OVERLOOKED TO IRRESISTIBLE

Chapter 5: FAKE DATING

The room stayed silent for exactly three seconds.

Then the whispers exploded.

Aria could feel every eye on them, could practically hear the gossip forming in real time. Sienna Hartley's brother and Ethan Blackwell's childhood friend. At the engagement party. Someone's phone was definitely out, probably already posting to i********:.

"Breathe," Dominic murmured against her ear, his arm still firmly around her waist. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"I just kissed you in front of fifty people."

"Correction: we kissed each other. And it was at least seventy people." His voice carried a hint of amusement. "But who's counting?"

Aria's brain was screaming at her to run, to take it back, to do literally anything except stand here with Dominic's arm around her like they belonged together. But her legs wouldn't move.

Across the room, Ethan was pushing through the crowd toward them, his face a storm of emotions Aria couldn't parse. Sienna was right behind him, her perfect composure cracking at the edges.

"We should probably talk about this," Dominic said, watching them approach. "Preferably before your childhood crush murders me with his bare hands."

"He won't."

"You sure? Because he looks fairly homicidal right now."

Ethan reached them before Aria could respond. Up close, he looked worse than she'd ever seen him. His tie was crooked, his hair messed up from running his hands through it, and there was something wild in his eyes.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, looking between them.

"I think it's called kissing," Dominic said. "You might have heard of it. You were doing it pretty enthusiastically about fifteen minutes ago."

Ethan's jaw clenched. "I wasn't talking to you."

"And yet here I am, talking back. Funny how conversation works."

"Dominic," Sienna hissed, finally catching up. Her mascara had definitely run now, black streaks trailing down her cheeks. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Dominic's arm tightened around Aria's waist. "I'm with Aria. Problem?"

"Since when?" Sienna's voice pitched higher. "You two barely know each other."

"We met at the Marcus Gallery opening," Aria heard herself say, surprised by how steady her voice sounded. "We've been seeing each other since then."

The lie came easily. Too easily.

Ethan looked like she'd punched him. "You've been seeing him? For two weeks?"

"Why do you care?" The words came out sharper than Aria intended. "You're getting married."

"That's different."

"How? How is it different, Ethan?"

He opened his mouth. Closed it. No answer came because there wasn't one that made sense.

Sienna recovered first, her expression shifting from shock to calculation. "How convenient. You show up in New York after six years, right when Ethan and I are getting engaged, and suddenly you're dating my brother. That doesn't seem suspicious to you?"

"Should it?" Dominic asked coolly.

"It seems like someone's trying to make a point."

"Maybe I just have good taste."

Aria could feel the situation spiraling, people pressing closer to hear better. This was a disaster. She'd created a scene at an engagement party, lied to everyone, and started a fake relationship she had no idea how to maintain.

"Can we talk?" Ethan asked, looking only at Aria. "Alone?"

"No," Dominic answered before she could. "You can't."

"I wasn't asking you."

"And I'm not asking permission." Dominic's voice stayed pleasant, but there was steel underneath. "Aria's with me. You don't get to pull her aside whenever you feel like it anymore."

"Since when do you speak for her?"

"Since she chose me instead of waiting around for you to figure out what you want."

The words landed like a slap. Ethan actually flinched, and Aria felt a savage satisfaction mixed with guilt.

"This is ridiculous," Sienna said, grabbing Ethan's arm. "It's our engagement party. Let them play whatever game they're playing. Come on."

But Ethan didn't move. He was still staring at Aria, searching her face for something. Answers maybe. Or absolution.

"Is this real Aria?" he asked painfully and quietly.

His expression caught Aria off guard. She could end this right now. Admit it was an impulse, a moment of anger, a mistake. But then she'd go back to being invisible Aria, the girl who loved him from a safe distance while he married someone else.

"It's real," she said, and was surprised to find she sounded convincing.

Ethan's expression shuttered. "Fine. Great. I hope you're happy together."

He let Sienna drag him away, but not before Aria saw the hurt in his eyes. The confusion. The jealousy.

She'd wanted him to feel it. She'd wanted him to know what it was like to watch someone you love choose someone else.

So why did she feel so hollow?

The crowd started dispersing, the show over, conversations resuming with added excitement. Aria could hear her name in whispers, mixed with Dominic's, with speculation and judgment.

"We should probably leave," Dominic said. "Before my mother corners us and demands to know when the wedding is."

"Your mother?"

"Trust me, you don't want to meet her tonight. She'll have opinions." He guided her toward the exit, his hand on the small of her back. "Come on. Let's get out of here before this gets worse."

They made it to the elevator without being stopped. The doors closed on the party, on the whispers, on Ethan's shell-shocked face.

Aria sagged against the elevator wall, adrenaline draining out of her all at once. "Oh my God. What did I just do?"

"Took control of your narrative," Dominic said. "Or made a spectacular mistake. Could go either way, honestly."

"That's not comforting."

"I'm not trying to comfort you. I'm trying to be realistic." He watched her with that calculating expression she was starting to recognize. "But for what it's worth, you sold it. Everyone believed us."

"Including Ethan."

"Especially Ethan." Dominic's smile was sharp. "Did you see his face? I thought he was going to have a stroke."

The elevator doors opened to the lobby. Aria stepped out, her heels clicking on marble that probably cost more than her entire apartment. Through the windows, she could see the city lights, endless and indifferent to her drama.

"So what now?" she asked.

"Now we talk terms." Dominic pulled out his phone and tapped something. "My car's out front. We'll go somewhere quiet and figure out the details of this arrangement."

"What arrangement? We just agreed to fake date. How many details could there be?"

"You'd be surprised." A black town car pulled up, and Dominic opened the door for her. "After you."

Aria hesitated. Getting in that car meant committing to this insanity. Meant lying to everyone, including Ethan. Meant spending time with Dominic Hartley, who she barely knew and definitely didn't trust.

But going home meant going back to being the girl who waited. Who hoped. Who accepted whatever scraps Ethan offered.

She got in the car.

Dominic slid in beside her, giving the driver an address she didn't recognize. The car pulled away from The Plaza, away from the party, away from the mess she'd just created.

"So," Dominic said, settling back against the leather seats. "Let's discuss the rules of our fake relationship. First and most important: how committed are you to making Ethan miserable?"

"I'm not trying to make him miserable."

"Liar."

"Fine. Maybe a little miserable."

"That's the spirit." Dominic's smile was approving. "Here's what I propose: public appearances as a couple, enough physical affection to be convincing but nothing that crosses lines you're not comfortable with. Private boundaries stay private. We both maintain our own lives, our own spaces. This is business, not personal."

"How long?"

"As long as it takes. For you to get over him, for me to get my family off my back. Three months minimum. We can reassess after that."

Three months of pretending. Three months of lying. Three months of watching Ethan marry Sienna while she played house with his almost-brother-in-law.

"What if people find out we're faking?" Aria asked.

"They won't. Unless you tell them." Dominic's expression turned serious. "This only works if we commit. Half measures make us look pathetic. All in or nothing."

"And what do you get out of this besides family peace?"

Something flickered across Dominic's face. Pain, maybe. Or anger. "Let's just say I have my own reasons for wanting to appear unavailable. Ex-girlfriend issues."

"The one who left you at the altar?"

His jaw tightened. "Ethan tell you that?"

"Your sister mentioned it. At the party."

"Of course she did." Dominic looked out the window, his profile sharp in the passing streetlights. "Yes. She left me at the altar after embezzling half a million from my company. And now she's back in New York, acting like we can be friends. This arrangement keeps her at arm's length."

"That's awful."

"That's life." He turned back to her. "So. Are we doing this or not?"

Aria thought about Ethan's face when she'd kissed Dominic. The jealousy. The hurt. The realization that maybe he'd waited too long.

She thought about Sienna's smug smile, her territorial display, her casual cruelty.

She thought about six years of being invisible, of being the safe backup, of being everything except chosen.

"One condition," Aria said. "We're honest with each other. If this stops working for either of us, we talk about it. No games between us, even if we're playing them with everyone else."

Dominic considered this, then nodded. "Deal. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Where are we going?"

"My penthouse. We need to coordinate our story before tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"People will have questions. We need consistent answers." The car pulled up in front of a sleek high-rise in Tribeca. "Don't worry. I'll have you home by midnight. I'm not trying to seduce you."

"Why not?" The question slipped out before Aria could stop it.

Dominic's smile was slow and dangerous. "Because when I seduce someone, they know it. This is business. Let's keep it that way."

They rode the elevator to the penthouse in silence. When the doors opened, Aria stepped into a space that looked like it belonged in a magazine. Floor-to-ceiling windows, modern art, furniture that probably cost more than a car.

"Nice place," she said.

"Thanks. I live here occasionally when I remember I own it." Dominic tossed his keys on a console table and headed for the bar. "Drink?"

"I shouldn't."

"That wasn't a question about what you should do. It was a question about what you want." He poured two glasses of whiskey without waiting for an answer. "We just fake-started a relationship at my sister's engagement party. I think we've earned a drink."

He had a point.

Aria took the glass, letting the whiskey burn down her throat. Dutch courage. That's what her mother used to call it.

"So," Dominic said, settling onto the couch and gesturing for her to sit. "Let's build our love story. How'd we meet?"

"Marcus Gallery opening."

"Good. Why were you there?"

"Work. You?"

"Investments. I was scouting potential gallery partnerships." He pulled out his phone and started typing. "We talked about art. Argued about a specific piece. The tension was immediate."

"Was it?"

"It will be in our version." He looked up. "We exchanged numbers that night. Started texting. Coffee a few days later turned into dinner. Dinner turned into seeing each other regularly. All very fast, very intense, very believable."

"People will think I'm rebounding from Ethan."

"Let them. Makes the story better. Star-crossed childhood friends, one gets away, comes back to find him engaged. Falls into the arms of someone new. Very romantic."

"Very fake."

"Same thing in my world." Dominic finished his drink. "There's a charity gala next Friday. Art auction. We'll go together. Make it official in front of everyone who matters."

"That's less than a week away."

"Problem?"

"I don't have anything to wear to a charity gala."

"You will." Dominic pulled up something on his phone. "My stylist will meet you Tuesday. He'll handle everything."

"You have a stylist."

"I have several. Image is currency in my world." He studied her over his glass. "You'll learn."

Aria set down her whiskey, suddenly exhausted. "I should go."

"Car's waiting downstairs. Give the driver your address." Dominic walked her to the elevator. "Oh, and Aria?"

"Yeah?"

"That kiss. Not bad. If we have to do it again, I won't hate it."

Her face heated. "It was just for show."

"Sure it was." The elevator doors opened. "See you at the gala. Try not to have second thoughts before then."

The doors closed on his knowing smile.

In the car, Aria pulled out her phone. Seventeen missed calls from Ethan. Thirty-two texts.

The most recent one, from five minutes ago: "Please tell me this isn't real. Please tell me you're just trying to hurt me. I can't lose you, Aria. Not like this."

Aria stared at the message, her thumb hovering over the call button.

Then she turned off her phone and watched the city blur past her window.

By the time she got home, exhaustion had settled into her bones. She kicked off her heels, peeled off her dress, and collapsed onto her futon.

Her phone buzzed. She'd forgotten to leave it off.

Unknown number: "Sweet dreams, girlfriend. Don't forget we have a gala to prepare for. - DH"

Aria groaned and buried her face in her pillow.

What had she gotten herself into?