Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
The amount was so staggering, so unexpected, that my jaw literally dropped. “What?” I asked, certain I must have misheard him.
“Think of it as a business deal. A temporary job. Two months of your time for fifty grand.”
Fifty grand…Part of me was insulted he was trying to buy my help, but I knew he was desperate. I thought about all the things I could do with a lump sum of money like that. Pay off most of my school loans. Get an apartment in a nicer neighborhood. Help out Valerie until she was settled again. Actually put some of it away into savings. Fifty grand was nothing to a man like Caleb…and life-changing for me.
And all I would have to do was pretend to be his girlfriend for two months.
Not really a hardship, except for the fact that a part of me wished it were for real. Because the truth was, I might have only spent one night with him, but this crush I’d had on him for the past year already felt like it was blossoming into something more. But he wasn’t asking for a true commitment, and after everything he’d been through with Alyssa I could easily understand why he’d have his emotional guard up.
“Please,” he said softly.
He looked genuinely terrified of losing custody of Owen, and compared to that pain, he was asking for two months out of my life. I could do this for Caleb, because I’d never be able to forgive myself if he lost his son over something I could have prevented from happening.
I swallowed hard. Somehow I knew this situation had the potential of leaving my heart in tatters, but this wasn’t about me, but Owen’s welfare because the little boy would be equally traumatized without his father in his life.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” I said, and hoped I didn’t come to regret my decision.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Caleb
Profound relief surged through me the moment Stevie agreed to stand in as my girlfriend, even though prior to Alyssa’s impromptu arrival I’d been thinking of dating her. We’d leapt right over that slow and steady exploration of our attraction and headlong into an exclusive, committed fake relationship for appearances’ sake.
It was enough to make my head spin, and I knew by Stevie’s wary agreement she was completely overwhelmed by everything that had happened. Even now, as I drove her to her apartment after leaving Owen with my sister, Cara, watching over him for the next hour, her uncertainty was nearly tangible. She’d been incredibly quiet during the drive, staring out the passenger window of my Audi R8 as I followed the directions she’d given me to her place in Elmhurst, Queens.
A part of me felt guilty for coercing Stevie into this mess that was currently my life, but my options were limited and I wasn’t taking any chances with Owen’s well-being. There was no doubt in my mind that I’d be dealing with Alyssa’s scrutiny over the next two months, that she’d try to find any way to tarnish my reputation and she wouldn’t have hesitated to drag Stevie into the fray, too.
The truth was, if I hadn’t claimed Stevie as my girlfriend, Alyssa would have painted a very sordid picture for her attorney of what she’d walked in on. She wouldn’t think twice about maligning Stevie’s character in the worst ways in order to further her own agenda, and the only way to protect Stevie from my ex’s malicious motives was to make her a part of my life.
Right now, with the custody case looming over me, Stevie being my serious girlfriend gave us more credibility than if she’d just been a one-night stand.
I know what I was asking of her was a lot—I’d seen her reluctance to get involved—but I had every intention of making it worth her while and judging by her reaction to the fifty grand I intended to pay her, I’d accomplished that goal. I got the impression she didn’t have much, and if that money eased her finances a bit in exchange for her being a part of mine and Owen’s life for the next couple months, then it was a win-win situation in my opinion.
Because Stevie had been so hesitant to accept my proposal, I’d told her to think of our agreement as a business deal, a temporary job, and I definitely regretted phrasing our situation that way when my attraction to Stevie was far more than just a fleeting proposition. As much as this fake relationship between us was for show, I truly liked the idea of spending more time with her, and now I had the chance to do so legitimately.
The circumstances weren’t ideal, and as stressful as the predicament was with Alyssa, I wasn’t mad about Stevie being a more integrated part of my life. In fact, shockingly, I welcomed it. She was the only woman since my divorce that had captured my attention so thoroughly and made me want to open myself up to the possibilities of…something more with someone again. And if this situation gave me the opportunity to explore that option with Stevie, then I was willing to take the risk, no matter how complicated it might get.