Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Right. About that…you said one million? After hearing all your requirements and how available I’ll need to be, I think it’s worth two.”
I blinked, shock radiating down my spine at the direct shift in conversation. “Are you negotiating with me?” I asked, totally amused by her boldness. “I plucked you out of a crowd of strangers, sweetheart, and you want to ask for more money?”
Aspen shrugged, not at all shying from my response. “You need me,” she said, and my heart jolted.
I really fucking did.
I didn’t have time to track down anyone else, especially when my friends had already seen Aspen and I’d told them she was my girlfriend. I had to see this through, if only to prove to them I was fully capable of being in a relationship, which, for all intents and purposes, this would be a real relationship.
I wouldn’t be with anybody else, and neither would she. We’d spend a lot of time together, getting to know each other, and at the end of it we’d go our separate ways. If that wasn’t a relationship, I didn’t know what was. The only non-relationship part of it was that we wouldn’t be having sex, which, yeah, that sucked, but it was for the best.
“One point five,” I countered her offer, reaching into my drawer and pulling out a checkbook. “One point five million,” I said again. “That’s what you’ll earn at the end of three months as long as all contractual obligations have been held up by both parties,” I continued, scribbling down an amount on the check and tearing it off. “And you can have this now for expenses.” I handed her the check, and she took it, her lips parting slightly as she looked at the amount. “How does that sound to you?” I asked when she remained silent for a heartbeat too long.
Aspen put the check into her oversize bag that she’d hung on the chair. “I think that sounds fair,” she said. “When will I see the contract?”
“I’ll have it to you by the end of the day,” I answered, and we both walked toward the door.
“And what if I don’t like what I see in that contract?” she asked, looking up at me as we lingered in the open doorway.
I grinned down at her. “Like what?”
“What if you slip something in there about me having to clean your mansion or scrub your bathroom floors with a toothbrush? What if it says I’m obligated to give you a kidney or that you’re going to use me as food in some crazy underground rich-guy scheme—”
A laugh ripped from my lips, and I shook my head. “I saw that movie. It was horrifying.” I shuddered, remembering watching the film alone on one of the rare nights I decided not to go out. “I may have movie-star good looks, but don’t confuse me with that type of man,” I said. “I’ll tell you right now, I have zero interest in hurting you, humiliating you, or putting you to work as a maid. Technically, you’ll be working for me since we’ll be in a mutual business agreement, but you know what I mean. Take your time with the contract, read every line. I’ll even pay for a lawyer who has your best interest at heart if you’d like to have somebody else look at it.”
“I can do that,” she said, and we quickly exchanged information, emails, and phone numbers. It felt almost official between us.
The only thing left was getting her to sign.
“I’ll text you later after I’ve read it,” she said, and then lingered in the doorway, almost like she didn’t know the proper way to say goodbye to me.
I winked at her. “We’ll worry about physical gestures after the ink dries.”
She sighed a relieved breath, and spun out of my office.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the way she held her head up as she walked, as if she owned this building instead of me. Couldn’t take my eyes off the way her luscious hips swayed as she moved. Couldn’t take my eyes off the curves of her body, begging to be touched, caressed, teased.
By this time tomorrow, if Aspen agreed to all the terms and signed the contract, I’d be in a relationship…
I’d be in the first relationship I’ve had in over a decade.
Aspen would be all mine for three whole months.
Mine in every way that mattered except for the one I normally wanted.
It was going to be a long three months.
CHAPTER 4
Aspen
“Awedding?” I blurted two minutes after I’d settled into the private jet that Crossland had invited me on. “You want to hard launch our relationship at your best friend’s wedding?”
My head was still spinning from all that had transpired in the last week. Crossland and I had gone back and forth on some of the contract negotiations, like just how available I had to be, but we finally settled on a clear-cut three-month relationship, and I’d signed it.