“You work with your brothers?”
“Sort of. We own Sterling Investments.”
“Oh, I think I’ve heard of it.” She didn’t sound stunned, or in awe, like people usually were when they made the connection. It was refreshing.
“We each own separate businesses, but on Mondays, we meet to brainstorm. None of them had any ideas I could actually use. They just fooled around, talking bullshit.”
“Meaning?” she asked.
I hesitated, but why not tell her? We could laugh about it. She certainly seemed to need that distraction.
I couldn’t believe I’d just called this stranger out of nowhere and that I was willing to share things with her.
“When I told them that one of the reasons he shot me down was because I had a reputation as a womanizer?—”
“Oh. That would explain a few things,” she muttered.
“What things?” I asked.
“Never mind. Go on.”
Hmm…“Anyway, one thing led to another, and I told them that I ran into you.”
“Wow, I feel so good now. Worthy of being mentioned in a business meeting.”
“One of them suggested that I could present you to Jude as my girlfriend.”
She started laughing. “Your brothers have a fantastic imagination. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” she said, then rushed to add, “For business reasons, of course.”
For a second, I was certain that I’d misheard her. My intention was just to make her laugh, but now she had me thinking.
“Wait, what? Are you serious?”
“You did save my butt. I guess it could be a ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ situation.”
I rose from my chair, adrenaline coursing through my body the way it did when I was on the verge of sealing a very important deal.
“I haven’t seriously considered this until now,” I confessed. Though that wasn’t strictly true, because from the second mybrothers mentioned it, the idea had percolated in my mind. But Phoebe didn’t need to know that. “Are you sure?” I double-checked. It was a dangerous idea, and not at all my style. I hated lying and pretending. And yet, pretending to date Phoebe didn’t feel wrong.
This is insane.
“Honestly, no. I’m just figuring things out. But you would just need me to go with you to a dinner or something, right?”
“Yes.”
She laughed. “I can’t believe you’d put a deal in the hands of a stranger.”
That was the insane thing. She didn’t really feel like a stranger, though I couldn’t explain why.
“The way I see it, as things stand right now, I wouldn’t have a chance in hell to make the deal otherwise. I could probably find some arguments to convince him, but somehow I prefer showing up with a smoking-hot date on my arm, pretending she’s my girlfriend.”
I heard her suck in a breath at that. But it was 100 percent true.
“Sure, why not?”
“Listen, Phoebe,” I said, because the hesitation in her voice was obvious, “if you don’t feel comfortable with this, let’s just drop it.”
“It sounds like fun. And God knows I could use some fun in my life. It’s pretty depressing right now.”
