Page 33 of Tied Up in Riches

“He’s known me for two months–if that. It’s not like we’re best friends. I know nothing about him besides the color of his sheets and how he likes his coffee.”

“She is my employee,” I chime in, attempting to clarify it as a reason why this would make it a worse idea instead of better.

“Two very important things a girlfriend would know.” Lexy winks, ignoring my statement altogether. “Marcus, come on. You need a vacation. You’re long overdue. Plus, I don’t want to feel guilty when Troy and I take an extra long honeymoon. This will make me feel better.”

“I already assured both of you about taking time off, Lexy. But I can’t do this. I don’t have the time,” I say, on edge that she put me in this situation I can’t be in.

Lexy shoots me a glare before softening for Brooke. “Don’t worry, girl. We’ll come up with something.”

Brooke reveals her signature half-smile, full of equal parts hope and doubt, and some stupid fucking invisible string tugs on me. Fuck. I’m not ready for her to leave. I am overdue for a vacation. “Troy has been bugging me about taking a vacation.”

Both girls’ eyes snap to me. “What?” they say in unison and shock. Fucking hell. I hardly registered saying the thought aloud.

I let my justifications race through my mind before committing. It won’t be during the fall colors, but a hike on the East Coast would be great if we could get away from her family. I don’t mind Brooke’s company. A few days hanging with her wouldn’t be bad.

“Connecticut. I need a vacation,” I confirm, praying panic isn’t laced through my voice.

“Trust me,” Brooke says. “This would be anything but a vacation. My mother is not easy to convince or deal with in general.”

Lexy waves her hand in front of Brooke’s face as if she could physically swat away her argument. “Marcus can handle it. Can’t you, Marcus?” I run through the points of contention. I’m her boss. She’s one of Maci’s best friends. If we’re in a situation where I should be touching her, how the hell will I ever go back to not touching her? This is a terrible idea.

With both the girls’ eyes on me, Brooke can’t see the smirk on Lexy’s. The little devil knows exactly what she’s doing. The question is, is it her own game? Or one based on a previous conversation? This is a disaster waiting to happen. But it has been a while since I’ve had a good challenge. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Ignoring me, Brooke asks, “What about your work? Your non-bar work?” Panic fills her voice as if she can feel her excuses slipping away. “It would probably make more sense for you to go on vacation when I can be here to do things for you.”

I pull my phone from the front pocket of my jeans and open the calendar. Scrolling through the next few weeks, I’m surprised by the flexibility in them. “Charlotte and Emma are in production for the next few weeks, so we can’t do much there. I only have one meeting that I can’t reschedule. The rest I can check on remotely.”

Lexy’s eyes widen. If she’s shocked by my willingness to rearrange my schedule, that makes two of us.

“Oh. Okay. Well . . . if you’re sure you don’t mind. You heard the part about having to pretend to be my boyfriend, right?”

“I heard.”

“So . . . you’ll have to act like we’re in a relationship.”

“That is what being a boyfriend means.”

“You might have to . . . I don’t know. Kiss me or something.”

“Believe it or not, I do know how to do that.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Well, I guess we’ve been working well together already. Just a different kind of work.”

“It won’t be work,” I assure her.

“Oh. Okay. Sure.” She stumbles over her words and her face flushes in a way that makes me wonder what else I could say to draw that reaction from her.

“I’m so brilliant,” Lexy sasses. “I’ll leave you two to figure out the details.” With that, she walks away.

Brooke kicks the doorstop out of the way and closes the door, trapping us in the small space. “Seriously, you don’t have to do this. Don’t feel pressured or anything. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Brooke. I’m a businessman. I don’t make deals I’m not confident about.”

“This isn’t really a deal, though. There’s nothing in it for you. I mean, of course I’ll pay for everything. But–”

“Stop trying to talk me out of this. I made up my mind. It’s enough that I’m helping you. Like I’ve said before, a friend of Maci’s is a friend of mine. And I could use help getting Troy off my back. I haven’t taken more than a couple of days off since we bought the bar over a year ago.”

“Alright then. Let’s get this over with. I’ll get your ticket tonight.”

---