by JN Welsh
“Oh, my goodness.” Elle was mortified. “I gotta go.”
“Come on. Stay for our meeting.”
“Why? So you can make me feel even more foolish? This was a bad idea” She slid into her coat.
“No, so I can provide you with the service you need. You reached out to the agency for a reason.” He placed his warm hand on hers and she sunk back into her chair.
Her mother’s message played in her head and the anxiety of being the only adult out of the Rudolph-Berry clan—without a significant other—seized her shoulders.
“Let’s start with something simple. I’m Nicholas Partridge. I go by Cole P. but everyone calls me Cole.”
The timber in his voice calmed her like a rocking chair and cradling arms. He stretched out his hand.
Her voice sang with flippancy. “Partridge? As in A Partridge in a Pear Tree?” She shook his hand and her eyes dried from opening so wide.
“Yes.”
She didn’t take off her coat, but she met his eyes. “Noelle Rudolph, but everyone calls me Elle.”
“Rudolph, huh? I guess you’ve never heard of a reindeer with a red nose, have you?”
“Ha-ha.” She zeroed in on the way his lip curled to one side.
“What do you do, Elle?”
“Umm…I’m a business development accountant by trade but have been building a side business in graphic design for the past few years.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Do you have experience with start-ups?”
Did she ever? Startups were all she handled these days from tech start-ups to specialty online businesses. The landscape had changed dramatically over the past five years, calling for creativity in business development and structure.
“That’s mostly what I do. Everything from helping with business forms to drawing up business plans and prospectuses.”
“Hmm.” He scratched his chin.
“And you? What does a gigolo do besides take on lovers?”
“Wow. You make a lot of assumptions, don’t you?”
“You’re telling me you’re not sleeping with women for money?” she whispered.
Cole pulled his shoulders back against the chair, distancing from her. “You mean prostitution? No, I don’t do that, honey.”
“One, don’t call me honey and two, that’s bullshit. You can’t sit here and tell me that gigolo—” she air-quoted “—isn’t just a front for your prostitution ring.”
“If that’s what you believe, why did you seek out an escort? Do you want to get laid? Because I can refer you to a different service.”
She bit her lip realizing the statement said much more about her than him. “Because that’s what I need—an escort. I don’t need a sex buddy.”
His eyes studied the likely scowl on her face. “No, you just need sex. You’re so pent up it’s scary.”
Elle wanted nothing more than to wipe the mocking smile off his face. “Fuck you.”
He scoffed. “You wish.”
“Oh my God. Why am I still here?” She raised her eyes to the ceiling before closing them.
“Because you need me.”
Her threats to leave were just that. She hated to admit it, but he was right. She needed him, but she wasn’t about to vocalize it and give him the satisfaction.
“I don’t need you. I need a professional to play my boyfriend, not a man oozing—I am an escort—who has sex with women to get his ratings up.” That she needed to add that last dig made her even more pitiful.
“I’m the best professional there is, not to mention all you got because everyone else is booked.”
She crossed her arms.
“Look, I’m sorry about the other night, but I’m sure some other dude eased the blow.” Cole frowned at the words. “And you probably bitched about me to your friends, so we’re even.”
“Hardly.” She wasn’t going to make it easy for him, but she was glad he apologized.
“Maybe I can make it up to you.” His lowered tone soothed like warm milk and honey.
“What does that mean?” Her pits started to sweat.
“Perhaps, I can give you more time or a discount on the rate.”
“Oh.” She prayed he didn’t hear the disappointment in her voice. His behavior the other night and finding out he was a gigolo did nothing to dull her attraction to him. Had he been any other gigolo, this would have been easier. They only met recently and already had history. Bad history.
“Elle?” He brought her back to the present. “Tell me why you need this.”
“I need someone to pretend to be my boyfriend for eight days—a few days before Christmas day to just before New Year’s Eve.” The words were like thick bitter wax coating her mouth.
“To get your parents off your back?”
“More like my entire family.”
“I’ve heard this scenario before.”
“You have experience doing something like this?” She was hopeful that maybe, despite their awkward reunion, he might still be able to help her pull this off.
“No.”
“No? But you said you’ve heard this scenario before.”
“Yes, from my other colleagues. I don’t normally work the holidays. In fact, I’m leaving the agency. You would be my last client.”
“Leaving the agency?” This peaked her interest. “Why? Done sexing the east coast?”
“Funny.” Sarcasm dripped from his statement. “I’m actually starting my own consulting business and I have a very lucrative contract in the works. I just have to set up my business. I need time to get the documents and waivers done and the contracts reviewed. I didn’t have the opportunity to do it with a heavy list of clients.”
“I’m sure it was a heavy list indeed,” she mumbled. “Then we’re done and I’ve just wasted my time.”
He stopped her again. “Hold on.”
“What?” She had never given a dude she was disgruntled with this kind of time yet with Cole, she was drawn back to him and his dead-end suggestions.
“I’ll make an exception, if you help me.” His eyes brightened with idea energy.
“Help you? I thought this meeting was set up for you to help me.”
“Yes, but if you help me get my business stuff together, I’ll be your boyfriend for eight days.”
Though he slouched casually in the chair, he had an air of something she knew all too well. Stress. She had something he needed and vice versa.
“Well, if we are going to barter, then this has to be an even swap. My services for yours.” She knew she was negotiating the impossible, but she would try.
“I can’t do that. That’s almost twenty-five thousand dollars you’re asking me to leave on the table.”
“Yeah, but you aren’t walking away empty handed. I’m going to set up your whole business and give you valuable advice and suggestions that people pay my firm big money to get.”
“Ten thousand. You set up my business and give me a tutorial on everything you did so I can manage all aspects myself.” He squinted his eyes.
Elle did the math in her head. “That’s a steep discount.”
“I owed you for the other night.”
“Thank you.” Even though she would still be paying more money than she could justify, her business capital wasn’t completely depleted, and she might still be able to leave her firm in the New Year.
His next words put her in high alert mode. “I’m not finished.”
“Of course, you’re not.” She swigged the last of her latte like a shot of white rum.
“You have to listen to me so we pull this off without a hitch.”
“What does that mean—listen to you?” Her forehead muscles tightened and WTF hung on the tip of her tongue.
“It means I have the experience with being a hired boyfriend. There are things we can do to make this easy and convince everyone that we’re legit dating. But you have to follow my advice. You may ask questions for clarification, but no ob
jections.”
She half expected him to blindfold her and spank her with a paddle. “Are you going to tie me up now and ask me to submit?” Once she blurted the question, she wanted to gulp them back because the thought of him doing any of those things to her made her shiver in her puffy coat. Her eyeballs scanned his broad shoulders down to his strong hands.
“Elle?” The way his tongue ran over his bottom lip, and the slanted smile curving into his cheek, made it all too clear he’d caught her admiring him.
“Yes, sir,” she swallowed. What the fuck? “I mean. Yes.”
“I asked if you were okay with those arrangements.” He struggled to stifle a chuckle.
“If it’s going to help us appear to be a believable couple without my family suspecting a thing? Then, yes.”
Cole once again offered his hand to her. “We have a deal?”
They shook on it.
“Deal.”
CHAPTER FOUR
She was going to rent a man with her business savings. Suze Orman would be so pissed off at her. “But she might be a little proud of me for negotiating a semi-bartering deal and saving some money. After all, this is an emergency,” she muttered on her way home.
Over the next two days, she readied for Lake Placid. She passed on the details to her ‘new boyfriend.’ Cole planned to pick her up and then they’d drive up together. Since Cole had appointments in the city and documents to gather for her, they didn’t meet again. Instead, they agreed to discuss their performance during travel time.
The morning Elle waited for Cole to pick her up, she finished unplugging appliances and securing her place when she heard a loud rumbling, rattling her brownstone windows. The noise wouldn’t have been so bad if it was late morning or early afternoon, but it was seven-thirty in the morning on a Sunday, and the roar of an engine echoed through the sleeping streets of her neighborhood. Before she peeped through the window, she knew it was Cole.
She had offered to rent a car, but Cole insisted on driving his vehicle. Little did she know it was noisier than a freight truck revving at high speed. She peered down the street as a white Dodge Challenger muscled into view. The exhaust either had to be custom or his car had muffler problems.
Elle opened the door before he even exited the car.
Cole climbed the front steps with pep. “Good morning.”
He dared to kiss her and Elle jerked back, not because he moved to kiss her but because he was the finest specimen of man she had ever seen. He was dressed in a thick cream turtleneck sweater, dark blue jeans, and brown boots. The frigid air carried enough of his narcotizing scent to stun her.
“Y-your car is so loud.”
“Good morning to you too, Cole—mwah.” His lips puckered against the air.
“Sorry. Good morning. It’s just…your car woke up half the neighborhood.” That and I almost ripped your clothes off.
“They’ll live. Plus, you’ll like it.” He raised his eyebrows a few times.
She pulled on her coat. “You know there is snow where we’re going, right?”
“I have snow tires.” He grabbed her luggage and a few bags of presents. “Is this everything?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Cole’s mood bordered between pretty chipper and hyper. Was he always like this so early in the morning? When she got in the car, she saw two to-go cups in the holder.
“Coffee?”
“Double espresso,” he corrected.
“That explains it.”
“I got you what you had at the coffee shop. I hope it’s okay.”
She picked up the cup and hovered it over the center console. “You remembered?”
He shrugged. “That’s what fake boyfriends are for.”
She again thanked him as they rolled onto the road.
Cole navigated the less busy city streets. “Mind if we take the scenic route? It’ll give us more time to rehearse.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Though she had invited him, he had taken charge of getting there. She still wasn’t sure about his vehicle but had other concerns on her mind, like getting to know her new fake boyfriend.
Several hours later, Elle’s head whirled. She had been tanked on coffee and flat-lined. She and Cole had stopped at a rest stop to stretch their legs and take a potty break. Since they left the house, they loaded up on data about one another. Most of which was basic facts chronicling how they got to the present, but lacking depth.
Cole pulled into the parking lot of an inn about two hours out from their destination. He turned off the ignition, got out of the car, and stretched. “Hungry, sweetness?”
“Starving.” Elle followed his lead and reached down to touch her toes after exiting the vehicle.
The inn had a cozy, rustic restaurant. Upon entering, holiday wreaths and twinkly lights decorated the space, and the smell of savory grilled food filled the dining area. Her stomach growled in approval. They were seated and handed wiped down plastic covered menus.
Elle settled for a quiche and salad combo, while Cole ordered a burger, fries, and a side salad.
“Is this what you like for breakfast?” Cole asked after handing over the menus to the waitress.
“No, I sometimes will make a smoothie-to-go during the week.” Elle thought about her busy workweek. “But on the weekend I like to make more elaborate meals like a frittata, pancakes, muffins…. You?”
“I normally make a protein shake after I work out in the morning and then have poached eggs with toast or a goat cheese and spinach omelet. I get more creative at lunch or dinner, but to stay in shape, I keep it pretty much the same.”
Elle made a mental note about his food preferences but wasn’t sure this one would stick until she replenished her body with some food. Her mind struggled with pushing away the thought of Cole working out, sweaty, and half naked.
“I know you have a Trinidadian background, but do you also cook that type of food?”
“Sometimes, but so many people in my family make it better than me. Put it this way, when it comes to cooking Caribbean food, I’m not your last resort, but definitely not your first. I’m a better baker, I think.”
“Fair enough.”
“Do you cook?”
“I’m pretty good in the kitchen. I took a class with one of my clients. Learned a few knife skills and some foundational recipes that can take a dish from okay to wow.”
Her shoulders seized at the mention of his client. It sounded like they were dating, but wouldn’t what they were doing now fall into the same category? She willed herself to neutralize the bit of jealousy grating on her nerves and toyed with the timepiece dangling from her neck.
“Let me see if I remember.” Elle recalled the facts he told her in the car. “Your mom is white, Irish and your dad is black from the Dutch side of St. Thomas and they met in New York where they lived and had you. Then they moved the family across the globe for different missions, settled in England for a bit where you went to high school. Then you went to college here in the states?”
“Good memory.”
“I’m not horrible with details it’s just that we have so much to remember and little time. It’s worse than any kind of speed dating, ever.” Elle rubbed her forehead.
“You’re doing great. So,” Cole continued. “The whole way up, you told me who is who in your family and some basic facts. Now, I need to really get to know you. Tell me something very few people know about you.”
“I like to tinker with watches.” Her eyes followed her food as the waitress set it down. Elle gave thanks.
“That’s one I haven’t heard before. Sounds complex.”
“It kind of is because it requires precision and if you mess up one thing it will ruin the others. Everything’s interrelated.”
“How’d you get into that?”
“When I was younger, my Grand-dad showed me. He was a horologist. I’ve recently finished one I built from scratch. About three years in the making.”
“Did you mak
e it for yourself?”
“No.”
“A gift?”
“Sort of.” She ate a few bites of food and felt better. She didn't want to share the details about the watch with Cole because the watch was for someone who wasn’t in her life. “How about you? What do few people know about you?”
“I’m kind of a nerd about astronomy. I like to camp and stargaze,” he delivered through discreet chews.
“Really? That’s pretty Zen. I expected cigar collecting or rock climbing or something similar.”
“Your judgment and preconceived notions work to my advantage. I’ll always surprise you with the contradiction. However, to your credit, I do that stuff, too. I’m actually excited to snowboard at the lake.” Elle had noticed the snowboards attached to the top of his car when he arrived.
“Hello? Not so preconceived if you actually do those activities, Cole,” she chided him. “You any good? At snowboarding?”
“I’m decent.”
Elle doubted that Cole was just decent at anything. “So what would your mom say is your best feature?”
“My butt,” he replied without hesitation.
Elle almost choked, and then laughed when she recovered. She would agree. Between his firm ass and his lips she didn’t know which one she wished to experience first. She had left sex off the table but they never agreed that it wasn’t a possibility between two consenting adults.
“You?” Cole interrupted the racy path her thoughts were taking.
“My eyes. From afar they’re black but when you get closer they give off this gray ring. I have no idea where I inherited it from but it’s the strangest thing. Other than that my mom would tell you I have skin as smooth as butter.”
“Your mom knows what she’s talking about.” He studied her face and figure.
Elle’s next exhale was so heavy it felt like a twenty-pound kettle bell was on her chest. She didn’t respond and when the bill came, she closed out the check and they left.
They stepped back into the frosty winter air of upstate New York.
“Let’s take a quick walk through town.” Cole clasped her gloved hand and she jerked it away.
Cole stopped moving.