“She’ll open doors for me,” he said, laughing. “And she’s got a fine ass. I give it a few weeks before she caves and agrees to a date. I’ll have her in the sack and pretty soon wrapped around my finger.”
I remembered wanting to jump the little shit right there, but I had no reason to. It was actually why I was here. I sat on his words all night, hating how they got under my skin.
I’d been right to mention Ryan because he was already using his father to try and get his way. It was a good thing I got here, but it was clear she didn’t feel the same way.
Her eyes looked at me with pure rage. Her hands were in tight fists, and her lips were in a straight line. Even angry, I couldn’t help but love how her green eyes sparkled in the light. They were a dark green, with brown behind them.
“I could be a bigger asshole like Ryan, but I’m not. Instead of listening to him go on and on about how much of a bigman he is, thinking that tearing women down is cool, I stepped in to help you. A little thanks would be nice.”
“I didn’t ask for help,” she barked back quickly. “I didn’t ask for any of this, and you had no reason to step in.”
“And yet here we are. Two men arguing over you.”
She rolled her eyes. “No. It was one man arguing over wanting me, and the other having a pissing match to prove a point. The only reason you’re here is to piss him off.”
I forced a laugh. “Is this your way of thanking me? Because it needs work.”
“I’m not thanking you for pulling me into a fake relationship. You’re going fuck everything up for me.”
I scowled at her. “A relationship you agreed to. You didn’t have to. You could have said no.”
Now she laughed for real. “You announced it in front of half of Belrose. I can’t exactly just disagree like it’s no problem. Everyone is talking about it.”
“You could have said no. You didn’t have to change your mind. You said yes because you had your own reasons to agree. And I’m gonna take a good guess that it’s him.”
I watched her grind her teeth together. “I had him handled. You didn’t need to step in.”
I laughed again. “Sure looked handled to me. He looked like he was getting into your space. Who knows what would have happened if I weren’t here?”
She crossed her arms. “What do you want, Kaleb? Why are you even here?”
“We need to talk about this. The email you sent me is not going to work. It’s too strict and unrealistic.”
“That’s the only way I’m doing this,” she snapped. “You follow the agreement, or this is off. I’m not doing anything I’m not comfortable with.”
“And if we act like we’re uncomfortable around people, everyone is going to know it’s fake,” I countered. “You can’t put rules down because in a relationship, anything can happen.”
She dropped her arms. “This isn’t a relationship, it’s a fricken contract, Kaleb. It’s not real.”
“But it can’t look that way.”
She took a deep breath in. “What is wrong with the agreement?”
She wanted me to be specific, fine. “I can’t have my hand wrapped around you, trying to calculate if my hand is going to accidentally brush your breast or not. I’m going to look stiff. It will never work.”
“Then don’t put your hand around me. Problem solved.”
I stepped closer to her, my shadow falling over her. “It isn’t. There are tons of examples as to why it’s hard. Accidents are bound to happen, Nora. If we want to sell this, you have to loosen up.”
Her eyes narrowed on me. I watched her nostrils flare, and I couldn’t help but enjoy how flustered she looked. She knew I had a point, but she wasn’t going to agree to it.
“Fine, what do you want to change?”
“All of it. Make it simple.”
She shook her head. “No. We’re not changing all of it. I’ll agree to a few things.”
“What exactly are you afraid of here? Why put the damn rules in place to begin with?”
