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Becoo he couldn't have invented any better than Jonah had, was reroup of hair and makeup people had transforer nephew, if he'd had one His silver hair, a hallone, replaced by a dye job that returned hiht baby blues he was known for had to go, replaced by green contact lenses that lowed like so radioactive, like The Green Lantern as a contestant on The Bachelor

All of his bespoke suits and carefully-chosen fine clothes were gone Scratchy polos, coarse button down shirts and Dockers replaced his wardrobe To fit the part, he had to look like a guy who shopped at the mall All he needed was a beat-up old Toyota Corolla and he fit the part of a guy ten years out of college, still struggling with student loans, and who had just landed his first decent ement job

"Perfect!" Jonah had announced as they convened late last night "We have cameras in your office, in the outer office where the ad to your office in social media, and in your rental car If you're here at work, you'll be tracked"

"But once we're off set, it's done, right?" A confirmation An affirmation A bit of a power play, too, as Mike made it clear he wouldn't be recorded without his permission

Jonah had shot hi"

"If I'm on my way home or elsewhere, they're not" That wasn't a question Mike's blood pressure shot up, his chest tightening with anger This wasn't the original deal

Jonah had bristled "No! Of course not So here's the first script" He had handed Mike a thick stack of bound pages

"Script?" Why would a 'reality television show' need a script? He wasn't an actor, and had assu lines, either

"You need toyou steal the ad spot"

Mike had groaned And now he knehy he had groaned But not for any of the reasons he'd thought then Now he groaned because he wanted to groan for Lydia As he thought of her he leaned back in his chair and took another deep breath

Stretching his ar across the fake-wood top, he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes Not theShe looked exactly as he had remembered, but with a maturity that deepened her features over tiuardedness ently – not just bulldoze Long, dark hair with the loss of nature's shine that co the dimmer switch down on hair color, skin tone, and – he was learning – e color between brown and topaz, with flecks of green A long, syhtly Nordic, as if Finnish genes entered into her fa spicier

He couldn't put his finger on it But oh, hoanted to

A few fleeting s, had been enough to confirm that her luscious body was, indeed, as reles where nature intended, and an ass that was full and sensual, as if carved by Ruben and toned by J Lo When her skin flushed his pants had tightened It didn't take a genius to know she was attracted to hienius, co file of tests that confirh Gutsrisks reallyhim more than his analysis of her ever could She clearly had expected a shot at this job, a job he never intended to create The producers wanted conflict and hadfrom a very bad Chuck Norris television show, and in the end he had his own raging desire and, now, a very pissed off admin

The door to the outer office scraped open and his eyes shifted to his smartphone 7:59 ain

With a cup of coffee

Lydia punched the number of her best friend, Krysta, into herany lass interface, and her smartphone took the abuse about as well as a stone statue could function as a punching bag Bruised finger and threeand hoped Krysta would pick up

She did

"'Lo?" Sleepy voice

"Krysta, they gave the job to someone else!" Lydia stared at theas they shut slowly under the control of the pneu as if sed Her final glined as he walked into the building and, she assuht behind hers that she had fantasized about for more than a year

"What?" Krysta ake now She kne important that job was for Lydia "How could they do that? You didn't even get a chance to apply"

Angerwheel, willing the tears away Her eye caught the back cover of Fifty Shades and she rolled her eyes Like she would ever snag a billionaire Like she would ever let a billionaire do thosethings What Ana allowed Then again, if she'd been as naive as Ana and as hooked on soree by the age of twenty-three sheon it

"Lydia?"

"I' down her cheeks Good thing she hadn't put on herher head up, she carefully milked the teardrops out of the corners of her eyes so they didn't drop on her top or roll between her breasts