Chapter 4
NINA
Nina was trying to think of a polite way to leave.
Theo seemed nice enough, but there was no way his offer was for real. What kind of person paid a pair of strangers he’d just met to pose as his wife and child so that he could land a contract?
Someone who loved work more than anything. That was who. And Nina wasn’t about to get involved with another person like that. Even if he was really offering.
If it was a real offer, though, it was tempting.
More tempting that Nina wanted to admit.
The thought of enrolling Jack in a great private school and having enough money not to have to worry about finances until he was grown up was almost too wonderful to think about.
Part of her, a big part, wanted to say yes.
But the cost was too high. And there was no way this could be real, anyway.
“I appreciate the offer,” Nina said, as though this had been a job interview instead of the strangest ice-cream date of her life. “But I’m going to have to pass.”
“Are you sure?” Theo asked. “Is there anything I can do to sweeten the deal?”
Nina shook her head. “I’m afraid not. But I do appreciate the ice cream. Good luck arranging your meeting.”
She stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. “Come on, Jack. Let’s go.”
“Mo-om.” The word came out as a whine, and Nina saw that Jack’s legs were crossed. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Okay, buddy.” Nina held out her hand. “Let’s ask at the counter.” They went back to the counter, but the server shook his head.
“Sorry, we don’t have a bathroom.”
Nina winced. “Thanks anyway.”
“I have a bathroom.” Nina turned to see Theo on his feet now. “You’re welcome to use it.”
Nina wanted to say no. She shouldn’t agree to Theo’s offer, and she wanted to leave as soon as possible before she changed her mind and accepted it. But Jack was doing his potty dance, and she didn’t have much time to get him to a bathroom.
“Okay. Thank you.”
Theo led the way out of the shop. They went down to the next entrance and through a pair of wide double doors into an expansive lobby. The floors were marble, and the ceiling, far overhead, gleamed. The receptionist wore a suit and greeted Theo by name as they passed.
Theo led them straight back to an elevator bank. Within a minute, they were on the top floor. Theo took them to the end of a broad, airy corridor, where he led them into a private office the size of Nina’s apartment.
“The bathroom is there at the back,” he said, pointing to a closed door.
“Are you okay to go by yourself?” Nina asked.
Jack nodded and hurried off to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
With the immediate emergency resolved, Nina turned to look at the office.
It was enormous. At one end, there was a mahogany desk with a swivel chair.
The other end boasted a sitting area. There was even a kitchenette.
Everything was furnished in dark colors and modern styles, so much so that it looked like a page out of a magazine about a modern tech company.
The picture windows showed so much of the Boston skyline that it felt like they were flying.
“Wow,” Nina said under her breath.
“Do you like it?” Theo asked. He was leaning against the desk.
“It’s certainly impressive.” Nina bit her lip. “And this is all yours?”
“I told you I was the CEO.”
“I know, but…” Nina’s mind was racing. Now that she’d seen just how rich Theo really was, she wondered if his offer was real.
Maybe he really would give her enough money to stop worrying.
She hated the thought of confusing Jack, but the financial gain was too great to ignore.
And certainly, pretending to be this man’s wife and son for a few meetings was better than ending up in some dingy apartment if Nina wasn’t able to meet the rent increase.
“Is the offer for real?” she blurted.
Theo straightened. His brown eyes met hers, and he nodded. “It is.”
“I…” She sighed. “How much?”
“How much what?”
“How much would you give me to do this? You said I wouldn’t have to worry about money for the rest of Jack’s childhood. How much is that?”
Theo named a number that made Nina’s head spin. “Really?”
“Really. If I land the client I told you about, I’d easily get twenty times that.
” Theo crossed to her. “And if it doesn’t work as planned, I’ll hold to my promise.
I’m a man of my word.” Theo’s gaze was intense, but he seemed so relaxed — like this was just another business deal.
“I’m serious, Nina. I know this is strange, but I really think we can help each other. ”
Nina ran a hand through her hair and turned away. She paced the length of the office, her mind racing, barely taking in the exquisite lamps worth more than her monthly income or the view of the skyscrapers outside. Finally, she returned to Theo.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay,” she repeated. “I’ll do it. We’ll do it. But I’m setting some ground rules.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” Theo grinned, and for a moment, she saw the boy he had been instead of the businessman he was.
“First, Jack stays in the school until he graduates,” Nina said. “Once he’s enrolled, I don’t have to take him out, even when our ruse is over. I’ll use the money you said you’ll give me to keep up his tuition.”
“Agreed.”
“Second, we tell Jack that you’re a family friend. He doesn’t have to call you Dad or anything like that.”
“Fine,” Theo said. He seemed almost amused.
“Third, we don’t keep this up for longer than six months. Even if you haven’t landed your contract by then, we stop.”
“Okay.” Theo paused. “Is that it?”
Nina’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Yes.”
“I have a few conditions, too. First, we sign an agreement to make this official — that way, you can be sure you’ll get your money in the end.
Second, you and Jack move in with me while we’re doing this.
That’s important for the school registration and may end up being important for my business with Ackley, too.
Third, you can’t tell anyone that this is fake.
Not your friends. Not your family. We’ll both tell everyone that we’ve been dating secretly for a year or so and agreed to make this official now.
We didn’t do so sooner because we didn’t want to confuse Jack. ”
“Fine,” Nina said. She didn’t love the thought of lying to everyone, nor did she like the idea of moving in with Theo.
But she was in for a penny, in for a pound, as her grandmother always said.
This was the right thing for Jack. It would mean a secure roof over his head and a good education.
Nina could swallow her own reservations to make things right for her son.
It was what she’d always done. She’d put aside a promising career for him and never thought twice about it. She’d pinched pennies and worked through exhaustion to give him everything she could. She’d avoided dating so she wouldn’t confuse him — or herself. And Nina had never minded any of it.
So, if the right thing now was living with a billionaire for a few months and letting her child go to a fancy private school, Nina could do that too. His house was probably so large that they’d never see him, if his office was anything to go by.
“Excellent. I’ll have my lawyers draw up a contract for you to sign.”
“Won’t that go against your plan to not tell anyone that this is fake?” Nina asked.
“Don’t worry. The lawyers know all my secrets.” Theo winked. Just then, Jack came running out of the bathroom. He skidded to a stop by Nina and nuzzled into her side.
“Thanks, supervillain.”
“Anytime.” Theo bent down to Jack’s level. “And you can call me Theo.”
“Is that your supervillain name?”
Theo chuckled. “Sure. But it’s also just my real name. I promise, I’m not really a supervillain.”
“O-kay,” Jack said, stretching out the word as though he didn’t really believe it. Nina ruffled his hair fondly, and he looked up at her. “Can we go to the park now?”
Nina glanced at Theo. “I think we’re good to go, right?”
“Yes. I’ll send a car over tomorrow to pick you up. Does five o’clock work?”
Nina nodded. “I’ll text you my address.”
“And I’ll have the contract waiting for you when you arrive.” Theo held out a hand. “Pleasure doing business with you.”
“Um… sure.” Nina took his hand and shook it. “I suppose so.”
He gave her a business card with his full name and contact information, and she made sure he had her name and number. Then Nina left, hand in hand with Jack.
Her head was spinning as they rode the elevator down. Had she really just agreed to move in with, and pretend to be married to, a man she’d just met?
“I like him,” Jack said, bouncing on his toes as they reached the ground floor and exited the elevator.
“Yeah?” Nina asked.
“Yeah,” Jack nodded.
“Well, good, because I think we’ll be seeing more of him for a few months,” Nina said.
They crossed the gleaming lobby and exited onto the street outside.
The park was just a few blocks away. They’d been delayed by this whole thing, but there was still time to play a little before going home and making dinner.
Then, Nina would have to start packing, as strange as that was.
“Cool,” Jack said. He looked up at Nina. “Do you like him?”
“Um…” Nina squeezed Jack’s hand. “Yes. I do. He’s going to help us with something, which is very nice of him.”
“Okay.” Jack climbed onto a low wall around a raised flower bed beside the sidewalk and walked along it, his free hand windmilling for balance.
He looked so happy and carefree. Nina wished she could be as trusting and content as her son was, but all she could do was worry about what the next few months were going to look like.
What exactly had she signed them up for? Had it been the right choice?