14. Chapter Fourteen #2
Aaron smirks, nodding. “Yeah, I’m starting to think it is, too.”
His smirk soothes something inside of me, and I relax a little bit.
“So… let’s hear it then.”
He twists his lips as he holds my gaze. “Well, there’s no easy way to say it, so I’m just going to say it.” His tone is serious, and instantly, the humor disappears between us, and I feel the anxiety starting to fester. Oh, shit.
“My parents liked you,” he says the words delicately.
I blink as he tenses. “Okay. And that’s…”
“I mean, they really liked you.”
I nod as relief floods me. “Oh. Well, that’s good, right? I mean, technically they liked Prince Charming ,” I say as I sip my macchiato. “But that’s what you wanted…”
Aaron runs a hand through his hair and the motion draws attention to those gorgeous forearms. I clear my throat as I take a sip of my coffee, if only to distract myself for a moment.
“I mean, that’s why you hired me.”
“I know,” he says, letting out a breath, his amber eyes meeting my gaze with interest. “And I’m more than pleased with the job you did. I mean, you were fucking amazing with my parents, and—”
I can’t help the smile that forms on my face, because it’s always nice to be told you’re doing a good job no matter what it is you do.
And maybe I’m a sucker for a little praise. Who isn’t?
“I’ll take the compliment for a job well done. But um… what does that have to do with the offer you asked me here about?”
Aaron shifts in his seat.
“My dad wants to go up to the beach house for the week and he wants his prospective candidates for the position I’m vying for to stay on the property so he can… get to know them better. Before he makes a decision.”
I blink again, not understanding. “I’m not sure I understand how that affects me. I mean he’s your dad, right? He knows you better than the other guys, right?”
Aaron taps his fingers on the table.
“My relationship with my dad is…” He twists his lips. “Complicated.”
I can’t help the chuckle that escapes my mouth. “Ah. So this isn’t just about a job, then.” I meet his gaze. “You want to impress your daddy.”
Aaron licks his lips, and I realize all at once what I’ve said as the memory pushes forth in my brain.
Of me calling him Daddy.
My cheeks heat like a fire and I don’t miss the tinge of pink in his, either.
“Yes,” Aaron says, pointing at me. “ And that’s where you come in. They want me and my boyfriend to go.”
Understanding dawns on me. “You want me… to go with you… to your parents’ beach house to reprise my role as your fake boyfriend so you can impress your family again?” I don’t miss the disdain or the bitterness in my voice as I try to process his words.
Aaron lets out a breath. “Yes, Jacob. That’s exactly what I want.”
I nod as I try to process this offer.
“Foxy’s doesn’t usually grant us that kind of time for clients,” I say.
“Well, uh… see that’s the thing. I wouldn’t hire you through Foxy,” he says carefully. “This would be a… private offer. I’m assuming you do that, right? Chris said you did.”
A private offer. My body tenses as I remember my last private offer, with Bella. Or the one before that with Garrett. And then I feel a surge of panic, because he said Chris said I did private gigs. I’ve never been hired by Bella’s nosey neighbor, so that can only mean one thing.
He knows about my private offer with Bella. And Noah.
Fuck.
How much did he tell Aaron? I tense, feeling strangely on the spot at the idea of this man knowing such details, despite the fact I’ve slept with him already.
Well, in the literal sense, since we didn’t fuck. I chew on my bottom lip as I try to process his words and his suggestion.
Yes, I have had a couple off-the-books jobs, but not many, and I don’t have the best track record when it comes to private offers. Someone always gets hurt, somehow.
Garrett was my first, and I was naive. This was right after I quit The Anchor and started working at Foxy’s.
I thought he was hot and he had that older man, rough-around-the-edges vibe but he was also sophisticated and you could tell he was wealthy and commanding.
I couldn’t fathom why a man like him wanted to hire a man like me, but I was also twenty.
I liked him enough that when he offered to extend our date off the clock, I didn’t want to say no.
But I should have. Because I ended up not just hurting myself in the process, but some poor soul who probably loved the bastard.
Those tears—the ones on the face of the man who caught us—were not tears of arousal. They were tears of betrayal, and I’ll never erase that from my mind. I wanted to help people, not hurt them.
And I definitely hurt someone that night. And don’t even get me started about Bella…
Agreeing to have a threesome for her birthday with my brother for ten grand might have been a high point for my brother, but it was a low point for me.
I thought I had a line I wouldn’t cross, especially when it came to money and sex, but I guess I was wrong.
Especially because I knew Noah needed the money.
Okay, maybe I didn’t actually have sex with Bella—Noah did—but it was hard to be mad when I paid off my car with my share and a generous tip from Bella, even though all I did was kiss her, whisper some dirty words and grab her tits while my brother ran the gig.
Still, I don’t know how I feel about Aaron knowing about those questionable moments in my life.
I don’t regret what happened with Garrett or Bella.
Especially Bella. I wouldn’t be able to continue to work with her if I felt that bad about it.
It’s just that I don’t need any more ammo when it comes to people judging me for my choices in life.
Aaron must take my silence and contemplation as skepticism, because he starts talking hurriedly.
“I would pay all your expenses. Travel, lodging obviously would be taken care of, but anything you need while you stay on the premises. Food, clothes, you name it, I’ll cover it,” he says. “And, judging by Foxy’s calculations, an eight-hour shift is four thousand dollars, times seven days, that’s—”
“Twenty-eight thousand dollars,” I breathe, my voice cracking. Shit. That’s a lot of money. More than I normally make in a month.
Aaron purses his lips. “With the expenses included, plus tip—” He licks his lips as his gaze darts to my mouth before meeting my eyes.
“I would adjust the rate to forty thousand.”
My heart races inside my chest as I try to catch my breath.
“That’s an insane amount of money, Aaron.”
“I know,” he says. “And I know it’s last minute because we leave tomorrow and—”
“Tomorrow?” I can’t hide the way my voice pitches in surprise.
Tomorrow? And he’s asking me today? Barely before seven o clock?
He is insane. Clearly. I knew he had to have a flaw, he’s too perfect.
Clearly, this is it. He’s cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs if he thinks I can just drop everything for forty grand. At the last minute.
“Yes.”
“I can’t even reschedule my dates that soon. I—”
I suck in a breath, knowing I’m going to regret this, but there’s no way that’s even possible. And I’m not going to up and quit Foxy’s just to do this private offer , because when it ends—and it will end, the charade has to at some point—what will I have to fall back on?
Foxy’s might not be a hotel chain or a big company, but it’s my job, and it’s one I’m very good at. It pays my damn bills and it’s a hell of a lot easier than dancing or stripping.
“Please, Jacob,” he pleads. “I wouldn’t ask if I had another option.”
His words piss me off.
“Oh, so you wouldn’t have even entertained the idea of asking me if you had another option,” I bite.
His eyebrows raise.
“No, I—” He growls in frustration. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant I wouldn’t ask this of you if there was another way to make it work. Because I know what I’m asking of you, and I know I don’t have a right to, but—”
Something in his voice makes my heart ache. I hear the pain, the desperation. The last shred of hope.
“This is all I’ve ever wanted,” he says softly. “I just want the chance to prove to my father that I’m not the fuck up he thinks I am.”
His words settle on me, and I know I should say no, but…
My own father barely acknowledges me outside of holidays and birthdays.
I would say it’s because he’s busy with his new wife and a baby on the way, but in truth, he stopped talking me years ago when he found out I was dancing.
Sure, it hurt, but his pushback only pushed me further into what I was doing.
The more he didn’t agree, the more I wanted to do it to prove a point.
So in some weird way, I get it. I understand that this really is important to Aaron, and it might be his chance to shine and actually prove his point.
“Can I think about it?” I ask. He lets out a heavy sigh.
“I don’t have a lot of time, but… I guess I could buy a day.”
I lick my lips. “I need to sit down and figure out if I can somehow reschedule—”
“Thank you,” he says, and I hear the genuine appreciation in his voice.
“I didn’t say yes,” I remind him.
But I didn’t say no, either.
“I know.” He glances at his watch. “It’s quarter til, you should head out so you won’t be late for your date.”
Damnit.
I nod, getting up and he does, too.
“I’ll talk to you soon?” he asks, and I hear the hope in his voice, pure and tempting. So fucking tempting.
“Mhmm.”
And with that, I turn heel and head for my car, my heart still beating a mile a minute.
The whole way home, not even Taylor can pull me out of this adrenaline rush.
Forty grand. Forty fucking grand.
It’s too good to pass up, how can anyone pass up an offer like that? And for what? Pretending to be his boyfriend for a few days?