“You have to sleep in my room.”
“Like on the floor?”
“Like in my bed.”
I waited a beat.
“Now look here. I’ve been in a lot of fake relationships. The most important rule is no sex, absolutely none. Besides, you said you wanted the watch. I could have given you a blow job in exchange.”
“I don’t want to have sex with you,” he fumed. “But my brothers are onto me. They’ll know if you sleep in another room; they’ll know if we aren’t sharing a bed.”
“I don’t see how. There aren’t any cameras, are there?”
“I didn’t find any,” he admitted, “but they have other ways. We have to be vigilant at least until my family is lulled into a false sense of security.”
“Okay,” I said, trying not to look terrified. “Okay, we’ll manage.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” I scoffed. “This is business, right? In it to win it.”
He nodded then stood up. Blade cleared his throat, his hands clenched by his sides. He was visibly uncomfortable. “You can use the bathroom first.”
“You only have one?”
“You are going to have to use the one in the master suite. We have to act like we’re a couple,” Blade said tersely. “I’ll bet you anything my brothers have already bribed my cleaning lady.”
“Oy vey.”
Blade escaped to his study while I tiptoed back to the master suite. When I had explored it the first time, I had consoled myself with the knowledge that I was just popping in to leave some props. Now I was going to live in there, sleep in there, take showers in there…
I grabbed the pajama top and shorts that I normally wore to bed. They were not cute pajamas. I lived with my old college roommate and a gay guy who ate nachos shirtless in bed while watching car shows. I did not have anyone to dress to impress at nighttime, so Blade would have to deal with how I lived my life.
I stomped into the huge bathroom.
“At least he didn’t use black tile,” I muttered as I stripped then inspected the fancy touchscreen that I assumed worked the shower. I took a picture and texted it to my friends.
Avery:So I am using Blade’s bathroom.
Shirley:You would think a billionaire would have more than one bathroom.
Edward:I feel like you got scammed.
Avery:I’m trying to pretend like we’re two people very much in love and about to be married.
Edward:True love is separate bathrooms.
Avery:I’m freaking out. I can’t even figure out how to work the shower.
Shirley:Take a bath. You need to relax. Light a few candles. Deep breaths.
Avery:I can’t just lounge naked in his tub. Blade is naked in this bathroom on a daily basis.
But it was a nice tub. Big enough to fit both me and him.
Never gonna happen, Avery.
Clearly I was stressed out. A bath was just what I needed. I turned on the faucets—they at least were normal, another plus for taking a bath. I let the tap run, filling the large tub with steaming water, then wrapped one of the large fluffy towels around me and opened the bathroom door a crack.
