by Tia Siren
“That's possible,” I said, frowning as I thought about it. Paige had told me that she was ovulating, but she had also mentioned something about having been on birth control and not re-upping her prescription for the month. If I remembered correctly, birth control could mess with a woman's cycle, so maybe coming off it could do the same. How would she know if she was really ovulating?
I groaned, realizing it could be a whole extra month before she conceived. With things already so rocky between us, who knew what the next month could hold.
“Look, I'd try to give you advice, but I'm not really a relationship guy,” Chris said. “So, the only thing I'm going to say is, avoiding women never seems to work out.”
I laughed and shook my head. “You're probably right. But what do I even say to her?”
“Find out what's wrong,” Chris suggested. “Don't chicks love it when you listen to them?”
I grinned over at him but had to admit it was a good plan. That evening at the bar, I spent a few minutes watching Paige before I approached her. “We need to talk,” I said, hating how ominous that sounded.
“I'm working right now,” she said, indicating the beers that she was in the process of pouring.
“Look, I just want to know what's wrong. That's all,” I told her.
“Like I said before, nothing's wrong,” Paige said, her voice falsely cheerful.
“Of course not,” I muttered. “You were just cute and chatty and personable last week, but this week, you'll hardly say two words to me.”
Paige set one of the bar glasses down on the counter with a bit too much force, causing beer to spill out over the rim. “I don't know what you want from me,” she snapped. “I'm doing what you asked me to do.”
I frowned at her. “I don't know what you're talking about,” I said, honestly confused.
“The contract,” Paige said, as though I was acting deliberately obtuse. “This is a business transaction, nothing more. We don't need to be friends. We just need to have sex, get me pregnant, and otherwise follow the contract.”
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. It was true that the contract was there to prevent either of us from starting to think of this as a normal relationship, but she was taking things a little too far. Maybe I had been more right than I'd realized when I'd suspected she could deal with this coldly and efficiently. She seemed almost too cold.
“There's nothing in the contract that says we can't hang out or be friends,” I told her. Unless maybe she was worried about that friendship turning into something else? Was she admitting to already developing feelings for me?
“I'm not interested in being your friend,” Paige said coolly, and I had to nix that idea. No, she legitimately wasn't interested. Huh.
“Have you done any tests yet?” I finally asked her, remembering what Chris had said, about how maybe she was avoiding me because she was already pregnant and starting to have second thoughts about our arrangement.
“I start my period next week if I'm not pregnant,” Paige said. “I'll wait until then to do the test. I'll let you know as soon as I get the results.”
“Okay,” I said. It felt like there should be something more to say, something to convince her we could, in fact, be friends. “Let me take you to dinner tomorrow night,” I finally tried.
“I've got work tomorrow night,” Paige said shortly.
“Just go,” Erica said, having been following the whole conversation from her place nearby at the bar. She gave me an unreadable look and then turned to Paige, who was scowling at her.
“I don't want to go,” she said. “And what's more, you know I need the work. Saturdays may not be as busy as Thursdays, but I still make a lot of my tips on those evenings. Plus, I know the hourly rate isn't that good, but I could use all the help I can get with rent this month. You know that.”
“I'm not asking you to take off the whole night,” Erica said, rolling her eyes. “Although if you do, we can cover you, no problem. But get dinner a little early, and you'll be back in here before things start getting busy. You know our Saturday crowd tends to show up later anyway.”
Paige had her lips pressed together tightly, and I could tell that she resented her friend's involvement in the conversation. I would have to remember to thank Erica later.
For a second, I wondered what Erica was playing at. If I remembered correctly, Paige had said the woman was a romantic, so maybe she thought if the two of us spent more time together, we would manage to put together a relationship beyond the one where I was paying Paige to have my child. But Paige was behaving as if she didn't want anything like that.
She gave her friend a look. “Erica, I made a commitment to be here at work. The other day, leaving early, was bad enough, but I can't keep blowing off parts of my shift. You're my manager, and we live together. Everyone else is going to think you're giving me special treatment.”
Erica rolled her eyes. “Everyone knows that if they had something in their personal life they needed to sort out, I'd let them take time off, too,” she said. Her eyes softened. “Look, you're not going to be able to focus on your work and put on a happy smile until you sort this out. So really, I'm looking out for your best interests as well as my own.”
Paige sighed, but she didn't seem to know what to say to that.
“If you don't go to dinner and talk about whatever's going on between the two of you, I'll fire you,” Erica threatened. “I'm sorry to say it, but that's what it's come to.”
I knew it was a bluff, and I could tell Paige thought so as well, but finally, Paige nodded. “All right,” she said. “We'll go to dinner tomorrow.” She turned toward me, giving me an inscrutable look. “But it needs to be an early dinner so I can get back here and still work most of my shift. You can pick me up at 5.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go? A specific type of cuisine that you'd like?” I didn't know why I asked it. It was just, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't really know anything about her. Things like her favorite food, her favorite type of flower, her favorite color; maybe I should learn those things.
Not that I was trying to date her, I told myself sternly. It was because those preferences might be the same favorites as the child we were trying to make.
“You're the one who asked me to dinner,” Paige snapped, clearly done with the conversation. So done, in fact, that she moved down to the other end of the bar and started serving people over there.
Erica gave me a sympathetic look. “She really loves Thai food,” she told me.
I sighed. “Thanks,” I said. “And thanks for getting her to come out with me.”
“You'd better fix whatever it is that you've done to her,” Erica warned, narrowing her eyes at me. “She's been mopey all week.”
“I'll try,” I promised, even though I wasn't sure how to fix it when I didn't even know what was wrong with her.
I watched Paige move back and forth along the far end of the bar, wondering what her deal was. I wish she would just talk to me about whatever it was. I didn't believe it when she said she didn't want to be friends with me. We had too much fun together for that to be true.
Unless she was faking that she was enjoying her time with me. Two and a half million was a lot of money, after all. Maybe she was just trying to make sure that I stayed happy with the relationship so I'd still want to have a kid with her.
Chris clapped me on the shoulder. “Hey man, you need another drink!” he said. “Quit looking so glum. Now, this is Trish and Molly.”
I didn't feel like chatting with random strangers that night, but I knew Chris needed me as a wingman, so I tried to pull it together. I glanced over at Paige a couple times, but she was intently ignoring me. I sighed and shook my head, standing abruptly.
Trish broke off in the middle of whatever it was that she'd been babbling about. Her work, I thought.
“I have to go,” I said. “Sorry.”
There were disappointed loo
ks all around our circle, but I didn't care. Right then, I just had to get out of there.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Paige
I woke up in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday. I hadn't meant to sleep that late, but I'd had a difficult time getting to sleep once I'd gotten back from The Shift. I scowled as I heard Erica moving around beyond the room divider.
I rolled out of bed and pulled on some clothes, quickly tying my hair back and then stomping into the shared part of the apartment. “You had no right to interfere in Michael's and my relationship,” I told her, without even bothering to wish her a good morning.
Erica raised an eyebrow at me. “So you're admitting that it is a relationship, then?” she asked.
“Of course, it's a relationship; it's two people interacting,” I snapped. “But it's a business relationship.”
“So, I'm sure you can go to dinner with him for one night,” Erica said, looking smug. “After all, business associates do that all the time.”
“Erica, let me repeat: it's none of your business. I don't want to go to dinner with him.”
“Well, I meant it when I said I'd fire you if you don't sort this thing out with him,” Erica said, looking utterly unrepentant. “You've been glum all week, and you should realize it's affecting your business.”
“It's not affecting my business,” I said defensively. “No one's said anything at work.”
“Don't try to pretend your tips are just as good as ever this week,” Erica said, rolling her eyes. “I saw what you took in on Thursday.”
I blushed and ducked my head. “People just haven't been tipping as well this week,” I maintained. “You know there are weeks like that.”
“I know there are,” Erica agreed. “But no one else seems to be having problems this week.” Her expression softened. “Girl, I'm worried about you,” she said. “You know I'm just trying to look out for you.”
I shook my head. “But I don't want to have dinner with Michael,” I said, hating how whiny my voice sounded.
“Yeah, what's up with that anyway?” Erica asked.
“You know what's up with that,” I sighed. “Like I said to him last night, this is just a business transaction. There's a contract. Once I've given him the kid, I'm probably never going to see him again. It would get too confusing if I was there while the kid was growing up. So I'm trying to be careful, just like you told me to do.”
“And being careful means never seeing him?” Erica asked.
I pressed my fingertips against my eyelids, feeling the sudden urge to cry. “I'm trying not to get too attached to him,” I admitted, my voice hoarse. I opened my eyes and looked miserably at Erica. “I didn't expect to like him. I guess I thought that if he was so lonely, he must be shit to be around. But he's intelligent, and he makes me laugh, and he's sexy, and I think I like him.”
“Oh girl,” Erica said, pulling me into her arms. “I'd rather see you in a relationship than sad all the time, though.”
“I'm not sad all the time,” I said, even though I knew it was a lie. But it wasn't as though this relationship with Michael, whatever it was, was very healthy either. I'd rather be sad now than be even sadder later.
Erica, thankfully, let the subject drop. She left for work not too long afterward, telling me she was sorry she wouldn't be there to help me get ready, but she had to do a bunch of paperwork. I waved her off, telling her I would manage. I wasn't planning on dressing up too much anyway. This wasn't a date, after all; it was just dinner between friends.
Those plans were dashed, though, when a fancy dress was delivered for me that afternoon. I stared at the sleek black fabric, running my hands over the tiny crystal gemstones that dotted the low neckline. Michael must have chosen some place fancy if he expected me to wear this, and I suddenly felt uncertain. God, I was getting such mixed signals from him.
I swallowed hard, fingers itching to call him and make him explain himself. Or to call Erica and see what she said about this. But then, I shook my head. If Michael wanted to play games, I'd go along with it.
I carefully did my hair and makeup, using online videos to guide me even though the style I eventually settled on was simple. When I slipped on the dress and gazed at myself in the mirror, though, I couldn't help thinking how elegant I looked. The low-cut dress fell in waves around my curves, leaving very little to the imagination. I blushed; I had never worn anything quite like this before.
But it was just for Michael, I reminded myself. For dinner as friends.
He knocked on the door at five on the dot. When I opened it, he just stared at me, speechless and gaping. “Wow,” he finally said, and I felt a warm flush go through me. I had to remind myself again that he was just the guy trying to get me pregnant, nothing more.
“So you want to tell me what's up with the dress?” I asked, plucking at the fabric. It wasn't my usual style, but I couldn't help feeling pretty in it. It was a nice feeling to have.
“Well, I wasn't sure you'd have anything appropriate for this evening,” Michael said, shrugging. He looked like he was trying to avoid the question, his eyes darting away from me.
I put my hands on my hips. “And what exactly are we doing this evening, that I need to be dressed this nice?” I asked.
Michael sighed. “Well, I was going to take you to this Thai place I know and have it be just the two of us, but then I remembered there was this work benefit function tonight. I hadn't been planning on going because I really hate going to those things, especially on my own, but then I figured if you were there with me, maybe it could be fun. Or at least, not mind-numbingly dull.”
I frowned at him. “So you're taking me to a work event,” I said flatly.
“Yeah,” Michael said. “But it's not a big deal. You'll meet some of my coworkers, but they all know what I'm like. You're just going to be pretty eye candy, that's all.”
I scowled, not sure why it hurt so much to hear him call me nothing more than “pretty eye candy”.” I knew that's all this was. I felt uncomfortable with the plan, but I reminded myself again: if he wanted to play games, I would play along. There was just one problem: “I do have to get to The Shift at some point tonight,” I told him.
Michael looked guilty at that. “You don't,” he said. “I talked to Erica today, and she said it was okay if you didn't show up. In fact, she said it's easier for her if she knows you're not going to show up. Then she can give your whole shift to someone else.”
I put my hands on my hips and scrunched my face at him. “But I needed the money,” I said, not even sure where to start with that one. I needed the money, and he had no right to do that. And Erica, when I saw her I was going to have to have a word with her about meddling.
Meddling and withholding information, I thought. She probably had known when we talked that afternoon that he was taking me to some work event tonight, and she hadn't mentioned it. A little heads-up would have been nice!
Still, it seemed like it was all organized already. I didn't doubt that Erica had already given my shift away to someone else, which meant there wasn't a space for me to work even if I wanted to. There was nothing for it but to try to enjoy the evening.
At least I felt good in the new dress, and I didn't really want it to go to waste.
“I didn't think you'd go with me if I told you about it ahead of time,” Michael said. He grimaced. “I'm sorry, I probably should have.”
I sighed. “No, you're right,” I said. “I probably wouldn't have gone with you.”
“For what it's worth, you look amazing,” he said, giving me a crooked smile. “In fact, if I hadn't told some of the people at work that I was going to be going tonight and bringing someone with me, I don't think I'd be taking you anywhere. Except to bed.” His eyes flicked down my form, clearly appreciative.
I sighed. “Let's just go.”
When we got to the benefit dinner, I couldn't help feeling out of place, and I had to keep looking down to remind myself that in that dress, I deserved t
o be there as much as any of the rest of them. Everyone seemed so much more elegant than me, though.
“You're not enjoying this at all, are you?” Michael murmured in my ear.
I forced a smile. “It's fine,” I said.
“Come on,” he said, leading me out of the crowded ballroom with an arm around my waist. The hallway we entered was just as ornate as the interior of the ballroom.
“This place is incredible, at least,” I told him.
Michael smiled at the wonder in my eyes. “It is,” he agreed. “I fell in love with it the first time I saw it, and I knew I had to buy it. Of course, it didn't look quite as nice back then; I had to put a lot of work into it, restoring it to what it was meant to be.”
My mouth dropped open. “You own this place?” I asked.
“Well, I have a majority share in the hotel chain,” Michael said, shrugging as though that were nothing. “That's why the benefit function is being held here, though. No point renting out someone else's property. This way, we get to donate a larger portion of the profits.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Well, it's a beautiful place for the event,” I said. I took a deep breath and looked back toward the ballroom. “Should we get back in there?” I asked uncertainly. I wasn't ready to go back in yet, I didn't think, but I didn't know how long I could drag Michael away for. I had known that he had a lot of money, but I was only just starting to realize what an important person he must be in his business.
Michael sighed. “I guess we should get back in there,” he agreed. “Although I'd much rather find someplace private with you.”
I grinned at him, unable to help it. His obvious appreciation of how I looked in that dress helped, though, and when he guided me back into the ballroom, I felt a lot more comfortable.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Michael
I felt kind of bad for springing something like this on Paige, but it just seemed like the perfect way to get her to go out to dinner with me on some neutral territory, where it wasn't just the two of us. It really was better that I show my face by attending at least one of the fancy benefits that were planned for the year. No better time than now, when I had an interesting woman to accompany me.
