Chapter 8 #2
“Seeing as the favor I asked of you is the most expensive thing I’ve purchased for myself lately, I’m not sure what to make of that.”
“Your favor put the idea in my head,” Nathan says, and he’s so detached I think he stopped blinking. “I could really use your help here.”
“And you chose to insult me as your opening salvo,” I shoot back. “That’s a bold move.”
“Says the woman who called her client The Prince of Darkness to his face.”
Well, hell. Neither of us look very good here. Time to hunt down the last drops of patience in my body.
“We do bring out the worst in each other, don’t we?” I take a deep breath, convinced I’m going to regret my next statement. “Tell me about this favor.”
Nathan crosses his arms and scowls. “I want you to pretend to date me.”
The restaurant is busy. Customers talk and eat while music plays gently over speakers. The murmur of servers taking orders blends with the chaos of the kitchen. Behind me, a table of young businessmen erupts in laughter.
Surely, I misheard the man across from me.
I lean closer. “I’m sorry, you want me to what, now?”
“Pretend to be my girlfriend.” There’s no hint of shame or embarrassment. No ‘please.’ No ‘thank you.’ No explanation. None of the things you’d expect from a normal human being. You know, the kind with a soul.
“Why would I do that?” I shake my head and hold out my hands as a better question comes to mind. “Why would you want me to do that?”
Nathan mumbles something about his family, work, and an ex-girlfriend, then nods like it’s a done deal.
“Your accidental text the other night sets it up perfectly. Benjamin believes there’s something going on between us and I’m asking you to roll with it.
We’ll just make things more public than we originally thought. ”
“You want me to roll with it.” I prop my elbows on the table and my chin in my hands. “Like you did? When I asked for my favor?” I ask sweetly.
“Exactly.” Nathan looks smug. He clearly doesn’t remember what an asshole he was that night.
That’s fine. I’m happy to remind him.
“No.” I sit back, folding my hands in my lap, too proud of myself for my own good. “I will not pretend to date you.”
Nathan’s lips part. His brows jump. His head cocks and his eyes narrow until they smolder into mine. “I thought you were going to roll with it.”
“Right. Just like you did.” I laugh as realization tightens Nathan’s jaw.
“Funny,” he says with a sneer that doesn’t look funny at all. “In case your memory is as chaotic as the rest of you, I did pretend your idiotic text was meant for me.”
“You sure did. For a spectacular and dazzling amount of money. No ‘good guy’ points for you on that one. But let me see…” I drum my fingers on the table and the way Nathan’s eyes lock with mine makes me feel alive for the first time in a long time.
I lean closer, hoping to grab hold of the feeling.
“What could you do to make me more inclined to consider this idiotic idea of yours?”
I grin, pleased for throwing not one, but three of his words in his face. Maybe I should consider a villain era of my own. I’m better at this than I should be.
“Subtlety isn’t one of your finer points, is it?” Nathan leans in and I can’t help myself, I lean even closer, drawn into his orbit like a sun-diving comet.
“Atta boy,” I retort with a sly smile. “Keep insulting me. That’ll convince me to pretend to be your girlfriend, for what? One night? A week? Longer? What are you asking for here?” I swipe my water off the table, sit back, and take a dramatic draw on the straw while Nathan scowls.
“Longer.”
“And why would I want to do that?”
“We negotiated sixty percent off your design fee for my text to Benjamin. Let’s make it twenty instead.”
I snort so hard water comes out my nose. “That’s a joke, right?” I ask, choking on the rest of my drink. I grab my napkin and cover my mouth as I cough, then pull it away when Nathan doesn’t laugh. “You’re joking?”
“I’m the villain, right? Why would I joke about something like this?”
Right. Duh. Rich assholes never joke about money. How silly of me to hope an offer that offensive wasn’t real. Too bad I need every dollar I can get my hands on, or I’d storm out of Nathan West’s life forever. No amount of money is worth this kind of humiliation.
But Mom is.
I do some quick math in my head, then bring Nathan back into my sights.
“Seeing as anything less than a hundred and ninety percent of my original price is clearly a joke, you can see why I’d wonder.
” Adding that much money to our contract would mean I could pay off Mom’s treatment and still have a little left over for myself.
Not enough to get me out of that crappy apartment, but a start.
Nathan sits back, folding his arms. His eyes narrow as thoughts tick across his face. For a moment, I wonder if he’s about to say something profound. Something that helps me see the man Mason expected me to meet when he gave his cousin my name.
But then Nathan smirks, and I remember who I’m dealing with. “You realize that means I’d be paying you to date me.”
“Seems appropriate,” I reply with a smirk of my own. “As that’s the only way anything would happen between us.”
“And is basically illegal,” he counters, his eyes narrowing wickedly.
I summon every villainous thought I’ve ever had—most of them centered around people like him—and let them linger in my smile. “No, that’s prostitution and trust me. We’re fine. You don’t have to worry about us having sex. Ever.”