Page 17 of Fake It For Him

Her shoulders rose and fell on a deep breath. Then she turned around again and came back. Her mouth was pressed in a thin line and I could practically hear her silently debating whether to leave or stay.

Grinning, I leaned back in my chair and swept a hand out, inviting her to take a seat. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s half a million. You can’t hate me that much.”

For a second, I thought she just might because her body angled back toward the door like she was about to leave, but then she sighed, slid her purse down the length of her arm, and dropped into the chair across from mine.

Out here in the light of day, she was even prettier than I remembered. Her features were delicate and beautiful, her lips a heart-shaped bow even though they were still pressed together. I smiled, but she shook her head at me, still not saying a word.

A server appeared beside our table, and of course, he got a smile out of her. “Can I have a chai tea latte, please?”

“Sure, coming right up.” He glanced at me. “Another espresso, sir?”

I dropped my chin in a nod and he returned it before he took off, leaving us to our awkward silence and to continue eyeballing each other. Ella finally propped her elbows on the table, forearms down against the white tablecloth, and leaned forward.

“My luck couldn’t get any worse,” she grumbled quietly before she fixed me with a puzzled look. Her brow slightly furrowed as she dragged in a deep breath. “What do you need, Calan? Why did you have to pay someone so much money to get it when you’re perfectly good at tricking women into thinking you’re a nice guy worthy of their time?”

“Ouch.”

She lifted her chin, clearly proud of the jab. “You have three minutes to tell me before I walk out that door, and I won’t come back this time.”

I studied her expression, the sharp, thin line between her eyebrows and the hard set of her jaw. She was serious. Whatever she was mad at me about, it was bad enough that it would be worth five hundred thousand dollars to her if I didn’t make a good case.

Thinking back to that night, I really didn’t get it. She’d come to me, helped me, we’d talked, and when I’d propositioned her, she’d gotten up and taken me to her room. I hadn’t lied or made any promises. In fact, I’d thought we were on the same page, but now, it was crystal clear that we weren’t and that we obviously hadn’t been then either.

It was a puzzle to solve another day, though.

For now, it appeared I had a case to make.

Nodding slowly, I undid the button of my jacket with a one-handed flick, leaned forward, and rested one of my own elbows on the table in turn, my gaze locked on her pissed-off greens. “I need someone to play my girlfriend from now until my sister’s wedding on New Year’s Eve. You would have to accompany me to all wedding-related events and a few other occasions in order to placate my father and make my family think that we’re dating seriously.”

Her brow furrowed, her nose wrinkling a little on one side. “Okay, but why? Again, it seems like it’d be a lot less effort and a lot cheaper for you to just pick up a girl while you’re wandering the streets of New York this time. Why not have her pretend to be your girlfriend?”

I gave my head a sharp shake. “Contrary to what you appear to believe about me, I don’t trick women and I don’t lead them on. I need someone who’s in this with me, who’s got skin in the game herself, and who won’t expect anything else from me as of January first.”

“A mutual understanding,” she concluded.

Again, I shook my head. “Not just a mutual understanding. A contract. One which I believe you’ve already signed. I haven’t opened the documents, but I have received confirmation from Della that the legalities have been taken care of.”

I saw the moment when Ella realized that I was right. Her lips popped open and formed a little “o”, her eyes sparking with the oh-shit of it all. She didn’t mention it, though. Instead, she just kept looking right back at me with a business-like expression on her face.

“If we’re going to do this, I have a few amendments to the contract,” she said firmly.

The server brought our drinks and she thanked him, but even as she accepted her cup from him, she never quite broke eye contact with me.

Once he was gone, I cocked my head at her. “I’m open to discussing amendments. I’m even willing to record this conversation so we can have whatever we agree to reduced to writing if you’d prefer.”

“Will that be necessary?” she asked. “You said you’re not in the habit of tricking women, so if we agree to certain additional terms, will you honor your word, or would I need a written contract?”

“You’re smarter than I gave you credit for before,” I mused before I nodded. “I’m a man of my word and I’ll honor whatever we agree to.”

“You don’t know me. I don’t know why you’d have given me credit either way, especially because the real smart thing to do here would be to take you up on your offer to have our agreements reduced to writing. However, what I’d like to propose probably wouldn’t be enforceable anyway so really, we’d just be wasting money and time getting another contract drawn up.”

“I’m impressed, but I’m also curious. What is it that you would like to propose that wouldn’t be enforceable?”

“No sex,” she said clearly and confidently, reminding me of her sure movements that night and the way she’d insisted upon helping me. “No funny business at all.”

I chuckled. “Sure. I don’t pay for sex, Ella. Not ever. And the contracts are already totally clear that no unwanted physical contact is allowed.”

Relief flickered in her eyes, softening them. She drew in a deep breath and nodded. “How about the other part? Are you willing to agree that there won’t be any funny business whatsoever?”