Page 133 of Just One Fake Date

“Oh yeah,” Kyle said. “We’d be idiots to let her get away.”

“The competition could use her if she’s freelance,” Damon said. “Let’s get Shannyn on the payroll.”

Only Cassie saw Ty’s small smile of satisfaction before it was gone.

She wondered what it meant.

She’d bet it had something to do with that ring.

Shannyn was brilliant.

Ty was blown away.

Her idea would take the club to the next level—if not several more after that—with a minimum of risk and capital investment. It could lay the groundwork for opening other branches in other cities, something Kyle always wanted to do yet a financial obligation that concerned Ty. It would build their brand and their profitability, if managed correctly, and could even augment the sense of community they already had at the club.

Absolutely brilliant.

It had been the longest meeting of Ty’s life, because he hadn’t been able to speak up. He’d promised Shannyn that he wouldn’t ensure she got the work and it had nearly killed him to just ask the occasional money question—that was his responsibility, and he’d hoped each time that she had a reply. He’d sat there, dying to shout that she was brilliant and they had to do this thing, but quietly scribbling notes instead.

He’d nearly kissed Theo for making the suggestion that he thought was obvious and inevitable.

Ty was itching to get upstairs and crunch the numbers but he was sure that this initiative would make it possible for him to have just one job.

At Flatiron Five Fitness.

Which would give him time to invest in a relationship.

He knew exactly the one he wanted.

Shannyn was jumpythe whole way home. She didn’t know whether to be elated or exhausted, and she was both. She thought it had gone well. She hoped it had gone well. She wanted the work so badly she could taste it.

Waiting was the hardest part.

Once she got home, she ate and fed the cat, then looked for something to do. Aidan had left a note that he’d gone out for a beer, which was about as surprising as the sun rising in the morning.

Rather than sit and fantasize, Shannyn began the task of cropping and filtering the photographs of his journey. She saw a lot of Madrid, was impressed by his eye for composition and color, but even being immersed in what she did best didn’t distract her.

Then her phone rang.

Shannyn jumped. It was dark outside and Fitzwilliam was snoring on the empty laptop keyboard.

Her heart jumped when she saw it was Tyler.

“I didn’t do it,” he said when she answered.

“Do what?”

“I didn’t fix anything, make a single suggestion or encourage discussion to go in any direction. It was the longest and most excruciating meeting of my entire life, but fortunately, I have very smart partners.”

Shannyn dared to hope. “What does that mean?”

“They eventually came to the right conclusion.”

“About?”

“You. Theo suggested we offer you a full-time job, to do the social media work and the images and video for this new initiative. We’re all in agreement.”

Shannyn wanted to shout in triumph.

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