Fake It 'Til You Make It

By Louisa Masters

When Sci-Fi Geek lands Sophisticated and Sexy, fan fiction dreams can come true.

Tech billionaire Michael Jones has always been a stereotypical geek at heart. Shy, socially uninterested, and crazy for Star Wars, he's spent years creating a mask that helped him become the rags-to-riches phenomenon of the century.

There's just one person who can crack the façade. One person who turns him into an incoherent, bumbling mess: James Jennings.

The sophisticated older brother of Michael's best friend, James has been the centre of Michael's fantasies from the moment they met. But those dreams can never come true, because why would a suave, successful, wealthy businessman want someone who's just faking his way through life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Louisa Masters
• Release date: Aug 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386783008

Louisa Masters

Louisa Masters started reading romance much earlier than her mother thought she should. While other teenagers were sneaking out of the house, Louisa was sneaking romance novels in and working out how to read them without being discovered. She’s spent most of her life feeling sorry for people who don’t read, convinced that books are the solution to every problem. As an adult, she feeds her addiction in every spare second, only occasionally tearing herself away to do things like answer the phone and pay bills. She spent years trying to build a “sensible” career, working in bookstores, recruitment, resource management, administration, and as a travel agent, before finally conceding defeat and devoting herself to the world of romance novels. Louisa has a long list of places first discovered in books that she wants to visit, and every so often she overcomes her loathing of jet lag and takes a trip that charges her imagination. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she whines about the weather for most of the year while secretly admitting she’ll probably never move.

Book preview

Chapter One

I hope you enjoyed your flight, Mr Jones, the flight attendant says through her huge, fake smile. She’s taking every care not to show the exhaustion she must be feeling after catering to the whims of the rich fools—including me—in the first-class cabin for fifteen hours.

I smile back, a bit more genuinely since I’ve had a really good sleep and been waited on hand and foot, and say, The service was fantastic, as always. Thank you. I stroll onto the airbridge and into the terminal, where I’m met by a Qantas First host. Did you know that if you fly first class, you get a bunch of people to basically hold your hand the whole way? I didn’t, back when I was still flying economy.

Good morning, Mr Jones, the smiling host greets me. Around me, other first-class passengers are receiving the same treatment. Can I take your bag?

Hi—quick glance at his name tag—Phillip. Thanks, but I’ve got it. Nothing on this earth could convince me to hand my laptop to a stranger. And that’s all I’ve got—my laptop bag. With all the amenities available in first class, why would I need a carry-on?

Phillip leads the way to Immigration, where I’m ushered through the priority line, and then comes with me to grab my suitcase. It doesn’t take long to appear, since it has priority tags, and moments later he’s walking me out into the main arrivals hall… where I’m introduced to a uniformed chauffeur. Phillip says goodbye, the chauffeur takes my suitcase, and I follow him out of the airport into the lovely, balmy Melbourne autumn day.

My life wasn’t always like this. Don’t go thinking that just because I’m totally at ease with this kind of treatment now, I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth. Far from it. My family is—well, was—lower-middle class. I grew up with three older sisters in a three-bedroom house in a suburb that wasn’t bad, but never made the most-desirable list. I went to public school, wore clothes bought at Target and Kmart, and our annual family holiday never involved a plane or a hotel.

But I was a child of the 80s and 90s, and some very cool stuff was going on then with technology. When I was in Year Ten, the Premier’s office decided to hold a competition, open to all students in my year doing the then ubiquitously titled IT. The challenge? To come up with a concept that would make computers better.

Looking back, it was a fluff competition geared toward promoting friendly feeling toward a struggling politician. I mean, a concept that would make computers better? How much more vague can you get? But it was a state-funded contest and the prize included one week of work experience at Microsoft Australia, all expenses paid—which was important, since I lived in Melbourne and the office was in Sydney. There was no harm in giving it a try, right?

My phone rings as I slide into the comfortable leather seat of the car, derailing my train of thought. A glance at the display has me smiling.

Hi, Caleb.

Mike! Tell me you’re back with us, mate.

I am, I confirm. On my way home from the airport now. My best friend cheers, and it feels damn good to have been missed. Traveling so much seemed really cool at first, when I was young and naïve and hobnobbing with tech legends in an attempt to build my business, but now I am a tech legend, and the reality is that it’s a pain in the arse.

Great. I’m having a party tonight and you can come. He babbles on about who’s coming and why it matters, but I’ve already tuned him out.

A party. Yay. Can I claim jet lag?

Probably not. The downside of flying first class and having friends who fly first class is that they all know you know the best ways to get around jet lag. And Caleb’s my best friend, has been for

Reviews for Fake It 'Til You Make It

[CamillaTG · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was sweet, a little sickly sweet, and adorably geeky, but I didn't hate it at all. I'm a sucker for a little drama and this didn't really have any.... I'd still recommend it as a good short read that'll make you smile...maybe ;)