Boss Me (Private Listing #3)

Page 22



Her sweet strawberry scent rushes over me as she turns to lock the door. She glances at me over her shoulder and smiles conspiratorially again. “You want to date me as much as I want to date you?—‍”

“I—‍”

“Which is not at all.” She turns to face me. Her hands fall on her hips and her chin tips up. “I need to be seen in public on the arm of the right guy.” She gestures to me. “And I assume you need a female companion of your own to show off for whatever reason.”

I step back and give her another once-over. This seems like a trap. “You seemed interested in your texts.”

“Trust me, you didn’t.” She laughs. It’s light and a little delightful. “Don’t worry, Romeo. I have no interest in attaching myself to you in any way besides tonight. Maybe a few follow-up dates to keep my mother from insisting I get with this guy or the other. But you and me probably won’t work long-term.”

“Should I feel insulted?” I’m not sure what’s happening right now. My mother would be furious if she found out my date wasn’t as interested as she thought. That makes me smile.

She takes my arm and tugs me toward the car. “Not insulted. We’re just both in this for the same reason. To get someone off our backs. Mine happens to be my mother. Maybe yours is your mother, or maybe it’s to hide something, but I’m not interested in that.”

“You aren’t?” When we get to the car, I open the door and hold out my hand to help her in.

She winks at me. “I’m not.”

I close her door and look up at the evening sky. This is going to be a trip. I get in on the other side and the driver takes off.

“Okay, so when we get there, I’ll laugh and flirt and act like you’re the best guy in the world. And you’ll act like I’m the only woman you can think about.” She smooths the fabric of her dress down. “In about a week, we can go out to a romantic dinner and that will give me about two months of my mother not caring what or who I do.”

She smiles, looking rather pleased with herself.

“What if I had shown up wanting an actual date?” I’m more curious than anything.

She frowns and blows her bangs. “You aren’t, right?”

“I have someone,” I say carefully.

Her shoulders drop, and she smiles again. “Whew, for a minute, I was worried I read you wrong. I think you and I are going to be good friends, Noah.” She taps on her lip and narrows her eyes. “Only friends.”

“Works for me.” I smile and actually look forward to tonight. The anxiety from before lifts. I promised Madison I’d play with her tonight, and it’s looking like that might be more of a possibility.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to cling to you in there like you’re my last chance to get a man.” She looks through her lashes at me.

I raise an eyebrow, wondering if this whole thing is one big con to get me to lower my guard around her.

She straightens her skirt and looks out the window. “I might be trying to make someone jealous.”

She bites her lip but doesn’t turn toward me.

“And this someone will be at the event?” The lines start to connect.

She nods and looks at her hands in her lap. “I didn’t want to go alone and have him think I’m undesirable.”

“No one would think that.” It’s a statement of fact. She’s gorgeous. In a different way than Madison, but still beautiful. If I didn’t have Madison, I might be interested. Maybe.

Her green eyes flick up to me before dropping back down. “Thanks, but he doesn’t see me like that.”

“Let me see if I have this correct.” I pause and wait for her to lift her eyes to mine again. “You want me to go to the benefit with you to make another man jealous and date you for a while to get your mother off your back?”

“Yes.” She doesn’t even blink.

Fuck it, if she can be honest so can I.

“I’m taking you because I need to be seen with someone publicly, and my mother will also be happy if I’m dating someone.” I’m careful to leave Madison out of it. But if she’s observant, Sara might figure it out. I’ll have to keep myself in check tonight.

“Sounds right.” She takes a deep breath. “What do you think? Can we pull this off?”


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