Part-Time Lover (Part-Time Lover #1)(32)

She shakes her head. “Madness is my middle name.”

I take a deep breath. “I’m glad the Ellison brothers haven’t scared you away.”

“I assure you, I’m not easily spooked.”

“So . . . can we put this all behind us?” I offer, since surely that’s the only way I can manage to keep up the status quo with Elise.

“We can put it behind us.” She takes a beat, fixing me with an intense stare. “But what if I told you I didn’t think his suggestion was absurd?”





18





Elise





I should be shocked at the certainty in my bones. But I’m strangely not surprised at all that his brother’s suggestion felt like the most right and true idea I’ve heard in ages.

Because I’m mad. I’m brimming with righteous anger for his brother. For the most underhanded cards ever dealt to a man. I can’t let that woman—and I wouldn’t know her from Eve—win by preying on Erik’s love for her.

I set my hand on Christian’s thigh. “I want to help you. I want to help you and Erik.”

He drags a hand through his hair, his eyes registering surprise. He swallows and quietly asks, “You do?”

“Yes. Do you want to help your brother?”

He gives me an incredulous look. “Of course I do. But there has to be another way around it.”

Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps I read his nerves incorrectly. The last thing I want is to push this on him, simply because my moral compass is hugely offended by Jandy’s double cross, which poor Erik never saw coming. I know what that’s like—being blindsided by someone you thought would love you and only you forever. And this is my opportunity to save Erik from some of the pain I went through.

“Then, by all means, I’m sure you’ll find it, and you won’t have to resort to this way around.”

He grabs my hand. “I’m not saying it would be a terrible solution. That’s not what I mean.”

“What do you mean?” I ask evenly.

Don’t get emotional, Elise. This isn’t your battle.

Besides, this isn’t an emotional decision for me. It’s a practical one. At the tea salon, I didn’t think it was wise to accept his offer of help with the account, but now I can see we both would benefit from a revision to our arrangement. The truth is I’d love his insight on the travel industry, and I suspect he’d love to help his brother stave off this Machiavellian machination.

He sighs heavily and sinks back into the couch cushion. “I can’t do that to you. After everything you went through with your ex-husband, how can I possibly put you through the ringer like that?”

I roll my eyes, the newfound strength flowing through my veins like a surging river. “You wouldn’t be putting me through anything. This isn’t the same. This isn’t Eduardo trying to hoodwink me. This is you and me being honest and doing something that’s right. Doing something that matters for your brother, and for you.” As I voice the words, it hits me that this isn’t only practical. This is emotional. But it’s the good kind, the kind that brings a whole new round of closure. They’re right and honest emotions, born from a chance to settle the score on behalf of someone who needs it. “You said you wanted to repay your brother for how he helped you onto the right path when you were younger. This is your opportunity.”

“But what about you? What do you get out of it?”

I shimmy my shoulders. “I do believe there was a certain business expert who offered his help in nabbing a big travel account.”

“I didn’t think you wanted to mix business and pleasure?”

“Maybe now I do. I need a sharp mind. I need a fantastic analyst. And if you need something too, it won’t feel like we’re mixing business and pleasure so much as helping each other when we both need it.”

“Elise, as much as I want to fix this shitstorm for Erik, I don’t know if I can let you do this after what you’ve dealt with.”

I scoff. “Let me do this? You can certainly say no, but this isn’t about letting me. I’m not a delicate princess. I can handle this because I’m not interested in marriage. I’m not interested in forever. I am, however, ludicrously mad that someone’s been taken advantage of. And it seems like you and I have the power to stop it.”

He doesn’t say anything, and I suspect he’s taking a moment to process that I’m not messing around. “You’d really do this?”

“Not forever. But for a few months, for the time he needs, I would. I despise that she’s been tricking him. I don’t want her to get away with it. It’s wrong.”

I watch a range of emotions cross his eyes—eagerness, trepidation, and hunger for revenge. “Why do you want to right this wrong?”

“Because I can. I lost a few accounts when my marriage went south. It was awful, but I didn’t lose my whole business. I’m rebuilding it. And here’s your brother, completely blindsided by the love of his life breaking his heart and trying to steal the company your grandfather started more than fifty years ago. And you and I could tie the knot, and in that simple act, it would stop her.”

He lets out a long breath. “Damn, you’re fucking hot like this.”