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“Huh?” I blinked. Surely that couldn’t be right. My ad just went live today.
Katia smirked and acted out the motions of reeling in a fish. “I’m not going to name drop or anything, but this one is like the ultimate catch, Harper. You are so freaking lucky.”
“So why is she giving him to me?” I asked. “I mean, if he’s a big client. Shouldn’t he go to someone more experienced?”
“He asked for you personally,” Katia said. “He saw your ad and liked it. Plus, we’re always super booked up this time of year. You’re the only one who has the time to meet his schedule.”
I frowned, but she just checked her watch. “C’mon, we’ll sort out the details when we get there. We gotta’ go.”
“Thank you, Franco.” I gave him a little wave as Katia pulled me away.
“No problem, doll. Don’t forget, smoky eyes at night, natural during the day!”
Katia laughed, and I felt like a child going off to my first day of school. I had no idea what I’d gotten myself into.
***
“Let me get this straight,” I repeated for the fifth time. “You want me to go out of state, with some guy I don’t know, for two weeks?”
Madame Jackie took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. “Yes, Harper. Trust me when I say I’m not any happier about this than you are, but he saw your ad and insisted you were the one he wanted. And I don’t have any other girls who have that amount of time open right now.”
“I just… I don’t think this is a good idea for my first time,” I pleaded. “Surely, there must be another way…”
“Listen, Harper.” Madame Jackie reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I know you don’t know me, and you’ve just started here, but this contract could be huge for my business. This guy is the client if you get my drift. The one you wait your whole life for. And I know I’m asking a lot, but this could attract some major players to my business. And because of that, you would be paid handsomely. I’m talking more than you’ve ever dreamed of.”
I shot Katia a look, to which she nodded. Madame Jackie was telling the truth. And as much as I didn’t want to be driven by money, I really didn’t have much choice right now.
“How much?” I asked.
Madame Jackie glanced around at some of the other girls who were lingering nearby, and then discreetly wrote something on a piece of paper. She slid it towards me, and I almost passed out when I saw how many zeros there were.
“That can’t be right.”
“I assure you, it is,” she said seriously. “But Harper, you will have to be on point the entire time. He expects you to do everything he asks while you’re there.”
“Except sex, right?”
“Yes, except sex,” she agreed. “He was very insistent he doesn’t even want that on the table. He just needs his family to believe you’re his girlfriend while he’s home for Christmas. That means you’ll have to flirt with him, maybe some light petting and kissing. Can you handle that?”
I glanced back at Katia for reassurance and she smiled. “You’ve totally got this, Harper. You are stronger than anybody I know, and once you set your mind to something, you can’t lose. You just have to convince them you’re for real. And sweetheart, you’re as real as it gets.”
“This could change my life,” I admitted. “I could pay off my debts with this.”
Madame Jackie grinned because she knew she had me.
“So does that mean you’re ready to go shopping then?”
“Shopping?” I questioned.
“Remember the wardrobe?” she asked, a twinkle in her eye.
Oh, God the wardrobe. She wasn’t playing fair now, and she knew it.
“I really get to take some of that stuff with me?”
“Oh, Harper… by the time I’m through with you, you’ll look like the love child of every designer you’ve ever dreamed of.”
Chapter Four
“You need a bikini,” Katia insisted. “Rich people always have pools in their house. And he might want you to go swimming. You just never know.”
