Page 24 of Strings
“Wow, you suck at this. No wonder you have to invent girlfriends.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s okay. Don’t feel bad. The guys in band were always the last to lose their virginity.” I lean forward and cup my hand alongside my mouth like I have a secret. “Long bow, tiny dick.” I wiggle my pinky by my face.
His roaring laughter echoes in my tiny space and his eyes gleam as he steps toward me. “Do you not realize who you’re speaking to?”
I roll my eyes again. “Yeah, you’re the assistant to the principal concert wizard guy. Who cares? You’re not on the cover of Playgirl or anything.”
“Are you fucking kidding me, right now?”
I shake my head mockingly at him as I mouth back his words,Are you fucking kidding me right now?“God complex much?”
His eyes darken. “In this world, I do reign. I can have any woman I want. Any place, anytime, anywhere.”
I laugh. “And yet here you are, begging little old me to fake it. Oh, I get it. You can get any girl tofakethings. That makes sense.”
He lifts one eyebrow and cocks his head to the side as he regards me. A slow smile spreads across his face. “You really have no clue, do you? At first, I assumed you thought you were being funny, but you really don’t know. How exactly did you get this job? Did you win some kind of contest in a teen magazine?”
“You know what Sub-ASS-tian, forget it. I’m going to march into work tomorrow and tell everyone the truth. Fuck you and your stupid lies. I owe you nothing.” I stomp to the door and yank it open. “Get the fuck out!”
He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a breath before pulling the door from my hands. He glances out into the hall, then closes it softly. “Okay. You win. I’m sorry. I do need you. And I can be a dick when I’m angry. I know that. I shouldn’t have said what I said. Somehow, you can get me to go from calm to boiling mad and back in less than thirty seconds. It’s like you have a manual on how to push my buttons.”
“It’s a gift. I can’t help it.”
He smiles as he grabs hold of the material on his pant leg and drops to one knee. He gazes up at me through his eyelashes. “Talia Pearson, best fake love of my life, please be my pretend girlfriend. I promise to be kind, and thoughtful, and say the very best things about you to everyone I meet. I know I seem like an asshole, but I do have some pull and most people actually care what I have to say. Being my girlfriend won’t be horrible, I promise you. And…if you do this, Iwillowe you big time.”
I purse my lips as I consider his words. For some reason, I think I like him better when he’s arrogant. Maybe because I’m used to jerks. “Please get up.”
“I’m groveling. You wanted me to grovel, right? I’ve never had to do this before, but I think I’m doing it well. I do most things well.”
“Oh, brother. How do you manage to compliment yourself while you’re supposed to be complimenting me?”
“It’s a gift,” he says with a wink. “I can’t help it.”
He’s suddenly kind of cute and I want him to stop. “You’re going to wrinkle your expensive slacks. I hate to make more work for your maid. Get up. Now.”
He shakes his head. “Not until you accept my apology and agree again.”
“Fine. Yes. I said I’d do it, and I will. But dammit, you better make me look good. I should get something out of this other than brownie points from God.”
“Say what?” he questions.
“Nothing. Just please don’t make things hard for me.”
“Never.”
Something tells me Sebastian Corronov is about to turn my world upside down. This agreement could be the end of me.
When in doubt, play it out.
I never heard from Cherese after the fiasco at work yesterday, so I take the bus again. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, the bus is my least favorite thing in L.A. Second to that is the traffic, and at this moment, the third is Sebastian Corronov.
Shuddering in my bus seat, I think about the nightmare I had around three a.m. this morning. Now I know why they call it the witching hour.
I dreamt I walked into work wearing a shirt that said “Bash’s Girl” on it. I tried to take it off, but every time I removed it, another one was under it. I ran into the rehearsal hall to hide and Sebastian floated down from the ceiling on a gold throne with a snake around his neck. He smiled and said, “Hey, look at me, I’m banging the new chick.” Everyone suddenly appeared in the seats around the hall, pointed at me, and laughed.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the snake morphed into Derrick Mercer and he whispered something in Sebastian’s ear. Sebastian’s smile turned cold. He said, “I guess she’ll screw anything.” Everyone in the company walked up behind him in black church gowns like they were about to sing. The church gowns all turned into police uniforms and my t-shirt turned into an orange prison outfit. There was no singing, although I feel like I heard a bell toll.
