Page 17 of The Arrangement
Okay, that was a little surprising. Not so much his lack of desire to hurt the museum, but that he wasn’t out to destroy my life.
“That being said, I still want some payback.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to shout at him. What kind of revenge could he possibly feel he deserved? It wasmylife that was ruined. I was the one living through hell. Not him. But I held in the words and my rage. It sounded like I was on the cusp of getting the donation Dr. Case was so eager to get her hands on.
Rome strolled closer, and I kept retreating until my shoulders finally hit the opposite wall, and I was trapped. A coldsweat covered my arms and neck, sending a chill through me. This was going to be so fucking bad.
“You see, earlier this year, a friend of mine cooked up this insane idea to date his assistant. He bargained for ten dates. If Byron went on ten dates with him, Sebastian would give him money to pay for all of his brother’s medical expenses. At the time, I thought he was fucking crazy, but it actually worked.”
My mouth went as dry as the desert. Rome had lost his ever-loving mind. “You want to go on dates with me?” I breathed. Each word trembled in horror. It was as if he were obsessed with me.
“Oh, hell no!” Rome’s face twisted up, and his eyes swept up and down the length of me as if I were the one here who’d lost his mind. “I want to put my own twist on it. Come up with a new arrangement.”
“Fuck.” I exhaled, and that made the bastard smile.
“Five dates for five million dollars. Don’t worry, I know you’re married. Your wife won’t mind.”
“Divorced,” I blurted out of habit. My eyes squeezed shut, and I cursed myself a hundred times. Rome did not need to know that. When I opened my eyes at Rome’s extended silence, it was to find an odd, unreadable expression on his face. It lasted only a second, and he was shaking his head, seeming to clear it like wiping the image from an Etch A Sketch.
“I want five chances to torment you. Nothing illegal or that would jeopardize either of your jobs. I enjoy seeing you flustered and pissed at me. It relieves some of my old anger at you. Think of it as karma finally catching up.”
“Karma? You self-righteous son of a?—”
“Ah, ah, ah…” He waved a single finger back and forth in front of my nose. “Is this really going to help your department and all those kids? It’s a fair trade, don’t you think? Five little dates, and you get your five million dollars to go dig in the dirt toyour heart’s content. But this is an all-or-nothing arrangement. If you don’t go through with all five dates, you won’t see a dime from my foundation.”
“Rome,” I growled as the wave of rage built within me.
“And I think before we go on our first date, you have to ask me out. In public.”
“No!”
“I’ll be at the library on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Just try not to disturb story time.” The smug bastard smoothly turned and walked along the hallway we’d come down, heading to the main exhibit area.
“Rome! I’m straight!” I shouted after him, not caring who the fuck heard me.
“So?” Rome glanced over his shoulder, his eyebrows raised as he stared at me as if I were a moron. “I have no intention ofeverkissing you. I made that mistake once. Never again.” He continued walking and disappeared around the corner.
I slumped on the wall, my knees almost giving out. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I was in danger of having a heart attack. What the fuck was I supposed to do?
Five dates?
No, I couldn’t think of it that way. He was only using that word to get under my skin. These weren’t dates. They were appointments to allow him to torment me. And he already said he wouldn’t force me to do anything illegal or that would endanger my job.
I could put up with some light torment in order to protect my job and the paleontology department at the museum. Rome was annoying, but he wasn’t truly evil. Right?
Oh God, this was a horrible, terrible, embarrassing arrangement. I couldn’t possibly consider it.
Except what other choice did I have? What were the chances I was going to make the acquaintance of other rich people whohad five million dollars to throw at the museum? Probably not that good.
I needed to talk to Emily. Maybe she could come up with another way out of this mess. There was no way I could go on five horrific dates with Rome Ashbridge.
7
ROME ASHBRIDGE
Why the hellhad I given Liam a range of days?
I should have told him I would be in the library on Tuesday. That way, I wouldn’t have to spend all my working hours on pins and needles, waiting to see if he caved to my ridiculous demands.
