Page 8 of Faking it with My Billionaire Bosses

“I was asking for real. Jesus, woman. Stop trying to pawn me off on the Kennedys for one second and listen to me.” He waited to see if I was going to be quiet before continuing. “I want you. If you won’t date me for real, that’s fine, but we have chemistry and no one will think we’re faking. I’m trying to ask you if you want to fake date me. I’ll make sure you’re compensated for your time and provide anything you might need for the dates. I’ll also guarantee you a spot in the class we’re teaching in the fall.”

“What the fuck?”

“I’m not expecting you to sleep with me, or anything like that, Sonnie. It’s a straightforward offer.”

“What the actual fuck?” I was broken. I wanted to say more, but I was freaking out.

“Well, I imagined this might go badly.”

“What the fuck!” I growled out of frustration and let out a small scream. “Sorry! Shit. Wow. I’m… You want to offer me a place in the class?”

He laughed. “Yeah. So that was a good reaction?”

“Are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me?” I stood up and jumped up and down. “Oh, my god. You don’t understand! That class… I’ve dreamt about that class. I’ve literally gone to sleep and had dreams about it. I’m not kidding. I mean, every younger baker probably has. Are you serious? If you tell me you’re joking now, I’ll be forced to murder you.”

His laughter was quieter, calmer. “I’m serious, Sonnie. You’d be doing me a big favor. I don’t have time to date seriously.”

“But…” I waited for him to connect the dots and when he didn’t, I finished my thought. “You were trying to date me.”

“Yeah, I was.” This time, his laugh was so soft it was a caress across my cheek. “It’s not every day a woman rescues you and has eyes that drink you in. You’re worth making time for.”

My chest tightened and my heart thumped painfully. “Wow.”

He cleared his throat with a brighter laugh. “If you think you’re up for it, there’d be a contract to make sure we’re both safe. I could have it ready to sign tonight.”

“I have work.” I thought of the long night of bartending ahead of me and bit back a groan. “Maybe tomorrow? I have to meet my customer and be back at the bar by three, but maybe sometime in there?”

“I’ll figure it out. You don’t need to worry about it.” He lowered his voice. “Are you sure about this, Sonnie? The point of it will be getting public attention. It’s not always fun or easy.”

I knew a tiny bit about public attention. When Rosie came to live with me it was because our mother had robbed a bank with her boyfriend and driven across the state in a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde type shit show. Needless to say, the local papers had flocked. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, but just do me a favor and admit you’re agreeing partially because of me. The class is a nice add-on, but it’s me, right?” He laughed with me and then sighed. “I thought I’d try. Thanks for doing this, Sonnie. I owe you.”

“Hardly. I owe you, Drake. That class is a life-changer and you know it. I don’t know why you’re so willing to help me, and maybe a better woman would turn you down, but I’ve got Rosie to think of, too. Pride cometh before the fall and all that. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, yet, Cupcake.” With that, he hung up.

I was left feeling elated and nervous, feelings that both felt too similar to anxiety. I was shaking by the time I got to the bar that afternoon.

CHAPTER 7

Drake

I felt like a fucking creep, but I told myself I was just stopping by to let Sonnie look at the contract our lawyer had drawn up. I was just going to drop it off and tell her to have a lawyer look it over before leaving again. That had been the plan, anyway. Once I’d gotten to the bar, I’d settled at a table in a shadowed corner and sipped beer while watching her work until the beer was warm and the crowd around me had reached impressive levels of drunk.

She dealt with multiple drunk assholes, even using her legendary soda gun on one of them. She spun around like it was easy and made pouring drinks sexy as hell. Her coy smile never wavered as I watched her. Her pouty lips and large brown eyes all read:bedroom. She was a stunning woman. Her dark brown hair was up in a bun but there were small curls escaping all over her head. It looked as wild as she felt. Everything about her piqued my interest.

I noted the way her breasts swayed as she leaned forward to say something to a random guy at the bar and the way his eyes tried to see through her cleavage. Feeling pissed off about his ogling of her body, despite having just been doing it myself, I stood up and marched up to the bar, right next to the guy. I gave him a long look and he must’ve seen the challenge in my eyes because he just held up his hands and walked away.

“I was wondering when you were going to come out of the corner and grace me with your presence.” Sonnie spun back around to me and served me the beer the guy had abandoned. “You cost me his tip. It would’ve been a good one, too.”

I took a chug of the beer to give myself time to catch my breath. The sight of her up close was stunning. She was flushed from how hard she was working and there was a light sheen of sweat across her chest and shoulders. The tank top she woreclung to her body and I wanted to call the guy back over and apologize. A priest wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes off of Sonnie.

“Well?” She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to stare at me. “Are you doing the silent thing along with the creepy thing?”

I grunted. “I was waiting on you to get a break. I wasn’t being creepy.”

She leaned forward, farther than she had with any other man through the night, and pushed my hair off my forehead. “You’re a terrible liar, Drake.”

---