Chapter 11 Renegotiation #2
I ignored the question—ignored the way it made me sound vile—and tapped the folder. “Please consider it. Call it extra after-hours duty. Nanny by day, and by night...” I met her eyes. “You’ll be my pretend fiancée.”
Her mouth fell open. “Me?”
“Yes, you. Because Theo lights up around you.” I plucked a pen from my jacket, slid the vandalized rules in front of me, and tapped the paper.
“Let’s renegotiate. Rule number eight says: The woman shall be available for my pleasure after hours.” I crossed it out with one decisive stroke.
“How about this instead: Griffin shall immediately make himself available for Jessa’s desires, dropping everything he was doing—even work—whenever she appears naked in front of him?”
Her eyes glittered. “Sounds good on paper, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Be there for me through all of this, and at the end, I’ll pay you a million dollars.”
“A million?” She scowled.
“Make it two, then.”
She didn’t respond, just stared at me like I’d grown a second head.
I sighed. “All right, look. I was prepared to offer as much as five million—”
“Five million dollars!” She surged up from the water, standing tall, bubbles and water sliding down her body in rivulets. Curves gleaming. Absolutely unashamed. And turning me the fuck on. “Hand me a towel.”
I glanced at her rewrite and smirked. “The rule states I shall do as I’m ordered when you’re naked in front of me.”
She arched a brow, snapped her fingers, and pointed to the towel. “Be a good boy, then.”
With every ounce of willpower I possessed, I reached for the plush Egyptian white cotton instead of stripping off my clothes and taking her right there. I draped it around her shoulders, my knuckles brushing wet skin—a consolation prize that only made me want more.
“You’re serious about five million?” she repeated, voice softer now.
“It’s hazard pay for living in my spotlight and carrying my schedule. At the end of this, we separate, and you get the money.”
She stepped out of the tub, water pooling at her feet. She readjusted the towel to fit around snugly.
“This is crazy,” she breathed.
I stepped closer. “Jessa, if you sign and we do this, everything will change between us. We’ll have to spend a lot more time together. But if you say no, I’ll find someone else.”
“More time together?” A slow smile drew across her face.
She took the pen and signed. “We’ll need another sitter for Theo when you drag me to your dog-and-pony shows.
And I’ll be the one to hire that person.
I don’t particularly care to have any other woman around the house who’s cuter or thinner than me. ”
My lips twitched. Possessiveness surged through me. “Deal. I trust you to make the right decision for Theo’s care.”
I hoped we were doing the right thing. I signed beside her name, too. “Tomorrow night we have a cocktail party. Nothing major—just a few executives from West Games. Be ready by seven. A car will pick you up.”
I reached into my wallet and pulled out the matte black card. “I’m adding rule number eleven: buy anything you want. No limit. Go buy clothes, dresses, shoes, whatever you need to play the part.”
She fumbled the card between her fingers, studying it carefully, the towel gaping at her thigh just enough to make my mouth go dry. “Are you sure? I might bankrupt you.”
I snorted. “Sweetheart, you couldn’t spend that much in a day if you tried.”
“You’re giving me carte blanche with this thing?” Her voice lowered, and she shifted her expression. “Because, you know, Christmas is coming up and my sisters... Let’s just say it’s been a few years since we’ve had a good one at the Cole residence.”
Her wet eyes killed me. I’d spoiled Theo every year, trying to make up for the lack of family around, mounds of presents taking up the entire living room.
“Go wild; I don’t see the receipts. I have accountants who handle it all.
” I moved toward the door before I did something stupid like carry her over my shoulder to my bed while promising every cent of my fortune to her.
“Oh, and there’s a new car for you in the parking garage.
A blue Mercedes GLE. The keys are on the kitchen counter.
Your other car has been fixed and is also in the garage. You’re welcome.”
Her jaw dropped. “You bought me a car?”
“To be fair, it’s a company car assigned to you to use.”
Before I opened the door, she called, “I’d have done this for you for free, if you’d asked nicely.”
I turned back. She stood there in my towel, hair dripping, looking fiercely fuckable and entirely too dangerous for my world.
“In business, I play by the adage that you shouldn’t sell yourself short. Your time is valuable. And for the record, those rules weren’t mine. Sam put them there. I was going to torch that page. But given our rewrites, I think I’ll keep it.”
I closed the door behind me before she could respond, and retreated to my office. I tossed the folder in the middle of my desk and poured myself two fingers of Macallan.
I sank into the leather chair and opened it to the rules. Jessa’s handwriting looped across the pages, defiantly entirely her. I traced the sketch of a middle finger in the margin.
Christ. What had I just done?
I’d hired the woman I couldn’t stop thinking about to pretend to be my fiancée. The same woman who slept in my guest room, took care of my son, and had just signed away the next few months of her life for money.
Money she’d said she didn’t need. But I knew she needed it more than I did.
I’d have done this for you for free, if you’d asked nicely.
The words echoed and twisted in my chest.
This was only a strategic decision. Practical. Jessa was perfect for the role—she already lived here, Theo adored her, and she had the kind of warmth and authenticity that would make investors believe we were real.
But that wasn’t why I’d wanted her to sign.
I’d wanted her to sign because the thought of anyone else playing this role—Sabine, or a stranger Sam found—had made my stomach churn. Because when I’d imagined walking into the Benefit with a woman, I’d only been able to see Jessa there. If I was going to have a woman in my bed, it’d be her.
Sometime in the past week, she’d stopped being just the nanny and had become something I couldn’t afford to want but couldn’t seem to let go.
I drained the glass, the burn of whiskey grounding me.
This was temporary. A business arrangement. At the end, she’d take her five million and disappear back to Holly Creek, and I’d go back to my life.
The IPO would close. The company would soar. Everything would go according to plan. It had to.
Because if it didn’t—if I let myself forget this was all pretend—I’d lose more than just a deal.
I’d lose the one thing I’d spent years protecting: control over my own goddamn heart.
I stared at her signature, bold and unapologetic, and wondered if I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life.
Or the smartest decision ever.
Only time would tell. The board, hell, Wall Street and all the experts would be watching if I could pull this IPO off.
But tonight?
Tonight it was just me and her. My new fake fiancée.
I set the rules aside, noting one in particular. *Intimacy shall be mutual, frequent, and preferably against a wall.*
I checked my watch. Theo had about fifteen minutes left on his game timer.
I set down my glass and walked down the hall to his room. There he was, completely absorbed in his game, headphones on, oblivious to the world.
I reached over and add another thirty minutes.
Theo glanced up, saw the extended time, and gave me a massive grin and a thumbs up before diving back into his hockey video game.
I left the door cracked and made my way to Jessa’s room at the end of the hall.
I knocked once.
Then entered without waiting for an answer.
She spun around, eyes wide. She stood there in a black bra and matching panties, the flannel pajamas I’d bought her draped over the bed, about to be put on.
I shut the door behind me and locked it.
Her breath caught. “Griffin?”
“I have one question for you.” I removed my tie. “Would now be a good time to take you against the wall?”
Her mouth curved. “Ask me nicely.”
“Jessa, may I?”
“Yes, please,” she whispered.