“Nichole has created something of value, or we wouldn’t be here.” Chase intercepted the binder before it reached either Vick or Glen. “I’d like to know what value your firm brings to it and to her vision.”
“Fund Infusion has offered to fully fund the last round of my program revisions.” Nichole’s hand landed on Chase’s arm. A warning infused her words, tempering her tone.
“Is that all?” Chase countered. He could fund that much, although she hadn’t asked him.
Vick spoke up. “We believe we will have a strong and fair offer for your consideration, if Nichole presents us with the information we require.”
“What more would you like to know?” Nichole tugged the binder from Chase’s grip and passed it across the table.
That eagerness was back in her tone. Where was the skeptic who’d always intrigued him? Nichole used to question everything. She’d even made Chase list ten facts to prove the homecoming dance was worth her time. He’d failed to convince her. She’d claimed numbers six through ten had been feelings, not facts. She had always insisted he was illogical because he’d relied on his emotions and gut instinct. Be rational, Chase. You can’t know you’ll like skydiving simply because it looks fun on TV.
Well, he did like skydiving. And he distrusted Glenn from only one unfastened button and the kink in his own gut. She’d called him in to stand beside her and he’d do his part. “Call me old-fashioned, gentlemen, but I never do a deal with anyone until I know what those folks are about.”
Menus studied and orders placed: three surf and turfs and one petit filet, Chase eyed Glenn and then Vick.
“I prefer my steaks rare and my drinks cold.” Glenn smoothed his hand over his tie, loosening the knot even more, as if talking about himself was his favorite pastime. “As for the business, it’s simple. I started Fund Infusion to prove to my father I was better than him.”
“And did you?” Chase asked.
“Within the first year.” Glenn sipped his drink as if he’d given himself a private toast. “Now my legacy is ensured.”
Chase added cutthroat to his description of the man. Nichole would claim that wasn’t a strong enough reason not to let the guy invest in her business. Maybe it wasn’t, but it still didn’t speak well of the man across from him.
“I intend for In a Pinch to be my legacy. I’ve devised a go-to market strategy in Section Four.” Nichole tipped her chin toward the binder, pointing excitedly. “I’ve collected over two thousand test users and identified their preferences and needs. The local vendor list is expanding daily. I’ve also pinpointed competitors and highlighted their weaknesses. I have an aggressive growth plan that includes launching in several key metro areas prior to going nationwide.”
Nichole’s strategy impressed Chase the same way he appreciated a good play call by the opposing team. Good or not, Nichole just revealed too much of her game. Coaches called plays from behind laminated paper to avoid giving their opponents an advantage.
Chase grabbed her hand, drawing her attention and pausing her presentation. Advantage: Chase. “I’d like to know what their next steps are before you give them your full proposal.”
Glenn placed his palm on the binder. “The first thing we’ll do is review your wife’s business plan and determine if it’s even viable.”
“Of course, it’s viable.” Nichole had written it. Irritation snapped inside Chase, tweaking his frown into a scowl. “You don’t think you’re the only ones interested in my wife’s app, do you?”
Nichole cleared her throat.
“They should know they’re only the first to the table. Not the first to show interest.” Chase squeezed Nichole’s hand. “If you have a go-to-market strategy in place for my wife’s program, then we have something to discuss.”
Their food arrived, forcing another pause in the conversation.
Vick fumbled with his lobster cracker. Glenn dipped a piece of mangled lobster into the small dish of melted butter and dripped onto Nichole’s binder. The disregard grated on Chase. He wanted that binder. Wanted these two vetted. Even more, he wanted the evening with them concluded.
“Let’s talk about next steps.” Vick sounded as if he were placating. “Once we review the material, we’ll meet with our investors to discuss our offer and contract terms.”
Chase’s first step was easy. He leaned across the table, picked up the binder and set it out of Glenn’s grasp. His next step: he’d find someone to research Fund Infusion and determine if they were a legitimate company or not.
“This is great.” Nichole’s optimism seemed infectious. Chase wished he could get on board. “You’re serious about making an offer for In A Pinch and launching it nationwide. I’m satisfied.”
Vick lifted his glass, but his smile never quite reached his gaze. “To a successful partnership.”
“I left nothing behind.” Glenn rubbed his stomach, his voice mellowed, his eyelids halfway closed. “Now that the business is out of the way, you can tell us how you two met.”
Clearly Glenn’s full stomach hadn’t dulled his quest for a possible lucrative news story.
“We’ve known each other for quite a while,” Nichole said softly. Her head dipped and she took a quick gulp of her wine.
“Since high school.” Chase wrapped her hand in his. He held on to her, his easygoing tone and his lie. “She sat behind me and copied off my biology quizzes freshman year.”
Nichole’s nervous laughter registered with him as she tapped her shoulder into Chase. The same way she’d used to bump him during their tutoring sessions to get him to concentrate on his schoolwork, rather than memorizing offensive plays.
They both knew the real story. Chase had sat behind Nichole and attempted to copy off her biology exams freshman year. One day she’d confronted him outside the locker room on his way to practice. You can’t want to be a cheater. No one wants to be a cheater. If it hadn’t been her tests, he’d have copied off someone else in their biology class. Good luck passing biology by using anyone else’s work. Frustrated and desperate, Chase had issued a challenge: You have a better idea? With hands on her hips, she’d stared him down. Yes.
Nichole had never faltered. Certainty and confidence sang in her voice and her unwavering gaze. I’ll be your tutor. No one needs to know.
That had sealed their relationship. First, she’d been his tutor. Then his friend and confidante. But never more. He’d never considered more until he sat beside her, pretending to be her husband.
“My wife and I met in grade school.” Vick touched his wedding ring, sounding wistful. “There’s something about first loves you can’t ignore. I’m going on thirty-four years with my true love.”
“I’m currently between wives.” Glenn stared into his empty glass.
“Glenn might be taking a hiatus on love, but we can toast.” Vick lifted his glass over the center of the table. “To first loves and your new journey together.”
Nichole and Chase’s journey had nothing to do with love: true love or first love. And everything to do with favors owed to an old friend. The evening had even been enjoyable. Ironic, since he’d spent the entire night sitting in a chair, not seeking the next adrenaline rush. Chase tapped his glass against Vick’s. “To love.”
Nichole gripped her wineglass, offered a whisper-soft clink against the others with no more force than an air kiss. Her smile wobbled. “To...”
Her sentence died.
Instead, she shoved her chair away from the table. “If you’ll excuse me.”
She rose and spun around in one swift movement. Too swift. Her momentum carried her right into the waiter. The one holding a very full pitcher of ice water.
Chase reached out. The collision unfolded like a slow-motion instant replay. Fortunately, most of the ice water sloshed onto the floor. Nichole stumbled backward into Chase’s arms. Into his lap. Finally, the evening felt com
pletely right.
Chase curved his arms tighter around Nichole’s waist and followed his gut. Lowering his head, he caught her next startled gasp with his lips. Then he kissed her until his own gasp claimed him.
Across the table, Vick’s laughter spilled through his words. “I think we’ll take the check and skip dessert.”
CHAPTER SIX
CHASE IGNORED HIS MANNERS. Swerved around common sense. Gave in to instinct and extended their kiss into something that they were no longer pretending. The type of kiss that he’d definitely share with his wife.
Too soon, Nichole broke away. She blinked slow and steady as if clearing the mist from her fog-filled senses. A deep blush seared from her chest to her face. Chase kept his arms around her, seeking his own balance. He’d replay that moment in slow detail later.
The waiter placed a bottle of champagne and two glasses with strawberries resting on the rims on the table. Added a quick whispered explanation: courtesy of the gentlemen who had just left, before he disappeared again.
Just like that, the private dining room became even more private.
Nichole scrambled off Chase’s lap, dropped into the chair beside him and latched on to her binder like it was the elephant in the room. “They forgot my business plan.”
“You can email the information.” Then kiss me again as if we really were newlyweds. Chase scrambled away from his own thoughts, wanting to call a false start penalty on himself.
Newlyweds implied a shared connection. A connection that went deeper than appearances, first names and conversations about the weather. Newlyweds promised each other a future together. Newlyweds trusted each other to fulfill that promise.
There would be no more kissing. And apparently no more protecting Nichole from the duo. Frustration over the kiss and his safeguarding had to come to an end. Or perhaps it was the floundering feeling that he’d been seconds away from something astounding, only to find himself sacked one yard from the goal line.
Nichole secured the binder in her bag. Her hands fluttered over the dessert menu. She looked everywhere, except at Chase. Her foot tapped a restless beat against the hardwood floor. Chase shifted his focus to where it belonged: her business deal. “I wouldn’t send anything to those guys until they sign an agreement.”
“What kind of agreement?” Her fingers stilled on the menu. Her foot slowed.
“The kind that says Fund Infusion won’t talk about your idea or steal your program.” Nichole and Chase needed an agreement too. Or at the very least an understanding about exactly when his fake husband duties officially ended. Everything had to end.
“You’re talking about an NDA.” Relief flowed through her words and her shoulders lowered. “I already signed one.”
“But did they?” Would she want him as a fake husband for much longer? He couldn’t continue their ruse. It was wrong. And yet, like most of his bad ideas, this one had appeal. Too much appeal.
“I never requested they sign one. That was stupid. I’m glad you’re here.”
What more could he do for her? He was a football player, not a lawyer. Thanks to a long-standing battle with dyslexia, he most likely couldn’t get through the first page of her potential contract. People were depending upon her to make smart choices. She deserved a more qualified fake husband. Yet for a fake wife, Nichole was perfect. He should definitely end things here. “So, about this marriage thing?”
“I’m so sorry.” Nichole covered her face with her hands. “I panicked and it came out.”
“I panicked too when you landed on my lap.” Chase chuckled, bringing the conversation back to the light and easy like he preferred. Like people expected from him. “Beautiful woman...heat of the moment...hot kiss.”
He bypassed an apology. He wouldn’t have been sincere. There was something special about their kiss. The first contact had spiked through him and a different sort of adrenaline rush had overtaken him. He wanted another hit. Still, he should explain.
A variety of red shades colored her cheeks and stained her neck. He wanted to trace his fingers over her skin, discover if her pulse raced as fast as his. His gaze locked on to her hands, the ones blocking his view of her mouth. The temptation to kiss her bypassed his common sense.
He’d earned his reputation for misbehaving over years. Although he’d been well-behaved most of the evening. He couldn’t change his entire personality overnight. One more kiss between friends. In private. No one had to know. Surely that would end his sudden fascination with Nichole Moore.
“We should let the marriage stand.” Time out. That was completely wrong. However, the idea felt right. The same way a football had always fit naturally in his hand.
“You aren’t serious.” Nichole gaped at him.
“Maybe.” He shrugged.
A pretend wife, specifically one like the stable and steady Nichole Moore, had merit like a trick play on a fourth down and one yard at the goal line. Certainly, a wife like Nichole would help polish his tarnished reputation. The very reputation the Pioneers’ staff and his agent had insisted he repair. Immediately.
Fortunately, her common sense remained intact. She shook her head. “Of course, you’re not serious. You’re never serious about anything.”
“I’m very serious about football.” And saving his career any way he could. He grabbed her hand and his decision. “And this.”
“You can’t be.” She tugged her hand free in disbelief.
“It makes sense.” Except for the list of potential drawbacks, including possibly hurting her reputation. Asking her to lie. Wanting to kiss her again.
Chase abandoned his list of cons and moved closer to Nichole. The connection settled him. “You said yourself you’re glad I’m here. Well, I can be right beside you until you sign your contract with Vick and Glenn.”
Could he repair his reputation, save his career, help Nichole and keep her in the friend-zone? She had to stay where she couldn’t distract him, and he couldn’t hurt her. But this was such a bad idea.
“You want to remain my husband.” Nichole’s eyebrows raised, her mouth pursed.
She was the only one who had ever ignored his charm and always expected more from him. She’d never let him off easy. He’d missed her. He pile-drove that realization beneath the con list, regained the breath trying to hitch inside his chest and raced down the path of no return. “I have my own contract negotiations going on.”
“You cannot believe a fake marriage will help.” Nichole’s voice ratcheted from disbelief to full-blown skepticism.
This was the Nichole he knew. The one who’d always guided back him back to the right path. The one who’d held him to a higher standard. The one who’d let him devise his schemes in full detail and had squashed them. Soon she’d force him to see the error of his ways and present a better option.
“Absolutely. I need a reputation overhaul.” He relaxed into the smile he always relied on and warmed to his scheme. Secure in the knowledge that Nichole would never agree. “You said it yourself. I’m never serious about anything. Married men are settled, dull and disillusioned. I definitely don’t ever want to be actually married.”
“This is a bad idea.” Nichole put a hand to her forehead.
“It’s only short-term,” Chase assured her. Perhaps if his father had told his mother the very same thing—that his wedding vows had an expiration date, his mother wouldn’t have been so hurt and devastated when his father had left. “Until contracts are finalized and signed. Then we break up.”
“We claim our lives are going in two separate directions, file for a pretend divorce citing irreconcilable differences.” Nichole paused as if sorting the details out inside her head. “That’s what all those celebrities do and then they go their separate ways. Everyone’s happy.”
Chase’s mouth dropped open. Nichole had never contributed to one of his schemes before. Never. “We couldn’t
tell anyone the truth. No one.”
“Of course not.” Nichole frowned at her glass of champagne. “Not even our families.”
She’d never liked lying. And this scheme required they lie to the ones they loved the most. This couldn’t be happening.
“We only tell the people we need to about our marriage.” She nodded. Her voice gaining strength. “We ask for their discretion like we did with Glenn and Vick.”
“You do remember that I always come up with horrible schemes.” Like when he’d decided to cheat off her test in biology.
“Is it so horrible if my app sells and your contract gets renewed?” Nichole dropped a strawberry in her glass of champagne as if preparing to celebrate. “Is it so horrible if we both get what we want?”
His gaze tracked back to Nichole’s face. He could want... Talk about bad ideas. “I’m asking you to lie to save my career.” That was all kinds of wrong. And still he never called a time-out.
“I created the whole lie in the first place.” She dunked another strawberry into the glass as if searching for clarity in the bubbling liquid. “I started this.”
He took both of her hands. “So, we decide together how we finish it?”
“I want my dream, Chase.” She squeezed his hands.
I want my dream. I deserve it. He’d confessed that to Nichole after he’d told her about his dyslexia and his struggle to pass his classes. She’d looked him in the eye, conviction in her voice. Then you’ll have it. But only if we do things the right way. My way. “Shouldn’t you be telling me this is a bad idea? That it’s wrong to deceive people to get what we want.”
“It is a really bad idea.” Her gaze fastened on his. Direct and probing. “But I know the kind of man you are.”
“What kind is that?”
“The kind who doesn’t want a partner. The kind who doesn’t trust in commitment.” Her intent gaze skimmed over his face. “The one who doesn’t believe love conquers all.”
Her Surprise Engagement Page 5
