by Alla Kar
She left with a nod.
“Holy shit,” Asher said. “We’ve been trying to get in touch with them for over a year. What changed?”
“I sent an e-mail to their office last week but I didn’t hear back,” I said. “I guess this is our hearing back.” I knew this was a chance of a lifetime. To have the biggest hunting supply store offer us a sponsorship was the riches of riches. We’d make bank with them sponsoring us.
Mrs. Henry entered a few seconds later, and I stood to offer her my hand. I’d seen plenty of pictures of her. Her face littered southern magazines, newspapers, and all social media. She looked like she’d been a heart-stopper in her youth.
“Hello, Mrs. Henry. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Cash Jenkins, and this is my brother Asher.”
She took my brother’s hand and mine before she sat down. It didn’t take long to realize she was uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure why, but she looked nervous as hell. “How can I help you today, Mrs. Henry?”
Clearing her throat, she locked eyes with me. “I’m here about the sponsorship you’re wanting to negotiate. I was informed about your email earlier this morning.”
Asher eyed me. “So, are you interested?” he asked.
She dropped her gaze. “I’m goin’ to get straight to the point. I have a proposition for you, Mr. Jenkins. And it’s going to sound crazy. Probably insane. But I did some digging on you after I read your latest message and you’re perfect,” she said.
I lifted a brow. “You sound like you want me to sell my soul, Mrs. Henry.”
She laughed nervously while crossing her legs. “Nothing that serious. I see you’re not dating anyone at the moment, correct?”
What the hell? Asher laughed under a cough. I knew she probably didn’t mean for her, but I had to make sure. “Are you asking me out, Mrs. Henry? I don’t think I want to piss off the man thinking about giving me a sponsorship.”
She smiled. “Not me, boy. My daughter, Sydney. I want you to date her.”
What? The water I clutched almost slipped from my grasp. “What the,—” I shook my head. “You mean pretend to date your daughter? I think that I’ve read this line before, and it doesn’t turn out well for anyone.”
Asher leaned forward in his seat. “Wait a minute. You mean the blonde, right?” He reached for the paper on the corner of my desk. “This blonde?”
I glanced down at the newspaper. She was gorgeous. Long slender arms stretched way above her thrown-back head. She had the kind of hair you wanted to sink your fingers into and pull. She was shorter than my normal type, but her curves were perfect. I couldn’t see her eyes in the picture, and my mind raced with the possibilities of color. “Why would someone so beautiful need help finding a guy to date, Mrs. Henry? Judging by the picture, I’m pretty positive she doesn’t need help.” I placed the newspaper down. “I’m not sure I follow.”
Asher held his hand out to Mrs. Henry. “Let me?” When she nodded, he continued. “Do you not ever read the paper? For someone so smart, you’re a dumbass.”
I shot him a glance. “Enlighten me.”
Asher gave Mrs. Henry a long sideways glance before smiling. “She likes to party. Parents seem to hate that.”
It wasn’t like he would know. Our father was never really in the picture, and our mother died several years ago.
She snorted. “That’s an understatement. I need you to pretend to date my daughter to give us some good publicity for a change. Make sure that she doesn’t do any partying, or give the press anything to talk about. I can’t remember the last time her being in the paper didn’t hurt our family’s reputation.”
“Mrs. Henry,” I leaned forward. “You’re actually serious?”
She lifted her chin. “I am.”
“I’ve got to be honest with you; I don’t have time to date. I run a business. I hardly have time to go out. My brother has to beg me.”
Asher nodded. “It’s true.”
“And plus, we’re trying to go public and—,”
The flustered look on her face spiked my interest. She wanted this badly for her daughter. “I’ll give you a million, Mr. Jenkins. That’s plenty for you to take the next step to going public. We both need each other. I can take you to an entirely new level of the business world. But, I need my daughter to be seen in a positive light for a while. Would that be enough for starters?”
One million dollars? Jesus Christ. Hell yes, it’d be plenty. “Okay, so what happens if she starts to have feelings for me? I’d ruin her.”
Asher raised his hand. “I’ll do it.”
“No,” Mrs. Henry snapped. “Your reputation isn’t the most pleasant one either.”
Asher grinned from ear to ear. “I could show her a better time than my brother, ma’am.”
“Exactly,” she nodded before looking back to me. “I need someone who’s going to give her a relationship, not a good time. My daughter has been around the block and back. I don’t know why, nor do I care, but I do need her to stop. If one more newspaper gets printed with my daughter’s name in it, it’ll kill our Christian Academy sponsorship. They’re one of our biggest clients. I’m at my wits end. You’re my last option. Can you help me or not?”
I glanced at the picture again, and my dick pressed against the zipper of my slacks. It’d been a while since I entertained a woman, well, rather than just a casual fuck. Those were easy. Dating was difficult. It required emotion, time and thought. Something I had never been too good at.
There was no denying I was attracted to her. She’d be easy to like, to spread wide. A part of me felt exhilarated knowing I’d have her within arm’s reach. The nagging voice in my head warned me, though. She was used to moving on quickly; I’d have to woo her, thrill her. The dominate part of me ignited at the challenge. The other side of me, hell, I didn’t think that side existed anymore. I’d lost it when I became a business tycoon. Softness has no room in the boardroom.
I stroked the scruff of my jaw and closed my eyes. “I don’t know. I’ve never met her before. I know nothing about her. I can’t just dive in and—,”
Mrs. Henry shook her head. “Of course you can. She’ll come home easily with you.”
Wow. Even though the girl had a reputation, I couldn’t imagine a mother so openly admitting that her daughter sleeps around. A small part of myself felt bad for her, for Sydney. “Okay,” I whispered. I can do this. I need to do this. “I’ll do it, but it needs to be on my terms. I need to watch her for a while. I want to meet her, so I’ll know how to approach her.”
Asher groaned. “What are you watchin’ for? Shit, she’s a girl, not a criminal.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I like to do things my way. You’re not the one who would be datin’ her, I am.”
Asher rested his palm over his stomach. “Ah, I forgot how controlling my big brother is. Always in control.”
Mrs. Henry’s smile widened when I looked back, and her hand awaited mine. “You have yourself a deal. We’re having dinner Friday night; you can come by and meet her.”
I glanced at the blank space on the check she’d slid my way. “For leverage,” she says.
I nodded. “I’ll have the terms after I meet her. I appreciate doing business with you.”
She stood but stopped. “Please don’t say a word of this to anyone. If she found out—I’d never see her again.”
The sadness on her face hit my chest. “You have my word, Mrs. Henry.”
I watched as she walked out, slipping by Katy who held our coffee. “Am I dreaming?” Asher laughed.
Leaning back, I stared at the check. He wasn’t the only one. This kind of thing doesn’t just happen. “You’re awake.”
Laughing, he shrugged out of his suit jacket. “Is this the responsible, law-abiding brother I know? You must be regretting your decision now, right?”
I wasn’t. No way would I have agreed to this if anyone else offered. I needed that sponsorship, and if pretending to date a fine-ass woman made me a bad person, then damn me
to hell. “No, not yet.”
Asher pulled out his cellphone and began scrolling the screen. “That sponsorship means a lot to you.”
“It does,” I said.
He chuckled. “Well, brother, I think you just laid the first brick in the foundation of our empire.”
I traced the lines of her face in the picture; my brain screamed trying to justify my decision, but my body reared up in anxiety. I could do this easily. Being easy wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I wanted to do it. Money or no money, I wanted to fuck her. How could I have never seen her face in the paper? How had I missed something so tempting?
“I think so too.”
Asher clicked his tongue. “You’re thinking naughty thoughts already, aren’t you?”
I grinned at the picture. “You have no idea.”
He chuckled. “Don’t go making her fall in love.”
Reluctantly, I placed the paper inside my desk drawer, along with the blank check. “I have a meeting in ten minutes,” I said.
Asher tossed a paper wad into my trashcan. “Sure. I’ll see you Friday night after you meet her, I have to hear everything.”
I watched him walk out of my office, and give me a shit-eating grin as he walked passed my window. My eyes jumped to my desk drawer where her picture laid. I shook my head and raked my hands through my hair.
I can do this. What was one party-obsessed princess to me? I’d been promised my dream to date a gorgeous girl. I couldn’t think of an easier way to get everything I’d always wanted. I’ll just keep my emotions at bay, use that acting class I was forced into my freshman year.
Chapter Three
Sydney
I walked into my parent’s house with white, ripped skinny jeans on and a beanie. I knew it was childish to dress down on purpose, but sometimes seeing the horrid look on my mother’s face just—fed my soul.
The food smelled amazing. To be honest, it was half of the reason I made the weekly visit to my parent’s mansion. Being a grown up always seemed like so much fun until it actually happened. Paying for my own things on my art teacher salary sucked ass. Family portraits lined the hallway. Portraits that were there for show. Portraits of us before everything went to hell. I didn’t glance at them because I didn’t need a reminder of what my brother looked like. He haunted my dreams every night.
Despite my recent visits, it wasn’t the scowls on my parent’s faces that slowed my pace, it was the man in the button-down shirt sitting across from my seat at the dining table.
“Sydney, come inside.”
My mouth parted at the sight of him. The darkest of nights couldn’t compare to his James Dean hair. A pair of pale green eyes held my stare. But it wasn’t his eyes that made me turn my head but the way his mouth turned up into the meanest-sexiest smirk I’d ever seen.
“Sydney!”
I focused on my parents. My mother’s terrified expression at my jeans didn’t even make me smile, my heart pounded too loudly in my head, he was all I could focus on. “Sorry,” I whispered, walking the short distance to the table.
When he spoke, it hit bone. His voice was deep and rich like I had imagined. “I’m Cash Jenkins,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Henry.”
One breath, two—gasp—three breaths. Slowly, I looked up at him. Like I feared, being closer to him made my stomach tighten, my heart rate quickened. His cologne collided into my space, demolishing any chance of me getting him out of my head. “Sydney,” I said.
The corner of his full, full mouth twitched. “Sydney,” he said, and it felt right to hear his voice speak my name. I watched his lips for a few seconds too long before lowering my gaze to the table.
Dad grunted. “Well good heavens, come sit down. I’m about to starve to death.”
“You sure can’t tell,” I whispered, sliding my backpack to the floor beside my chair.
Mother clapped her hands once. “It’s so lovely for you to join us, Cash. I’m sorry you had to wait.”
I rolled my eyes, knowing my mother sent daggers my way. “My class ran late, Mother. If you’d read your text messages, you’d know.”
She waved me off.
“You teach classes?” he asked.
I swallowed and shifted my gaze to his. “I teach art classes at the gallery on Pecan.”
Cash shifted forward, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up above his forearm, showing me the muscle that hid behind the fabric. “Are you any good?”
Dad chuckled from the end of the table. “That’s debatable.”
I felt Cash’s eyes on my face, but I stared my dad down. “Beats working for the family business.”
Dad’s dark eyes darkened. “Where’s our food, Luna?”
Luna hollered something back that I couldn’t decipher. She was the only woman allowed to talk back to my dad, even though I did it anyway. She just didn’t get any flack about it.
Her Cajun fish was the best thing you’d ever put in your damn mouth. And my dad loved to eat, so he’d tolerate anything to keep her around.
Luna came out a few seconds later, her long braid that matched my own hung loosely down her shirt. Her dream catcher necklace swung with each step. The huge smile on her face told me that she knew the guy sitting across from me was gorgeous. The woman had practically raised me since birth. Let’s say my mother didn’t really have that motherly touch.
She pressed a kiss to the top of my head and sat the crab legs down in the middle of the table. “Sweet honey, I’m so glad to see ya here.”
I turned in my chair to hug her. “He’s sexy as sin,” she whispered into my ear. I giggled.
“Secrets don’t make friends,” my mother said.
Luna flung her braid. “And how do you know how to make friends, Mrs. Henry? I didn’t realize you had any.”
Mom’s face flushed red; her eyes shifted to the wine in her right hand. It had become a permanent fixture lately.
“Stop nagging my wife and give me my food, Luna. You know how I am when I’m hungry.”
Luna rolled her eyes, and brought out the rest of our food, not before making a grand show of bowing.
“Well, finally,” Dad said. “Let’s eat.”
How in the hell am I supposed to eat with him sitting across from me—no, in the same room?
I nibbled at my plate while Dad dominated the conversation. It only took me a few minutes to realize it wasn’t a business dinner which spiked my interest. Why was he here? Was my mother trying to hook me up with this guy? He’s a little old for me. How old is he? I didn’t want to give my mother the satisfaction of knowing I’d enjoyed someone she’d set me up with.
“What do you think, Sydney?”
When I glanced up, my fork clanked against my plate. His demeanor was relaxed. One arm draped around the empty chair beside him, the other rested on the scotch glass I hadn’t realized my father had poured him. “Hmm? About what?”
He looked down at his plate, and I couldn’t recognize the look on his face, but his jaw tightened. “I didn’t realize I was so boring.”
“No,” I blurted out. “I mean—I’m sorry. I zoned out.” Mouth, please meet my foot.
Dad shook his head. “I didn’t expect anything more.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. “Why don’t you explain it to the entire class, Dad?”
Dad narrowed his eyes. “I saw the newspaper this week. It doesn’t take a genius to know that you don’t do a lot of anything. Don’t think I forgot about it already. Your mother and I are fed up with it.”
Crap. Why would he bring this up now? Did they bring this man here to humiliate me? “Yes, because enjoying myself is something we Henrys just don’t do. When’s the last time you and mom had fun? Or had sex?”
I knew I’d gone too far when Dad’s right eye twitched. He slammed his hands down onto the table, rattling our plates. “Life isn’t fun; life is hard work. And life sure as hell isn’t about sex.”
Warmth slid underneath my skin. Everything tol
d me I didn’t belong in the room anymore. Someone had sucked out all of the oxygen. How did this even happen? I stood from the table and grabbed my backpack. “Everything tasted great Luna,” I said, because I knew she stood behind the kitchen door, listening.
I bolted from my seat, not giving the dining table another glance. When the humid August air touched my skin, I relaxed. My parents wouldn’t come after me, they never did. I was only five yards away from being in my car. I stepped off the stairs, and that’s when I felt five large fingers wrap around my elbow. He spun me around, roughly, pulling me dangerously close to him, the heat from his hand scorched my skin. “Wait,” he whispered, his eyes dropping to my mouth. His pale eyes shined vibrantly in the moonlight. I had a hard time believing anyone could speak to him without melting. “It was good to meet you, Sydney.”
I opened my mouth to speak but shut it. I had hardly said two words to him. My dad had gotten drunk and ruined it all. I almost asked him why he was really there. Why he’d torment himself, but I’d probably never see him again. It didn’t matter. “Yeah, you too, Cash.”
One Week Later
“So, you’re leaning away from pink and silver?”
Frankie groaned into the phone. “I hate this. Why did I have to fall in love with him? Why did I say yes? I mean these decisions are going to be the death of me.”
I shoved opened the art galleries door with my butt. “Stop bein’ so melodramatic. I’ll try to come up with more suggestions tonight. My class starts in ten minutes.”
“Well, email me those colors when you get them. I’m cooking for Jeremy tonight.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sounds like so much fun.”
She snorted. “If you’d cook for a guy, he’d ask you to marry him too.”
I snorted. “I’d never cook for a guy unless I was promised good sex in return. My love for doggie style could possibly outweigh my hatred for cooking.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’m honest.”
Mr. Scott wasn’t at his desk, but I saw his office door cracked at the end of the hallway. If I had to guess, he was mid-season into Grimm. I readjusted the box full of fresh canvases and hauled them toward my office, my phone pressed against my shoulder. “You’re too honest,” Frankie said.
