Page 43 of The Bad Girl List

Tequila lets out another heart-breaking whine.

“You’d better get your dog,” Dom says.

I scrub my hands through my hair. “Yeah. Come on, we can talk in my room.”

As I lead her into my bedroom, I begin to collect my bargaining chips. I might spend all day with my hands in the dirt or on the back of a tractor, but there was a time when Dad had groomed me for sales. His lessons are stacked up in the back of my mind like old books. Though I’m not a natural at sales the way Dad is, I’d been decent at landing accounts. And if I could sell wine, I can sell this idea to Dom.

Because in the last sixty seconds, I’ve decided I want her to be my fake date after all. Just because the idea had first been hatched in a fit of drunken lust didn’t make it a bad one.

I’d much rather sit next to her than next to some girl I don’t even know. Dom, at least, is interesting and easy to talk to. And if I bring her, my parents will relax a bit, which was the whole point in trying to land a fake date in the first place.

Then Dom will go back to her life in San Francisco, and I can pretend we’re doing the long-distance thing, and my mom won’t invite over a new blind date to dinner every Sunday. I can stretch out the facade for at least six months if I play this right.

I just have to find a way to get Dom to yes.

CHAPTER 13

Deal

DOMINIQUE

I follow Trevor into his bedroom, still shaking off my encounter with Tim Moretti. There had been a brief second when I thought he recognized me from Presidio, but since he didn’t say anything, I know I’m safe. Thank God. The last thing I want is for him to find out I was fired over the designs I presented to him.

I shouldn’t be surprised that he didn’t recognize me. I’m dressed differently, and Sophia did most of the talking during the meeting.

Trevor’s bedroom smells even more strongly of him, that mingling of earth and spice. The walls are the same dark blue as the kitchen cabinets. There are dirty clothes mounded next to the hamper, like he threw them in that direction but couldn’t be bothered to actually put them inside. His bed is unmade, the decorator pillows in disarray on the unused side of the bed.

Maybe it should be off putting to see his mess, but it isn’t. It’s like seeing an animal in its natural habitat. This is sexy, delicious, slightly messy Trevor. He’s not hiding anything.

I spot a picture of him and Elle on his bedside table. Plush leather chairs sit at the end of his bed facing the sliding glass door and overlooks the vineyard. Tequila’s crate acts as a table between the two chairs.

“Have a seat.” Trevor flips open the latch on the crate. Tequila hops out and yips at Trevor, her eyebrows suggesting he has just done something heinous. “I know he scares you,” he tells the dog, “but he’s not going to hurt you.” Then, in a higher pitched voice, he says, “But Dad, he’s really-really-really scary. He sounds like a herd of elephants and he goes after things like a shark.”

I burst out laughing as I sit down. “Did you just talk for your dog?”

Trevor’s face is chagrined. “Maybe. Can you tell I spend a lot of time alone?” He flops into the other chair and slaps his leg, inviting Tequila onto his lap. She ignores him and hops over to me, leaning up against my leg and resting her head on my knee.

“Apparently both my dog and my father are obsessed with you.” He levels his gaze at me. “Would you and your family like to come to dinner tomorrow night?”

“What?” I frown at him. “Trevor, I only stalled with your dad because I didn’t want to mess things up for you. I wasn’t fishing for an invite.”

“I know. Would you do it as a favor for me? I told you my parents are all over me to move on with my life. If they think I’m seeing someone …” He trails off and shrugs his shoulders.

“You want me to come to dinner as your pretend date and bring my family with me? Are you crazy? That has bad idea written all over it.”

“You agreed to it last night.”

“I agreed to come to dinner.” Which was before I’d known Trevor was a Moretti, but I don’t mention that. “I didn’t agree to bring my family.”...

“What’s wrong with your family coming?”

“Annika is the only one who knows Oliver and I broke up. I can’t pretend to be dating you and Oliver at the same time.”

“My parents think we just started dating. They’re not going to expect us to make out at the dining table.”

“Yes, but my mom thinks I’m in a committed relationship with a boyfriend of five years. That means our pinkies can’t even touch.”

“So our pinkies won’t touch. That’s easy enough. I bet your family would like coming to dinner. It normally costs five thousand dollars just to rent the event center. That’s without food. I’ll even throw in a private tour for you guys. We could both benefit from this.”

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