Page 16 of Boss With Benefits

It had to. It was the only option. ‘I’m willing to give it a try.’

‘What weoughtto try is getting it out of our systems.’

Her head began to pound. ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of. What if it doesn’t work? What if it gets worse?’

‘If I remember correctly, you have three weeks’ leave coming up,’ he continued, completely ignoring her very valid point. ‘So what I’m suggesting is that as soon as the audit is over, we spend your time off doing just that. No lines will be crossed. There will be no conflict of interest. Just sex. And lots of it. For a finite period of time.’

Her heart raced. Her mouth was bone dry. God, thisconversation. He should not be talking about sex at work. Or anywhere. ‘Or we could just say farewell on Friday and that would be that.’

‘Is that what you really want to do?’ he said with an assessing tilt of his head. ‘Remember what we did in the bathroom of a bar, Ella? Imagine what we could do in a bed.’

That was the trouble, she thought a little desperately. She’d spenthoursover the weekend imagining what they could do in a bed, and shedidn’twant to say farewell on Friday, which was why she was having to use every drop of willpower she possessed to bite back the desperateyesthat was trying to escape. ‘I might have plans.’

‘Cancel them.’

If she had had any plans, she would have bristled in response to that diktat. But she didn’t. Having bought her own place eighteen months ago and with a pay rise that hadn’t materialised, she’d had to rule out travel of any sort this year. And she was bristling about something else anyway. ‘And what would your girlfriend have to say about you embarking on a sizzling three-week affair with someone else?’

Adam’s dark eyebrows rose for a moment, then lowered. ‘Nothing,’ he said with a shrug of his impossibly broad shoulders and the glimmer of a smile. ‘Because I don’t have a girlfriend.’

Ella stared at him. Was that really what he was going with? Denial? How dared he? She well knew howthatplayed out for the woman concerned. When Drew had been confronted with the evidence of their affair, he’d blamed it all on her, the rat. How she’d ever believed herself in love with him when he’d just been in it for the sex she hadnoidea. At precisely what point had she forgotten that security came from her career, which she could control—as long as she paid attention—and not arelationship, which she couldn’t? Truly, she did not know what she’d been thinking. ‘Well, she and the press are under the impression you do.’

Adam’s unwavering gaze bore into hers. The intensity of it seemed to be tinged with indecision, and she briefly wondered, was he about to spin her a story? Was he trying to work out whether or not she would believe it?

‘The weekend before last, I featured in a magazine article that went viral,’ he said with a wince that looked genuine enough, but who knew? ‘It focused on the dating habits of myself and a couple of friends, implying that we’re all one-date wonders. It wasn’t very flattering. It presented a severe risk to my reputation, to thecompany’sreputation, and it was generating some extremely inconvenient press and social media attention. Annabel agreed to act as my girlfriend for the summer in order to stop it.’

For a moment, Ella didn’t know whether she believed what he’d just told her or not. What with the way this conversation had developed, her brain simply couldn’t process it. And once it had—deciding in the end that it was too mad a story to have made up—all she could think to say, was, ‘Are youserious?’

‘Very much so,’ he replied coolly. ‘I’ve spent four years clearing out the rot caused by my father and rebuilding the Courtney Collection’s brand. I won’t let anything jeopardise the progress I’ve made. Certainly not some two-bit magazine that can’t get its facts straight. That’s not even who I am any more. If they’d bothered to do their research, they’d have discovered that almost all of the women I appear in public with are in some way involved with the company.’

Yes, well, whether or not he was actually a one-date wonder, she could certainly sympathise with not wanting to jeopardise progress. She’d read about the antics of Edward Courtney—who hadn’t?—and occasionally she’d allowed herself to wonder howAdam felt about that, what it could have been like growing up the son of such a man. But what a way to go about it. It seemed like something out of a farce and very much not the behaviour of a controlled CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Although his kiss hadn’t been in the slightest bit controlled, now that she thought about it. It had been hot and wild and desperate, and not a betrayal of anyone, which wassucha relief, because even though she’d been unaware of this Annabel St James at the time, she’d still felt sickened and ashamed when she’d found out about her, as though she’d trampled all over the sisterhood. ‘How long are you planning to keep up the charade?’

‘Until Labor Day.’

‘That’s very specific.’

‘There’s a bet,’ he said easily, as if there was nothing outrageous at all about making such a thing. ‘It involves Helberg Holdings. I imagine you’ve noted that I’ve been buying up the shares. I intend to take it over, but I’m not the only one after it. There are three of us. My fellow one-date wonders. We each now hold a large stake in it. None of us is prepared to back off. It was proposed that to break the dead lock and shut down the reputational damage caused by the article, we each date one woman between now and Labor Day. Anyone caught dating more than one woman in that time relinquishes their claim on Helberg.’

Once again, he’d rendered her speechless. Ella stood there, staring at him, not quite sure where to start with all that. Then she realised that she had the opportunity to get somewhere with her enquiries, and she was damned if she wasn’t going to take it. ‘What’s your interest in Helberg?’ she said, parking her many questions about the bet until later. ‘I looked into the company. Its portfolio is huge and in trouble. It seems an odd fit.’

‘I’m after Montague’s.’

‘The international jewellery business?’

How many times had she walked past the flagship store on Fifth Avenue? Only about a thousand. And how many times had she failed to stop and look at the eternally gorgeous window display? None. Even though, these days, the woodwork was peeling and the signage was rusting, the cases behind the glass were always so prettily filled. She had no interest in the engagement, wedding and eternity rings, of course, but she’d always thought a tennis bracelet or a pair of diamond stud earrings might be nice.

‘That’s the one,’ he confirmed with a nod. ‘It used to belong to the Courtney Collection. It’s been allowed to decline and I want it back. I’ve waited ten years for the chance, and I won’t let anything get in the way of it, whether that’s a threat to my reputation, external competition or problems raised by an audit.’

Ah. So that was why he’d been so insistent on keeping such a close eye on things. And, presumably, why he’d been so willing to ignore a potentially pesky conflict of interest or two. But ten years? Buying an entire conglomerate just to acquire one relatively small company? A bet? ‘It sounds as though Montague’s is more than just business to you.’

Despite his outward languor, a muscle jumped in his cheek. ‘It’s all about the bottom line.’

‘Are you sure it’s not a game?’

‘It’s very much not a game.’

‘Yet you’ve bet on it, which is not only unbelievably puerile but also fails to take into account the agency of the women involved. Plus, you’ve agreed to terms which make no sense, because what if you all win?’

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