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He took me to this fancy Italian restaurant. No surprise there. The place was called Florence's Pasta. There was light Italian music playing in the background. There were candles on every table. The walls were this beautiful maroon. The waiters all had suits on. No one that sat at the restaurant had their toes out. No one wore tank tops. No one had a baseball hat on. It was a classy establishment where I almost felt I didn't belong.
" You look kind of out of place?" Tomaso said to me.
" Are you calling me ugly?" I joked.
Surprisingly enough, he looked mortified by my joke. Maybe it flew over his head. " Not at all. I meant–"
" I'm completely joking, Tomaso. I just never get taken the places like these. So maybe that's why I look a little out of sorts."
I liked that he was able to open up to me in that way. It made me feel like I could open the floor to more conversation. "Do you feel like you have too much on your plate?"
" Are you trying to get me to leave my second life? You know the one that I lead outside of my office?"
I had to think about it for a moment. "It's funny that you would assume that. Are you afraid that getting close to me is going to lead me to want to change you? Is that why you have walls up? Because all women are just out to change men?"
He chuckled. "I don't like when someone asks a question after I ask a question without answering mine. The truth is, there's a reason that I'm a little guarded tonight. There's a reason that I have a lot more on my mind tonight."
Now my mind was racing. If it had been going a mile a minute before, it was going two million miles a minute now. What was this reason? And was he even going to tell me? "Well, you know that I'm not judgmental. My ears are open."
"You might be with this one. I want you to be my fiance for $100,000. My fake fiance."
And just like that, all the positive vibes were stripped from under me. Like some sort of weightlifter had ripped a rug from my feet. Instant regret filled me in terms of going on a date. I wanted to throw my drink in his face. Because he was serious. I was looking right at him. And there was not a hint of humor in his expression. I gave him my most appalled look. I scrunched my eyebrows and tightened my lips. I hope that he can see the pain in my eyes. Because suddenly, we were not on a date. I had just been lured into doing something for his own benefit. It was a completely absurd idea. So, I got up from my chair and started to leave the restaurant. Screw him.
Chapter 6
Tomaso
Ineverthoughtofwatching a woman leave a restaurant with filmy with such angst. I had never wanted to chase after a woman so fast. The crazy part about the whole thing was that I wasn't even thinking about this stupid contract as I watched her walk out. I was just thinking about how I had offended someone who mattered to me. She just wasn't some girl from the street. She was born in that. Almost instantly. She was a different woman from the rest. Looking at her face across the table as I told her that stung me to the bone. I could have worded it differently. Scratch that. I should have worded it differently. I should have told her what my issue was. I should have been more open about it so that she could have understood what I meant. But there she went, that beautiful ass walked right through the restaurant and didn't look back once. Her confidence was intoxicating. The way that she could just leave me turns me on. Hell. I knew that was toxic. But whatever. It was time to go chase after her.
I got up from the chair with haste. As I walked past the waiter, I grabbed them by the sleeve and said," We're going to be right back."
Whether that man believed me or not, I was on my way out. I didn't want to lose her. We had both taken our own cars, and she could easily drive away and never see me again. Why would you work for someone after such a proposition?
I could see her walk out the door. Which meant I needed to pick up the pace. And that's exactly what I did. I let my feet do the talking. The somewhat chilled air outside startled me because I knew how close she wanted to get to her car. " Angelina. Can you at least listen to me?" Should have probably worded that as a question rather than a statement.
She turned around with a face filled with fire. If I had looked close enough, her eyes would have probably been red. It was such a contrast to the woman who had been inside the restaurant sitting across from me. It was day and night. I had never seen her so angry. Let alone any woman so angry. " Explain what? In very few words, you just told me that you want me to be your fake fiance. After everything we've been through, it may not be a lot, but I thought we had something genuine going. And then you send me down, and it's almost like you're selling me a car. How am I supposed to be happy with that? Comment? Supposed to trust you right now. Are you going to sell me a car right now?"
She was talking so fast that I had a delay in digesting what she was saying. "Before I even said any of this to you. I made a huge mistake." I lowered my voice because the content that was going to come out of my lips was not good for public consumption. " My father recently told me I was supposed to marry into another family. You know what I mean by family; if I say no, it will start an all-out war. People get slighted very easily in my world. So, when speaking to my father, the only way out was to tell him that I was engaged and his name was the first one on the tip of my tongue. You were at the forefront of my mind. It came out, and now my father believes I'm engaged. So, I had to keep this lie going for a while, and the only way I thought I could sweeten the pot was by giving you $100,000. I wasn't trying to offend you. I never formulated this plot on purpose. It just happened."
She's studied me. How she looked at me made me feel like I was a book. I knew that it wasn't the time to think this, but there was something sexy about the way that she looked at me. Up and down, her eyes went on my face as if they were secret clues in my pores. I died to know what she was going to say next. " So, what do you think of me? You actually have me on your brain?"
Without hesitation, I said, " Yeah, if you must know. When I'm not at work, I think of you. And when I was talking to my father, you were the first woman to come to mind. And I'm not making that up. I wouldn't just sweet talk you like this. If I wanted to use you, I would offer you the money. I only offered you the money because I felt you deserved it, and it's still on the table. If you are willing to talk about it. I was enjoying our date, contrary to what you may believe."
Finally, her face softened, and I had won her back. That could have been me being delusional and having delusions of grandeur, but I had hope. " Fine. But I'll need to see the contract and ensure I'm not signing up for something I don't know could put me in a bad position."
My heart started to race. This was really going to happen. Part of me didn't even care that I was getting out of marrying Linda. Part of me was more excited that she and I were going to pretend to be engaged. This meant spending more time with her. My priorities were ass-backward. There was no way around that realization. But whatever. This one's reality, and I was just living in it.
"You can read the contract as long as you'd like. We can change whatever. But I just need you to pretend to be my fiance until I figure out the situation, and then you can get your hundred thousand dollars."
There was a bit of bewilderment on her face. It was a big number, and it probably needed to sink in with her that she would have that much money. All she needed to do was be a fake fiance. It wasn't a bad deal at the end of the day. But, given that we already had a complicated relationship, I could understand why she was offended in the first place.
We went back into the restaurant, and I happily continued our date. She also looked happy, wearing this smirk she didn't want to advertise. But simultaneously, her eyes told me she would run everything over in her head, which was rightfully so. Her life had just changed in an instant.
"Before I even show you a contract, is there anything you want to ask me?" The voice was still in a somewhat hushed tone. After all, everything we discussed again wasn't for public consumption."
"What exactly does it entail? You know, pretending to be your fiance." She brought her voice to a whisper on that last part. The restaurant may have played music in the background, but it would still be low enough for everyone to hear each other's conversation.
"Maybe we can talk about this in the car. Let's just enjoy this date."
