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Yep. Far too unbelievable to be real. And yet, Ferro had never corrected the rumors. He’d never said a thing about them. Had never seemed affected. He’d just smiled, that Calvaresi smile, and shined it on any reporter who asked. No denial, no confirmation.
If anything, the rumors had made him more popular. Women already loved him, and the idea that he’d managed to use his body to earn his success only made him more intriguing. Rare was the computer genius with a body like Ferro’s, and he was consistently ranked one of the sexiest people alive. The year the biography had come out, he’d been top of the list.
Oh, no, the rumors had never hurt him. And he’d never seemed at all bothered by any of the talk.
“I’m not a novice,” he said. “Anyway, this is all going as we planned. Now all we need to do is get a product proposal into Barrows.”
“Oh, that’s all.”
“We’re two of the greatest minds in the world, I’m sure we can come up with something.”
“Or kill each other trying,” she said.
“That is a possibility.”
She bit her lip and debated saying anything else. She totally resented having to ask him this, but, all things considered, it would look really strange if she didn’t. She’d almost asked yesterday, but even then she’d been sort of hoping there would be a way around it.
Because the plan was to go back to the way things had always been at the end of this. And the more time she spent with him, the harder it would be. And this…this was going to require a lot of time spent together.
But she was trapped. They were trapped. Hoist by their own petard, as it were.
“I have a…thing,” she said. “An event thing. And it was to Julia and Guest and since I was Guest at the Cold Planet premiere and the charity, I thought you should maybe be Guest at this.”
“I see. And what is it exactly?”
She flinched. “A wedding? It’s for one of my staff members and she invited me and this is a huge industry type of event and if we don’t go together after all that, then what’s even the point?”
She was rambling because she knew that he would probably like to go to a wedding like he wanted a hole in the head, but it only made sense.
“If I go alone people will ask questions,” she said, sensing from his silence that he was not amused at the thought of being roped into this.
“And why didn’t you ask me yesterday?”
She winced. “I was hoping to come up with an exit strategy. I failed.”
“No exit door past this point, cara mia.”
“Obviously,” she said. “Which is why I am now asking you. But I was waiting until I had no other option.”
“I see. And when is this wedding?”
“Next weekend.”
“Saturday or Sunday?”
She flinched again. “It’s kind of an extended thing.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it’s a destination wedding. Very trendy. Especially for a highly paid junior executive at a very successful tech company.”
“And where is the destination?”
“It’s sort of in Alaska.”
“Who gets married in Alaska?” That’s what she’d asked.
“It’s a very beautiful resort. And the bride’s family is from there, so it’s a returning to her roots…thing.” That had been the bride’s answer anyway.
“And you expect us to go to Alaska for the weekend. As a couple?”
“Well…yes. Come one, Ferro, you know if I go alone it will cause more trouble than if we go together. We’ve got this great online buzz and by the time Barrows gets the proposal from us they won’t even be surprised. They’ll be thrilled in fact since, as you mentioned, everyone is champing at the bit to get a glimpse of the unholy spawn our union will produce.”
“That’s true.”
“Name your price,” she said. “I could put some money on the dresser every morning.”
The words hung in the air, so awkward and not what she’d intended. It wasn’t supposed to be all sexual innuendo-y but it was. She blamed those pictures. Well, and the make-out session that had produced them.
