Mac.
My heart doesn’t skip a beat like it did before. Now I stare at it with a mixture of dread and longing. I sigh, and glance at the screen.
Mac: Counting down the minutes. I’m here a little early. Can I order you a drink while I wait?
I glance at the time and swallow the need to cry. I feign excitement.
Bryn: You’re early!
Mac: Couldn’t wait any longer.
I sigh. God, he’s a charmer, though, isn’t he?
Bryn: I’ll be there in a few minutes! Wait for me!
Mac: Of course.
Double sigh.
I grab a pair of heels and my bag, when realization dawns on me with such blinding clarity, I freeze mid-step.
That’s it.
That’s it.
This isn’t the dismal choice I thought I had, not when I think of this short-term.
I’m an idiot for not realizing this before. I know exactly what I need to do.
If I’m to be seducing Mac Cowen, my father can’t say a thing against my being with him.
He can’t stop me.
He can’t punish me.
He can’t take me away from him.
Not if this is exactly what he’sinstructed.Not if we’re texting, going out to dinner.
Not even if I’m spending the night.
I’ll have the car, money, and freedom.
For the first time in my life, I’ll have an excuse to do exactly what I want to.
A glimmer of hope blooms in me. I won’t think about how I’ll handle what my father’s commissioned me to do.
I won’t betray Mac. I can’t.
But I can pretend, can’t I?
I won’t believe that Mac set me up, I won’t. The thought makes me hold my belly as it rolls. I cringe.
It seems so… convenient.
Serendipitous, even? There’s no way Mac planned all this. He couldn’t possibly know my father would demand this of me, and even if he did…why? Why would he seek outme, the daughter of Banner Aitkens?
Why would he hit on me the way he did?
