“There it is. Keep that. But also, you can’t just be possessive of her. You need to be in love.”
“In love?”
“Listen,” he goes on. “You are one of the most hardheaded, business oriented, in it to win it man I know. The other man at that rank? At least as far as leverage goes? Hiram. You want to convince him that you should be CEO of the company and not your wack job brother? You need to convince him you are in love with Amanda.”
Noah’s phone beeps and he heads out of my office. He’s given me a lot to think about…which has given me a headache. It’s suddenly hitting me that this is going to be a lot more complicated than I’d anticipated. But he’s not wrong. If both Avery and I are suddenly sprinting towards the finish line, random women in tow, he’s going to call our bluff. My relationship has to look natural. Uncalculated. Real. And while I have been a negotiator in the world of business and music and money making for years, relationships are the one area I have yet to conquer.
But I am not a losing man.
I can convince Noah and Avery and Hiram Hardin and the rest of the ever-creeping world that Amanda and I are in love.
But first, she has to say yes.
Chapter 12
Amanda
They lied.
What happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas.
Who you do in Vegas follows you home from Vegas and becomes your boss.
Even as I open the door to my apartment, throw my keys in the bowl and plop down on the couch, my head is still spinning. I feel like that hangover came home with me too. It’s like a weird, twisted version of Groundhog’s Day. Except in this version, my life is completely different than it was before. It’s like I won the lottery but have to pay for it for the rest of my life.
How I got myself into this, I couldn’t tell you. But I will say, as I kick my boots off and head into the bedroom to shed out of my boho work clothes and slip into a pair of cotton shorts and an oversized CAKE t-shirt, I am very much pointing fingers of accusation. And they all land on Kate.
And speaking of Kate.
As I pull my hair up into a ponytail, my phone is vibrating on the bed, her perfectly annoying face on the screen.
It’s like she knows I am thinking about it. And she wants to poke the bear more. A telepathic game of “I’m not touching you!”
“Hey!” I force sugar into my tone as I answer the call.
“Hey! Open up!”
“What?”
“I’m at your door and my hands are full! Open up!”
Fuck.
I was really, and I mean really hoping to spend the evening alone. Maybe get caught up on laundry. I haven’t even unpacked my bag since the trip. Or sit down and work on the song I have been trying to write for over five months with little to no success. Or, you know, just close the blinds and hide from my life while consuming an entire bottle of wine and a sleeve of Thin Mints that I have stashed in the back of my freezer for occasions like this. Well maybe not exactly like this. I never would have visioned myself getting plastered and married in Vegas only to return home and find out the guy I was with is my new boss.
That shit only happens in romance novels.
Full disclosure: it’s fun to read. It’s not fun when it’s your life.
Stay boring, ladies.
I pad my way to the front door and open it. Kate smiles and blows past me, the scent of her flowery perfume and Thai food assaulting me as she goes.
“What’s all this?” I ask.
“What do you mean what’s all this?” She hefts the bags onto the counter and looks back at me. “It's a celebratory dinner!” With that, she pulls a bottle of wine out of the bag and rounds the counter to grab the corkscrew.
“What are we celebrating?” I ask slowly.
