Page 12 of The Bad Wedding Date

Could he possibly be willing to help me? This stranger with the handsome face and the arse to die for?

Surely, he had better places to be and better people to associate himself with.

But the way he looked at me, as though waiting for me to figure something out that he already knew…

“Don’t you find it a little weird how all this has happened this morning?” I asked him.

He scowled and tilted his head, waiting for me to go on.

“My first fake date bailed on me, and then you showed up wearing a suit as though you’re dressed for a wedding. You’re smart, easy to talk to, and kind of charming, in a reverse stalker kind of way… and I don’t know.” I shrugged a shoulder, aiming for breeziness instead of a Kathy Bates-Annie Wilkes vibe that would make him run a mile. “Maybe we could have had some fun with that. You know… fooling my parents into thinking I wasn’t a lonely, sad, pathetic spinster anymore because I had a man like you on my arm. Or is that a little too desperate? Fuck, it is, isn’t it?”

“You can do better than a man like me, Charlotte.”

“Yeah, okay.” I laughed. “Forget I said anything.”

“Kind of hard to do that now. You mentioned fun. I’m a sucker for it.”

“Hmm. If only we were both crazy people who didn’t care about the fact that one of us could be… I don’t know, a thief or a murderer or a scoundrel, and that we don’t actually know each other at all.”

“Shame we’re not crazy.”

“Shame you have business to attend to.”

Fraser opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again, and I found myself envying all the women who’d happened to kiss those plump lips of his or run their hands through his hair.

“I’m sorry, I’m being an idiot,” I said, wafting my hand around and shaking my head. “It’s the nerves. They’re making me delirious. Add in the fact that Stefanie just gave me a preview into what I’m going to have to deal with for the next eight to ten hours, and here I am, propositioning a total stranger like a complete madwoman.”

Fraser ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “I don’t see you as a madwoman. I think you’re great. Really great, actually.”

My heart beat faster.

“But you don’t need to prove anything to anyone but yourself, Charlotte,” he said, immediately making me think of Jonah. It was the same thing he said to me constantly, pushing me to be stronger. Making me think outside of this wretched family that somehow had a hold over me I couldn’t fully break free from.

“What if it isn’t about proving anything to anyone?” I said quietly. “What if it’s about me just wanting to feel good about myself for once without leaving this thing tonight feeling like I’m half the woman I was when I arrived? What if it’s about me wanting to be the Charlotte I know I am, instead of the Lottie they continue to call me?”

Fraser inhaled through his nostrils, holding it in his chest before he released it again slowly.

“I know that sounds pathetic, but—”

“Are you saying you’d like me to be your male escort for the day?” he cut me off.

I looked around, laughing at the ridiculous idea until my laughter ran dry far too quickly, and I found myself looking back at Fraser with a serious expression again. “I’m saying I’d pay you to help me for a few hours if you had those few hours spare. I mean, I would. I could…”

His eyes searched mine. “How much do you think I’m worth?”

“Way more than I can afford.”

“Give me a number.”

Licking my dry lips, I thought about the little money I had going spare in my bank account—about the savings I kept aside for an emergency, and I couldn’t think of a greater need than this moment right here, right now. I was about to be set on fire, and I needed someone smooth and confident enough to put the flames out.

“A hundred an hour?” I said, making it sound like a question and cringing at the prospect that I could have made him sound cheap.

Fraser pushed his mouth out, and his brows rose. “Not bad.”

“I’m desperate here, Fraser, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I can’t do this alone. I need someone. Anyone.”

“It’s a dangerous game to play, inviting a stranger into your family. I could be a villain.”

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