Page 9 of Do It With Me

But ultimately, it was still the truth, and if there was one thing I had always believed in, for better or for worse, it was leading with honesty. It often made people want to throw their coffee at me, but it’d gotten me damn far and I wasn’t about to change tactics now.

It had been a while since I felt bad if someone felt insulted, but as she frowned at me, her arms still crossed, I felt a tiny twinge of regret. Tiny but it was there. Even so, I didn’t take the comment back or try to smooth this over. I never did that, either.

She finally lifted her chin a little higher. “For your information, I’ve just moved. I didn’t have a lot of wardrobe options unpacked.”

“Planning for contingencies is important in business,” I said without skipping a beat. “Things fall through all the time. You have to pivot.”

“Pivot,” she repeated, arching an eyebrow at me as her gaze sharpened. “Do you mean like paying one of your students to be your date for a wedding?”

I met her stare head on. “Yes. Exactly like that, actually.”

She blinked, looking like she was almost about to start laughing. “You realize that this is really inappropriate, right?”

“There’s no pressure,” I said evenly, holding up my hands. “It will be nothing romantic and it’s totally your choice. You can say no, and if you do, that’ll be the end of it. It’s entirely separate from the class. I’m not offering extra credit or anything.”

“Good,” she said. “Because I’d fail on principle if you were.”

I felt the ghost of a smile flit across my mouth. “I don’t doubt that at all.”

She sighed but finally picked up her piece of pastry again, popped it into her mouth, and chewed as she studied me like I was a specimen under a microscope. At least she hadn’t taken off yet. That was a good sign.

“What exactly is the job description? Pretend to like you for one night? Compliment your tie in front of the ex?”

“Something like that,” I said. “You don’t have to hold my hand or anything. It’s just to make it look like I’ve moved on.”

“Uh-huh.” Her lips quirked. “Have you? Moved on, I mean.”

“I don’t want her back, if that’s what you’re asking.” I shrugged.

She paused for a beat, like she was trying to decide if I was telling the truth. Finally, she seemed to realize that I was. Nothing had ever been truer.

“Okay then,” she said. “If I do agree to go, should I expect your ex to stab me? It feels like perhaps it would be better to come armed.”

I was so surprised that I laughed. “Weapons won’t be necessary. There won’t be any stabbing. She’ll just glare. A lot.”

“Great,” she said, blinking rapidly like she was still a little startled about the fact that I’d laughed. “A glaring contest with a bitter ex. That sounds like my ideal Saturday night.”

“Think of it as a paid social experiment,” I said, grinning now. “It’s next weekend. Can I take that as a yes?”

She eyed me for a moment, probably trying to figure out if I was insane, desperate, or both. Probably both, but at least she relaxed a little as we’d kept talking.

“I don’t know,” she said eventually, tapping her chin twice with the top of her cup before she looked at me again. “What’s the pay scale for tolerating your company? Do I get hazard pay for every passive-aggressive comment from your ex?”

“That depends,” I said. “Are you planning on starting any fights?”

“Only if she throws the first punch.”

I laughed again. “You’ll be compensated for any physical altercations.”

“You’re ridiculous.” She was smiling as she said it, which was enough to make me think she might actually say yes.

Before I could overthink it, I took out my phone. “I’ll give you a down payment just to think about it. You don’t have to decide right now. Just give me an answer in a couple of days.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You’d seriously pay me just to think?”

“Consider it a show of good faith.”

She hesitated but then sighed and gave me her cash-app info. A few taps later, her phone buzzed. When she glanced at her screen, her eyes suddenly went as wide as saucers before they flew back up to mine.