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“Er, I almost forgot ...” Duffy pretzeled like she was made out of Play-Doh. “If you’re making less than twenty-three K a year, it could pose some issues with your sponsorship. Something about thegovernment wanting you to pay your fair share in taxes to be eligible. You’ll have to load your last few tax returns.”
Considering I paid more taxes last year than the state of North Dakota, I didn’t think we had a problem. As a matter of principle, I didn’t tell anyone about my wealth. Least of all someone who’d soon be entitled to half my fortune.
“Twenty-three, you say? I’ll make it work. Might take me a second or two to find my tax returns, though, so let’s leave it blank for now.” I returned the laptop to her. She nodded, tucking flyaways from her braid behind her ear. She had nice, small ears. And she smelled good. Not fruity and seductive like the women I stumbled into bed with. More like ...drywall. I could understand how some men found her attractive. Or maybe it was the tequila that could understand it. Ididdrink on an empty stomach. And byempty stomach, I mean we shared one of her salads and a tofu steak earlier.
The woman ate like a rabbit.
She was still talking as I reared my head back, squinting to try to get her face back into focus.
“Well, that’s the bank account sorted! Next, we should go to a restaurant or something, somewhere with friends, and take pictures together. We should aim for casual yet affectionate. Perhaps I’ll wear my hair differently so they’d think it was taken a long time ago? There must be a tutorial online on how to fake a fringe—”
“I’m crashing here tonight.” The words tumbled out of my mouth with a slur.
“Oh.” She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. “Jolly good. I have clean sheets in my room. I’ll sort you out a spot on the settee. It’s quite comfy, or so Kieran says.”
“You let your boyfriend sleep on the couch?” Sadly, I could believe that.
“What? No! Kieran is my twin brother.”
“There aretwoof you?”
“Bugger off.” She pouted, but I could tell she was amused more than annoyed. “Or I’ll make you sleep on the floor.”
“Is this a degradation kink? Because I might be into that.”
“Oh, dear.” She ignored my quip. “You’re going to stink up my sofa with your weed smell, aren’t you?”
“We could share a bed, you know.” Now I was just riling her up, watching as her eyes flared and her skin tone turned into that of a Solo cup.
“Abed?” Her purple eyes widened comically. “I don’t think so.” She stood up, hurrying toward her kitchenette. “Clearly we’ve both had a bit too much to drink. I reckon a strong black tea is just what the doctor ordered. I’ll put the kettle on.”
“Worried you’d be tempted?” I spread my limbs, intentionally dwarfing the couch. She knew damn well I couldn’t fit horizontally on that thing. I could barely squeeze into her entireapartment. “There’ll be no hanky-panky. I’ll keep my hands to myself. All the other important organs too. Even though you smell like drywall.”
“Like drywa ...” She was about to finish the sentence, then thought better of it, instead producing two beige mugs from a drawer and dropping teabags inside them. “Never mind. The answer is no. As I mentioned before, I am still involved with my ex-boyfriend.”
“Does your ex-boyfriend know you’re getting married to a stranger?” I asked, watching as she spun around the place listlessly.
“Uhm, not quite.”
“It’s a yes-or-no question. No gray area here, I’m afraid.”
She twisted around like she was trying to worm her way out of her skin. “In that case, no, he doesn’t know. It’s complicated, though. We’re going through ... something.”
“Some-what?”
“His faculties taking a leave of absence. He is sort of searching for himself. We aren’t together currently, I suppose.”
“You suppose?” I slanted my head. “I’ve never been in a serious relationship, but I’ve alwaysknownI wasn’t in one.”
“I’m sure we’ll get back together!” she said defensively. “He’s just going through some things right now. He is ...”
“A wishy-washy asshole?” I offered charitably.
“Acomplicatedman.” She shot me a scolding glare. “Anyway, it’s just for six months. He’s going away to clear his head for a bit.”
“Where to?” Not that it mattered. There was only one kind of man who was happy to leave everything behind him for six months and travel—a man who didn’t have any pressing issues back home. He wasn’t serious about her.
“Kathmandu.”
