“It’s fine.” He holds up a hand to stop my excuses. “You have every right to wonder.”
I roll my wine uneasily. “So is that what this is about?”
“No. It isn’t.” He faces me, oozing attractive charming. “I don’t regret what we did, but we were two consenting adults indulging in each other and nothing more.”
“Right. Nothing more.”Indulging in each othersends a thrill of desire down my spine. I have to resist that feeling. I don’t care how appealing I find Prime—he’s not my type and never, ever will be.
“This is about your performance tonight, but it’s also about… something else.” He clears his throat and hunches as he gestures for another drink.
“Something else?” I prod, but he doesn’t answer until he’s got a fresh bourbon in his hand.
“I need your help. Call it a second job. Something I can’t ask anyone else to do for me. You’re the most organized and serious person I’ve ever met, and I wouldn’t trust another living soul with this task. I’ll double your salary for the time it takes to get it done, and once it’s finished, I’ll continue to pay you twenty percent more than you’re making now.”
I almost gag on my wine. Double my salary?! Even for a few months, that could change my life. I’d be able to hire more help, afford better groceries, buy my dad clothes that actually fit, hell I could even put some away in savings?—
But I force myself to calm down. God knows I need it, but warning lights are flashing all over. If Prime’s offering this much, whatever job he’s got for me won’t be easy.
“I’m interested,” I say as carefully as I can while my heart hammers into my throat. “What do you need me to do?”
“You won’t believe it.”
“Don’t tell me it’s illegal? I’m not breaking any laws for you.”
“No, nothing like that.” A smile plays at his lips like I made some sort of hilarious joke. “I’m being serious, alright? This isn’t a game.”
“Okay, just tell me.”
He turns so his knees are touching mine.
“Deanna… I need you to find me a wife.”
I gape at him.
This has to be a trick, but he looks about as serious as Prime ever does.
“You want… a wife?!”
“Calm down. I don’t want to marryyou. I just need you to find me a woman willing to play the role of my lawfully wedded partner. There will be money for her, a comfortable lifestyle, whatever she wants really, so long as she understands it’s only business.” He frowns, touching his thumb to his lips. “Although I’m open to other physical arrangements.”
“Prime!”
He shrugs, amused eyes meeting mine and holding me there. Prime wants a wife? A woman he’ll pay? In money… and maybe in something else…
“Can you help me?”
“This is bizarre. Why in the world do you need to marry someone?”
“I’ll tell you more, but trust me for now. I’m not messing with you. I’m not kidding around. I need a wife, and I think you’re the perfect woman to find her. Help me, Deanna.”
Ah, shit.
God damnPrime. This is the craziest thing he’s ever asked me to do, but it’s too tempting, and I can sense the slightest bit of vulnerability.
Besides, I need the money badly, and it’s not like I’m the one who will walk down the aisle with him, right?
“You’re a psychopath.”
“I’ve been tested. It was inconclusive.”
