Playing pretend

June's pov

I couldn’t focus. Not on the onboarding paperwork, not on the low chatter of the other employees, and certainly not on the job I had walked in here desperate to keep. Every thought I had kept circling back to him.

The opportunity was everything I needed, and everything I didn’t trust. My fingers tightened around the edge of a file. This wasn’t normal. People like me didn’t get offers like that. Not from men like Blake Grayson. Which meant there was something I wasn’t seeing, something hidden beneath the surface of this strategic partnership.

The office around me buzzed quietly, controlled but not silent.

Clusters of employees worked in sections, some human, some wolves, but not the kind that made rooms go still. They were mostly lower-ranked wolves.

Like they all understood exactly where they stood.

Unlike me.

“…I’m telling you, if he so much as looked at me once, I wouldn’t recover.”

The voice came from a few desks over.

I didn’t mean to listen, but I did.

A woman leaned back slightly in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. Her skirt rode just high enough to draw attention without looking obvious. Everything about her was intentional.

“He doesn’t look at people like us,” another voice replied, quieter. “You know that.”

The first woman smiled anyway, unfazed.

“Oh, please. Men always look. You just have to give them something worth seeing.”

Her gaze darted briefly across the room, then landed on me for half a second too long.

Then she adjusted her posture again, like she knew exactly how to be noticed.

I looked back down at my file.

“…it wouldn’t matter anyway,” the second voice added. “He’s already promised.”

My attention snapped back.

“Promised?” the first woman scoffed. “That’s just politics. Those arrangements never mean anything.”

“Not this one,” the other replied, lowering her voice slightly. “This one’s different. It’s been set since birth.”

A quiet pause followed.

“Who?” the first woman asked, curiosity slipping through her tone.

“I don’t know all the details,” she said. “But she’s from one of the high families. Pure bloodline. Powerful. The kind you don’t replace.”

My grip on the file tightened. So that's what this was about…replacing his betrothed with me. And if she was as powerful as they said. Then I'd be at risk. But a risk that might be worth it, as long as I set my terms and play the game well.

My mind drifted, unwanted, back to the night before. To the stranger at the bar. The way he’d looked at me, like he already knew my secrets. Now Blake was doing the same thing. Different energy, but the same certainty.

A quiet knock pulled me back to reality.

“Miss Harper?” I looked up to see the stone-faced assistant from earlier. “The boss is waiting.”

Of course he was.

I stood outside his office again. This time, I didn't hesitate. I knocked and waited to hear him respond, but for a brief moment, there was nothing but a quick shuffle and the soft screech of metal on the floor.  

“Come in.”

I stepped inside. He didn’t look surprised; I suspected he never was. He was sitting behind his desk, the city skyline glowing like a crown of thorns behind him.

While a very attractive employee adjusted her skirt slightly, obviously tensed and avoided eye contact.

“Well?” he asked. Straight to the point. No pressure, yet somehow, all the pressure in the world.

He gestured for her to leave while his eyes remained fixed on me.

I took a breath, feeling the weight of the moment. This would either change my life or destroy it. Maybe both.

“I’ll do it,” I said.

The words felt like lead. A long pause followed as he leaned back, studying me with those sharp, predatory eyes.

“Good.”

The response was simple and final like he already knew what I was about to say.

“You should prepare yourself,” he added calmly.

“For what?”

His gaze held mine, unwavering. “For what comes with standing beside me.”

“You mean your betrothed?" 

That got his attention.

He looked up at me sharply with a question on his face that read: How the fuck did you know that?

Then almost immediately, his expression changed back to the calm CEO he appeared to be.

“My employees gossip,” he said flatly. “That’s nothing new.”

“I was promised to someone from birth, I'm not a child anymore. I have my tastes and she isn't in that category. 

You are merely a temporary solution. Until I can get it under control.”

Well, I can play pretend, but it'll cost you more than what you offered initially.

“Deal."

Just like that, he didn't even bother to hear them, he didn't even want to know how far I was going to grind him for more, but it didn't bother me since he could afford anything I wanted.

“We also have to set terms."

“Alright…what are your terms?"

“No attachments, no invasion of privacy, this is strictly for public performance. What I do with my life is none of your business.”

"Alright, you have a deal, you'll be moving in tomorrow.”

My breath hitched in my throat.

"I'll be living with you?”

I didn't expect that at all.

"How else would it sell, June. The driver would come pick you by 7 in the morning. You'll be coming to work from there.”

A chill ran down my spine. Because something told me this wasn't just a fake relationship, but the benefits were too tempting to resist. 

And I already said yes.

There was no turning back now.