Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“No.” I shake my head. “I need the practice,” I tell him, lifting my eyes to his.
“Practice?”
“Never mind.” I grip his hand tighter when the plane begins to move… and then start to panic when he gets up out of his seat.
“What are you doing?” I gasp, looking between his now empty spot and him.
“Relax, I’m just gonna get you buckled in.” He squats down in front of me and takes my bag from my grasp, placing it on the ground before sliding his hands down my hips. I’d like to say my body does not react to him being so close while touching me, but my nipples pebble and my breath catches in the back of my throat. When the lock of my seatbelt clicks into place, he lifts his head, and our eyes lock. “Now you’re safe.”
Why do I suddenly feel like that’s totally not true?
“Thanks.” I clear my throat, and he gives me a grin that catches me off guard. I know he’s a good-looking man; I knew that from the moment we met, though if he were a jerk but smiled at me like this all the time, I would not give one fricking flip how rude he is.
He stands and takes his seat, and I expect him to… I don’t know… maybe ignore my existence? But instead, he leans across the aisle toward me and takes my hand in his once more. So distracted by his touch—besides a dip in my lower stomach as the plane lifts off the ground—I don’t notice anything else.
When the plane is in the air and evens out, Tom’s voice comes over the intercom, letting us know the flight is going to be about six hours and should be smooth most of the way.
“You asked why you’re here.” Jace lets go of my hand, and I focus on his face.
“Yeah.”
“I have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition?”
“I need you to pretend to be my fiancée for the week.”
“What?” All the blood rushes from my head, making me feel lightheaded.
“My mom has been on me for the last year to settle down, and I don’t have time for a relationship nor to deal with her and her million-and-one questions or suggestions this week. I need something to distract her while I close the deal I’m working, and what better distraction than me showing up with my new fiancée?” He pulls a box out of his pocket and flips it open, showing me a way-too-huge diamond ring. “Ouch! What the fuck?” he yelps.
“I needed to know if this was a dream.”
“You’re supposed to pinch yourself, not me.” He glowers in my direction as he rubs his arm.
“I’m not going to give myself a bruise you idiot.” I look around and realize there is no way to escape this insanity. We are literally in a tin can in the middle of nowhere. “You’ve kidnapped me.”
“What?” He sounds horrified.
“You have me on a plane with no way to leave.”
“I didn’t kidnap you.”
“This feels a lot like kidnapping, Jace!” I shout, and he reaches over, covering my mouth with his hand.
“Stop saying I kidnapped you,” he growls, and I glare at him. “I’ll give you fifty thousand dollars.”
My eyes widen. With that amount of money, I could pay off my mom’s medical bills and my student loans plus have a little left over.
“You’re serious?” I whisper after pulling his hand away from my mouth.
“Of course I’m fucking serious.”
“You want me to pretend to be your fiancée for a week for fifty… thousand… dollars.”
“Yes.” His jaw clenches.
“I don’t get it. Why are you asking me?”
“You weren’t my first choice.”
Ouch.
“Thanks,” I say sarcastically.
“Look, the girl I hired got food poisoning. She informed me this morning before I called you. I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d be able to trust on such short notice.”
“You trust me?” I huff out a laugh.
“Christy trusts you, and I trust her with my life.”
“Are you sure the girl you hired got food poisoning and didn’t just blow you off because she decided no amount of money is worth putting up with you?” I raise my brows.
“Trust me, she didn’t blow me off. Not like that anyway,” he says smugly, and my nose scrunches in disgust.
“You’re so gross.”
“Hmm,” he mutters, then asks, “What do you say?”
“So, I just have to pretend to be your fiancée for a week and keep your mom away from you so you can work? Nothing else?”
“Nothing else.” He holds the box with the ring out toward me, and my heart starts to pound. Could I do it?
Should I do it?
I look at the ring, then him.
I know I shouldn’t. There is no way I should even pretend to be his fiancée, but that money could help out my mom and me. And it’s one week. You can do anything for one week if it’s worth it. Right?