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I motioned to the chairs and returned to my side of the desk, sitting after they had.
Amy could have declined over the phone. Arriving here with her partner meant either they either intended to accept my offer, or they wanted to negotiate. I smiled and waited for one of them to begin.
Amy crossed her legs and shifted in her chair. “Liam, I think we need some clarification on the terms you’re offering.”
My mouth turned dry. “Yes?”
Samantha shot a quick glance at Amy. “We don’t have anything in writing, so perhaps you could spell out your terms for us?”
I opened my desk drawer and pulled out the simple two-page contract I’d prepared yesterday after our meeting.
“I can remedy that.” I rose to hand them the two copies I’d made over to them.
Samantha studied the papers intently.
Amy finished her scan quickly. “This looks like what we discussed,” she told Samantha.
Samantha looked up as she finished. “To be clear, you don’t expect any otherservicesfrom Amy besides consulting?” She was clearly here to protect her friend’s honor.
I’d expected this. “I think Amy and I are clear on the boundaries.”
Amy nodded.
“There will need to be kissing, hand holding, that kind of thing, but no sex. Completely professional. This is a business transaction,” I continued. “Nothing else.”
Samantha relaxed into her seat.
I shifted forward. “I can have the money available today, if the terms are acceptable.”
They glanced at each other, a smile passing between them.
“I do need an answer,” I said.
Samantha nodded to Amy.
“It works for us,” Amy said.
My heart sped up. I now had a path to success with Amy’s help. I pulled out a pen and handed it over the desk to her.
They silently signed, one by one.
I added my John Hancock, and with that, we had a deal.
“We can start the discussion this evening over dinner if that works for you,” I said to Amy.
“Sounds good.”
Their smiles told me I wasn’t the only one happy about this.
Chapter 10
Amy
Warm,muggy Boston evening air greeted me as I exited the door of our building and turned onto the sidewalk. There was still plenty of summer daylight left, and it felt good to be out from underneath the florescent lighting of our office. This was the earliest I’d left the building in at least a month, and I would've felt guilty if my next task wasn't work related.
Liam had suggested Holmby's Grill, a steakhouse near our offices for dinner. It was time for my consulting to begin. I’d walked by the place a few times but never ventured in. It was a few blocks away, and with fifteen minutes before our scheduled meeting, I would be on time. I hated being late.
Calling this dinner a business meeting was a little odd. The business of the meeting was more like a date——a first date, an evening to learn enough about each other to pull off seeming like boyfriend and girlfriend for a while.
