Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Charlie
I paced the penthouse with its warm white walls and Brazilian cherrywood floors. My preference had been dark, but my mother had convinced me my taste was outdated for modern design. So the brightness of the room made me itch to leave every single day. Except right now.
I knew that was because Hope was here. She’d asked me to watch out for her when she stood and realized she’d had too much to drink. I'd checked her license. She lived too far away to drop off easily.
Now I paced because she was snoring loudly. I’d googled her name, and the articles and pictures of us were first and in print newspapers now.
The room grew quiet. My heart thumped. There was no more snoring. I popped my head into the spare bedroom where I’d placed her. She was sitting up, checking that her clothes were still on.
She paused then let out a sigh when our gazes met. She was still without those heels of hers she’d insisted on wearing in Paris and here. Then she blinked. “Where am I?”
I tapped the doorframe. “My place.”
She rubbed her head. “How did I get here?”
I invited myself in and took the chair opposite the bed. “You passed out. You asked me to take care of you last night. When I told Britney where I lived, she helped me get you here and promised to call you.”
She jumped up with a small tremble. “Where—" Then she glanced out the window and pointed outside. “Is that the park?”
I glanced out then back at her. “Yeah.”
She looked up at the coming evening sky. “Of course you live here. Look, I need to go.”
I flinched. We’d had fun, and she still fascinated me. For now, I’d decided to stay out of her way and keep my distance. “Why? Do you have a cat or a dog you need to collect?”
She walked out of the bedroom, scanning the floor for her shoes, but stopped in the living room to stare at the original paintings on the wall. She glanced back at me. “I’ve never had a pet.”
I walked beside her. “Ever?”
She lowered her head and hugged her waist. “No. The building has a no-pet policy.”
“That’s a dumb policy.” I pointed at the leather sofa.
She craned her neck and gazed around the penthouse. “Do you have a pet?”
I sat, hoping she would me. “No, but I’m thinking of getting one.”
She sank into the seat opposite me. “Why?”
I met her pretty green eyes, and somehow my soul was calmer, so I told her the truth. “I hate walking in these walls. I’m hoping if I get a pet, it will make living in Manhattan… better.”
She tensed again and jumped up. “Well, good luck with that. Look, I should get going.”
I pressed my hand to my heart then waved to my dining room. “I’ll have dinner served.”
She rubbed her scalp. “Dinner?”
I nodded. My family chef had sent over boeuf bourguignon, which she’d enjoyed when we had dinner a few days ago. “Well, it's late for lunch. You slept pretty soundly.”
She headed into the dining room and took a seat. I offered a bottle of wine, but she shook her head. "I never drink like that so early. I’m not even sure what we discussed and why Britney would say it was okay for me to come here.”
I joined her with just water. “You told her you liked me.”
“I don’t remember. I just remember I was fired, and I need to get a job.”
“Are you in debt?”
“I live check to check, and now I have no check, which means yeah, I need to fix me.”
Fair enough. I’d never been fired, but I remembered how stressed the bosses were when I quit the airline a few weeks ago.
We removed the silver dome plate, and she sighed as she saw the offering.
“I want to help.”
“That’s impossible. I need a job that pays me money.”
“I want to hire you to reform me for a few months.”
“A job?” Her nose wrinkled, but she picked up her first piece of food to eat. “I didn’t imagine the fake fiancée thing, then.” She ate her foot and sighed like she enjoyed it.
I watched her, and my heart pounded. I picked up my spoon. “No. I need you, Hope.”
For a few minutes, we just ate without speaking. Color came back in her face, and I smiled. I wanted to know more about her. Since being with her, I hadn’t even noticed another woman, and that was unusual.
Finally, she said, “You don’t need me. You can have and literally have slept with my favorite singer.”
I'd only briefly dated one pop star when I was in high school. I finished my last bite. “We were both kids, and she made a lot of money singing about how she dumped me.”
Her eyes widened. “She what?”
Maybe now wasn’t the time to dig out all her secrets.
I needed her help first, and this was a win-win for both of us.
She finished her last few bites. I waited and watched her.
Then I said, “The past shouldn’t matter, but she broke my heart and wrote a song about it.
What matters is now. Earlier, you said I couldn’t commit, and I want to add that there has been no one since you, and for however long you and I last, there will be no other. ”
“So our whole week together changed you for good?”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be good.”
“Right, but one week, and I’m supposed to believe you’ve changed, just for me.”
“I know what I know.”
She sat back in her chair and stared at me. I had no idea what she saw in me—I was a walking, talking disaster. Then she said, “I believe you mean that for now, but then temptation isn’t here.”
Clearly, there was pain there. I lowered my head to be closer to her. “I think you’re tempting enough.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You can charm the panties off anyone, but we were never meant to be more than a fling.”
I couldn't remember anyone ever boxing me into that label, but then again, I'd never stuck around with most women long enough to find out. Heat rose to my face as I said, “I was being honest.”
My heart beat faster when she blinked. I never liked being rejected.
She took my hand. “You sound sincere, but I’m not the best choice for you.”
“I think you’re perfect.”
“You want to fool your family. And I’m not that good of an actress.”
“I was raised by great parents, and they just want me to be happy.” If not for Maman and Pedar, I would have become a complete disaster with no direction at all.
“I don’t know about that.” She sat back, sipping her water. “I assumed you’d tell me how awful it was to be raised rich.”
I placed my hands on the table. I was raised to appreciate every blessing and to always continue saying thank you to everything, even when nothing seemed to work out at all.
I smiled, just thinking about my parents.
“Not at all. My parents wanted us to be whoever we wanted to be. There was an expectation of success of entrepreneurial ideas with the fallback always being working with my father. Warren loves being there, but a few years back, when I told them I wanted to be a pilot, they paid for the education without question.”
She pressed her lips together. I’d thought she would disapprove, but then she said, “That is a privilege that most of us don’t get.”
Interesting. It was true I had access to everything material, but Maman wanted us all settled, and that meant marriage. “Now the pressure is to just be happy, but you’d like them if you met them.”
“You didn’t understand me.” She shook her head. “I’m not good at meeting parents.”
My eyes widened. She was enchanting, but I kept that to myself. “As my girlfriend, they’d want to meet you, and charming them will be easy because you’re sweet.”
She hugged her waist. “I’m not that, though.”
Staff came in and took our plates. She stared at my butler, Mr. Michael Fuller, like she’d never seen one before. A minute later, Michael returned. He ignored her at the moment and left the desserts.
Hope stared at me, and I wasn’t sure why. I tugged my seat closer. “Look, you said you lived check to check.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“How much did you make last year?”
“Like how much did I make for my taxes? About fifty-five thousand.”
This was a way to help her. I smiled. “Okay, for my temporary girlfriend of six months, I can pay you one hundred thousand dollars, and you can keep anything I buy for you.”
She covered her lips, and her eyes were huge. For a second, she was silent, but then she rocked. “You make this job offer sound good, but I can take care of myself.”
That wasn’t true. She had nothing, really. I had everything. This was a win-win. I sat back. “And I’ll pay off your student loans you mentioned last night.”
She jumped to her feet and shook her hands. “That’s way too suspicious.”
I stood. “Why? We both know you like me, and I like you.”
She wrung her hands. “So the offer above includes sex.”
I wished she trusted me more. I hated scaring her. So I shook my head. “No, if you offered, it would be of your own free will, and I’d definitely accept.”
Her entire body shook. “Thanks for the food. I’m going home the second I find my shoes.”
I pointed her to the entranceway. “They are near the door, and you need a night to think about it. Can I meet you for coffee to discuss my need for you to accept the offer?”
She bounced up and down then nodded. “Okay, I’ll meet you for coffee.”