Page 37 of Worth the Risk

I fight my grin as if I don’t agree with her, when she’s actually goddamn brilliant. So why do I hesitate? Maybe because I don’t want to reinforce Grayson’s belief that I’m a manipulative bitch. This one stunt confirmed everything I’ve tried to tell him I’m not.

But since when do I care what other people think of me?

Since I need him in order to be successful at my job in Rissa’s eyes. The same Rissa who is trying to help, but who might just have undermined me, nonetheless.

Grayson’s eyes flash in my mind. The disdain. The distrust. The intensity.

“Where are you going with this?”

“Do you still think he’s the one who can make a face for this contest?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Then don’t question the means, just worry about what’s going to happen when he says yes.”

“Dare I ask what else you have up your sleeve?”

“It’s hot out today. I’m wearing a tank top, so how could anything be up my sleeve?”

“Rissa . . .” I laugh.

“Let’s just say that every hero needs a celebration. Get your party dress ready.”

“Sidney Thorton, how may I help you?”

“This has got to stop.”

“Excuse me? Who is this?” I draw eyes from some of the staff as I step into the conference room and shut the door behind me. They’re still leery of me, and I’m sure my answering the phone with the panicked annoyance like I just did isn’t going to do me any favors.

“The man you’re putting articles in the newspaper about to convince him to participate in your silly contest.” Irritation mixed with impatience rakes through his voice.

“It’s hard to catch your attention. Should I gather it’s working now?” I bite the bullet and take ownership of Rissa’s tactics with little guilt. He hadn’t returned a single one of my calls, texts, or emails, and then Rissa plants a story, and voila, he calls. I’ll take progress any way I can at this point, even if it’s underhanded and makes me feel a tad slimy.

His sigh is heavy. “It worked the first time. There was no need to do today’s article as well.”

Today’s article? There’s another one? What am I missing? I scramble to log into my laptop, but it has to power up. “What did I do now?”

“Don’t be coy.”

Outside the conference room glass, Rissa is holding her fist to her mouth and fighting back a laugh. Dear God, I’m scared to know what she did this time.

“I’m not. I’m just simply trying to do my job.”

“The innocent thing doesn’t work for you any more than the damsel-in-distress thing did. And by the way, I fell for it. For your shaking knees and trembling hands and blatant lies that this wasn’t a setup . . . so just stop while you’re ahead. Stop denying. I know you’re the one behind these anonymous articles. I know you’re the one funding the goddamn party.”

“What party?” I cough and squeeze my eyes closed, praying that she did not do what I think she did.

“The one you set up at Hooligan’s to thank me for saving you.”

“I did no such thing!”

“Save it, Princess. I’ve already tried to get out of it, but this damn town has caught wind of it, and there’s no way they’re letting me bow out. If I have to suffer through the damn thing, then so do you.”

The call ends, and I lean back against the wall as Rissa peeks her head through the doorway with a cat-ate-the-canary grin on her face.

“A party? Are you kidding me?”

“No one said we had to play fair.” She gives me a wink. “I’ve got the man where you want him. Now it’s your turn to close the deal.”