by Lauren Wood
7
Jesse
I was running on the treadmill in my in-home gym when the call from Dominic came through. There was always a sense of potential dread that came over me when he called. Usually, it was because I was worried I didn’t do something I should have for work. He and Jason were always harping on me for that sort of thing, and it was even worse now that Eric had left the company.
With our grandfather sick, his phone calls were even more daunting than before. I paused my music and clicked to answer with my bluetooth headphones, barely slowing my pace on the equipment.
“Yeah? How’s it going, Dom?”
“You coming into work today?” he asked snidely right off the bat.
Despite my best efforts to step up my involvement in the company, Dominic and Jason still had it in their heads that they were the only ones who ever did any real work. Just because I wouldn’t live at the office or drop everything in my personal life at a moment’s notice to tend to any little thing that went wrong, I was some kind of deadbeat employee, apparently.
“Of course I am,” I snapped back. “How’s grandpa doing?”
He was quiet for a moment. “About the same. Not…not good.”
I could hear the stress in his voice and finally turned the treadmill off, climbing down to wipe my face with a towel and sit with him for a little bit. If there was anything we could agree on, it’s that we were both losing a man who meant a great deal to us. It wasn’t an easy blow to take after already losing our father.
“When are you going back to the hospital?” I asked after a long, heavy silence.
“Probably on my lunch break.”
“Okay, I’ll come with you.”
“Vanna wants to have everyone over for dinner this evening. Can you make it? Or do you have plans with some random bimbo?”
“Uh…I,” I stammered, wondering if it was time to break the news, but my chest tightened. It seemed like too much. I wasn’t ready. “I’ll be there.”
“Listen, Jesse,” he cleared his throat. “About what grandpa said last week. That whole dying-wish bit…”
“Yeah?” I listened intently, feeling my chest and throat constrict even more.
“Don’t let that get to you. I’ll talk to him. He doesn’t understand that you’re the youngest of us, and three out of four of us settling down isn’t bad,” he offered in an almost pitying tone. “What we really need from you more than anything right now is to do your best at work. Jason and I would really like to bring you up to our level of operations. It’d be nice having a bachelor as a higher up. You might be able to handle some things we can’t since you don’t have a family waiting for you at home. I’m sure that would make our grandfather just as content and happy. This company means a lot to him, after all.”
I had to stop myself from groaning. He always had a way of being just condescending enough to make me feel like a little kid, but it was usually too subtle to call him on it unless he was really mad. I knew what he was saying. He was basically lowering the bar for me. No way could I ever find a wife and do what was expected of me in the company. Just one would be enough.
I was tired of being the target of disappointment. I threw my towel over my shoulder and stood up to head for the shower. First, I’d make it into the office early. Second, it was time to tell him, whether I was ready or not.
“Actually, Dom, I have something to tell you,” I replied smugly. “I’ll be bringing someone with me to dinner at your place tonight. Someone I’d really like for all of you to meet.”
“Oh. Oh, yeah?”
I delighted in the stunned surprise in his voice. “Yeah. I was going to announce it next time we were all together, but I guess I could go ahead and tell you. I’m engaged.”
The line fell silent and then slowly picked up with muffled broken words. I rarely ever heard Dominic struggle to speak, and I couldn’t help but smile over how entertaining it was.
“Really?” he finally spat out. “Engaged?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. We…we’ve been seeing each other for a while. Honestly, I was thinking of popping the question anyway. After grandpa said that at the hospital, though, I decided to go ahead and do it. I can’t wait for all of you to meet her.”
Dominic fumbled through the rest of the call, obviously struggling to wrap his head around the bomb I just dropped. I told him I’d see him that night and hung up. Once I had showered and started putting on my suit, I pulled my phone back out to call Maya but had to stop myself.
Was I even allowed to do this? We had both agreed on moving forward, but we wouldn’t be signing the contract for another couple of weeks. It would take time to get everything finalized and finish negotiating on a few terms. I thought about calling Lisa at the agency to clarify the rules, but then I figured that Maya and I had already bent the rules a little. Why not a little more?
I hadn’t talked to her since the first night we met when we accidentally did the thing we had agreed not to do. I tried to ignore the way my heart was pounding as the phone rang.
“Good morning,” she answered. “Everything okay? I spoke to the agency yesterday, and they said—”
“No, everything’s fine. Listen, I’m actually calling to ask a bit of a favor. I know everything’s not official yet, but do you think you could squeeze in an early appearance with me? I’d pay you. Extra, of course.”
“What kind of appearance?” she asked with slow hesitance.
“My family is all getting together for dinner tonight, and I was hoping to introduce you to them. As my fiance.”
She didn’t answer right away, which made me nervous. As usual, I was jumping the gun on everything. I should have thought this through more before telling Dominic she was coming, but I couldn’t resist knocking him off his high horse. Maya could complain about me to the agency if she really wanted to, though. It could throw this whole thing off. The longer she was silent, the more I squirmed.
“Okay,” she said, still sounding reluctant. “I guess I could do that. We could call it practice, I guess.”
“Great! Perfect. Thank you so much,” I gushed. “You’re really helping me out a lot here. What are you doing around noon today?”
“Noon? I thought you said it’s dinner.”
“It is, but you’ll need a ring.” I let the word hang there between us, hoping it’d get her excited. A diamond for a fake marriage was still a diamond.
“All right. A ring. Of course.” She was trying to keep her cool, but I could hear the anticipation hidden in her tone.
“I’ll send a car to pick you up.”
“You really don’t have to,” she laughed. “I do get around the city all the time on my own.”
“You’re already doing enough. I don’t want you to have to worry about anything.”
She really was doing more than enough. It wasn’t a very well thought out risk to call her up and ask something like this of her without any contract between us, but if she was going to go along with it, I wanted to make it worth it for her.
“Jesse?” she asked just as I was about to hang up.
I gulped a little, hoping she wasn’t about to broach the subject of the other night. I figured it was one of those things where it’d be best if we never talked about it again.
“Just one more small thing,” she continued. “I don’t really have anything to wear. While we’re shopping for the ring, do you think…”
She seemed embarrassed to ask, but I knew what she wanted. “Yeah, absolutely! I have the perfect jeweler in mind, and there’s a boutique right around the corner. I know some personal shoppers I can set you up with there. Maybe you could go ahead and pick out a few things. You know, just in case anything like this ever comes up again. That is if you’re willing to do this again if it comes up.”
“As long as you’re paying, I’ll do it.”
There was warm humor in her voice that put me at ease. I could hear her grinning through the phone, and I was actually starting to get rath
er excited myself to see her that afternoon.
8
Maya
I’ve never been a materialistic person, or so I kept reminding myself as I gazed across the racks of expensive clothes Jesse’s personal shoppers had selected for me. They were the kind of beautiful garments I never thought someone like me could ever dream of looking at, much less trying on and buying.
I was a little put off by Jesse’s request. All sorts of questions ran through my head. Was it smart to make deals with him on the side without a contract to protect my interests? Was I just dipping my toes in the water of being some kind of escort? He was paying me for my time, after all. Wasn’t that all an escort was?
I remembered what he said over dinner about his family’s pressure on him to get married. My whole role in his life was about helping him with that very thing, and dinner with his family seemed to align with those expectations. Besides, if I was going to go above and beyond, I might as well make the most of it and get some extra bonuses on the way.
The shop girls clamored around me, holding up different hangers over me then shoving me off into a fitting room to try things on. No one had ever made such a fuss over me before. It was almost a little overwhelming.
“Your hair is to die for,” one of the personal shoppers gushed. “But just imagine if you trimmed it a little here and wore it up like this.”
While she demonstrated the hairstyle she thought best suited me, the others started throwing out makeup suggestions. One of them turned to Jesse with a commandeering glare.
“You’ll need to take her to the salon,” she ordered.
He smirked and nodded. “Of course. I’ll add it to today’s agenda.”
I didn’t know whether I should feel guilty or not. These chicks were good. They were milking even more out of this than I intended. Was it common for people like us to come into these shops and fulfill some kind of Pretty Woman fantasy?
I slid into one dress that was a particular favorite of mine. It was a short tangerine orange slip that was cinched along the middle and had long flowing sleeves. It looked perfect against my dark skin, accentuated the length of my legs, and hugged all of my curves. I loved it because it was so chic and formal but still seemed like something I would wear. Is this what my life would look like now? Still me, but an elevated version of me.
I walked out of the dressing room to stand in front of the three-panel mirror and seek the shopkeeper’s approval. They marveled over how well the dress fit me and began throwing out suggestions of which heels and accessories to pair with it. In the rush of it all, I almost didn’t notice Jesse’s reflection over my shoulder.
He was standing a few feet back, taking in the sight of me in that killer dress. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was slightly gaping. I couldn’t help but giggle at his reaction, but as soon as I did, he knew he had been caught and composed himself.
“You look great,” he offered as casually as possible.
“Thanks,” I shrugged, trying to keep it low-key even if his obvious approval did cause a bit of a flutter in my chest.
An hour later, we emerged from the boutique surrounded by the store employees who carted the multitude of bags out to the trunk of the car. As they put everything away, Jesse turned to me and held out his arm.
“Now, onto the jeweler,” he smiled.
I eyed his extended forearm with uncertainty. “Should we really be engaging in PDA?” I raised a brow, trying not to state the obvious.
We were both eager to forget what happened the other night, but it did make for a slippery slope we were both treading. If we were going to make this work, accidents like that couldn’t be happening.
“I’m just being a gentleman,” he argued. “Anyway, we’ll have to get used to some PDA around my family, or they’ll get suspicious. As will these salespeople if they see two people afraid to touch each other while shopping for an engagement ring.”
“Fair enough.” I slid my arm into his and let him lead us into the next shop.
It felt like I had slipped into someone else’s life. I had kept on a white suit that we bought at the previous store. Even without the trip to the salon, I was already feeling like a million bucks. I held my back straighter and my head taller. Being paraded around on the arm of a billionaire certainly helped. And we were going to buy a big diamond, no less.
I looked in awe across the clear cases of sparkling diamonds. This was the kind of jewelry I made using gemstones, rocks, beads, and wire. Gold, rubies, diamonds, and silver had never been my medium and were never something I had shopped for before in my life. However, this was a day for a lot of firsts like most things had been with Jesse so far.
As the saleslady pulled out velvet cushions of all the shiny, pretty things, there was strange energy between Jesse and me. We were both trying to play the part of two young people in love, preparing to spend the rest of our lives together, but even I had a hard time telling what was part of the act and what was the genuine spark between us. It was something I wanted to pretend wasn’t there, but obviously, there was some level of attraction, or he wouldn’t have ended up in my bed the other night.
His eyes had a certain gleaming softness in them as he watched me browse and try things on. It was a look of affection I had never really seen shine through so purely in a man, at least not in one I felt the same way about. How did I feel about him, though? What did these little blushing glances between us even mean? Jesse and I were caught up in one of those confusing stares when the shopkeeper interrupted us.
“Are any of these rings winning you over as well as he has?” she grinned.
My cheeks went hot and red. “Oh, uh, I don’t know.” I looked them over again. “It’s a little hard because…well, I guess I just never imagined myself wearing something so traditional.”
I felt embarrassed to say it. He was already dropping a ton of cash on me, and who was I to be particular about a ring for a fake marriage? He seemed unphased, and the saleslady seemed to know exactly what I needed. She held up one finger and said she’d be right back.
She returned with the most beautiful ring I had ever seen in my life. I gulped at the sight of it, feeling overtaken by a surge of emotions, the kind I imagined I’d feel if any of this was for real love rather than some paid arrangement. It was a cushion-cut, three-carat yellow diamond on an eighteen-karat yellow-gold band. I never thought things like carat size or diamond quality really mattered in a ring until I saw this one.
Jesse studied my face as I looked it over. My hands flew to my pounding chest, and my mouth was open wide. My eyes felt misty and glossed over.
“We’ll take it,” he blurted. Apparently, my expression told him everything he needed to know.
The moment he said it, I was broken free from the spell. My eyes immediately darted over the price tag discreetly pinned to the bottom of its velvet casing as the shopkeeper got it ready for us to take.
“No, no, you can’t. I mean, you don’t have to,” I stuttered in a panic. The ring was fifty thousand dollars!
“I want to,” he answered calmly, gently placing his hand on mine as he leaned into my ear. “It’s no small thing what you’re doing for me. It’s kind of a big deal. You deserve to have the ring you love the most.”
I was in a daze when the shopkeeper returned with the ring in my size. It was a miracle they had one in stock and we didn’t have to wait. She joked that it was meant to be and sent us on our way.
Jesse stopped me on the sidewalk outside. “I’ve got to get back to the office. Take the car home. All your other things are inside. Gerald is the name of the driver. He’ll help you get everything into your house. Before that,” he said as he turned to the salon across the street, “head over there and get ready for tonight. Tell them to charge it to my name, and call me if they give you any trouble.”
“Jesse, I…” My hands flew over my lips, trying to hold back the strange sensation that I might start crying. “I don’t know what to say. You’ve done too much.”
>
“Like I said, you deserve it.” He flashed a smile, placed his hands on my shoulders, and then did the most unexpected thing. He leaned forward and planted a lingering kiss on my forehead.
I was standing in shock as he bolted off down the sidewalk. It was a friendly enough gesture, I supposed. At the same time, it wasn’t. It was too soft, lasted too long, and felt too tender. I was too scared to read too much into it, so I swallowed it all down and went across the street. Whatever strange dream world I had slipped into, hopefully, the beauticians at the salon would be able to wash away all the weird feelings for Jesse that came along with it.
9
Jesse
Everything felt more surreal than ever as I walked up to Maya’s door with flowers in hand. I couldn’t believe that just hours ago, we were shopping for an engagement ring together, and now she was about to meet my entire family. I knocked and waited, thinking about how she always had a certain warmth about her. For as crazy as the whole situation was, I knew seeing her smile would put my nerves at ease.
When the door opened, my heart started pounding even faster. The salon appointment had somehow made her even more beautiful, and she was wearing a black dress we had picked up at the shop. It was just tasteful enough for a family affair, but fit her in such a way, leaving just enough exposed skin to bring back a flood of memories from the night we accidentally slept together. I quickly cleared my throat and tried to push away dangerous thoughts like that.
“You look beautiful,” I said somewhat awkwardly, still a little shocked. “These are for you.”
We did the awkward cycle of motions that had become common for us, flinching between a hug or a kiss on the cheek, neither of us really knowing which was appropriate. I settled for a friendly peck on the cheek, but when I pulled back, she was eyeing the flowers skeptically.