Dr. Single Dad - A British Billionaire Romance (Billionaires of Europe Book 6)
Page 16
Josie leaned back a little bit into the couch. She wasn’t supposed to fully relax, not at an industry event like this. She was always supposed to be striving toward the most attractive version of herself. But her mind was racing, and it was hard to keep her focus on her appearance in moments like that.
“You know I’m not an actress.”
“Yes, I know. That’s why I think you would be perfect for it.”
Josie sighed. “We’ve had this conversation before. What you do is acting. You know that.”
“Yes,” he said. “I know that. But you also know that what you do isn’t exactly not acting either. If you’re honest with yourself, it’s not so far from what I’m asking you to do.”
He gestured at the party around them. “Besides, all this might be nice, but you’re not involved with this because you like the designer’s aesthetic. You’re involved because he’s a stepping-stone to the kind of thing you really want to do. And what I’m offering you is just as much a stepping-stone to what you want to do as modeling is. And it’s only slightly further from what you’ve done before.”
When they were dating, he had brought up this idea of her working on a show he produced once or twice. At the time Josie had the easy out of being able to say that she didn’t want to work with a significant other. But now, she didn’t have that excuse. Plus, there was the fact that, whatever his show had her do, at least she probably wouldn’t have to do it with an uncomfortable, itchy headdress on top of her head.
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so you’re interested?”
She couldn’t completely deny it, so she didn’t say anything at all. Instead, she let him launch into the pitch that she knew for a fact he had practiced at least three times. It was smooth. And he did make the show sound kind of fun.
It was going to be all drinks and romance on the beach. Daiquiris and dashing men. Well, one dashing man. The intended show was the standard format of a bunch of pretty women and one lucky man who had to choose among them. The catch, the hook in this particular reincarnation of the format, was that the exotic, foreign, and extremely rich bachelor was only going to speak to the women in his own native language.
“The working title so far has been Beyond Words, but honestly we’re still deciding.”
“Really? How is that supposed to work?”
This time, it was his turn to sink back into the hardly comfortable couch they were sitting on.
“What you mean?” Lewis said. “It will work the way these things always work.”
Josie shot him a look. “I mean, how is anyone supposed to believe that two human beings would ever form a meaningful connection when they can’t speak to one another?”
“Oh, Josie. You’re buying too much into the fairy tale of the thing. No one really believes that people on shows like this are finding true love.”
Josie wasn’t convinced, and she raised her eyebrows skeptically. “I think more people want to believe in the version of reality you’re selling then you acknowledge. Why would they keep watching otherwise?”
And there it was: the smirk Josie had gotten so used to seeing that she almost believed it was on his face even when it wasn’t.
When he answered, he had that same affected tone of voice that he had used to gently mock all the overly affectionate garbage in her industry.
“Darling, they watch for the same reason people watch anything. They watch for the entertainment. And I can’t imagine anything more entertaining than watching some idiot billionaire from far away believe that he’s truly worthy of someone like you.”
Say what you would about Lewis—and after they broke up her friends certainly had—but he did have a way of gently implying that under all his bravado, and under all his sarcasm and carefully crafted layers of meaning, there was something sincere and affectionate.
Maybe it was that sincere, affectionate mirage that made Josie pause before offering her refusal.
And that pause seemed to be all it took. Lewis lifted his glass and offered a pseudo-toast before taking a deep drink.
“I’ll send over the details to your agent,” he said.
Josie did her best to look offended. “I haven’t actually said yes, you know.”
Lewis shrugged. “Tell me no, and I’ll stop celebrating.”
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