“You’re awfully sure of yourself. Not every woman would fall in love with you.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Her sass gave me an idea.
“What about you?”
“What about me? No way would I fall in love with you. You’re not at all my type.” Her words took me aback. Weirdly, they stung, too.
“Good. Then you’ll be perfect.”
“Perfect for what?”
“To be my fake girlfriend for the month of December.” I watched for a reaction, and she didn’t give me one. She just stood there staring at me. “Cyndee, did you hear me?”
“Yes, I heard you. Were you being serious?”
“I never joke.” I started pacing again. Possible scenes played out in my head. Could I really fool my family into believing Cyndee was my girlfriend? Maybe.
“Oh.”
“You can go with me to my sister’s Nutcracker performance. She’s with the San Francisco Ballet. Then to my nieces’ choir concert. It’s children so less formal, but you should still dress up. The big finale would be the weekend before Christmas. My older sister has an annual fundraiser in Seattle, and the proceeds go to women’s shelters throughout Washington state. The tickets are outrageous, but it’s a good cause and one that Lettie is passionate about.” It also looked good for the Ferrari family.
“Slow down. This is a lot to digest.” She placed her hands on her cheeks. “You want me, your cleaning lady, to be your fake girlfriend?”
“Yes. You said I wasn’t your type.”
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re not mine either so we’d be a perfect fake couple.”
“And how does it all end? I’m going home to Boston for Christmas.”
“Have you bought your ticket?”
“No. I was hoping to do that today.” She lifted the envelope I gave her.
“Perfect. Plan to leave after our weekend in Seattle. My family will have seen you and how happy I was, and you’ll break my heart.”
“Like your ex broke your heart.”
“No, it won’t be the same. Lucia betrayed me. She destroyed me. You’ll still be my cleaning lady after it’s over.”
“That makes no sense. What if someone in your family sees me here?” She shook her head, and I could tell she was going to reject my idea.
“I’ll give you one hundred grand.” Dammit, I should have offered five grand.
“Are you out of your mind? That’s a lot of money!” She put her coat on and looped her tote over her shoulder. “I have another beer. You’re talking crazy now.”
I darted to the door and blocked her exit. “Don’t give me your answer yet. Think about it. Consider my offer and what the money could do for your business. This arrangement would help us both out and there are no strings. We barely know each other, and we know our hearts won’t be involved. It’s a business arrangement.”
“I don’t make business arrangements like this, Mr. Ferrari.” She pushed me aside. “Have a good evening.”
“Cyndee, please. Think about it. Don’t decide now, but I do need you on board before the Nutcracker next Saturday.” And if needed, I’d make her an offer she couldn’t refuse. But I’d wait to pull out the big dogs until she refused me a second time.
“Fine. I’ll think about it. But don’t get your hopes up. Getting mixed up in your family drama could make for a very awkward working relationship.” And with those parting words, she left.
She wasn’t wrong about that. If it all went badly, I wasn’t sure I could have her cleaning my condo anymore. Which was why it couldn’t end badly. Fortunately, my family never came to my condo. They didn’t know Cyndee. I hadn’t even mentioned to my family how great her and her sister were at cleaning my place.
Cyndee was basically a nobody, and she would make the perfect fake girlfriend.
3
