Page 25 of Down & Dirty

“Black is fine,” I muttered taking the first blessed sip.

“You feeling okay?”

Settled on the wooden chair in the corner of his bedroom, he had his own mug of coffee in his hands. It was early, the low sunrise light from the window beside him just bright enough to ensure I didn’t miss how perfectly handsome he still was. As if it would have killed him to look at least a little worn down by the late night.

I dragged my eyes away from him, “I’m fine.”

He had that look of concern again. The one I’d seen in the flashes of my memory from last night. While everything was a blur, and I doubted I’d ever be able to tease out the whole night, the fact that he’d brought me back to his place, set me up in his room while he took the couch...it was all downright shocking. I suddenly felt like I had no idea who this guy was. And that was rare for me.

Cory shifted in his seat, putting his mug in the other hand, and fidgeting as if he was nervous. “I think there’s a solution here,” he paused, clearing his throat. “To both our problems.”

I knew my brain was fuzzy, but it stuttered outright. “What problems?”

He tilted his head back and forth, choosing his words. “You need an injection of cash to ease your circumstances. And I need...”

He trailed off and my heartrate spiked. He’d never told me what his real issue was. Or why another starlet wasn’t the easiest way for him to fix it. I kicked off the blankets, my body suddenly feeling flushed at how he was looking at me.

“You weren’t wrong last night in thinking another relationship would be helpful in my situation. But it can’t be another model. Or actress.”

“Too much drama for you?”

He laughed, but it wasn’t real. His expression was tight, as if he was actually nervous talking about this with me. “Something like that.” He took a quick drink of his coffee and then set the mug on the floor beside him. “I’m willing to compensate you for your time. And we can certainly agree to terms,” he paused to look me in the eye, “in writing.”

I shook my head, still trying to clear the cobwebs. “I don’t understand. What are you willing to pay me to do?”

His lips tilted into a sort of resigned smile. “To be my girlfriend.”

If I’d had coffee in my mouth, I’d have spit it out all over his nice gray sheets. But just because I didn’t do that didn’t mean I was capable of containing the least ladylike sound to ever exit my body. It was something between a laugh, a cry, and a hiccup. It felt awful exploding out of me, and based on Cory’s expression it sounded pretty bad, too.

“You’re insane.”

“I actually think this is a rather reasonable proposition.”

“I can’t date you.”

The idea was impossible to imagine. Me arguing with him every second? Me being irritated by every single thing he said or did? Me wanting to be as far away from this egotistical jerk as humanly possible? All perfectly logical to me. But being in any sort of relationship? No fucking way.

He shook his head. “You wouldn’t. Not really. We’d do some public appearances, let the press take some photos. We’d construct the narrative however you want. And in return I’d pay you for the trouble.”

I scratched my head, brushing my bangs away from my face. Was I feverish? I pinched my arm as Cory got up from his chair, coffee in hand.

“You’re not still asleep, and this idea isn’t as crazy as you think. I’ve done this before, a dozen times. It’ll be the easiest work you’ve ever had.”

“So, you’ll pay me to show up in pictures with you?—”

“Looking like mygirlfriend. Not glaring at me or cussing me out.”

I huffed. “As if any woman dating you wouldn’t be doing exactly that 90 percent of the time? Please. You’ve been paying women to be nice to you for too long.”

He laughed again, the sound a deep rumble that filled the room. “Then maybe we should call this acting, and you can think of it as playing a part in an absurdist play. One where I’m not the arrogant idiot and you’re not the overbearing hard ass.”

“So, I’m earning my first Tony? Okay. Fine. That’s all well and good. I get paid, and you get what? Why me? There are plenty of women who aren’t models or actresses. You could just as easily employ one of them for your little charade.”

I didn’t know why I was fighting this so hard. I might not like the guy, but I needed the money. Still, there was something else he wasn’t telling me. When Cory’s expression fell, I thought I’d hit a nerve.

“You’re the best candidate for a number of reasons. We have proximity in our favor; being on the same team means we’ll have an easy time scheduling ourrendezvous.”

I rolled my eyes at the way he put on a French accent for the last part. He winked in response and went on.

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