They’d both been sober, though. He would have happily testified to that.
“Your life sounds so much more complicated than mine,” Blake said.
Rusty shrugged, leaning back on the cheap chair under him and making it creak. “I’m sure project management is very hard. That’s why I pay someone to do it for me. I thought you were an artist?”
Blake looked down at his desk. “Weird how that’s not a super stable career unless you know the right people. Or the right people knowyou, more to the point.”
“Yeah,” Rusty said. “Music didn’t go anywhere either.”
Blake looked up at him, sad to hear that. It would have been nice if at least one of their lives had worked out the way they’d planned.
“Good news for you is I’ve got a blank cheque in my pocket with your name on it,” Rusty spoke up again. “It’s dad’s money, so feel free to take him for a ride. Remember it’s in Aussie dollars, so add about thirty percent to the number you really want.”
Blake’s heart sank again. He didn’t want Rusty’s money. Or Rusty’s dad’s money, either.
He had enough to get by. He’d never had dreams of being rich.
All he wanted was to be happy, and money couldn’t buy that. Not the kind of happiness he wanted, anyway.
The red circle on the calendar caught his eye again.
Blake wet his lips. It wasn’thappiness, exactly, but… maybe if he fooled people into thinking he had it, he’d get a taste of what it was like.
“I don’t want your money,” Blake said.
“Not my money.” Rusty shrugged. “You might as well take it.”
Blake shook his head. “I want… something else,” he said.
Rusty raised an eyebrow. “Sex?”
Blake rolled his eyes. “No.”
He didn’t want to rule out the possibility, but he also didn’t want to sound desperate. Rusty was hot, and he knew it, and he didn’t need Blake to tell him so.
“Shame. You’re still cute.”
Blake’s face heated up at the compliment, blood rushing in his ears. He hadn’t heard anything like that in a while. He’d been too busy working to go out and indulge in being flattered into bed.
“I want…” Blake sighed. “This is so stupid, but I’m gonna ask anyway. My sister’s getting married this week. For Valentine’s Day. I mean, not… you know what I mean.”
“I’m following so far,” Rusty said. “The part about your sister getting hitched, anyway.”
“Right, so, anyway, that means I have to go back to my hometown and… I haven’t changed since I left. I haven’t gained or accomplished anything. I have nothing to show for years of homesickness and working my ass off. Unless… you came with me?”
Rusty licked his lips. “You want me to be your arm candy,” he said.
“I wouldn’t have put it like that.” Blake looked up from his desk to meet Rusty’s eyes. “But yes. I want my family to at leastthinkI could marry a man like you.”
“You did,” Rusty pointed out.
“I know, but… we were kids, and you’re here for a divorce. It hasn’t exactly been a perfect marriage.”
“Because we didn’t know itwasa marriage,” Rusty said.
“Right, but… what if we just pretend? Just while I’m back home. And then I’ll sign whatever you want me to, no claim for alimony or half the house or anything like that. I’ll go away like I was never there.”
Rusty looked down at his lap, twirling his thumbs.
