My three priorities for this year are to finish my PhD, avoid emotional drama, and earn some extra money, so when Steve hires me to act like his girlfriend for an extended business trip, I don't hesitate to sign the contract. After all, the job will be easy. I can join him for the occasional dinner, pretend to adore him, and still have plenty of time to focus on my academic work. I'm used to working with rich, entitled men, so I'm not worried about handling him. Except Steve is nothing I expect. He's brilliant and funny and has emotional depths that keep surprising me. And he's hot. Definitely hot. I'm starting to want more from him than this job allows, so avoiding emotional drama might not be in the cards for me this year. I work for Companions for Hire, which means sex is against the rules and falling in love is out of the question. The Girlfriend is the first book in the Companions for Hire series about a company that provides a variety of social partners for a price.