A Not So Meet Cute(27)

“It’s not charity. I’m not telling people to use her, but if you want to go anywhere in business, Lottie, you have to know connections mean everything. Sometimes, just one person is all you need. One person to ignite the flame, because that one person might know five people, and those five people might know five more people, and that’s how a business grows at first, word of mouth. I’m that first person and I know way more than five people.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I want to help you.” How do I make her believe me? “How about this—you pretend to be my fiancée and go to these business events with me, and in return, you can stay at my house—”

“I’m not living with you. I can move in with Kelsey. There’s no way I’m living with a stranger I don’t know.”

“Fine. You take the job with Kelsey and move in with her, and I help you two with some connections.”

She mulls it over, her lips twisted to the side.

“And you know,” I add, clearing my throat, “if you could be pregnant as well, that would be ideal.”

“What?” she says, sitting up completely. “Have you lost your mind? I’m not letting you get me pregnant.”

“Fuck, no, I didn’t mean it like that. Pretend to be pregnant. Pretend. I’m not going to be fucking you or anything like that.”

Her brow knits together. “Why on earth would I pretend to be pregnant?”

“Because I told the guy I’m trying to do business with that you’re pregnant.”

“Why? Why would you say that?”

I sigh and grip the back of my neck. “His fiancée is pregnant. I was trying to form a connection with the guy.”

“By making up the fact that you have a pregnant fiancée? Wow, Huxley, you really are in some deep shit, aren’t you?”

“I am. That’s why I need you. So, name it, Lottie.” I hold my arms out. “Name what you want and it’s yours.”

“I don’t know what I want.”

“Okay.” I stand from the bed and pace her room. “In a perfect world, what would you have right now?” I face her and hold my finger up. “Working with your sister, right?”

She nods.

“Not living with your mom and Jeff.”

She nods again.

“Showing up this boss of yours, the one that let you go.”

“A lifelong friend who has been toxic from the start. Would love to just shove it up her ass.”

I chuckle. “Okay, that can be arranged. What else?”

“Perfect world?” she asks with hesitation.

“Perfect world.”

Her teeth roll over the corner of her mouth as she says, “Well, I’d be working with my sister, out of my mom’s house, could stick it to Angela, my student loans are paid off, and every time it rains, I have a place where I can lie in the rain without judgment.”

“Done,” I answer.

“What?” she asks skeptically.

“All of it, done. I’ve got you covered. I’ll help with your sister’s business so you can work for her. You’re going to live with your sister, so that covers housing, we’ll make the perfect plan to stick it to Angela, I’ll easily pay off your student loans, and I know the perfect place to privately lie in the rain.”

She shakes her head. “You’re not paying off my student loans.”

“Why not?” I ask her.

“Because I’m not a hooker.”

I scratch the back of my head. “I don’t recall the time where I said I would pay you to fuck me.”

“You didn’t, but it just feels . . . weird. You paying me to be your escort.”

“First of all, you’re not an escort. Let’s throw that term right out the window, got it? Second of all, this isn’t about me, this is about us. This is a deal. An accord. A transaction between two people. We’ll both agree upon a fair bargain, and trade services, that’s it. Nothing more. Trust me, I’d pay a hefty amount of money to convince you to get on board. I’m sure the student loans can’t be that bad. How much do you owe?”

She winces and says, “Thirty thousand dollars.”

The corner of my mouth tilts up. “Chump change, Lottie.”

Her eyes widen. “I have a thirty-thousand-dollar debt and you’re calling that chump change?”

“Trust me when I say I have billions to work with.”

Confused, she asks, “Why are you telling me this? I could extort those billions from you.”

“Possibly, but I don’t think you will. You don’t seem to be that kind of person.”

“I’m not,” she says, deflated. “I wish I were; it would make this that much easier.”

I chuckle. “I’m glad you’re not someone who relies on extortion. Bodes well for me.” I stand there, hands in my pockets. Head down, I just lift my eyes to glance at her. “Say yes.”

She presses her lips together. “How do I know you’ll follow through on your end?”

“I’ll have my lawyers draw up a contract. Simple.”

Still seeming unsure, she stares down at her hands. “I don’t know.”