Elsie, a theoretical physics PhD and adjunct professor, is barely making ends meet due to financial struggles, complicated by her diabetes and lack of health insurance. To cope, she uses an app for 'fake-dating,' which is how she meets her current client, Greg. However, her life gets more complicated when she encounters Jack Smith, the same formidable figure who heads MIT's physics department and stands in the way of her dream job. Prepared for academic warfare, Elsie is thrown off by his intense gaze and the unexpected feeling of being able to be her true self around him, kicking off a classic enemies-to-lovers romcom.