“Color me surprised, she’s stunning.”

Dad shot me a disgusted look. “Addison is more than just a pretty face. She’s Ivy League educated. Her father is a minister in South Carolina, and she spent time in Central America as a child when her parents were working as missionaries so she is fluent in Spanish. She also works on my campaign, so she understands what’s involved within the world of politics.”

“Impressive.”

“As you can see, she brings a lot to the table by covering many bases for us with the voting constituency,” Dad said.

“I’d almost say she was too good to be true considering she can appeal to the women’s and Hispanic vote while her parents hit the conservatives.” I cocked my brows at them. “Are you sure she doesn’t have something sordid in her past?”

Dad shook his head. “Her past is irreproachable, only one long-term relationship with a representative’s son. As for her online persona, she has no pictures of drunken debauchery or excessive partying, and no nudes.” Dad gave me a pointed look on the last one. “No scandals of any kind.”

“We don’t anticipate any skeletons in Miss Monroe’s closet coming back to bite us in the ass,” Bernie chimed in.

Great. Addison sounded like an utter and total bore. Who doesn’t have at least one or two pictures of drunken shenanigans on their Facebook page? How the hell was I supposed to survive for nine months with somebody like that? Maybe it wasn’t too late for them to find someone else—someone who actually had a personality, or better yet, a pulse.

“You’re absolutely sure she’s the one?”

“Absolutely certain,” Dad replied. His tone told me this wasn’t up for negotiation.

“She willingly agreed to do this?”

“Yes. We met with her before you arrived. We felt her verbal confirmation was enough to have you go ahead and meet us here.”

Stroking my chin thoughtfully, I asked, “What did you have to offer her?”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on. As a serious career woman, she doesn’t impress me as the vapid type who would want to do this for her fifteen minutes of fame. If she’s as smart as you say she is, she wouldn’t just do this out of the kindness of her heart either. She would expect something in return for her time. I’m thinking some sort of monetary compensation.”

“Yes. She is being compensated for her time.” The corners of Dad’s lips quirked. “The fact that she would have to pose as your fiancée made it quite costly.”

“Very funny.” I couldn’t imagine any woman wanting to be paid to spend time with me considering how many willingly did it for free. Tilting my head, I asked, “Just how costly?”

“Seven figures.”

My eyes bulged. “Jesus Christ, isn’t that a little extreme?”

A curious smiled curved on Dad’s lips. “You know, Miss Monroe said the same thing when she heard the figure. It must mean you two think alike.”

“At least she didn’t try negotiating for more.”

“No, that thought never would’ve crossed her mind.” The reverent expression on Dad’s face told me just how much he admired this girl. She must have been special to have won him over—that or she had him completely snowed.

“When do I get to meet her?”

“If you’re ready, you can right now. She just downstairs.”

My stomach lurched at the prospect. Regardless of how much I wanted to put it off, it was now or never. “Sure. Let’s get this freak show on the road.”

Dad nodded. “Bernie, why don’t you go downstairs to get Miss Monroe?”

Bernie rose out of his chair. “Be right back.”

“Take your time,” I joked as Bernie started out of the room.

“You know, son, you don’t have to treat this like a death sentence. It’s not like I picked some unfortunate-looking creature to torture you with. Addison has a great sense of humor. I think you’re going to like her a lot.”

I exhaled a frustrated breath. “Stop trying to sell this to me, Dad. Save it for the campaign trail. I’m just going to have to treat Addison like a task at work, like she’s part of a job I have to do.”

“You might surprise yourself when you get to know her.”

“I doubt that.”

“Just promise me you’ll try to keep an open mind.”

“Fine. I promise.”

When the elevator dinged, announcing the arrival of my fake fiancée, I felt the figurative noose tightening around my neck. Bringing my hand to my tie, I loosened it slightly, then I rose out of my chair and prepared to meet my doom.

ADDISON

After verbally accepting my role of fake fiancée to Barrett Callahan, I wasn’t exactly sure what the next step would be. Would one of the bedroom doors open for Barrett to come sweeping out of? Would I be sent back to work to pretend like my life hadn’t just completely changed in the course of ten minutes?

“With Super Tuesday just two weeks away, I want you and Barrett with me on Monday for a campaign stop in Ohio. Because of that tight schedule, we need to get you outfitted in your battle attire as soon as possible.”

“My battle attire?”

“Yes. We have a stylist waiting to meet with you downstairs.”

“You guys move fast.”

Senator Callahan laughed. “As I’m sure you’re aware, everything in politics is meticulously planned with many backups. We had Everett on standby today in the hopes this would all work out.”