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He turns back. “Was this a negotiation? I don’t think it was.”
“It is now. You made a proposal, so here’s my counter. You need something from me, and you must need itpretty badto have asked. I think I may have more leverage than you on this one.”
He laughs. “I don’t need anything from you. Take the deal or don’t. I won’t lose sleep over it.”
We both know he’s full of it, so I press further. “I want Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. I also want to leave on time tonight and tomorrow night. I want to be there at Josh’s basketball game.”
“No. That’s too much.” He turns back toward his office.
“Too much? You’re asking me to go to your family’s Christmas party and pretend to be your girlfriend, which shocks me, by the way. You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d be nervous to tell his mom he was single.” I laugh. “In fact, I think she might already know you’re a lost cause.”
“Nice, but it’s not my mom I’m worried about.”
“Then what is it? Did someone watch too many movies and tie your inheritance around you finding a wife? Or better yet, do you have a Christmas tree farm you can’t take over until you’ve proven your heart isn’t filled with darkness?”
He stares toward me as though I’m the one who’s unhinged. “My daughter is worried about me.”
I nearly choke. “Daughter? You have a daughter?”
He nods. “She’s eighteen and worried to leave her father by himself.” His throat clears. “I’m sure you know how much I value a good education. I need her to feel good about leaving, so I told her I had a girlfriend.”
Laughing when someone is emotionally vulnerable is frowned upon, but for some reason, I burst into laughter. “Oh my god! You’ve been lying to your daughter about having a girlfriend? Didn’t you think she’d figure it out eventually?”
He wets his lips and leans back on his desk, staring out into the hall at me with a downturned expression. “Enough. I get it. If you want the day off, you do me this favor. That said, it has to look real. She can’t slack her first year of college just because she’s worrying about me.”
“While I admire your dedication to parenthood, I can’t imagine we’d fool your daughter. I’m sure she knows you well enough to see your true emotions.”
He narrows his brows. “I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t need you.” There’s some kind of sadness in his voice, an edge I haven’t heard before. “Come with me and I’ll make it worth your time.”
“When is it?”
“This weekend.”
I bite back more untimely laughter. “This weekend? As in two days from now?”
He nods. “We should go to dinner tonight and talk things out a little. We need this to look as real as possible.”
“Look, I really need Christmas off, but this is ridiculous. Your daughter has spent her entire life with you. She knows who you are. First, she’ll wonder why you’re with a girl like me. Then she’ll see through the whole thing and know you’re a liar. It’s a mess in the making.”
“What does that mean, a girl like you?”
I sigh. “You’re going to make me say it?”
“Say what?”
“Okay, well, you are,” I blow out a breath, “traditionally handsome, and I’m… me.”
He looks away, then back again. “You’re you, and I asked you because I think we’d look good together.”
I’m a million percent sure this violates some sort of workplace sexual harassment policy, but I ignore it considering the way my thighs tingle when he talks about how good we’d look together.
Why am I considering this? Why does it sound good pretending to be his girlfriend? It shouldn’t. In reality, it’s all lies. Then again, I guess if Josh was going off to college and worried about me being alone, I’d consider a white lie to make him feel better about leaving.
It’s that, or I’m completely delusional and desperate to accidentally touch this big, strong, mysterious, burly man. “I’m going to need New Year's Eve off too, and New Year’s Day. No, all that plus next Christmas and three random days I can choose from whenever I want.” I realize I’m fighting for normal workplace rights, but I’m doing what I can.
He draws in a deep breath and turns away. “I could agree to that, but I’d like to see a list of the dates you want ahead of time. And, like I said, this whole weekend has to look real. So, dinner tonight is a must.”
“I have to feed Josh and I promised him we’d practice basketball tonight.”
