Page 115 of The Girlfriend Clause
I made my way down the hallway toward my bedroom.
Ah. They’d found the safe room next to the closet.
Andrea was pressing the panel and watching it glide open and closed again, like she’d discovered a particularly expensive cupboard.
“Let me have a go.” Eliza elbowed her sister out of the way and stood in front of the screen. “Nice to know Liam’s emergency security system can be hacked by good bone structure.”
“Actually, I think it’s biometric,” Andrea said, far too pleased with herself. “I didn’t even touch anything. It just… recognized me.”
Giggles.
I didn’t mean to listen, but they looked so funny, peeking in and out of the room like two little kids.
“Ooh. We could put Mr. Darcy in here, it’s nice and quiet,” said Eliza. “Do you think Mr. von Hot will be okay with a cat pooing in his apocalypse panic room though?”
Mr. von Hot? JesusChri—
“You can’t call him that,” said Andrea.
“Why not? We both know he’s fit.”
“He’ll make you drop thevon.” More hysterical shrieking.
Well, she had the last bit right, at least.
“Still can’t believe he has an actual panic room, can you?” Andrea said.
“At least if society collapses mid-starter, the cat will be okay.”
The laughter continued. Fair enough. The idea of needing security did seem ridiculous if you’d never had to think about it.
I hadn’t met a woman like her before. Or maybe I’d just never really paid attention. She said what was on her mind, without giving much thought to how it landed. She was funny, too. I hadn’t laughed like I had with her over lunch in a while. Certainly not with a woman. She had a turn of phrase that reminded me of my squadron in the RAF. Nothing was off-limits for those guys. It had been one of the things I missed once I retired—raw honesty laced withhumor.
Hardly anyone around me was like that anymore. Just Ben and Dex, really. Was that why watching her giggle with her sister left me wishing I was part of it?
Not just attraction. It was more than that. Deeper.
Something that felt a lot like wanting to keep hersafe.
But I didn’t have time for thinking like that. Not now. And I had to be careful.
Bonnie always said people were different when money was involved, and she wasn’t wrong. All those women I’d dated before—it had been fun, couldn’t deny that—but it had always seemed so… superficial. No wonder Bonnie was paranoid about gold diggers. Money changed things. It changed how people looked at you, what they said, and how they treated you.
But not Andrea. I was sure of it.
She seemed like she didn’t care I was rich. She’d liked me betterbeforeshe knew.
If anything, my wealth and status seemed to annoy her.
Which, absurdly, only made her more attractive. If we’d met outside of this mistaken identity fuck-up, away from Novexia, could this have been something else? If I’d told her who I was there and then, while we were still in bed together, would she have—
No point thinking about that. She’d told me very clearly what she thought of corporate douchebags. Or, specifically, me.
I’d better check everything was ready for Hugo. Or as ready as it could be. I hoped Andrea could pull this off now that the pressure was on. We didn’t just have to be convincing—Andrea had to look like the right fit, like she’d bring stability, remove risk.
Thinking about what could have been was dangerous.
We had a lot riding on tonight.
