Page 35 of Fake It For Him

“The guy is bad news.” Mikey glanced at me before he took a swig of the wine, grimaced, and then immediately took another. “He’s not worth a single dime Ella stands to make from this contract. Not if it means having to spend the two months crying in the shower because of something he did or said.”

I rolled my eyes, but before I could tell him that I hadn’t been crying about Calan so much as for myself, Kara leaped to my defense again. “Sure, the guy is a jerk. Don’t get me wrong, if Ella was dating him for real, then it absolutely would be bad news, but this isn’t that.”

“Real or not, she’s going to be spending a ton of time with him for the duration of this contract. They may not be dating, but he made her feel pretty shitty about herself on their way home the other day, and that wasn’t fake. It was very, very real.”

“Sure. Okay. I can’t defend that, but we’re all entitled to the occasional meltdown, and that happens with or without men in our lives. Sometimes, you boys are the trigger, but the tears aren’t even really for or about you. You just say something that sets us off. She’s not crying now, right? So it’s over.”

“It’s not over,” he argued, canting his head as he stared at her. “How can you even say that? This is only the beginning. That was only their first date. God knows how many more times she’s going to have to go out with him and we also don’t know if he’s going to keep saying things that make her feel like crap. How is spending two months with a jackass worth that amount of money? Or any amount of money if it eats away at your soul and your self-esteem?”

Kara shook her head. “It’s not doing that. Don’t make it sound worse than it is. She had a moment, that’s all. The way I see it, this is the ideal no-strings-attached situation for Ella to have some fun, make some money, and get Spencer out of her system.”

“If that’s the way you see it, you’re looking at it wrong,” he said in a deadpan voice. “If I thought she was having fun, then fine. Sometimes, you have to take some pain for the gain, but all I saw that morning was pain.”

“Sure, but that’s only because you weren’t there for the gain part.” She winked at him as she moved the spatula through the rice. “The man is an ass. I agree with you on that, but he’s an ass who’s great in bed and is contractually obligated to wine and dine her before.”

“You do realize that what you just described has a name, right? It’s called Solicitation, and it’s illegal.”

She smirked at him. “Not if you’re doing it like this, it’s not.”

His brown eyes widened before he narrowed them to slits. “You cannot be serious right now. This is insane. Ella doesn’t even like the guy, but she’s chained to him for the next couple of months. Almost two months of her life that she’ll never get back. All for what, a bit of money?”

“It’s hardly only a bit of money.” She waved him off, her head shaking as she added mushrooms to the pan. “She’s also not chained to him. It’s a few dates and a few events, the wedding, and then it’s over. Plus, she already knows exactly what it is. If they decide to add a few orgasms to the mix, then what’s the harm? It’s business and pleasure. But it’s not required of her. She gets to choose how physical any of it gets.”

He kept glaring at her, swigging his wine. His cheeks heated along with his voice. “How can you say that? Of course, there’s harm. If a person is crying in the shower after just one date, any normal friend would tell them to break it off with the guy. Why are you encouraging it?”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “She can’t break it off with him because there’s nothing to break off. They’re not together. If the situation had been different, of course I’d tell my friend to dump the loser who made her cry, but this situation isn’t different. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement between two consenting adults.”

He snorted, leaned back on the stool, and looked her up and down slowly. “That’s it. Who are you and what have you done with my friend? If I come home so much as pouting after a date, you’re the first one to tell me to bail, yet Ella comes home and locks herself in the bathroom, and that’s okay?”

“Were any of those women you came home pouting about paying you that amount of money?” She stared at him, both eyebrows arched. “This is the money Ella needs to start a new life and the guy is a jerk, but he’s not abusive. He’s not expecting anything she isn’t willing to give. All he wants in return is a girlfriend, and if they both want other stuff to happen while they’re pretending, then why not?”

“Forgive me for thinking you had Ella’s best interests at heart,” he said angrily, his wine almost sloshing out of the glass as he thrust it at her. “You have always preached and practiced happiness as the most important thing in life. What happened?”

“Nothing happened.” She scoffed. “You’re just being a total buzzkill. In what world does a girl get to have wild, passionate sex with a God-like man, make half a million dollars, and not catch feelings because said God-like man is, as you’ve said, a complete jerk? There’s no downside.”

“Except for Ella’s compromised integrity being at stake.”

I felt that last statement like a blow to my gut, and I leaned forward, holding up my hands to show them to just stop. “Do me a favor and don’t talk about me like I’m not even here, okay? I am here, I can make my own choices, and I already have.”

“Clearly,” Mikey mumbled, his head shaking. “Of course, you can make your own choices, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t tell you that I think you’re making a mistake?”

I softened my expression as I offered him a small smile. “You’re a wonderful friend and you always have been, but I’m not going to make any more mistakes. I have a plan and I’m going to stick to it.”

“Oh yeah?” He lifted his chin, looking at me over the rim of his glass. “What’s your big plan?”

I looked him right in the eyes. “I’m going to keep Calan at arm’s length until this is over, and then, come the New Year, I’m free.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Mikey gave me a look that said we weren’t done talking about this yet. “I’ll get it.”

Kara turned down the heat on the burner. “Great. This is just about done. We can eat when you get back.”

He nodded and got off his chair. I turned toward the door as he opened it, then nearly fell off my chair when he did.

Because right there on the threshold was Calan Reid, wearing another one of his bespoke suits and looking like a freaking runway model with his dark hair hanging just so over his forehead and those nearly black eyes serious and blazing. “Hi. Is Ella here?”

I hated the way my stomach did a little backflip when I saw him, but the flutters had nothing to do with my attraction to him. He brought nothing but drama, and the flutters were anxiety, not lust.

Yeah, I’m just going to keep telling myself that. Maybe if I do it often enough, it’ll end up being true.