Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I get a minute to come up with my answer as the bartender delivers our drinks. Jarod nods in thanks, then turns back to me, expectant but not prying.
“We haven’t been dating long,” I admit. “But . . .”
“There’s something there?”
I allow myself a little smile. “Yeah. Yeah, there’s something there.”
Don’t know what. But it’s there.
He studies me. “I think you’d have a good sense of what I’m looking for. In a woman, I mean.”
“How soon are you thinking? I’ll be honest; I have a waiting list . . .”
“You can’t shoot handsome billionaires to the top of the list?” he says with a charming smile.
I laugh. “Not cocky ones, no.”
Jarod shrugs. “All right. I can wait.”
“Really? You don’t strike me as overly patient.”
“How do I strike you?” he asks with a flirty grin.
We’re interrupted before I have to answer.
“Mr. Lanham. It’s good to run into you again.”
My head whips around. “Matt?”
Jarod won’t know it, but he’s about to see exactly how good I am at my job.
I slip immediately into character, pivoting toward Matt with a wide smile on my face. “We were just talking about you.”
Matt’s looking right at me, and the expression on his face takes me aback a bit. I’d been expecting wariness—I am talking to his chief target after all, the entire reason he needs me to pose as his girlfriend in the first place. But he’s beyond wariness. He looks . . . mad?
Jarod extends a hand. “I figured I might run into someone I knew here. The Sams mentioned it was one of the popular Wall Street hangouts.”
“They’d be right,” Matt says, barely disguising the edge in his voice. “Am I interrupting?”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. This is so not the time for him to play jealous boyfriend.
“Not particularly.”
“Good,” Matt says decisively. “Have you given any thought to whether or not we might be a good fit?”
“I’m still thinking,” Jarod says blandly.
I look between the two of them, a little surprised that their conversation at lunch apparently went so far as to talk specifics. Matt must want this deal badly.
“I understand,” Matt says. “That said, I also don’t like games. If you’re not intending to give me your business, I’d prefer to know upfront.”
I give myself a quick pat on the back for not laughing out loud. Don’t like games, my ass. Matt’s entire life is a game. So is mine.
Only this one we’re playing together, which makes it all the more dangerous.
“I said I’m still thinking,” Jarod repeats, all but daring Matt to push him further.
Luckily, Matt’s smart enough to know when to drop it. He leans in to kiss my cheek, deliberately pressing his lips close to my ear in an unmistakably intimate, mine gesture.
I smile and lean up to adjust his tie. “Hey, you found me!”
He smiles back, but his eyes stay cold. “Looks like we crossed wires about where we were meeting. I had a table in the back.”
“Oh shoot, sorry!” I say, stepping immediately into the charade that he and I had plans. “I just assumed we’d grab a spot at the bar.”
I say a quick prayer of thanks that Lara’s in on our arrangement. If she walks in, she’ll know better than to blow our cover.
Jarod reaches for his wallet and sets enough money on the bar to cover his and my drinks plus a generous tip. “I know my reputation is ruthless, but I’m not so much of an ass as to interrupt two dates in one day.” He gives me an easy no-hard-feelings grin. “I stole your man away at lunch; I won’t do so at dinner as well.”
Matt’s smile is forced, his hand pressing hard against my back. “Better than you stealing away my woman.”
I stiffen, shocked at both Matt’s lack of charm in front of an important potential client, as well as my visceral, pleased reaction at being called his woman.
Still, we’re here for a reason, and he’s very close to screwing it all up.
“Matt,” I murmur in warning under my breath.
He smiles a bit wider, still focused on the billionaire. “Normally I wouldn’t worry, but you’re just about the only other man who can afford her.”
I can’t stop my gasp from slipping out. Nor can I disguise the fact that it’s a gasp of pain.
I don’t know how it happened, but somehow over the course of the past few days, my shield has been slowing lowering, and now it’s gone.
I did what I promised I’d never let him do—hurt me. Again.
I swallow and manage to stand, grabbing my purse off the back of the stool, all but shoving away Matt’s hand.
“Sabrina—”
I pretend he’s not there, my attention focused on Jarod through what I’m horrified to realize is a sheen of tears. “It was nice speaking with you. I appreciate the drinks.”