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She gets up and walks out of my office. Quietly, I follow her down the main hallway and into the marketing bullpen on the second floor, where a bunch of teams work together to deliver messaging and visuals for HeartMatch. It’s a wide-open space with large oval desks and colorful chairs, a plethora of green potted plants and Warholesque paintings hanging from lime-green walls. It’s meant to stimulate and inspire, though at this point it only serves to feed me additional dollops of anxiety that I didn’t need.
“Her,” Piper says, nodding from the edge of the bullpen toward the graphics department. I follow her gaze and see a young woman surrounded by three guys, laughing as they watch what I assume is a funny video on her smartphone. They’re all art directors. I’ve met each of them in passing, though I know little about them on a personal level. “Becky. Rebecca. She’s a single mom with a little boy.”
“Oh… wow, she’s so far removed from my usual type,” I mutter.
Piper jokingly slaps me over the shoulder. “Like it matters!”
She’s right; it doesn’t. Besides, I think I’m just saying stuff to keep myself distanced from the whole situation. Becky isn’t bad-looking. Definitely not my type, but I don’t think I’d say no to her under different circumstances and if she were to express an interest toward me. She’s not as tall as my previous girlfriends, and she’s a little bit on the plus-size side, but her curves hit high notes in all the right places, coupled with a narrow waist and a sweet, dimpled smile.
Her brown hair is pulled into a tight bun at the top of her head, and for a moment I imagine pulling the pin to watch it cascade over her shoulders. She’s got pretty hazel eyes, too, and she’s not afraid of wearing tight jeans. There’s a certain confidence that comes with this woman. I can’t help but wonder what her kid looks like. Who the father is. And why she’s without him. All details I’ll probably get to eventually.
“Problem solved,” Piper says. “You don’t need to be attracted to her, Todd. You need her to be on your side…”
“She’s in the company. That means NDAs and additional precautions,” I warn.
“Becky is good people, I’m telling you. She’s been with us for two years now.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen her around.”
Piper rolls her eyes at me. “She’s loyal, is what I’m trying to say. Go ahead and NDA the whole thing if you want, but I’ve actually met the girl. She’s friends with Vincent, the flannel-shirt guy—see him?”
Yeah, I see him. He’s standing a little too close to Becky. He probably likes her more than he’s saying.
“Are they dating?” I ask.
“Not that I know of,” Piper replies. “It doesn’t matter. Vincent is my buddy. I don’t really talk to her, but I know about her from him. And he says she’s been raising her little boy on her own. The dad is completely out of the picture. No weekend visits, nothing.”
“That’s harsh.”
“Some men are crap—what can I say?”
“You’re right, though,” I tell Piper as I find myself unable to take my eyes off Becky. She doesn’t know we’re watching. She’s too busy laughing at whatever it is they’re looking at. “I don’t have to be attracted to her to make this gig work. I just need to make sure I offer the right kind of incentive, right?”
“Precisely. And I don’t think you’ll need much. The girl works hard. Twice now Vincent has put her name up in the suggestion box for a promotion. You could add a generous cash bonus on top of that, maybe help her get the kid into some uppity preschool up in Encanto, and that’s it.”
“You’ve already given this a lot of thought, apparently.”
Piper gives me a hard look. “Somebody has to watch your back and follow you into the fire.”
“And I cannot thank you enough.”
“Thank me when the deal is done and John has the company. And pray he doesn’t take it out on me and the rest of the employees when he figures out you lied about the whole thing.”
“Shauna will make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Piper exhales sharply, crossing her arms as she keeps staring at Becky. “Man, you really got yourself into one hell of a mess here.”
“I need this.”
“I know. And I’ll help.”
I can only hope it will run as smoothly as I’m letting it play out in my head. It seems simple enough. Becky over there can be financially compensated for a little bit of pretend play. It’s not going to be hard. We’ll work on our story together. I’ll spend some time with the kid beforehand to make sure he doesn’t treat me like some kind of stranger.
Whatever happens, I need to make sure it works out to my advantage.
I can’t let that little white lie catch up with me.
CHAPTER3
