Page 20 of RAKEish

“If that never occurred to you, you don’t know Frankie Peterson very well. She’s vicious. Can you get her to change her mind?”

Ms. Birdie frowned. “Part of her contract when she was hired at Naked Runway included a snippet in which I agreed not to interfere with her decisions during her first year on the job.”

He sighed. “That’s really too bad.”

“There was a plus side to making that agreement. You see, when she made that demand, it opened the door for me to require certain concessions that worked in my favor.”

“You’re nothing if not shrewd.”

Ms. Birdie waved off the compliment with the flick of a hand. “Tell me everything that was said in your meeting. Any little detail could assist me in fixing what I’ve unwittingly broken.”

Scott took a sip of his beverage and then dove into the details of Frankie’s plan.

When he had finished, Ms. Birdie smiled. “I can work with that.”

“How so?” He and Doc were as incompatible as a mime and a karaoke machine. “Given my curse, there’s no way I’ll fall in love with her in that timeframe. And I can’t imagine her capturing the heart of another rake that quickly, either.” He exhaled a heavy sigh, the weight of the situation settling like a stone.

“Darling, I am not at all worried about the outcome for you. I believe in your techniques. Granted, they are sexist, and that is what gets under Luxury’s nerves, but nevertheless, they work on rakes. She just needs to find one that falls in love with her at first sight. Which, I believe, is how most men like you lose their heart.”

He ignored the men like him comment. “The chances of her meeting the one rake who is going to fall for her instantly are preposterously low. Let’s face it, I’m playing on the losing team.”

“Granted, the turnaround time we have is a wrinkle, but I’m quite good with an iron.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. The conversation was giving him whiplash. “Then you are rooting for me and not Luxury?” That made no sense. “A moment ago, you hit me up to be her wingman.”

“I am rooting for you, and you will be her wingman…in the sense that you will equip her with the necessary tools to win the heart of any man. Which is exactly what Frankie has asked of you.”

“Not just any man. He must be gossip-worthy with a tendency toward scandalous behavior. And I’m still not following your logic.”

“The confidence that will come from having a man like yourself declare his love to her will help soften the fall for Luxury when she loses her career no matter the outcome of your challenge.”

“No matter? I’m still not following.”

“After viewing all the social media buzz, her reputation is in tatters. As a result, I fear the hiring committee will be directed to cut our losses and go with our second choice for the position. And, as much as I’d like to fight them on Luxury’s behalf, I’m not sure they would be wrong to do so.”

He sighed.

“This is why I’ve decided to be an invisible fairy godmother to Luxury to ensure she has a soft landing, and your visible fairy godmother to ensure you win the challenge.”

“That sounds like a fairy godmother conflict of interest.”

“Not at all. With my help, you will still have your career when the challenge ends, and she will have love, with the side bonus of my helping her to find a new career. Win-win.”

“Why are you going to so much trouble? There have to be other candidates waiting for a fairy godmother who are more deserving than either myself or Doc.”

“The two of you may have made the initial mess that started this whole quandary, but I’m afraid my meddling exploded the mess. Thus, it’s my sworn duty as a fairy godmother to clean it up.”

Before leaving to meet Ms. Birdie, he’d checked his socials. He’d been tagged in two new memes. One was an image of Lux with the words written underneath: ‘Just say no to ugly.’ The other meme was a shirt-torn image of him and a group of women who were reaching for him like he was some damn rockstar they just wanted to touch. It had been an advertising stunt for Naked Runway. For RAKEish. Under it had been the words: ‘Just say no to rakes.’ The first had caused him to grimace, the latter to chuckle.

“You mentioned you had two favors to ask of me? What is the other?”

Ms. Birdie’s eyes danced with a hint of mischief. “Darling, you’ll be delighted to know, I saved the best for last.”

He raised an eyebrow, skepticism running rampant within. “Considering the first favor was to help Lux, I’m certain the second will be better.”

Her smile widened, exuding an enigmatic confidence. “Not just better. This one’s a true game changer.”

“Dare I ask?” he said, intrigued.

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