Page 27 of Maid For Each Other

“Name it,” he said.

I kept my eyes on my feet as I blurted, “I’ll need forty thousand dollars.”

Silence.

I’d expected a laugh or a gasp, but not silence.

“Did you hear—”

“You better look me in the eyes when you’re saying things like ‘forty K,’ honey.”

My eyes shot to his, and he didn’t look as insulted as I’d expected.

Or even shocked.

His green eyes were pinning me in place with their intensity, and he wasn’t smiling, but his voice was absolutely calm when he said, “Maybe you should tell me what’s included with this price tag.”

10

What a Move

Declan

What a fucking move.

Forty thousand dollars.

The girl who’d confessed to having an infestation in an apartment managed by “slumlord jackasses” was demanding forty thousand dollars to spend the weekend golfing, shopping, and eating.

“I will be thebestgirlfriend—we’re talking next-level goddess—as I accompany you to all the shareholder events from now until Sunday at midnight.”

“I find it hard to believe that you couldbethe best girlfriend,” I said, remembering her bullshit fan fic about my ass getting stuck in a wall at the gym. “You’re a sarcastic little shit who enjoys stirring the pot. That doesn’t say ‘forty K’ to me.”

“Well that’s because you were forcing my hand tonight with your bossiness,” she said, her fast blink the only tell that she was flustered. Well, that and the big swallow that brought my eyesdown to the soft neck that I knew for a fact smelled good as hell. “As a volunteer, I will bring my very best work.”

“You can’t use the wordsvolunteerandforty thousand dollarsin the same sentence.”

“Just hear me out.”

“I’m listening.”

“Okay.” She cleared her throat and took a deep breath through her nose like she was doing yoga, then said, “You were going to give me your car, whichseemslike it’s worth more than forty thousand, so the way I see it, you’re getting a bargain. And I promise that I will wow you with just how perfect of a girlfriend I am.”

“You have a point about the car.”

“So you’ll consider it?”

She said it like she was shocked, almost as if I was offering her this $40K deal out of the blue instead of it being somethingshehad just thrown at me. No poker face at all.“I’d say we have a deal.”

“Shut.Up,” she very nearly shouted at me, her eyes huge. “Are you serious right now?”

“Please don’t yell at me, but yes. I am.”

“Holyshit,” she said, shaking her head back and forth. “This cannot be real. Do you promise you’re serious? Like, you’re not messing with me and the cops are actually on the way here to arrest me?”

“Why would the cops—”

“This is insane!” Her grin was huge as she started pacing back and forth in the living room. “You are saying that you will give me fortythousanddollars to pretend to be your girlfriendthis weekend. That is all. I just have to be sweet and enamored of you?”

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