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“Everyone needs to have more fun. I think those we both excellent pieces of advice. In fact, I’m sure I can help you with that one. The fun one.”
I smile tightly. Negotiations will begin. He will make an offer, one I will counter. We’ll do the dance until we can conclude our deal with me ending up naked, probably in his bed.
I’m hollow inside. The news about Noam hit me like an axe chopping through a tree, bound and determined to bring it down. I may not be hauled down to the police station but this isn’t over.
But there’s no time to deal with that because I owe Max a favour, and I always pay my debts.
I give a delicate shrug and sip my tea. “What can I do for you?”
“A few things.” Max leans back in his chair and studies me with a hopeful expression.
“You have a list?”
“I was wondering if you’re busy this weekend.”
10
Maximus
Ithink Cady Quinn just propositioned me and I’m pretty sure I turned her down.
I may be a good soccer player, but I’m amazing at kicking myself for letting that one slide by. What are you thinking, Maxie? You grab whatever she’s offering and you go for it.
If Cady hadn’t been on the verge of tears, then maybe. But still, she can do something for me. “There’s this wedding,” I begin. “My buddy, Marcus.”
Cady narrows her eyes. “The one you were doing all the celebrating with.”
“He is so in love with Callie,” I tell her. “It’s so great to see, but also so annoying because now he thinks everyone should be in love as much as he is. He spent all night pushing women at me, trying to help me find my perfect match like he has.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.” The more I talk, the more she relaxes. At least, now she looks slightly more comfortable in her chair. I know dancers have excellent posture, but the way Cady was perched on her chair was insane.
“Not normally, no, but he kind of made me look desperate, and that’s not a good look for me. I can do that well enough on my own.”
A smile. Nice.
I keep going before I lose my nerve. “And that was only one night. I’ve got to go through an entire weekend of wedding and he’s going to be pushing every single woman in the place at me, trying to pair me up. And if he gets Callie involved…” I shiver. “So you could really do me a solid and go with me.”
She pauses like she’s waiting for the punchline. “To a wedding.”
I am not joking. “Yes. I’ll pay for—” I stop because Cady’s face… She looks like I reached out and slapped her. “Airfare is covered,” I say quickly. “All accommodations. Food. It’ll be like an all-inclusive resort. I’ll even buy you a dress.”
“I don’t need a dress.”
“No strings,” I add. “And no—” —my face heats from what I must have acted like last night— “no drunken me wanting to have pancakes. If you want to have pancakes, that’ll be great. Amazing. But only if you want… pancakes. That’s up to you. No pancakes are expected or obligated. If that helps you make your decision.”
She frowns. “It doesn’t seem like I have a choice, does it?”
“Well, if you want to look at it like that, then no. We’re both business people—let’s look at the give and take. I can keep the police and the press off your back by acting like the besotted boyfriend.”
“Besotted boyfriend?”
I shrug and flash a grin. “Won’t be hard. All I’m asking from you is seventy-two hours of your company. Maybe eighty, factoring in travel-back time. Which I will arrange.”
“Eighty hours. That seems like a lot.”
“Travel, pre-wedding activities, wedding. Then you’re off the hook. Seventy-two if you want to take off straight from the wedding and find your own way back.”
“And this is for Marcus’s wedding.”
