recover and wipe my mouth with a napkin and clear my throat, brushing my hands through my hair.

Wait, why the hell am I getting ready? I’m in the back of the bar blanketed in darkness, I don’t need to refresh myself to become presentable. Sometimes I forget that Mr. BadBoy is just an alter ego. No need to get upset or excited about his things.

I watch Ethan as he walks towards the bar.

Good. My initial observations of his behavior please me. He appears to be calm and confident. The way Mr. Mr. BadBoy is supposed to be. So, basically the exact opposite of how I’m behaving right now.

This is very appealing, and relief floods me as I internally note Ethan’s remarkable cooperation here. Everything is going so well. He makes eye contact with me from across the way, but I wave my hand urgently that I need to remain concealed back here.

I frantically bat my hand at him and he finally understands. He jerkily moves away from me. He stands at the bar and converses with the bartender, ordering a scotch to start his night.

Remaining hidden as best I can, I slink into the booth while I duck my head.

I wonder if I can hide behind my cocktail glass. Or if I could drink my way to forgetting I couldn’t hide behind it.

Oh, shut up. My glass is not that gigantic, although at this point it could be the Nile river and it still wouldn’t be enough to pacify my jitters. My mind begins to climb down from the brink of hysteria when I think about how tonight is finally revelation day.

This is it! After tonight, I’ll finally be able to paint a picture about the up until now intangible Ms. Winters for my boss, Mr. BadBoy.

I mentally kick myself for not bringing a pad and a piece of paper to take notes.

On the other hand, how fucking weird would that be if a lady is hiding in the darkness taking notes on a couple a few feet away? I would look suspicious from a mile away.

No, mental notes will work just fine for tonight. I hope it’s enough to make my boss proud of me.

I mean, I’m going through an awful lot to appease him just for a job. I’m new, but I put in more hours than anyone just to push my way up. I get this, I go big. I want to keep this gig and have more flowing my way. It will only get better after I successfully pull this through.

I flick my eyes to my purse and grab my phone out of it. I almost forgot the most important part! In my reckless state of mind, it completely slipped my mind that I have to actually text Ms. Winters and let her know that I (really in this case, Ethan) have arrived at the bar.

Silly. No wonder, she isn’t coming yet. We’d be waiting for hours here in vain.

I push the volume button to vibrate, so that my phone will be silent and won’t call out any attention in the otherwise quiet bar. I hit the conversation screen for Ms. Winters and begin typing away.

Hi! I’m here at the bar.

I insert a smiley face emoji to be friendly, but then quickly delete it as part of the message. Guys don’t send smiley face emoji’s, do they? Well if they do, it’s not very often and I have to play the part behind the scenes while Ethan takes care of the rest out on the playing field.

I laugh to myself about all the trouble I’m going through just for this, but it’s all in good fun. How many people get to say they have this much fun while working on their own projects? Most of my friends sit in a cubicle and get so bored, they have to stare at social media all day, so I feel like I have the advantage and upper hand here.

I watch as Ethan retrieves his drink and subtly walks over to his table. He sits down and wipes his palms on his pants, then heaves a deep sigh.

Fuck, I hope he’s not too nervous. The poor guy. I hate to put him through this encounter, but he reassured me that he was happy to help, so I try not to dwell and linger on the subject too gravely. I don’t want to get too worked up on this and end up backing out for him.

At least he follows instructions well. He doesn’t glance at me at any point, although his eyes do flick from time to time at the entrance to the bar.

My phone buzzes in my lap, distracting me. I look at it under the table, so the glow of the screen won’t surround me. It’s from Ms. Winters.

Okay great, I will be there in just a few minutes.

Holy shit, this is actually going to happen tonight. History will be made; crazy shit is about to go down.

I can’t wait, I text back.

Ms. Winters is already a legend on the site. My boss better be fucking grateful when I report back to him with the scoop. I plan to take as many mental notes as I can so that I can paint the best picture for my boss as possible. I’ll make a better report right after this for his benefit.

Ms. Winters, you’re mine.

Listen to me, I’m playing the part well too. Mr. BadBoy is really rubbing off on me. Shit, am I resorting to thinking like a man now?

No, that is a stretch, but I’m enjoying the catfishing while it lasts.

I know for a fact that Ms. Winters is matched all the time with numerous billionaires, so this is going to be epic for sure.

Yes, the suspense is killing me and I’m sweating like a freaking pig right now. My heart races as fast as an Olympic runner, and I can hear my pulse in my ears. My throat is closing up and the anxiety is gnawing and tugging at my brain, wreaking havoc.

I just want this to be over with already, but I’m as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve.

If my client can be the one to snatch up Ms. Winters, then I’ll be in the running for a huge raise, I just know it.