Page 13 of On The Edge

“Better for whom?” I ask. “You? Because last I checked I should get a say in this.”

“You’re well aware of the culture here at Genesee. We take care of our partners. Meeting their needs for ultimate success is our number one goal.”

Stop blowing smoke up my ass, Kevin. You just gave me away like I was an escort . . . like I’m yours to give.

“Again, shouldn’t I have a say in this?”

He stops in the vacant hallways and narrows his eyes at me. “Are you saying you don’t want to do your job?”

“I’m not an actress. I can’t pull this off.” The words are a stuttered excuse.

“Yes, you can. You’ll do just fine. You’ll easily sell this whole new image for us.” He shrugs. “The player who fell so head over heels in love with you that you reformed him into the doting boyfriend.”

If the quick Google search I was able to do while they were buttoning up the meeting is any indicator, there is no way in hell anyone is going to believe this schtick or that I’ll be able to pass as Cruz Navarro’s girlfriend.

For one, I look nothing like the women he normally dates. I have blond hair and green eyes while he prefers the more exotic Salma Hayek type. And two, there are a million different women in the photos. The man sure as shit knows how to be seen—and always seen with stunning women on his arm in designer threads and shimmering diamonds.

My wardrobe consists of department store deals and thrift shop needle-in-a-haystack finds.

“This isn’t going to work.” Maybe if I repeat it enough, he’ll start to believe it. Maybe I will too.

“No?”

I stare at him and his furrowed brows. At his piercing eyes. I hear his sigh that says he’s exasperated and isn’t going to take much more of this. “What do you plan on getting out of this job? You asked to be in on this meeting because this is what you wanted. But what is it that you want? A promotion? A leg up over everyone else on the same playing field? What are you willing to sacrifice, Miss Hart?”

“I don’t—wait, you’re offering me a promotion if I do this?”

There’s a glimmer in his eyes. He dangled the carrot, and like an idiot I just took it.

An idiot? Maybe more like an opportunist.

“I’m guaranteeing you one, yes, along with a bonus to cover the things you’ll need to play the part.”

“What do you mean?” I’m still struggling to wrap my head around this.

“Cruz Navarro’s girlfriend can’t be seen wearing knockoffs from Target, shoes from Famous Footwear, and a purse from a store in a mall.”

I glance down at my jeans and generic sandals, offended but too intimidated and embarrassed to speak up. “Wow. Okay.”

“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. This look works for Austin, for your everyday, but it does not work for the glamorous lifestyle you’ll be stepping into.”

What the fuck is happening here? He’s talking like I’ve already said yes. “I appreciate the vote of support, but I can’t just pick up and go to wherever I’d have to go. I have things and obligations and—”

“Things?” He narrows his eyes. “You have something more pressing than being the girlfriend of a millionaire who is arguably one of the best drivers in the world? Of traipsing from continent to continent, country to country via private jet, and hanging with the who’s who of racing and Hollywood? I mean . . .” He holds his hands up nonchalantly. “I don’t know about you, but I doubt there will be many times in your life when you’re asked to pick up at a moment’s notice and get a chance to be someone you most likely would never get the chance to become.”

The red folders he’s holding peek out from under his arm. He came to the meeting prepared with three candidates for this role, so I know he has a budget for this fiasco. And if he has a budget, that means he most likely has board approval.

But this is madness. For me. To become someone I’d never get the chance to become.

“A chance to be someone?” I ask, but . . . Jesus. Now that he puts it that way. Isn’t my goal to get out of this town and see the world? To learn and grow and not be here, stuck in the same rut my parents have comfortably and willingly lived in their whole lives?

But reason has me holding back.

I don’t belong in Cruz’s world.

All I asked for was to sit in on this meeting.

This is crazy.