I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. “Go for it.”

“Is there any truth to your ex-fiancée’s claims? Or, I’ll put it more bluntly, did you ever beat your ex?”

Annie sucked in a shocked breath while Rachel and Ian stared on blandly. A knot of anger tightened in my stomach at being reminded of Brona’s most recent antics. Spending the morning with Annie had made me forget for a time, but now all the frustration and fury were easing their way back in.

“No, there’s no truth to her claims, Joan.”

“So you were never violent with her?”

I tightened my jaw and flexed my hands. “No.”

“Well, I’d like to say I’m surprised, but sadly there are a lot of ambitious sycophants out there with dark and vivid imaginations, imaginations that allow them to dream up all kinds of titillating stories. Unfortunately, the press eats these stories up like cockroaches at a restaurant in New Jersey.”

I winced both at her analogy and also at the fact that, well, in a way I was lying. Don’t get me wrong—I never once lifted a hand to Brona in physical violence—but I suspected where her story was coming from. And, quite frankly, if she did have proof, then I was well and truly fucked. I could actually feel myself sweating just thinking about it.

Joan was still talking about strategies, and I was staring at Annie, trying to gauge how she was reacting to all this. I felt certain she would not be pleased about being my girlfriend—pretend or otherwise. Only a half hour ago, she was quite fervent in proclaiming that she didn’t want a relationship with me. That she was too messed up.

“So what do you think, Annie?” Joan asked as she came to the end of her spiel.

“I….” Annie began hesitantly and cleared her throat. “Of course, yes. I’m so pleased to help.”

At her words, I felt electricity shoot through me. She wanted to give this a go? I wanted to high-five the fuck out of myself then do a victory dance. But I didn’t, because, you know, manly.

“Well, obviously. You did come up with it, didn’t you?” said Ian with a derisive chuckle and a hint of impatience. I didn’t like his tone. In fact, it made me want to smack the prick.

Annie swallowed. Ian’s comment had clearly made her even more anxious than she already was. Without thinking, I put my hand softly on her thigh beneath the table; surprisingly, it seemed to calm her. At least her hands stopped shaking.

She continued, her voice still quiet but with a flat matter-of-factness, “I match the majority of the criteria, and my past makes up for any deficiencies in physical appearance. I’ll be a sympathetic figure with the public.”

I couldn’t help but give her face and body a quick up-down-sweep, nor did I try to stop my single-eyebrow raise. Deficiencies in physical appearance? She must not own a mirror or be at all aware of the wolfish stares that followed her around the street…and the office.

And what was this about her past making her a sympathetic figure?

“Oh, don’t be so modest,” said Joan. “You match all of the criteria. Now what we have to do is continue to have you both seen in public. A romantic rendezvous here, a stolen glance there, perhaps a passionate clinch or two along the way, and you’re all set. I’m taking it you both possess the acting skills to pull this off.”

Annie quietly nodded, and I grinned at her, running my hand down her thigh and squeezing her knee before letting go. I knew for a fact that neither one of us needed acting skills. Hell, the sexual tension between us could almost be considered another entity, it was so thick. Every time I looked at her, all I wanted to do was bury my face in her neck and lose my hand up her skirt.

The fact that she was now wearing clothes that highlighted her supple figure, rather than disguised it, made not touching her that much more difficult. Then I remembered the reason why she was dressing this way, and I frowned. I needed to have a word with Joan.

Thankfully, the meeting was brief, and while I’d been scanning Annie’s body, everyone stood to leave. Annie was the first one out of her seat. I caught her by the elbow before she could escape and murmured in her ear.

“Don’t leave without me.”

All she did was nod and then hurry out. Once Rachel and Ian were gone, I told Joan I’d walk her back to her office. She seemed surprised but walked with me anyway.

“First off, I’d like to thank you for being on the ball with this. It might be hard to believe, but when I first met Brona, she was actually quite a sweet girl. A little dim, yes, but still sweet. Then things began picking up with my career, she got a couple modeling jobs, and all of a sudden fame was the crack in her crack pipe. Nowadays she’ll do anything for a bit of attention.”

“I’m well acquainted with the likes of Brona O’Shea,” said Joan, giving me an understanding look. “You don’t need to explain her behavior to me.”

“I appreciate that,” I went on. “Annie’s a sweet girl, too. She’s not dim like Brona—”

“No. She’s bright like the sun,” Joan cut in, giving me a sharp smile. “Don’t underestimate her, Mr. Fitzpatrick. Annie is highly intelligent.”

I raised an eyebrow at this interruption but continued my thought, “She is also extremely timid and vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Understand, I’m not trying to tell you how to run your business, Joan, but I will tell you upfront that it doesn’t sit right with me how you’ve been treating her.”