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“He said he didn’t date,” I murmur.
Her expression shifts.
“What’s new? No one dates anymore…” she says, amused and annoyed at the same time.
“Yeah… Well, I was intrigued when he said that. Because I wasn’t much into dating anyway. So he came up with an idea. He told me what he liked in a woman…”
That’s a bit of a stretch.
“And then he said we should try to be friends with, um… benefits,” I add.
My voice skids a little, feigning excitement. My emotion is real, though. I’m kind of happy that I came up with an explanation.
“Friends with benefits with your boss?”
“I didn’t know he’d be my boss. But he offered me a job. So yeah. Eventually, I knew about that thing as well.”
“You had a rocky beginning with him…” she murmurs.
“What do you mean?”
Like any respectable liar, I let her talk so I don’t say something stupid and give myself away. Something incongruent with what I claimed in the past.
“That day when I picked you up in Manhattan.”
I flick my eyebrows up like I don’t know what she’s talking about.
Of course I know what she’s talking about.
It was the night I spent with the three men in Kai’s apartment. And then I called Giana in the morning.
She looks at me, waiting for me to regain my memory.
“Oh… That day. Yes. It was a misunderstanding,” I say, brushing it off. “So, yes. Things weren’t perfect in the beginning.”
“It was more than being friends with benefits…” she suggests, her gaze glued to my face.
My conflicted expression might’ve given me away, despite doing my best to keep my face straight.
She drinks water, and I sigh, relieved.
“Where does the money come from?”
“Uh… Yes. The money. I forgot about the money. Silly me… That’s what we were talking about,” I mumble my way through, trying to buy some time. “As I said, we made a bet. So we have an understanding. We give this ‘friends with benefits' thing a try. Like a trial period. In our case, it’s ten weeks. It ends in January. During this time, I earn money every week, as long as… Drumrolls, please…”
She smiles, looking at me like I have a screw loose.
“As long as?” she murmurs.
“We don’t fall in love with each other. Ta-da.”
A small demonstrative gesture goes with my grin.
Her smile looks painted on her lips, no emotion showing in her eyes.
“You said you’ve earned money.”
“Yes. Yes, I have, and I do… As long as I don’t fall in love with him.”
