BAD BOY ROMANCE: FAKE FIANCEE ROMANCE: Breaking Bad (Jealous Friend Alpha Male Temporary Counterfeit Romance Secret Love Thriller) (My Fake Fiancé Obsession Romance Bad Boy Love Collection Romance)

by Dagny Rand

  Jeremy, in a very serious, business tone replied, “Actually yes, Jeremy is the name that I use. It is the name that I use all of the time.”

  “That’s your name?”

  “It is what I prefer to be called.”

  “And your last name?”

  “Wilson”

  “Okay, Mr. Wilson, how long have you been in web design?”

  “I have been working in web design for six years now. I started a few years into college with internships and after changing my major to it began designing websites fulltime. I graduated college and immediately began work for a web design firm. After that apps started taking off, so I began developing those as well. I eventually moved into private contract work, which I still do now.”

  “So you no longer work for a firm?”

  “No. I do freelance and independent contracting. I prefer this kind of work because I want flexibility in my life. At a big organization, I become just another employee with a number attached to them. My friends complain all the time about the politics and bureaucracy that exist in big corporations. I realized early on in my career that it was not for me”

  “I see. How much did Deanna tell you about what I needed done?”

  “She told me that you need an upgraded website and an app.”

  “That is very true. I run a blog site and a media company.”

  “She told me that as well. I took a look over the site yesterday.”

  “And?”

  “It seems to be well designed, but I noted a few things that could use work. I think the site could use some optimization to run more smoothly and quickly, as well as a better interface for better site navigation. My key area of focus is on the user interface. You can have a great product , but you lose out on sales because your site is not user friendly. ”

  “Now before we get into that, how much do you typically charge to design web sites?”

  “Depending on the type of website I typically charge between 3000 and 5000 dollars. Possibly less for more basic sites, possibly more for more advanced. For apps, I usually charge around 5000. I don’t see myself charging you more than $10,000 for both. Along with all this, I also run a few focus groups to test the sites capabilities with every users. ”

  “You don’t even know what I want yet”

  “You’re Deanna’s friend”

  “How do you know, Martin, by the way?”

  “He went to college with my cousin RJ”

  “Oh, you’re RJ’s cousin?”

  “Yes”

  “Oh okay. Well, Mr. Wilson, everything sounds alright so far. I will need to look over your work to be sure, of course. In the meantime, I brought over some of the ideas I had.”

  Paige reached into her bag and pulled out a folder, handing it across the table to Jeremy. The whole time he did not break eye contact with her. Again, she felt that swooping feeling. There was something about this guy that seemed a bit…off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She made a mental note of it. At the same time it had taken everything she had not to become entranced by that deep smooth voice. He spoke very slowly and carefully, as if he measured every word before uttering it. She didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. Either way she tried to keep her mind on business.

  Meanwhile her stomach growled once again. Without looking up from the documents she had just given him, Jeremy asked, “Would you like to order?” She wondered if he had heard her stomach. She shook off the thought and replied, “Yes, actually I would. I’m very hungry.” Paige felt slightly that the business aspect was over, yet she also felt like it would be better if she kept her guard up. She could not get a good read on Jeremy and thought it better that she not be vulnerable.

  She flipped through the menu and chose what she thought she might like. When she looked back up, Jeremy was still going over the documents. She hesitated then asked, “Do you know what you would like?” Again, without looking up he replied, “Yeah, I’ve been here before.” In a way she felt relieved that he was no longer staring her in her eyes. In another she was slightly disconcerted that he wasn’t looking at her. She flagged down a waiter.

  As soon as the waiter approached Jeremy looked up. They each gave the waiter their food and drink orders and once again they were left alone. Jeremy reached down into his bag and pulled out a tablet. Looking Paige in the eyes once again, he handed her the tablet across the table and said, “You said you wanted to see some of my work. Well here are some of the web pages and apps that I have done.” Jeremy got up and walked to Paige’s side of the table and stood behind her. Crouching low and looking at the tablet over her shoulder, he reached over and clicked on the different apps explaining the different functions that he had installed. He then clicked in the browser and went through some of his websites.

  He was not really touching Paige, yet he was close enough for her to feel his body heat. She was looking at his hands. He had big, strong, yet soft looking hands. His nails were clipped and clean. He seemed very well put together. His mustache was clipped to perfection. His hairline was exact and his hair was well put together, yet in place. She began to wonder if he was a vain, pretty boy. Yet he didn’t seem to give off that aura. He did, however, smell amazing. What she saw of his work was very impressive. He did indeed know what he was doing and seemed more than worth the money. She hoped it wouldn’t be awkward to work with him though.

  Once he had shown her everything he went back around and sat down. Just then the waiter returned with their food and drinks. For a few moments they ate in silence. Having quelled her hunger a bit, Paige said, “Well, Mr. Wilson, I am very impressed with your work and I think you are the man for the job. I am ready to begin whenever you are.” Jeremy took a bit of time finishing his bite before returning, “Thank you. I will need to come into your office so that we can discuss terms of service and we can go from there.”

  “Sounds good. By the way, not to get personal, but why haven’t I seen you at any of RJ’s parties.”

  “It’s not my scene.”

  “Oh, I guess you’re not a party animal like he is.”

  “No. He’s very different.”

  Paige was beginning to realize that Jeremy only ever said what was absolutely necessary. He did not make any spare remarks or small talk. He spoke deliberately and scantily. She thought it was very strange. She hoped he wasn’t a weirdo. But she supposed being so incredibly good-looking could affect how you communicate with people. He was downright beautiful. Again, she sought to keep herself in check. She called over the waiter to pay the check.

  When the waiter put the check on the table, both she and Jeremy reached for it. She was surprised. It was typical of business meetings that the company representative pays the check. Yet here he was grabbing for it. Without withdrawing her hand she said, “I can pay for it. It is a meeting that I called, so it’s fine.” Jeremy did not withdraw his hand either and replied, “I’ll pay.” Something about the way he said it made her pull back and let it go. There was a wild energy coming from him that told her not to challenge him. She was just ready to go and call her boyfriend.

  Once he had paid they both got up from the table and walked together out of the restaurant. He had parked further down the street so after seeing her to her car, they shook hands, planned to meet at the office the following day and parted ways. Paige watched him drive away. She still wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. No sooner than she had sat in the car her best friend Deanna was calling. Paige answered, “Yes Mo.”

  “Hey girl! How was your meeting with Jeremy?”

  “How did you know it was over?”

  “I figure you didn’t have much to talk about.”

  “He’s not much of a talker.”

  “Nope. Never has been. He’s a man of few words. But girl, isn’t he beautiful?”

  “Why didn’t you prepare me?”

  “There is no preparing for him.”

  “What’s his deal?”

  “RJ said he’s always been like
that. Apparently he’s been through a lot in his life. RJ said he doesn’t really know a lot about him himself.”

  “Well I guess I’ll find out more soon”

  “You hired him?”

  “Yeah. He’s qualified and he doesn’t charge a ridiculous amount. He’s actually giving me a deal.”

  “That’s good. Well if you need me to come by I will. You know, for support.”

  “Whatever girl, you are married.”

  “Married, but not blind.”

  “Bye Deanna”

  “Bye girl”

  Following this conversation, Paige called Leo and asked him to come over. He said that it was short notice, but he would be there later. Leo showed up, an hour later than he was supposed to. Thankfully, Paige had gone ahead and eaten. After greeting him and sitting on the couch pretending to watch TV for a while, Paige began to kiss him, at first softly and then passionately. Before long they were in her bedroom tearing at each other’s clothes. As they fell over on her bed, Paige realized that she was thinking about Jeremy. Imagining it was his strong hands caressing her body. His lips that she was kissing. She had not called Leo over out of longing for him. She had done so out of longing for Jeremy.

  She felt a sense of guilt and yet she told herself that they were only thoughts. She would never cheat on Leo, no matter how incredibly gorgeous and sexy Jeremy was. It was just her imagination. She was particularly energetic that night and made love to Leo like she couldn’t remember making love to him before. She kept hearing Jeremy’s voice in her head. Leo did not seem to notice. Afterwards he rolled over into blissful sleep and Paige lie there awake wondering what it would be like to see Jeremy again. She told herself that she would be fine.

  The next day, Jeremy showed up exactly when he was supposed to. This time he was in a suit, though he remained tieless. The women in the office almost swooned when he walked in. Paige had to bat them away. One of her gossip bloggers, Chris, was also popping up with questions, giving Jeremy the eye, so she had to tell her assistant to keep everyone away from the conference room.

  Once again Jeremy was direct. They went over the terms of their contract and he sat there and typed it up as they spoke. Afterwards he printed it on the laser printer and actually signed it on the spot. Paige looked at the signature and it indeed said Jeremy. Once Paige had added her own signature, they got to business. She began to detail what she would like to see and Jeremy made a rough drawing on paper. After they got down the basic aesthetic, he began doing the actual programing on his laptop.

  They had been working nonstop for nearly an hour and a half when Paige received a call that Leo was there to see her. Paige immediately felt guilty, like she was caught. She reminded herself that she had done nothing wrong and left Jeremy in the conference room to go see Leo. She was surprised because Leo rarely came to her office, even less without telling her. She noticed that when she walked up he looked beside her as if he expected her not to be alone. After giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek she asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you. I missed you.”

  “Oh that’s sweet.”

  “I thought you were supposed to be working with the web designer today.”

  “I am.”

  “Oh, he’s still here? Oh, well introduce me. I was thinking maybe I could do some business with him as well.”

  Paige was suspicious about his motives, but guided him back to the conference room all the same. They walked in, but Jeremy’s back was to the door, so they had to walk around to face him. As soon as they did, Jeremy looked up. Paige looked at Leo and could immediately detect hostility in him. She couldn’t really blame him. If she walked into Leo’ job and saw a woman this beautiful working with him, she would probably be upset too. Jeremy just sat there, not saying a word. Paige broke in, “Um, Jeremy, this is my boyfriend Leo. He’s an executive at Champion. You know the record and management company. Leo, this is Jeremy.”

  Jeremy got up from his seat and put his hand out to shake Leo’. He said nothing. Leo sized him up with tight lips. Although Paige was never really able to read Jeremy’s expressions and it hadn’t truly changed, she still felt somehow that he did not like Leo. After taking another moment to look Jeremy over, Leo said, “So, Paige tells me that you are a freelance web designer.” Jeremy simply nodded. Leo went on, “Well, I was thinking perhaps you could do some work for my company. There are artists who need sites and the company is going through some ideas for apps. It could be very profitable for you.”

  Jeremy took a moment, apparently thinking over Leo’ words. After taking a beat he said, “Maybe. I’d have to check my work load.” Leo was clearly stunned by this response. He chuckled and said, “You do realize how large a company Champion is, right?” Staring him right in the eyes, Jeremy answered, “Yep”. There was an awkward silence following this single word. Leo did not seem to know how to respond to that. He was used to getting his way, particularly when throwing around the possibility of a lot of money. Yet here was Jeremy, unmoved. Following this strike out, Leo took a different approach. He pulled Paige close to him and said, “We are thankful for your service. Paige and I have been talking about this for quite some time. If you do a really good job, there may be a nice bonus in it for you.”

  This was Leo’ way of establishing dominance. He was basically telling Jeremy that he was his boss. Leo often used this tactic when he felt the person he was dealing with was not aware of his power. Again, Jeremy seemed unmoved and did not even acknowledge the remark with a reply. The only response he gave was taking his seat again and going back to what he had been doing before. Apparently, this was him dismissing Leo. It seemed for a moment that Leo was going to press him, but instead he steered Paige from the room. Before exiting, Leo threw back over his shoulder, “I’ll be seeing you again, Jeremy.” There seemed to be a threat in the statement. Jeremy carried on as if he had not heard.

  Leo and Paige walked back to the elevator in silence. Once they got there and Leo had pushed the button, he turned to Paige and asked, “What’s his deal?”

  “I don’t know. This is only the second day I’ve known him. Deanna says he’s just quiet.”

  “Well, watch out for him. I don’t trust him.”

  “I’ll be fine. So you’re going back to work?”

  “Well I have a lunch meeting to get to. Oh and I won’t be seeing you for the rest of the week. I have to go on a business trip.”

  “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I’m telling you now.”

  “But look at how you’re telling me.”

  “What do you want me to do? You know what my job is.”

  “You could at least give me notice.”

  “I didn’t find out until this morning. Look, its fine. I’ll see you when I get back.”

  Leo went to kiss her on the lips, but she pulled away. He recovered with a kiss to her cheek. The elevator came and he stepped in. Before the doors closed he said, “I’ll text you when I land.” Paige just turned and walked away. She hated when he acted like that. He could be so arrogant and inconsiderate. Times like this she had to remind herself of why she loved him. He could be truly sweet and romantic. He showered her with gifts and took her on amazing trips. He was good-looking, smart, funny, charming, and successful and he loved her. Still, he could really push her buttons.

  She re-entered the conference room and Jeremy turned towards her. He beckoned her closer saying, “Take a look at this.” On the screen was a beautiful markup for her new and improved website. It was sleek, appealing, with a great layout. He showed her some of the functions that he had installed along with new menus, a site map, social media integration, interactive graphics, and even a better looking comment section. She was incredibly impressed and could not believe how quickly he had gotten it all done. She suddenly felt that she had gotten him extremely cheap. He handed her a detailed instruction manual, complete with all of his contact information in case she needed IT assistance.
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br />   Jeremy then shut down his computer and began to pack up. Paige just watched him for a moment before asking the obvious question, “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes. I have other work. I’ll have to do the app another day.”

  “When are you next available?”

  “Not during the day anymore this week.”

  “Oh really? I was hoping it could be up as soon as possible.”

  Jeremy hesitated. He made direct eye contact with her again and then said, “Well, I will be available at my place after 6 as soon as tomorrow, if you don’t mind coming there.”