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“Hypothetically, there’s a way we could work together.”
She didn’t want to move in case that startled the idea out of him. “Like at the retrospective?”
“More or less. Remember your favor?” Who’d have guessed a twist of errant hair could be so lucrative. “You’d be my favor.”
She sat up. “I don’t understand.”
He followed her to sit cross-legged. “You made your target hold your drink while you fixed your earring. I’d make my target donate to D4D, while I line him up for something bigger.”
“Oh my god, you are the Wizard of Oz.”
“I thought I was Edward. But here’s the thing, Fin. If we work together there are rules.”
She came up on her knees and packed away the leftovers. “Like?”
“You’ll need a whole wardrobe of the right clothes.”
“Hah! That’s a huge hardship.” Was clothing a legitimate business expense?
“You’ll have to pretend to be dating me.”
“I wouldn’t have to pretend.”
“Yes, Finley, you would.” His sit-down-and-behave-yourself voice. The one that made her body sit up and react in confusing ways. “Because it’s work for both of us. It’s part of the game. And it got bent out of shape the last time I worked with a female partner, and it fucked things up for a lot of people.”
“Because you fell in love with her?”
“Because I didn’t.”
Oh, that female partner. “You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend. You know exactly what that sounds like, right?”
“That you are my girlfriend. What I’m saying is no more kissing. Absolutely no sex. We keep what we do strictly professional, and the moment we can’t do that, it ends.”
Did he mean that? They were adults, if they both wanted each other, what was stopping them? “But if—”
“This is not a negotiation. I bring you opportunities to take money from my whales for D4D as long as you play the role of my girlfriend in public and we have no intimate dealings in private.”
He meant it. She could tell by the way his face said, this is no picnic.
“But if I’m your girlfriend, we’re going to need to act like we’re together.”
He sighed. “Yes, we’ll need to be affectionate in public. I’m not saying that’s going to be a hardship. I won’t be acting. I like you. You know that. But I can’t get involved with you. The Everlasting project is critical for Sherwood and for me personally. I can’t afford to be distracted or have anything go wrong with the deal. When it’s done, we’re done. If you want your dollars with a fuck load of zeroes behind them, you need to play by my rules.”
She wasn’t giving up on her dollars. “You really are no fun.”
He stood. He offered a hand and she took it, coming to stand beside him. “You should take time to think about it.”
“I’ve thought about it.”
He dropped her hand to pick up the rug. “You’ve thought about how to get around the rules.”
She was giving up on having the man. “You’ve made it abundantly clear this energy between us isn’t something you’re into. You just got yourself the most uncomplicated short-term girlfriend ever.”
Chapter Ten
Cal had organized himself a new One Night Wife. They shook on it. He’d never felt grubbier. And in a life of graft there’d been plenty of occasions where that emotion could’ve reigned supreme. He’d hoped Fin would walk, and he was oddly saddened she’d chosen the money. But that’s what people did—ambition coupled with self-interest always triumphed.
It’s what he’d done with Rory. He was no one to judge.
