Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
PIPER
Seize the moment.
I guess I’m trying to do that again. But this time, I’m doing something that may change my life.
Or ruin it. That possibility exists too. I just can’t afford to think that way right now.
I step away from the window and try to look composed, like I have my head together. Levi’s staring at me, his face hopeful. But he must know I could only be here—at his home—if I already decided I was going to accept his offer.
“Hey, there.” He moves closer and stops by the coffee table.
The low lights from the lamps cast warm shadows across the room, softening the sharp edges of all the expensive furniture.
“Hi. I didn’t mean to come to your house again. I don’t think I’m going to be at Vale Global on Monday, though, so this was perhaps the best way I’d get to see you.”
His brows knit together. “What happened?”
A tight pull grips my chest, like the words are stuck somewhere between wanting to spill and refusing to come out.
“Helen.” Enough said. The woman is a nasty piece of work. Perhaps I should feel embarrassed admitting I got pushed out so quickly by someone like her. Instead, all I feel is tired.
After I got back from my meeting with Levi yesterday, Helen decided she wasn’t going to talk to me at all. Instead, she bombarded me with a ton of work, telling everyone else to give me all the tasks they couldn’t manage.
Of course, the entire team took that as an invitation to dump everything on me. I ended up leaving work late, well into the night. I don’t get paid overtime as a temp, so the extra labor was for nothing.
“I realize that maybe I should do better if I’m given the chance,” I say with a slight lift of my shoulders. “This offer of yours might be that chance.”
Levi straightens. “Come. Follow me. You look like you could use a drink.”
I nod. He’s not wrong. I could do with something stronger than the lemon water I’ve been consuming to calm my nerves.
He leads the way, and I follow, my thoughts still churning.
There’s something strangely comforting about following him through this house. I’ve thought about his offer nonstop, eventually deciding this was a no-brainer, even if my dignity makes me question things.
Aunt Bess would call these sorts of deals the kind you make with the devil—where it looks good on the outside, but you don’t walk away unscathed.
Still, no one ever moved up in life without taking some kind of risk. Even the most privileged people take risks.
This might be mine.
We head to the kitchen. Levi grabs a bottle of wine from the fridge, two glasses from the cupboard, and pours us each a drink. The scent of the sweet wine mixes with the fresh pine scent lingering in the air.
“It’s the wine from the restaurant that you liked. The first one,” he points out, tapping the bottle.
I smile at that. “Thank you.”
“You alright?” He looks me over.
“Yeah. I am. I’m okay.”
“I feel bad that you had a terrible time at my company. But I’ll be honest—I’m glad you won’t be going back. But I guess that depends on what I say, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe.” I take a sip of the wine. It’s smooth and warm, richer than I remember. “I want to know a little bit more about what you need me to do. Can we start there?” I ask as if I might say no.
I already decided I’m not going back to work on Monday. So, this isn’t really a choice anymore. If I leave here without agreeing to his offer, I’ll have nothing.
I had the job lined up at Vale Global two months ago. I just needed to find an apartment—which I did—and save up some money—which I also did. But not having a job to replace what I spent moving to New York throws everything out of sync.
Levi sips his drink and sets the glass down on the counter. “We have six events to attend, but it’s not as simple as that. We’ll be spending the last two weeks in Texas.”
“Texas?”
“Yeah. At Arthur’s vineyard.”
Two weeks with Levi on a vineyard, pretending to be a couple. And, of course, we’ll have to share a room. And a bed.
Heat creeps up my neck. I take another sip of wine to hide it and still my nerves. Those things are just details. Details I can’t worry about.
“Okay. I can do that.” I nod with confidence even though my heartbeat has tripled.
“There’s also the other stuff. On one hand, there’s Arthur. On the other, the press.” He pauses. “Arthur Lockwood is no fool and not a man to trifle with. I suspect he made this request because he doesn’t quite trust me yet.”
“What’s not to trust?”
“He thinks I’m a playboy.”
I hold his gaze, trying to read between what I can see. “Are you?”
It’s a good question. Part of me would like to know the answer before I get in too deep.
Realistically, the answer is staring me in the face. Playboy fits the man I met at the club and the whole dares thing.
“Not anymore.” The words land like a real confession, putting a stop to my assumption. There’s no lie in his eyes. All I see there is truth.
I think this is what unsettles me most about him. For a man who looks like temptation, he somehow manages to be painfully honest when it matters.
“Some labels stick, though,” he adds. “Men like Arthur don’t want a playboy running their business.”
“That’s kind of understandable.”
“I can’t argue.” He studies me. “He likes you, though. You sold him the vision. But I think he wants that final assurance.”
I nod, more understanding of why Levi needs me.
“In regard to the press,” he continues, “the instant we attend that first event, they’ll be all over us. So, we pretty much have to put on a show for the entire six weeks every time we’re in public. Outside of that, we have no relations.”
“No relations?” I know what he means, but I want to clarify.
He dips his head. “No kissing. No touching. No… sex.”
His tone stays professional.
I stare at him for a long moment, wondering if it’s that easy for him to forget how we met. And what we did that night.
“So, essentially, we start over,” I say. “We pretend the club didn’t happen.”
“Yes. Think of it as another game.” He flashes me a boyish grin. “When it starts, it starts. When it’s over, it’s over. Except this time, once we’re done, we go our separate ways.”
The finality in his statement hits something in me I didn’t expect. It feels like that loss again, but I ignore it.
“I can do that.” I nod.
“So… are you saying yes?” His shoulders are set tight, like he’s holding himself in check, but the desperation in his eyes gives him away.
I draw in a breath. “Yeah. I’m saying yes.”
He smiles, visibly relieved. The tension in him eases, and he looks more like himself again. “Looks like we have a deal, then.”
He puts out his hand to shake mine. I take it and shake.
“Deal.” God, I just agreed to be his fake girlfriend. And I’m getting paid. It sounds like one of those crazy things you see in the movies. I definitely won’t be writing home about this.
“I’ll have a contract drafted tomorrow,” he says. “But, um… we have to keep this quiet. I can’t risk anyone finding out; it might get back to Arthur.”
“Sure. I kind of have to tell Alexis, though. I can’t lie to her, and she knows I don’t have that kind of money.”
“Okay. Just her, though.”
“Thank you.”
“No. Thank you. I owe you big time. Finish the wine, and I’ll take you home.”
“That’s okay.” I smile. “I’ll be fine getting back on my own.”
“I insist. It’s late, and remember I have a bad habit of not being able to take no for an answer.”
I grin back at him. “Okay. I’ll accept the ride.”
“Good.”
He’s not wrong to think my apartment building isn’t safe. It isn’t. But it was the best I could do.
I plan to find somewhere better as soon as I can. But right now, I have to focus on becoming Levi Vale’s girlfriend.
Taking a sip of my wine, I let the words settle. I just opened a door for myself, but I don’t miss the irony in this.
I move across the country for a fresh start—and I find him.
A man offering me the kind of money I could never dream of to build my business. Instead of getting things off the ground by thirty, I could have something real by then. Something bigger. It’s a good dream to have.
Something that feels like possibility.
For the first time since moving to New York, I don’t feel like I’m barely staying afloat. I feel like maybe I’m standing at the edge of something bigger.
That’s the part I’m holding on to.
And in six weeks, I could have everything I want.