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“We can help each other out.”
She frowned. “You want me to…?”Marry you?
“Be my fake bride for the holidays. It entails having dinner on Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s house. You don’t have other plans?”
The fact her family celebrated on Christmas Day was beside the point.
“I’d also expect you to act as my hostess for a New Year’s Eve party as Gran will be there.”
The evening had gone from untenable to horrific. Tipping her head to the side, she regarded him. “I don’t understand.”
He waited for her to expand.
“What do you need a wife for? And why me?”
As if trying to contain his annoyance, he waved. “Gran believes I’m married. It was easier that way.”
“Until your lies caught up to you?”
Frost’s nostrils flared. “There were reasons.” His clipped tone warned her to watch her step. “As for the second half of your question, because I’m not dating anyone and don’t have time to find someone suitable.”
The fact he found her suitable on any level surprised her.
“We work together, and that covers how I met you. Can you do it?” He leaned in closer, overwhelming her senses with the sight of his naked torso. “Pretend for a few hours?”
“No.” Frantically she shook her head.Positively, absolutely not.
But this was Frost she was talking to. And he might as well be a brick wall.
As if she’d never said a word, he continued. “If you calculate the cost you’ll be earning per hour, you’ll find the compensation to be more than adequate. Generous, even.”
Since he was being ridiculous, she followed suit. “When you say paid vacation, are you talking about a standard forty-hour workweek? Or the time you demand that I put in?”
His eyes flashed with fire. “You’re asking for sixty hours of compensation in addition to the airfare?”
I’m negotiating with him?Exhaustion had no doubt made her as delusional as he was. His suggestion was beyond absurd, and she should respond in one of two ways: no, or hell no. “Actually, I’m not asking for that at all.” Still, she and her family desperately needed the money, which was why she was still listening. “I want to be paid for the actual hours I put in, which is more than seventy, and you know it.”
“Done.” He stuck out his hand for her to shake.
Pointedly she ignored it. This couldn’t be happening. And what else would he have agreed to in order to get her to go along with his farce?
“You made a deal.”
“I did no such thing.”
“Seventy hours of pay for the week you’re gone, plus a first-class airline ticket.”
It was the kind of Christmas gift she’d been fantasizing about, but she was a grown-up now who knew how costly that would be.
“And since you’re not afraid of me—or so you insist—you’ll also fulfill your obligation to be my assistant for the night.”
As he’d no doubt intended, his pointed barb found its mark. “Just when I thought you couldn’t be a bigger asshole.”
Ignoring her, he went on. “Meet me back here before midnight so we can get the bag ready.”
She preferred his businesslike attitude. It was much better—safer—than thinking about showing up for his family dinner.
“Aviana has a surprise in store.”
