Page 14 of The American

Chapter 8

Thad questioned everything about this new plan on their ride back in the taxi. What was he thinking? Everyone in Torren would have a heyday. It might even require him to return for a press conference. And starting a real relationship with Sage? Was he certain such a thing was wise? They would be working together. He hadn’t gotten close to a woman in years. A part of him panicked.

“Your palm is getting sweaty.” She rubbed her thumb around on his damp palm. “Are you having second thoughts?”

Her eyes filled with worry and part amusement. He liked this woman. Way to call him out.

“I’m terrified, if you must know the truth.”

She burst into laughter. “But you sounded so self-assured. Had me totally taken in.” She toyed with his fingers. “Should we go through with this? Now that I know you aren’t one hundred percent sure this is a good idea either?” She shook her head. “Typical.”

“Typical. You hardly have a handle on my typical.”

She only raised an eyebrow, waiting.

“Okay, Yes. I do think we should go through with it. The best thing is to take it one step at a time. We start slow and see where this goes.”

Their cab pulled in front of the office building.

“Ok. Let’s go tell the boss, boss.” Sage’s face made him smile, the mask of determination settled, but her mouth quirked up in a fun little smirk.

“Oh no, we are partners in this. And Zachary isn’t our boss. He’s more of an advisor. We have to remember that.”

“I’ll try.”

But they both knew he held quite a bit of sway on the board and could vote them out of a job.

After a short meeting, Zachary seemed reasonably pleased with the idea. They billed it as a slow burn kind of romance and that they would see where it went. They promised to keep the press engaged. With the understanding that it might not lead to marriage.

Once that meeting was over, they both breathed more freely. As long as they kept their true designs a secret from everyone but themselves, their new plan could be a huge success and fascinating fun besides.

Thad looked forward to their first date, only nudged by concern when thinking of Lucan, his brother in charge of Torren security. They all called him the Spy. And Thad often suspected he was a legitimate spy. He would disappear for weeks on end without explanation, and the things he knew were always unexplained and uncanny to Thad. So, would he know what was up in Thad’s CEO fake relationship?

If Lucan didn’t know, Thad’s mother certainly would.

But how much of this new act would be fake? Sage was something special. He danced a careful walk with her. For the first time in a long while he had come across a woman with potential. He hoped their farce wouldn’t cost him his chance to see where things could go with her.

He shrugged to himself. She would be difficult on all counts, as attached as she was to New York and her career. But he was impressed with her, loved her drive and intelligence. And she rocked the business suit.MMM. They’d have to go running. He bet she rocked running shorts even more.

Sage cleared her throat. “I have no idea what you’re thinking over there, but we have to get to work…with the actual running of the company. I’ll be in my office.” She rested a hand on his shoulder as she walked by and the feeling lingered long after she was gone.

His phone dinged the arrival of a text.Lucan. “What are you even thinking, brother? Are you insane?”

He refused to answer. No sense being irritated Lucan knew things before they happened. But he still was.

“Call tonight on the secure line.”

No response from Thad. Lucan would reach him if he needed.

Thad closed his office door. He was working on a business plan idea he had for the company and the more he thought about it the more excited he became. The company’s numbers could be better. With his suggested tweaks, he bet their return on investment could hit the roof. He hoped so. Because this sort of thing is why he came to New York in the first place. He wanted to work in business, make use of his MBA, try to turn a profit.

His secretary paged him. “Someone named Monique on line 2.”

He groaned, then clicked on the line. “Monique?”

“Thad honey, how are you doing?” Her milky voice made him cringe.

“I’m doing great! How are you? Nice to hear from a fellow citizen of Torren.”

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