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“Three months, just to get through the probation period. Then you can dump me.”
“You want me to pretend we’re dating forthree months?”
Aaron winced. “Yes.”
Alice’s mind was doing cartwheels. Did pretend girlfriend mean pretend handholding? Pretend kissing? Pretend… oh no, she mustnotgo there. Now she was hot all over.
In the space of five minutes it felt like her body had been ravaged by a band of marauding pirates. Right now, indignation was bubbling to the surface. But wasn’t that what Aaron always did? Turned her into a maelstrom of emotion? Most of which she’d quietly locked up inside herself for years. She just needed to do the same thing now.
Somehow, she stopped her voice from shaking as she said, “That’s the most ridiculous idea ever.”
Aaron’s face fell.
Alice crossed her arms over her chest. “I mean, they’re hardly going to sack you if you don’t have a girlfriend. It’s illegal for a start.”
Aaron shoved his hands into his pant pockets and stared at the ground. “I wouldn’t put it past them. But at the very least if I don’t fit with their values, they could seriously sideline me. They’re far more establishment than I thought. Carrying on about family and kids and how behind every great man is a great woman.”
“Well that’s true enough,” Alice muttered. “The answer is no, Aaron.”
His crestfallen look turned to sheer panic. “Shit, Al, they want to meet you. They suggested drinks next week.”
“And you said yes?”
“What else could I do without looking suspicious?”
Alice bent down and busied herself tidying theNational Geographicsinto a pile. Her eyes came level with Aaron’s thigh, the outline of his hand in his pocket curled into a tight fist, and a little knife went through her heart.
Why was she such a sucker for this guy? Five years and counting. Polly would despair of her.
Aaron had ducked down to help her, his eyes so close she could see the strands of midnight in the sky-blue. His pupils were dilated; his gorgeous mouth with its full lower lip within kissing distance. He smelled ofhim, spicy aftershave and soap and something else she couldn’t quite place but that always made her feel good.
Alice pulled back sharply as their hands grazed and a little shot of magic sped up her arm. A magic only she’d ever felt, of course.
“Please, Al. At least think about it?”
“It’s fraud.”
“See it as a game. We’d have a laugh. I tell you what—” He handed her one of theNational Geographics and the guts of its yellowing pages spilled onto the floor. “Let’s go out for dinner tomorrow night and talk it through?”
“I’m working all day tomorrow. I’ll be too tired to think straight by the evening.”
“Sunday, then.”
“I’m going to an exhibition at the art gallery.”
“What’s showing?”
“As if you care.”
“No really, I’m interested.”
“The Pre-Raphaelites.”
“Great. I’ll come.”
Alice gave a snort. “You hate art.”
Aaron had the grace to look sheepish. “But I owe you. For helping me practice for the interview at least. Even if you don’t agree to the other.”
