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Wade
The sound of the front door to the office opening and closing was enough to get my pulse pounding. I was more nervous than I thought I’d be. My palms were sweaty, hands fidgety, and all I could think of were the millions of ways this could go wrong. But she’d agreed, and if today went well, I’d pay off her bills by the end of the evening. I was more committed to this than she was.
Her brown mess of curls bobbed as she walked past the window of her office door. Don’t show her you’re nervous.
A gentle knock at my door made me lean back into my chair instead of sitting up. This would be casual. No shouting, no arguing, no teasing. Well, maybe some teasing.
“Come in,” I called.
The handle turned and the door opened slowly, a timid-looking Ray stepping into my space. Her wide black slacks fit snugly around her waist, drawing my eyes toward her torso and up. The thin, black button-up she had on hugged her breasts and was tucked into her pants, sleeves rolled up to let the bottom half of her forearms breathe. She’d done her makeup, bold on the eyes and subtle on her plump lips, her hair tied up in a ponytail that swished from side to side as she stepped up to my desk.
“Hi, Wade.”
I motioned for her to sit and she followed the instruction. “Morning, Ray.”
Her lips quirked up at the edges. “My dad used to call me that. Morning-Ray.” She crossed her legs and smoothed out the fabric of her pants as I tried my best not to watch her hands. “I suppose you want to talk about the deal.”
I nodded. “I figured it would be best to go over it in person. Ideally, it won’t be an in-office thing as I’d rather keep this between us. It’ll get out eventually, I’m sure, but until then…”
“I get it.”
“Perfect,” I grinned. I sat up in my chair, resting my elbows on the desk. “So, first things first. I think you and I need to learn a little bit more about each other. We can’t sell that we’re in a loving relationship if we don’t even know the bare minimum. I think the best way for us to do this is to go on a few dates. We can get a bit more comfortable around each other and learn what makes the other tick.”
A muscle in her jaw twitched. “I don’t want to go on dates with you.”
“I understand that, but we’ll need to get our names out there,” I explained. “We can’t sell that we’ve been together a while if the media has never seen us. And we can’t pretend to be in love if we feel awkward interacting.”
“Can’t you just tell me everything I need to know here and then we can play the part at the wedding?” she asked, her nose scrunched as if she couldn’t fathom the idea of going out anywhere with me. To be fair, the one experience we did share wasn’t great. “We can take a photo together somewhere and leak it ourselves.”
I shook my head. “No. I know how this will work best and I need you to trust me on that. One of my best friends has done something similar and I’d like to follow his path.” I didn’t dare mention that Jackson and Mandy were married now and had a kid. Didn’t want to scare her off. “I need you to be on board with this. I’ll try to make it as painless as possible for you.”
Rolling her lips between her teeth, she seemed to mull over what I was saying. “Fine. But there's very little chance that I won’t complain.”
A chuckle bloomed in my chest. “I’d expect nothing less.”
“Is that all?”
“No. We’ll also need to get you comfortable staying the night with me since we’ll be sharing a room for the wedding. Don’t want you hesitating outside the door and flagging up questions in front of the families. Ideally, we’ll go on a few dates until you’re comfortable, and then you can stay at my house for a night before the wedding to make sure you’re okay with that. We’ve still got a few weeks to prepare for that.”
“Absolutely not,” she hissed, her eye twitching as she leaned forward in her seat. “I’m not sleeping with you. How is that helpful?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Ray. I said staying with me, not sleeping with me. I don’t expect you to want to fuck me,” I laughed. I played with my lower lip as I watched her expression turn from irritation to anger, knowing damn well this was devolving into potentially dangerous territory. “I won’t say no if it comes to that though.”
“Such a fucking ass,” she breathed. “Is that really necessary? Can’t we just sleep in separate rooms and claim we’re waiting until marriage?”
I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped from my gut. I swear, for a woman so smart, she truly could overlook the obvious. “Do you honestly think that my family or my sister’s fiancé would believe I’d ever wait until marriage? I’m trying to clean up my reputation, Ray, not give everyone I know a heart attack.”
“I don’t want to do that with you,” she said, enunciating every word, as if to make it more believable. I’d seen the way she looked at me. Maybe she didn’t want to spend an evening alone with me, but I knew damn well if it was anyone else in my body she’d leap at the chance.
I couldn’t help but see the statement as a challenge. “Shall we see how we get on and then make that call later?” I suggested, unable to keep the grin on my lips at bay.
She sighed, relinquishing control, and nodded. “Fine. But you have to pay for a twenty-four-seven caregiver for Mom on those days.”
“That’s not a problem, as I said before. If you’d rather, I can get her into a facility?—”
“No. She’s happier at home.”
“Understood.”
