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“And what does me pretending to be your girlfriend do to help you?”
“Like I said, they’re a family-owned company. They started off with just two married couples who were all best friends and were tired of buying clothes online that never fit properly despite sizing charts.”
“Okay,” she said, tilting her head.
“They pride themselves on being partner-oriented, which means they finally started expanding and hiring more people, almost all of whom were couples.”
“That’s a unique way to do it,” Luna said. “But how fun being able to work at a company that supports families.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Seeing that it’s their corporate retreat, they have tons of couple-focused activities where the owners will be in attendance. The other investor vying for them is married, so he’ll get a ton of face time with the owners when he brings his wife along.”
Clarity hit Luna’s eyes. “And you don’t want to miss out on that quality time by not being invited to all the couple stuff.”
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve researched the company, the owners, and the employees. They have something healthy here with the potential to go global. I’d be a great investor and would advocate for their brand. I’m not trying to swindle them, I just want a fair shot at giving them my proposal.”
Luna sipped from her lemonade, nodding. “I’m in,” she said.
I grinned at her. “Even after the game of pretend we just played?” I was half terrified my little role-playing game a second ago would scare her off this idea for good.
She laughed, and the sound skittered along my bones. Fuck, I loved her laugh.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s not like they’ll be asking you to do any of that stuff in front of them.” Her eyes flared wide. “Unless it’s a completely different type of couples retreat.”
“No,” I said. “It’s all business-oriented stuff, I promise.”
She blew out a breath. “Then I think we can pull it off.”
“There will most likely be dances, dinners, that sort of thing. We’ll have to look like a couple, so I want you to set up your boundaries now so I know not to cross them.”
She raised her brows, a wild sort of excitement flashing in her eyes. “We’ve danced a thousand times before, Brad—”
“Sure we have,” I cut her off. “But romantically? The way two people in love would dance?”
“I honestly doubt there is a thing you could do to me in public that would make me skittish,” she said, and heat zapped beneath my skin.
I cocked a brow at her. “Really?”
She shrugged. “It’s not like you’re going to throw me on a table and start worshiping me like in this book,” she teased, motioning to her phone on the table.
“Not unless you ask me to,” I fired back before I could stop myself.
Her eyes locked with mine, that same sort of charged sensation snapping between us before she laughed again like I’d told her a joke. “Right,” she said. “Kissing? Is that a boundary you’re talking about?”
I nodded, getting back to business. “I may have to kiss you, if you’re not opposed to that, but I’ll do my best not to.”
Her shoulders sank, and I tilted my head at the move.
“I’ve been told I’m not very kissable anyway.”
“That fucking prick—”
“It’s fine,” she said, waving me off. “I promise. By the time we go to the retreat in a week, I’ll be back to my normal, less-bitter self.”
“I don’t need you to do that for me,” I said.
“I won’t be,” I said. “I’m doing this for me. I’m just happy you’re offering an out. I need a break. And the last thing I want to do is stick around here and wait for him to come to the shop…” Her voice trailed off like she hadn’t thought about that until just now.
“If he shows up, just call me,” I said. “I’ll throw his ass out.”
“Who are we throwing out?” Anne asked as she brought us the check.
Luna sighed. “My ex.”
“Ex?” she asked, then glared. “Is he crossing lines? You can stay with me and Jim if you need to.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “Jim is a cop.”
Luna laughed. “I’m fine,” she said. “I never gave him a key to my place,” she continued. “More because he never asked for one, but still.”
“Okay,” Anne said. “Well, at the very least we’re going to do a girls’ night out soon.”
“I’d love that,” Luna said.
“I’ll get to work on it.” She winked at Luna, taking my card and heading out to ring us up. When she came back, she hugged Luna as we rose from the table, before we headed toward the exit.
“What do you mean there wasn’t any seasoning on the rice?” Lyla, the chef and owner of the restaurant, said to Ridge—Jim’s best friend and Sweet Water’s resident tattoo artist. He had his arms folded over his chest as he looked down at Lyla, who despite being only five foot two, managed to not lose an inch of ground against the giant.
