Page 2 of Forbidden Games

It wasn’t quite a question, but he answered it anyway. “I didn’t put together a nondisclosure, but I can do that if you need to make it official.”

“That won’t be necessary. Your word that it stays between us will be enough.”

Curiosity curled through him. He’d had clients insist on confidentiality in the past—it was more the rule than the exception—but this felt different. He set the thought aside and focused on the job. “It would help if you’d describe the position you want filled. It gives me a general idea of what you’re looking for, and we can narrow it down from there.”

She met his gaze directly, her blue eyes startling. “The position I need filled is a husband.”

Gideon shook his head, sure he’d heard her wrong. “Excuse me?”

“A husband.” She held up her left hand and wiggled her ring finger. “Before you get that look on your face, let me explain.”

He didn’t have anylookon his face.A husband. Where the fuck does she think I’m going to find a husband?He opened his mouth to ask exactly that, but Lucy beat him there. “The timing isn’t ideal, but gossip has come down the grapevine that I’m being considered for partner at the end of the year. While that would normally be a cause for celebration, some of the old guard have very strong beliefs about single women.” She rolled her eyes, the firstLucything he’d seen her do since he’d arrived. “It would be laughable if it wasn’t standing in the way of what I want, but I watched Georgia get passed over for a promotion last year for this exact reason. She wouldn’t bend and they chose her male competition instead.”

She was dead serious.

Gideon took a breath, trying to approach this logically. Obviously she’d put a lot of thought into the idea, and if she was misguided, that didn’t mean he had to verbally slap her down.ThisLucy, put-together and in control, was a far cry from when he’d seen her last, sobbing and broken. But that didn’t change the fact that they were one and the same. He could handle this calmly and get her to see reason.

But calm and reasonable wasn’t what came out of his mouth. “Are you out of your goddamn mind, Lucy? I’m a headhunter—not a matchmaker. Even if I was, getting married to secure a promotion is bullshit.”

“Is it?” She shrugged. “People get married for much less valid reasons.Ialmost married for love before, and we both know how that ended. There’s nothing wrong with handling marriage like a business arrangement—plenty of cultures do exactly that.”

“We aren’t talking about other cultures. We’re talking aboutyou.”

Another shrug. As if it didn’t matter to her one way or another. Heloathedthat feigned indifference, but he didn’t have a goddamn right to challenge her on it.

She met his gaze directly. “This is important to me, Gideon. I don’t know about kids—I love my job, and having babies would potentially interfere with that—but I’m lonely. It wouldn’t be so bad to have someone to come home to, even if it wasn’t a love for the ages.Especiallyif it’s not a love for the ages.”

“Lucy, that’s crazy.” Every word out of her mouth cut into the barrier of professionalism he fought so hard to maintain. “Where the hell would I find you a husband?”

“The same place you find people to fill the positions normally. Interview. We’re in New York—ifyoucan’t find a single man who’s willing to at least consider this, then no one can.”

Gideon started to tell her exactly how impossible it was, but guilt rose and choked the words off. He thought this plan was bat-shit crazy, and the thought of Lucy in some loveless marriage irritated him like sandpaper beneath his skin, scratching until he might go mad from it.

But it wasn’t his call to make.

And he was partially to blame for her single status right now.

Fuck.

Gideon straightened. No matter what he thought of this plan, when it came right down to the wire, he owed Lucy. He knew that piece of shit Jeff had cheated on her, and Gideon had kept his mouth shut for a full month before he’d told her the truth. That kind of debt didn’t just go away. If she was coming to him now, it was because she’d exhausted all other options, and his saying no wasn’t going to deter her in the least—she’d find a different way.

Really, he had no option. It might have been two years since he’d seen Lucy Baudin, but that didn’t change the fact that he considered her a friend, and he’d never leave a friend hanging out to dry when they needed him. Gideon might have questionable morals about most things, but loyalty wasn’t one of them.

She needed him. He’d have found a way to help her even if he didn’t owe her.

At least if he was in the midst of this madness, he’d have some ability to keep her as safe as possible. He could protect her now like he hadn’t been able to protect her from the hurt Jeff had caused.

If she was crazy for coming up with the plan in the first place, he was even crazier for agreeing to it. “I’ll do it.”

Lucy couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of his mouth. It was too good to be true. Attempting to rope Gideon Novak into this scheme had been her Hail Mary. She was desperate and he was the only one she trusted enough to even attempt something like a search for a husband. But she hadn’t thought he’d actually agree to it.

He said he’d help.Shock stole her ability to speak for a full five seconds.Say something. You know the drill—fake it until you make it. This is just another trial. Focus.She cleared her throat.“I’m sorry—did you just say yes?”

“Yes.” He studied her face with dark eyes lined with thick lashes, which she secretly envied. Gideon had always been too attractive for Lucy’s state of mind. His dark hair was always styled in what she could only call “rakish,” and his strong jaw and firm mouth would have kept her up at night if he wasn’t firmly in the friend zone.

At least, he used to be.

She set the thought aside because going down the rabbit hole of despair that was her relationship with Jeff Larsson was out of the question. It had ended, and her friendship with Gideon had been a casualty of war.

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