Page 46 of Arranged To Be Mine

I opened my mouth to argue, but he was already heading for the door.

I stared at my phone on the desk. I had to call Beau. I was supposed to ask him to drop everything and play boyfriend at a dinner with investors who would be scrutinizing my every move.

This wasn’t how this was supposed to work. We’d agreed to coordinate. Things needed to be planned in advance. It was the only way to maintain some semblance of control over this ridiculous situation.

But Dad was right. If we were going to sell this, we had to commit. And what better audience than the people who would be voting on my future with their wallets?

I picked up my phone, staring at Beau’s contact information. I took a deep breath and hit the call button before I could talk myself out of it.

“Darcy.” His voice was friendly. “Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. Miss me already?”

Something fluttered in my chest at the sound of his voice. A warmth that rippled from ears to toes. It was ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. I’d just seen him this morning. There was no reason for my heart to do a little skip just because he sounded happy to hear from me.

And yet the feeling was there.

“How’s the hangover?” he asked. “Still feeling like you danced with Death himself?”

“I’m all good now, actually. The water and painkillers helped. Not to mention that delicious breakfast. You’re a surprisingly competent cook.”

“Don’t be too impressed. Breakfast foods are literally the only thing I know how to make. Eggs, bacon, toast. That’s my entire repertoire. Anything more complicated and we’d be ordering delivery.”

“Still. It was appreciated.”

“Glad I could help.” There was a smile in his voice. I could picture it perfectly. It came so naturally to him. “So what’s up? You calling to schedule our next karaoke session?”

“God, no. Never again.” I winced at the memory, still hazy around the edges but embarrassing, nonetheless. “I know we don’t have anything scheduled until the masquerade ball, but there’s an investor dinner tomorrow night. Your presence has been requested.”

“By you?”

“By my father.”

There was a beat of silence. “Wait. Your father wants me to go to an investor dinner with him? Because I have to be honest, Darcy, I can’t pretend to date both of you. I have to draw the line somewhere.”

I laughed. The sound startled me. Laughing while sober felt different. Foreign. Like using a muscle I’d forgotten I had. Usually it needed a little more lubrication in the form of a good whiskey.

“No,” I said, still smiling despite myself. “You’ll be my date. Help me show these investors there’s a beating heart in my ice-queen chest.”

“Ah, well in that case, I’m in. Just tell me when and where.”

“I’ll send you the details once I have them. We can talk logistics later.”

“Sounds good. Looking forward to it.”

We hung up, and I sat there for a moment, phone still in my hand. That warm feeling hadn’t faded. If anything, it had intensified. I shook it off. No room for warm and fuzzies. But my mind kept circling back to how easy that conversation had been. How natural.

Most of my life had been spent dealing with difficult men. The corporate world was full of them. Men who talked over you in meetings, who dismissed your ideas and then repeated them as their own.

But Beau wasn’t like that. He didn’t make everything a battle. He didn’t try to one-up me or prove he was smarter. He was just easy. Helpful. Out here trying to fix my life instead of making it harder.

I had to remind myself that Beau was being paid for this. My father was compensating him handsomely for his time and expertise. This wasn’t friendship. It wasn’t even real. It was a business arrangement, nothing more.

I couldn’t lose sight of that.

The warm feeling dimmed slightly, reality reasserting itself. Good. I needed to keep my head straight. Getting emotionally attached to my fake boyfriend would be the height of stupidity.

15

BEAU