A Very Friendly Fiasco

Sometimes the friend zone is breached... He's her office crush, and she's the colleague he can't stop thinking about. But with HR's no-fraternization policy breathing down their necks, Lizzie and Matt have to get creative if they want to explore what’s brewing between them… Lizzie: I’ve been stuck in a corporate rut for years, but it’s not all bad—there’s Matt. Smart, funny, drop-dead gorgeous Matt, whose eyes make me forget how much I hate filling out toxic material regulation paperwork. It’s not like anything can happen between us. ChemTech’s relationship rules are stricter than a chemistry final, and honestly, I don’t think I could survive the embarrassment of submitting a detailed dating log to HR. But then Matt invites me to dinner and a concert—as friends. Fake friends, to be exact. He claims it’s the perfect loophole, and I know I should say no. Except...he’s Matt. And who am I kidding? I want to go out with him more than I want a handful of my favorite chocolate-covered almonds. Caught between the thrill of potential romance and the fear of corporate consequences, I find myself at a crossroads. Matt’s offer is tempting, leaving me questioning everything I know about risk and reward. Navigating dinners and concerts and movies as "fake friends" seems harmless enough, but with every glance and shared laugh, every conversation and tender moment, the heat between us turns into a bonfire and the façade of friendship crumbles. And now I have to decide: Is our connection worth risking my career?