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Miles strode back to the table and sat across from me. “We’ll still do that, but I’ll give you my name, which, like you said, lends me respect I haven’t earned.”
“What do you mean? How can you give me your name?”
“Not literally, but if I tell everyone you’re mine, you’ll go from Daisy Dunham to Daisy, Miles Aldrich’s girlfriend.”
I burst out laughing. He’d almost had me. I was so eager for there to be a solution, I’d been on the edge of my seat, and here he was jerking my chain.
“Okay, sure. I’ll just be your fake girlfriend, and everyone will like me.”
He peered at me through narrowed eyes. “I sense sarcasm, but I don’t know why. You might not see it, but I’m well known for my charm. Those circles you want to break into? They love me. It’s why my parents send me to all the functions for the charities they support.”
My eyes darted back and forth between his, searching for the punchline to this insane idea. Miles wasn’t laughing. In fact, his sincerity was pinned to his sleeve. He really meant this.
“Why not introduce me as your friend?”
“I thought of that. It’s what I had intended to do before the story you just told me. But I don’t think being friends will be quite enough. Saying you’re my girlfriend implies a deeper commitment. Having you with me at these events will show I’m willingly connecting my name to yours.”
I didn’t know what to say. This was ridiculous, and it infuriated me that he might actually be right—that posing as his girlfriend could truly convince his crowd I was worthy of their business and a modicum of respect.
“I don’t know, Miles. This seems so far-fetched. Why would you even want to do this?”
He slowly exhaled. “Before you got here, I was looking at my calendar and saw an event I’m obligated to go to coming up. Do you know what I felt? Dread. Most of the conversations I hold are drier than toast. They’re boring, fake, tedious, but how can I say no when it’s for charity? So, I go every year and hate every moment. But if you come with me…I think we could have fun pulling one over on everyone. Besides, there’s nothing that gets me off more than seeing one of my clients succeed.”
I sniffed. “You probably shouldn’t talk to your clients about what gets you off.”
He shot me a crooked grin. “Yeah, but we’re friends too.”
“Are we?”
“We are.”
“I don’t think we’re friends who talk about getting off.”
His grin expanded. “We should be. Social norms are boring, Daisy-daze.” He smacked a hand on the tabletop. “Now, are you in or are you in? Don’t let all the work I did for you be in vain.”
I shook my head. “No one would ever believe you and I are a couple.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re not…you are…we’re just different.”
“Yeah?” He folded his arms over his chest. “What’d your ex look like?”
“That doesn’t matter, and it’s not all about looks.”
His brow crinkled. “That ugly, huh? Don’t worry, Cupcake, you’re good looking enough to date me. Objectively, I’d say we’re on the same level of attractiveness.”
“What? No, I wasn’t saying that,” I sputtered. “Andy isn’t ugly, and I definitely wasn’t saying I’m not attractive enough for you. You have an astounding ego. Wow.”
He shrugged. “It’s not like I did anything to earn this face. It’s not an accomplishment. My ego isn’t attached to my outsides. If you said I was ugly, I’d say you must have unconventional tastes or you’re a liar, but I wouldn’t cry in my pillow. But that’s not the point. I want to know why you don’t think we would make a convincing couple.”
This man might as well have been holding me upside down and giving me a shake with how rattled I was. I’d walked in today prepared to turn him down, and now I was trying to explain how we didn’t suit each other. How had we even gotten here?
Miles.
It was all Miles Aldrich and his mind that moved a mile a minute. He’d bounced from failure to a path to success without taking a breath, leaving me to catch up, and I hadn’t quite gotten there yet.
“Our aesthetics are opposite. We’re nothing alike. You’re you, and I’m…me.”
