After the Kiss Read Free Page A

“Now hold on. You make me sound like a common hussy. Just because I dated all of those men doesn’t mean I
slept
with them.”
    Riley wiggled her eyebrows. “Most of them?”
    Julie took another sip of her champagne and tried to look sexy and mysterious. Riley gave a disappointed sigh. “You didn’t sleep with
any
of them, did you?”
    The way Riley said it made Julie feel like a prude. But then, Riley was
Stiletto
’s sexpert in residence. Julie was more hearts and flowers, and, well … 
Let’s just say I’m a little particular about the men I sleep with
.
    “I slept with Graham after the fifth date,” Julie protested. And it had been
laaaaaame
. But the girls didn’t need to know that. “I never dated any of them for more than a couple of weeks, and I
liked
it that way. You see where I’m going with this? I can’t talk about the next level because
I’ve never been there
.”
    “So?” Riley said, wiggling her fingers at a tuxedo-clad server who practically sprinted over to deliver another round of champagne. “Go there.”
    “I can’t just pull a relationship out of my butt, Ri. How am I supposed to add a personal touch to a story about something I’ve never experienced?”
    “Interview women who have been through it,” Grace said practically, sounding exactly like Camille.
    “Go undercover,” Riley said at the exact same time.
    Julie paused with the newly refilled champagne flute halfway to her lips, eyes fixed on Riley. “Keep going with that. Undercover. What are you thinking?”
    “What about my idea?” Grace asked.
    Julie ignored her. A bland interview-focused article wasn’t on her radar. She hadn’t spent years building up the personal aspect of her articles only to let it all fall apart now.
    “Go undercover,” Riley repeated. “If you’re not interested in actually taking a relationship to the next level, fake it.”
    “Tell me you’re joking,” Grace said. “That’s just wrong. Pretending to
fall
in love would be bad enough, but pretending to actually
be
in love? That’s cruel.”
    “It wouldn’t have to actually be
love
, per se,” Julie mused, warming up to the idea. “I could just sort of dip my toe into the world of commitment. Find some nice, reliable, wife-seeking guy and see what happens.”
    “Exactly right,” Riley said with approval. “You just pull the plug before it goes too far. It wouldn’t be unlike normal dating. You’d just be trying a guy on for size, seeing if it might work out.”
    “Except it wouldn’t,” Julie said. “Work out, I mean.”
    “Maybe not. But
he
doesn’t know that.”
    Grace groaned. “I can’t believe I’m listening to this.”
    “This could really work,” Julie mused. “Maybe I could truly find out firsthand what all those boring couples do after the butterflies-and-fun stuff has worn off.”
    “Hey!” Grace said.
    “Not you and Greg, of course,” Julie amended. “You guys aren’t boring.”
    Except they were. Just a little.
    “So how do I do this?” she asked, turning her attention back to Riley. “Where do I start?”
    Riley rubbed her hands together. “Ah, the tigress hunts her prey.”
    “Not that I want any part of this charade,” Grace said slowly, “but tonight might actually be an ideal time to find such a man.”
    “Tonight?” Julie’s stomach clenched. She’d thought she’d at least have a few days to prepare.
    “Sure!” Grace said, as though they were discussing nothing more dicey than a fifth-grade scavenger hunt. “It’s an education fund-raiser. I’m thinking many of the men here will be more family-minded than we might find on an average Friday night out.”
    Riley nodded in agreement. “
Baby
call instead of booty call. I like the way you think, Brighton. We can for sure find a dull, committed kind of guy here. Assuming this is for our August issue, you’ll have over a month until you have to get a draft to Camille. If you keep this moving, that’s plenty of time to get