Page 6 of Mistletoe Bargain with the Billionaire

“Yes.”

“Are you serious?”

He scowls. “Yes, why?”

“Because it sounds more like something I would come up with than you.”

“I… God, it does, doesn’t it? But come with me to Marley’s wedding and to the party on Christmas Eve, please? We can visit your family, too.”

Visit my family, huh? “And, this is because of your ex?” Does he still have feelings for this woman?

“Uh… mostly, Grams.”

“I suppose we’d have to dupe my family, too.”

He cringes. “They are still neighbors.”

Lying to my family doesn’t sound too appealing. But making my parents believe I’ve found love with the boy-next-door turned billionaire? They’d get a kick out of that. I can always let them know later on or claim the relationship didn’t work out long term.

And, Janey would be pea green with envy in the meantime,a little demon inside of me whispers.

“I’ll make it worth your while, Carol,” Nick says, interrupting my showing-up-Janey daydream. I see him subtly sizing up the tiny apartment, which isn’t even mine. “I’ll pay all the expenses of our trip naturally but I’ll more than compensate you for any performances and revenue you’ll miss while we’re out of town.”

My nonexistent performances I’d miss, my zero dollars in revenue.

“Would fifty grand cover the month?”

My jaw drops. Is he kidding?

“Or how about a hundred thousand?”

I’m going to start hyperventilating. Who can throw that kind of money around? Oh yeah, abillionaire.

But, I do have some pride, too. “We were friends and it’s my hometown as well, Nick. You don’t have to pay me to come with you.”

“I wouldn’t feel right costing you any income. But I would still like to call you my friend, Carol. If my father hadn’t taken me away, we’d still be friends.”

Would we? Maybe his time at MIT or since then when he was building a tech empire and I was singing covers at half-priced drinks nights would’ve still brought about the same inevitable end - Nick Frost moves onward and upward and Carol Wilder barely gets by.

My continued silence must be making Nick nervous. “If you’re worried about my intentions or the nature of the agreement, we could draw up a contract to put the terms in writing.”

A contract? And people say romance is dead.

I’ve always been a go-for-it kind of girl but that’s not paid off so well yet. Better a contract where things are spelled out versus assumptions and getting cheated again.

“Okay, a contract… but I have a favor of my own you’ll need to agree to,” I add at the last second. Why not?Guess who’s coming to the reunion and not going to look like a loser, Janey.

Once he’s agreed to attending the family reunion with me, he says he’ll get our flight lined up.

“Wait. Flight?” I’m already breaking out in a cold sweat. He’s going to think I’m insane. So much for showing up Janey. “I can’t do a commercial flight because…”

“Oh, we’d take the company jet.”

“Your own jet? Isn’t that super?” I say with all the enthusiasm of the condemned being marched off to the execution block.

“Yeah, unless you want to drive to Maine from Vegas,” he says, chuckling.

I try chuckling along but it sounds unhinged.

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