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This was beginning to feel like one of those hidden camera shows. What did it mean to have non-typical parents? Were they drug lords? Pirates? Did they run a traveling circus?
And what did them coming to Denver have to do with me? How the hell could I possibly make that easier for him? Tucking my fingers into the handle of my purple mug, I lifted it to my mouth and took a sip of the still-scalding but delicious coffee. “Okay,” I said a third time, not knowing how else to respond.
Leo studied me carefully as his fingers ceased their erratic tapping against the edge of the table. “They’re . . . tough. They aren’t warm and loving like some parents. In fact, I’m confident that neither of them actually likes me very much,” he rambled. Still, he watched me intently as I took another sip of my coffee. “Fuck,” he muttered, shoulders slumping. “I’m just going to say it, Mara.” He looked at me intently, as if willing me to stay calm. “I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”
I choked on my coffee, almost spit it out onto the table. “Excuse me?” I gasped, grabbing a napkin to dab at the bit of hot liquid running down my chin.
Leo’s returning smile was too forced. “Come on, Mara. Would it be that hard?”
What the fuck? “You’re joking, right?”
His smile dropped as his brows pulled together. “Look, I know it sounds a little crazy?—”
“A little?” I interjected with a sordid whisper-shriek.
He sighed, shoulders flexing beneath his sweater that probably cost more than my monthly rent. “This would be beneficial for both of us . . . I assure you.”
I couldn’t help the scoff that soared from my throat. “How exactly does pretending to be your girlfriend benefit me?”
A wry grin spread across his cheeks. “It benefits you as my business partner.”
Frustration snaked its way down my spine at his words. It felt like a mockery. “I’m not your business partner, Leo. I’m your employee. There’s a very big difference between the two.”
His grin curled higher, as if I’d said exactly what he hoped I would. “You won’t just be my employee . . . Not if you do this for me.” I froze in place as my mind hung on the words that so casually rolled off his tongue. “I’ll make you partner, Mara. Do me this favor, and I’ll give you half of the business.”
The entire café around us disappeared as my vision tunneled, my focus entirely on the wicked man in front of me. Is he serious? He’d give me ownership of the business for pretending to be his fucking girlfriend?
This felt like a massively cruel joke.
Actually, this felt like the sleazy workings of a deep-rooted patriarchal scheme. Of course this rich and powerful man would dangle an ownership-carrot in front of me in exchange for something as ridiculous as being his girlfriend. The shock of it alone was enough to make my stomach roil. I couldn’t possibly participate in something so fundamentally immoral. Leo was certifiably insane.
But as I opened my mouth to tell him a firm “no fucking thank you,” the words caught somewhere in my esophagus and all that came out was an odd, breathy whimper. Which only made me more furious, because how dare Leo put me in a position where I’d have to say no to the one thing I wanted most? How dare he offer up the one thing that might just be my Achilles’ heel? My unicorn?
His eyes blazed in triumph. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
No, no, no! I would not agree to something so ridiculous. The inner tapestry of my female rage wouldn’t allow it. I am strong. I am confident. I am not a toy for this man to play with.
It didn’t even make sense . . . why would he need a pretend-girlfriend to face his parents? “Why?” As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I regretted it. Because I shouldn’t care why . . . I should be getting up out of this seat and walking out that door.
He frowned. “Why what?”
I glared at him. “Why would you put me in a position like this? How does me pretending to date you solve the fact that your parents don’t like you?”
He winced, and I would have felt sorry about such harsh words if I wasn’t currently mad enough to throw this mug of coffee right at his stupid handsome face. He pressed both his palms into the surface of the table, bracing himself. “I’m not sure I could put it into words.”
“Try,” I demanded.
Leo sighed, eyes rising to the ceiling. Like the answer might be up there, somewhere. “I told you the night we met that running companies was a family business,” he explained. “My father is the CEO of a large enterprise that essentially heads a conglomerate of entities that perform various functions for high-profile companies.” I must have given him a What in the what now? look because a grin played at his mouth before he brought a hand up, wiped it away, and continued. “And for a long time, I worked closely under his wing. He was dutifully preparing me to take everything over. Except, as he saw it, I was lacking in what it took to succeed, and the pressure of it all got to me.
“So about a year ago, I left home. I needed to create some distance . . . to collect myself. I came to Denver and have been keeping my head down all this time. Until a week ago, when . . . well, when I purchased Larkspur.” Most of Leo’s words flew right over my head . . . not because I was incapable of understanding, but because the words poured out of his mouth at rapid speed and my mind was still spinning with this insane girlfriend-for-ownership proposition.
Taking advantage of a small reprieve with a long sip of my coffee, I forced myself to focus on where this story might be going. “And in purchasing Larkspur, your parents found out where you are?” He nodded enthusiastically, as if relieved that I seemed to be understanding his predicament. But I didn’t understand—I didn’t understand what any of this had to do with me. “Leo, how does having a . . . girlfriend,” I said the word in a hushed whisper, as if it were poison on my tongue, “possibly help anything?”
Leo’s gaze clung to mine, his hands inching toward me as he leaned forward. “Look, Mara, I’ve had a difficult last few years. I thought I had a solid plan, that I could permanently step away from the family enterprise . . . but it turns out my dad was right. I don’t think I have what it takes to create success on my own.” The bright blue of his eyes dulled in an instant. “I hate to admit it, but I need my father—the family business is all I have. I was hoping I could purchase an already-successful business, make a few tweaks to drive profits even higher, and then use that experience to explain my absence to my parents.
“I pulled funds from my own trust to purchase the club, thinking my father wouldn’t notice—but I was wrong. He golfs with the bank manager; I don’t know why I expected anything different.” He sighed, and I could hear a shaky rattle in his breath. It almost made him seem . . . scared. “He called me early this morning to inform me that he and my mother are coming to Denver—tomorrow. They’ll be here for a week, and I’m not ready to face them, Mara. I haven’t had time to make my mark at the club. But maybe . . . maybe falling in love would help bridge the gap. If I’ve been distracted because I found the woman of my dreams—they won’t necessarily respect it but I think they might at least understand it.”
I took in a deep breath, warring with the conflicting feelings of not wanting to get involved in anyone’s family drama, but also with the uneasiness that I was beginning to feel for Leo after seeing how nervous he was. He was this shaken up over the concept of his own parents visiting, and that struck a nerve in me.
