I wanted to say no on principle. I wanted to say no because I’d been following Justin in the press for a really long time while inwardly mocking him and think he was as ridiculous and obnoxious as he was brilliant, and now to pretend to be his girlfriend seemed like the height of hypocrisy. On the other hand, I told myself, wouldn’t I be really getting one over on Justin to take so much money just for going out to some fancy dinners?
“Why don’t you just get a real girlfriend?” I said.
Justin looked at me funny and seemed to be searching my eyes for something. I couldn’t tell if he’d found it or not, but he smiled and said, “I’m extremely picky. So?” He kept pressing me and I felt myself giving in and it annoyed me.
“I’ll only do it for a million,” I blurted out.
“Done.”
My head swivelled around funny when I looked at him in shock. “What?”
“A million is fair,” Justin said. “I was waiting for you to take it up. A million then. I assume you’re going to want some kind of contract, laying out the guidelines of this arrangement. My PR person, Joanie, has already drawn one up.”
The driver pulled the car over in front of a restaurant with a line of people in front of it, though it was only the middle of the day. It was no place I’d ever heard of, but I assumed it was very trendy. I was in a daze as the driver let us out and Justin gently took my arm and led me right past the line and beyond a velvet rope into the restaurant. Everything felt utterly surreal, as if I were in a dream.
“A contract,” I muttered, as a host smiled warmly at us and ushered us over to a table. “Yeah, a contract would be good. A million dollars?”
“Takes care of Tyler’s college fund all in one go,” Justin said, winking.
We were seated at a nice little table. I had no idea what kind of food we were even eating and when a menu appeared in front of me, I only stared at it.
“I don’t know what to get,” I said. I almost felt panicky about this decision, both because I wanted to say yes and I also really didn’t want to say yes, and because this all seemed too good to be true. Sure, I’d have to spend three months pretending to date Justin King who I hated. But...a million dollars? Sure, that amount of money didn’t go as far as it once had. But it went far enough to me. I’d become used to stretching a dollar. I wasn’t the little rich girl I’d used to be.
“Do you mind if I order for us then?” Justin said. “If you don’t know…”
“Go ahead.”
Justin ordered something in French and I sat there like a slug, trying to make sense of this entire situation. A glass of wine was set before me and I grabbed it, taking a long sip, before setting it down again. Justin was grinning at me. The jerk did have a nice smile when he wasn’t smirking.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “I’ll do it.”
“You look so sad!” Justin laughed, tossing his head back. “We’re going to have fun. I promise you. Is it okay if I bring the contract by tonight for you? Joanie’s still polishing it up. We can go over it to too, if you like. I don’t want you to have any problems with it.”
“Bring it to me?” I said blankly. “To my place? To my...apartment?”
“Um, yes…” Justin gave me that funny look again, his wide mouth curving up. “I would imagine I’d be stopping by now and then for some reason. But-”
“Okay, fine,” I said sighing. “Okay.”
“Drink some more wine, will you? You really need to relax.” He reached over and patted my hand, at the touch of his skin on mine, time seemed to stop. The both of us froze for a second. It was the strangest thing. Through that one simple touch, I felt as if I’d just stumbled on something so familiar that I’d been missing out on for the longest time. I stared at Justin and he just cleared his throat and looked away. “Drink some more wine,” he said again.
But it took quite a bit of wine to forget about that touch.
Chapter Five: Nicole
Lunch was so good, that I can’t quite get over it. It had been a long time since I had very high end food. I don’t know what the bill was because Justin swiped it too fast, but I had to imagine I would have passed out seeing the number. I forgot how simple good food can be. We ate fish and potatoes which sounds really basic but I found myself moaning as I ate. Justin kept watching me with his glittering eyes and I was embarrassed by how much I liked the food. I had an urge to lick my plate clean.
We didn’t talk much, or rather I didn’t talk much. But Justin talked enough for both of us. He talked about his board and told me gossip on all of them that I didn’t care about at all. I had to admit, it sort of relieved me. He wasn’t being charming. He was talking all about himself and his problems with Koinage. That made me secure in the knowledge that he was the egomaniac I always thought he was.
The food was good, but the lunch still went on, seemingly forever.
“Anyway…” He finally mumbled, looking away. He looked sort of annoyed. If he was annoyed at me, I couldn’t think why. I’d just been quietly listening to him chatter on about how he was worried his board would vote him out. That wasn’t uninteresting to me, except that I don’t know anything about business strategy. It sounded like he was trying to work the problem out by talking about it. “I’m sorry, I’m being so obnoxious,” he finally said. We were sipping wine and eating fruit after the main meal. We’d already long overshot my lunch break. But since it was his company and all, like he’d said, I wasn’t too worried about it.
I frowned at that. I didn’t want him to be self-aware about it. I had to be able to hate him. That would make it so much easier.
“I don’t want my son to be a part of this,” I said suddenly. Justin blinked at me and I couldn’t tell if it was a problem or not. “You can tell everyone you’re dating me and that I have a son but I don’t want press for him and things like that-”
“Okay,” Justin said. He took a sip of wine, his eyes steadily on me. “Why don’t you like me?” He leaned on his hand and did that smirk thing again and I narrowed my eyes.
“Because of that face you’re making right now!” I said, actually pointing at his face.
Justin sat back and his eyes widened. He looked like a kid. “What face?”
“Smirk!” I said. I was a little buzzed after the wine. I wished for an espresso but I didn’t want to demand anything. “You smirk all the time, like you’re so sure of what the other person is thinking or feeling and that you can get them to agree to anything you want. And it’s maddening.”
“Well, I usually can,” Justin said lightly. “What, you don’t like confident men?”
“I don’t like douchebags,” I said. “That’s how you come across. Like the whole world was made just for you and everyone else is an accessory.”
Justin stared at me and then burst out laughing. “Wow. Okay.”
“Interesting!” I leaned on my hand, smiling wryly. “You’re not denying it. It’s like when you did that stupid staged protest in front of the stock exchange or when you sky dived as you revealed the Koinage app. It’s when you show up with a model on each arm like you’re Bruce Wayne-”
“I am Bruce Wayne,” Justin muttered.
“You’re Tony Stark,” I snarked, but without the brains. “You’re all...show.”
“Oh, and like there’s no chance that’s all part of the brand?” Justin said. “To sell my company? Everything I do is for this company. It’s all I’ve got.” He said the last part fiercely and I squinted at him, wondering if that was true. If it was...it was kind of sad. I didn’t want to be sad for Justin King of all people, who seemed to have everything. But I couldn’t help but wonder if he was actually very lonely.
“What’s this one?” I pointed to a puzzle piece with a stegosaurus on it. Tyler was in my lap and we were on the couch, putting together a wooden dinosaur puzzle. I’d expended way too much effort on tidying up the apartment in case Justin saw it. I was annoyed with myself. It shouldn’t matter what Justin thought of my apartment and anyway, he’
d probably just send up an assistant to pick the thing up.
“Stego!” Tyler announced.
“Close enough.”
My apartment was...well, I liked to call it colorful. The thing is that I grew up in a giant house in Connecticut with a father who, for a dragon, was icy cold as a person. He never approved of a single thing I did and beyond that, he already hadn’t liked me for being a girl. His house had been all white and all the interiors were neutrals and decorated almost begrudgingly, as if putting up a picture was a real chore. I’d always been afraid to touch anything in that house. It was like I’d been a guest. So when I grew up and left home forever and eventually had Tyler, I vowed that his home would always be warm and welcoming and colorful.
Every wall in my apartment was a different color and they were all bright. One wall was fuchsia and one wall was teal and one wall was lime green… I had lots of art on the walls, most of it made by Tyler (so far it’s really just some finger painting). But I also had prints of some of my favorite paintings up and lots of pictures. Every time I took him to some event or museum, I brought home a knick knack that sat on one of my bookshelves, which were all packed with old books from the used section of The Strand or from the library sales every Sunday. I had a bunch of plants too and I taught Tyler about watering and sun and a preschool version of photosynthesis.
I always wanted everything in my apartment to tell my son that I love him and maybe to teach him something too, but not be in his face about it. I think I’d done a pretty good job.
The only downside was that when I had any extra money at all, I spend it on anything I thought Tyler might like or anything that might teach him something. That meant there were four-year-old appropriate art supplies and blocks and stuffed animals and other junk cluttering the place all the time and I also wasn’t the greatest housekeeper in the world.
When I got home that day, I set Tyler down at the coffee table with a pad and some giant crayons, and ran around like a chicken with my head cut off cleaning up. But when the doorbell finally rang, I still tensed up.
There was no logical reason for me to check my hair and refresh my lipstick in the mirror by the door. And yet...I found myself doing it. I guess it doesn’t matter how much you dislike somebody. If they’re attractive, you still want to look attractive when you see them. What a pain in the ass that is.
I shuffled Tyler into his room and back in front I opened the door and was still somehow surprised to see Justin standing there, holding a folio. He waved it and smiled.
“Got your contract,” he said. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.” I smiled tightly and ushered him into what could only charitably be called a living room. In the tradition of New York apartments, the place was very small, half of it taken up by the kitchenette and its counter still cluttered with toys and books because I hadn’t gotten around to decluttering it.
Justin walked in slowly and I watched him look around. I couldn’t read the look on his face but he was almost smiling. He picked the book Corduroy off a table and looked through it, chuckling. It was as if the very idea of a place where a child lived was entirely alien to him. I wondered when the last time was that he’d even interacted with a kid.
“It’s very bright!” Justin said. “Wow.”
“I like bright colors,” I said, crossing my arms. “What’s wrong with bright colors?”
Justin spun around to look at me. He was smirking. Again. “Do you know, you are the single most defensive person I’ve ever met in my life?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and held out my hand. “Just show me the contract?”
I probably should have had a lawyer look at the thing but I found myself too embarrassed to admit to anyone what I was doing. Plus, I didn’t know any lawyers and if I decided to back out, I wouldn’t have the money to pay one. I just hoped I wasn’t signing away my life or anything.
“An NDA?” I said wryly. There was a non-disclosure agreement included. That meant I wasn’t allowed to talk about the behind-the-scenes stuff or whatever weird things Justin might do without him suing me. Rich types like him used NDAs to get away with all kinds of shit.
“Yeah, that’s non-negotiable,” Justin said. He seemed very casual about it.
“Kissing?” I blew air through my lips. Of course, I’d assumed that even though actual sex was off the table, there would be some amount of expected affection in public. I wondered if Justin was a good kisser. I doubted it. He was probably selfish in bed too.
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…” He looked as nervous about this as I was. That took me by surprise.
“It’s just weird,” I muttered, skimming the rest of the contract before I finally grabbed a pen on the table and signed in every spot where I found a little yellow flag sticker. “This whole thing.”
“Yeah…” Justin King sat back on my couch. He might have agreed with me and he might have been a little nervous but he looked oddly comfortable out of his element. He picked up a wooden block from the dinosaur puzzle that I’d left on the table and smiled fondly at it. I sat back and we were only inches apart, the folio in my hands. The room was warm and suddenly I felt just a little dizzy. It had been so warm in New York as spring turned to summer. The apartment had been running warm and I didn’t want to use the AC until I absolutely had to. It made the room feel sleepy and that combined with the sexy scent of Justin sitting next to me, made me feel a little dizzy and a little turned on. “I really like your apartment,” Justin said, apropos of nothing.
I looked at him in surprise. I had something snarky on the tip of my tongue but now suddenly as I looked at him I saw that lonely man I’d been seeing little hints off and it made me feel a little guilty about thinking so poorly of him. What if all his obnoxious shit was just a persona? Just the brand he used to sell Koinage?
“Thanks,” I said quietly. “Justin-”
“Mom!” Tyler came sliding into the room in his socks and I tensed up, having no idea how Justin was with children. Tyler came running over to me and I murmured a protest even as he climbed into my arms. I noticed Justin watching us and he sat back a little in the sofa, scrambling away, as if Tyler was a rabid dog or something. “Who’s that?” Tyler twisted in my arms and grinned at Justin. “Hello, I’m Tyler! I’m a T-rex!”
“Is that so?” Justin said. Suddenly his entire expression relaxed. “I’ve never met a T-rex.”
I chuckled at that and wrapped my arms around Tyler, blowing a raspberry into his neck. “He keeps saying he’s a dinosaur instead of a dragon. He thinks that will make sense to people since humans generally know about dinosaurs and not dragons.”
“Makes sense to me,” Justin said, dry as a bone. “I’m a T-Rex too.”
“Justin!” I burst out laughing. Tyler looked excited and I couldn’t blame him. He’d never met another dragon shifter but me before. “I’m trying to get him to stop telling people he’s a dinosaur!”
“Oh!” Justin looked a little sheepish at that, as if he’d committed a real offense. “Well...I’m not really a dinosaur,” he said apologetically. “But I’m a dragon. Like you are.”
“Can you fly?” Tyler said. Tyler has sandy blonde hair and I’d been letting him grow it out. It was shaggy and curled over his ears. Justin hesitantly patted Tyler’s head and he grinned. I had to stifle a laugh. Justin really wasn’t used to kids, that much was clear. Although he wasn’t doing too badly, considering. “Mom says when I’m older, I’ll fly! Like her!”
“Sure, you will!” Justin said. “Flying is the best.”
Tyler clapped his hands at that and my eyes were on him until I noticed Justin staring at me with wide eyes, looking like he’d just remembered he’d left his oven on. He sat back on the sofa and frowned, scratching his arm. I wondered if we were keeping him from something, though I didn’t know why he’d be hanging around, now that I’d signed the contract.
Finally, he sat up and cleared his throat, looking away from Tyler, who was now sliding down off
my lap onto the floor to grab a crayon and scribble on paper. He didn’t know about iPads yet. I’d shown him funny videos now and then on my laptop but I was trying to keep him away from screens for as long as humanly possible. Justin opened his mouth as if to speak and then just rubbed his chin.
“What’s our first event?” I finally said, if only to cut the awkward tension in the room. “For our fake relationship? Also, what will I need to wear?”
“Ah!” Justin rubbed his palms on his knees and nodded. “Of course. There’s a brunch amongst some of us head honchos of the tech world here in New York. It’s big. It’s at the Leighton Country Club this Saturday. Dress is...I don’t know, it’s brunch. Like a sundress, I guess. I’ll have you picked up around ten.”
“Wow.” I nodded, swallowing. I knew the rules of that kind of world. But it had been a while. “Jumping right into the deep end, huh?”
“It’s all Joanie’s planning,” Justin said, now getting to his feet. “Don’t worry about clothes. I’ll have something sent over.”
I opened my mouth, intending to ask if my clothes weren’t good enough but then I looked into Justin’s eyes and saw no judgement there at all. I also remembered how those sorts of events usually went and how judgemental people in that crowd could be. He was just doing me a favor.
“Do they know my size?” I said instead, and good naturedly added, “And if so, how?”
Justin tittered at that. “They’ll text you with that question. I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”
“And um…” I cleared my throat and begrudged the blush that rose to my cheeks. “I… I mean you’ll warn me about… If some kind...affection needs to happen?”
“I’ll warn you,” Justin said, ducking his head. “Yeah. I don’t think it’ll be necessary at this function.”
Dragon's Fake Mate Page 4
