Reluctantly Yours(26)
“Well, I did my research. It was a designer and style that Fred’s girlfriend prefers. I saw it on the gram.”
“You mean Instagram?”
“Yes, my granddaughter showed me how. I thought it would be a talking point for the group.”
“It was thoroughly discussed.” I think of Frankie’s domination of the evening’s conversation and my inability to speak at all with Fred about business. “While that may have turned out in our favor, I’m not a fan of surprises.”
“I don’t mean to pry,” she says.
“Then don’t.”
She carries on without hesitation. “But I always thought there was something between you and Miss Chloe.” She smiles. “I had a feeling about it. Now I know I was right.”
“Sure.” I nod. There’s no way I’m going to tell Bea that I’m using Chloe to help me get into good graces with Fred and secure a deal to purchase Voltaire Telecom. She’d have a heart attack, then that would be on my conscience. Blackmailing Chloe to pretend to be my girlfriend is all I can handle right now.
CHAPTER 8
Chloe
After the shock of Monday morning’s events wears off, I realize while Barrett has the upper hand with that video, I still have a say in all this. Will I lose my job if Barrett shows JoAnna that video? The odds are high. But if I choose to tell her about the party and end this charade, Barrett’s business deal could go up in smoke. For as much as JoAnna would be disappointed in me for not telling her the truth, I imagine Fred Hinkle won’t appreciate Barrett lying to him about having a girlfriend, using me to play to Fred’s soft heart and pretending to be someone he is not.
Because Barrett is not boyfriend material. He’s the last guy I would want to date. Dismissive, demanding, only cares about himself.
Even the fact that he set up a table and champagne for Lauren’s bachelorette at the club was self-serving. I wanted to think that he was being nice, but he wanted my guard down. And the way he wasn’t the least bit surprised when JoAnna called us out on our ‘date’ yesterday means he knew that would happen. He knew it wouldn’t just be one date and then we were even. Now, I’m stuck playing his fake girlfriend role for the next six weeks, the time Barrett estimated it would take to seal his deal with Fred.
We’re having lunch today. We’re going to sit down and eat a meal together. Alone. No Frankie and Fred to distract from the fact that we despise each other. This is not where I saw my life going.
While I wait for Barrett to arrive, I catch up on work emails. Now that I’m filling in for Lacey, I’ve got her workload as well as my usual tasks for JoAnna, along with helping coordinate the Books 4 Kids event.
With the busy weekend I had, I didn’t get much reading in and I’ve needed every spare minute the last two days to get caught up. I know that JoAnna is giving me this opportunity to prove to her that I can handle being promoted to an assistant editor. It’s all that I want, all that I’ve been working toward.
Career goals aside, I haven’t had a moment to think about what I want from Barrett in return for me agreeing to be his fake girlfriend. Not that I agreed. But, if he’s offering something in return, I want to take full advantage of it.
That’s when it hits me. I pull out my notebook and jot down the only thing I’ve been able to think of.
“Have you been waiting long?” His deep voice pulls my attention upward. There’s suddenly a chill in the air. You could argue that the restaurant kicked on the air conditioning, but I’m seated on the patio, so it’s likely the chilly visage of my lunch companion.
Besides his text to meet him here for lunch today, we haven’t talked since JoAnna’s office on Monday morning. It’s perfectly normal, that’s more communication than we’ve had in the last two years, but the fact that my thoughts have been wandering to him at least a thousand times since Monday morning is highly problematic.
“Do you care if I’ve been waiting long or does your upbringing require you to ask?”
My snark rolls right off Barrett’s Italian designer suit. Meaning he ignores my dig and stands silent, yet confident until I respond in the manner he deems appropriate. I hate that I know him that well.
“No, I was working.”
“I prefer to sit inside,” he says, still standing.
“Said no one ever on a beautiful afternoon in June.”
Now it’s his turn to ignore me.
He nods to my list. Before I can shove it back in my bag, Barrett has it in his hands.
“You want me to attend the Books 4 Kids event,” he reads, dropping into the chair across from me. “That’s all? An appearance at a children’s charity book event? Easy. Done.”
I snatch the paper back, hating that my only request was so easily fulfilled.
“No, that’s not all,” I say defiantly, hoping I can come up with something else in the next five seconds. My mind goes blank. “Okay. That’s all I could think of off the top of my head. That’s because I don’t even know what my options are. It’s like going to an ice cream shop and they have the glass cases covered. I can pick chocolate because every ice cream shop has chocolate but I might be missing out on raspberry chocolate chunk cheesecake because I didn’t even know it was a possibility.”