Page 16 of Synced to Us

My mouth falls open. I have to clasp the edges of my desk to keep from toppling into my chair. “You…what?”

“My family’s up my ass about my single status. My job is nonexistent. My perfect brother keeps being perfect with his perfect wife and kids, and thank you for reminding me—the press considers me a worthless pile of unnoticeable shit. Fuck, maybe you should come with me to see my family this weekend. Maybe we should pretend to be a couple for a while. It could benefit the both of us.”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

“You’re still white as a ghost over there.” Wyn snaps his fingers. “Because you hate me. Yep. That’s a problem.”

My chin pushes into my neck as I regard him. “I don’t hate you.”

“You’ve never liked me.”

“I don’t know you. There’s a difference.”

“Because you don’t care to know me.”

“Stop repeating my words back to me with different emphasis.” This time, I allow myself to fall into my chair and cover my face with my hands. “This is bad. This is so, so bad. I like my job. I love who I’ve become. I can’t lose it all because of a stupid lie to keep a bloodthirsty coworker off my back.”

“Exactly. So let’s do this.”

I peek at him through my fingers. This barrel of a man squeezed into designer, preppy duds, with his hair coming undone and his cheekbones cut from stone wants to help me.

God. Dammit.

“Quit being so excited about this.” My voice comes out muffled against my palm.

“Why not? It’s a chance at redemption for both of us. Or maybe just me. Who the fuck cares. Your secret will be safe, I’ll get some free fancy food at some banquets or fundraisers or whatever, and you can do some non-investing gobblygook with my money without taking a cut—”

“Wait a minute.”

“—and meet my ma and bro and get them off my back for once.” Wyn stops to take a breath and I jump in.

“Wyn, I thought I made it clear there’s nothing I can do with your money if you won’t let me grow it.”

“Move it around. Transfer shit.”

I sigh. “There’s more to it than that.”

“Then figure it out. I’ll help you if you help me.”

I stare at him for a beat, licking my lower lip in thought. Wyn catches the movement, and something akin to fire licks at my core. Fire I quickly stanch. “From my vantage point, it looks like I’m doing two things for you.”

“Yeah? I’m keeping your secret under wraps and saving your ass at this vulture job of yours. That’s two things, too, gorgeous.”

I stiffen at his easy use of such a loaded nickname. He thinks I’m gorgeous? I drown the thought quickly. “I’m using this statement loosely, but maybe this could work. At the very least, it’ll buy me some time to figure out what to do about Dennis.”

“It can, and awesome. I’ll pick you up at four on Friday to head to the sticks.”

I rub the back of my neck, feeling a headache creeping on at spending more than ten minutes with this man. “This is a transaction. Nothing more. I’ll do you a favor, you do me a solid, and then we’ll part ways.”

Wyn cocks a brow. “Didn’t I just say all that?”

“Well, I’m confirming it.”

“Okay. Consider it written in blood.” Wyn steps towards me, offering his hand.

I stare at it for a moment, then lift my own to clasp his in a shake. I haven’t lifted from my seat, yet my heart ratchets up at the contact, the roughness of his palm scraping against my sensitive skin before I pull away like he’s given me a static shock.

For a moment, his hand hangs in the air above my desk, his expression slack-jawed like he was as unexpectedly affected as I was, before he shakes it off with a comical smile.

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