The Bachelor Pact
A zap! hit him low in the gut. A warning drowned out by intense curiosity.
Let’s tangle, honey.
A glass of chardonnay and a bottle of beer appeared in front of him, and without breaking away from her fiery blue gaze, he handed over the wine. Strawberry’s nostrils flared, but she took the glass, tipped it to her lips and had sucked down a third of it by the time he’d lifted his bottle.
Yep. She was definitely here on a mission.
She set the glass down with a loud clink. “I’ll pay you two thousand dollars to spend a weekend with me.”
Gage lowered his beer without taking a sip. His mouth was poised to say the word what but he didn’t have a chance to say anything before she was opening her purse and showing him the contents. Stacks of twenties were packed into it, facing every which way like she’d robbed a convenience store before propositioning him.
“I’m attending a destination wedding in the Midwest in two weeks. Your flight and separate room will be paid in full. I’ll give you two thousand dollars to go with me.”
Just as he’d settled on the notion that this beautiful creature was certifiably insane, a flicker of doubt lit her expressive eyes.
“I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend for the duration. I know Ohio doesn’t sound scenic, but Crown is a beautiful, quaint town. And there will be food,” she added with a touch of desperation. “Really good food.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed thickly, her outer layer of surety and confidence flaking away.
Seemed he was right about her being on a mission, but damn, he’d been wrong about her not being a man-eater. She was so similar to his ex, he wouldn’t be surprised if she pulled off a mask to reveal Laura herself.
He took a long slug of his beer and then swiped his tongue over his bottom lip. This woman was either crazy or desperate or both. Figured. He should’ve known a woman this beautiful would be nuttier than a sack of trail mix.
“Well?” Her eyebrow arched again, her too-serious expression snapping seamlessly into place. “I don’t have much time, so I’d appreciate an answer.”
Was she for real?
He’d never imagined she’d march over here and demand to...to...hire him to be her date, let alone expect him to agree without so much as a casual introduction. For all he knew, she would lure him in with promises and then steal his identity.
Or my kidneys.
The answer was an easy no, but he wouldn’t let her off the hook without making her explain first. He opened the edge of her purse with his index finger so he could examine the cash inside as he pretended to consider her offer.
“How will payment work? You just hand me all the money in your purse and then I give you my phone number?”
“No. Of course not.” She snatched her bag out of his reach. “Then I’d have no guarantee you’d show up. I’d give it to you at the wedding.”
“Why would I clear my weekend plans and fly with you to Ohio on a promise of two thousand dollars if I don’t have any of it?”
A frown muddled her pretty face. “You can have half. But I need your phone number. And your address. And your word.”
Unbelievably gorgeous and absolutely crackers. It was a shame.
“But I need your answer now.”
“Right now.” His gaze locked on her pink mouth and he had a moment of regret for not getting to have a taste of her lips. To feel how silky that red hair was against his fingertips. He lifted his beer bottle, delaying. The kissing and fingers in her hair were an impossibility but his curiosity to watch her reaction still burned. He was trying to decide what she would do when he said no. Would she slap him or scream at him or run from the bar?
“Yes, now,” she said through her teeth.
Damn. Maybe he could convince her to stick around after he shot her down.
“I can’t help you out, Strawberry. I don’t particularly like the Midwest. And despite what first impression I must’ve given you, I don’t need two thousand dollars. But if you’d like to finish your wine—”
That long swath of hair flicked as she turned on her heel and tromped toward the exit. Option C it was. She left behind a plume of softly scented perfume and a fantasy that lasted the rest of the week. One about long, silky hair and a parted pink mouth. About her beneath him naked atop those bills scattered over his bed...
Whoever she was, she left an impression. The way looking at the sun left bright light burning behind his lids for a while.
Gage turned back to his beer. Even though Strawberry was a little nutty, he honestly hoped she found a date to that wedding in Ohio.
Three
“Today’s the day.”
Gage rubbed his hands together and then fired up the espresso machine in the executive break room.
“What day’s that?” Reid, back from his recent trip home to London, asked.
“The day that Andy Payne guy comes to save Gage’s rear end,” Sabrina answered as she tipped the half-and-half into her mug.
“Not my rear. Our rears,” Gage corrected. “This is going to help boost sales, yes, but this will also take some of the pressure off Flynn.” He grinned at Sabrina. “You’re welcome.”
Last year Gage had come up with the perfect solution for the senior staff at Monarch Consulting, who had been giving Flynn holy hell. When Flynn’s father died, leaving Flynn in charge of the company, a lot of the men and women who were used to the way Emmons had run things hadn’t taken too kindly to Flynn. Gage’s suggestion—brilliant suggestion—was to focus on sales, create a huge boom in business, which would satisfy shaky investors and give a needed boost to everyone’s bonuses. It was hard to complain when extra money rolled in.
“Oh, I’m welcome, am I?” Sabrina chuckled.
“If it’s gratitude you want, mate, just ask,” Reid commented.
Gage didn’t want gratitude, but he did want results. The company had felt as if it was teetering on a foundation of marbles last year and he hadn’t liked it at all. Monarch Consulting was the workplace Gage had called home since college. He didn’t want to work anywhere else. He loved what he did, loved his friends and in no way wanted to end up working at a fish hatchery like his parents. Flynn’s success as president ensured all of their successes.
Flynn stepped into the room, picking up on the conversation. “Let me guess. You have your panties in a wad of excitement over the arrival of the guy made of smoke?”
The guy who was the key to stabilizing Monarch, bringing in extra money and a business boom?
Hell, yes.
Andy Payne was a fixer of sorts who was known for not being known. He’d been interviewed but never filmed, and his About page was devoid of a photo or any description of him as a person. Gage wasn’t sure if he bought into the hero-worship BS surrounding Andy Payne’s reputation, but the man’s results were rock solid. Every employee had signed nondisclosure documents before Payne’s arrival.
Plus, if this Andy guy was half as good in person as he was on paper, Monarch would be set and Flynn’s leadership would go unchallenged. Succeeding was the only option. Gage had never taken a backwards step since he’d set foot in Monarch and he wouldn’t start now. He had goals to double the company’s revenue, and making his sales department shine would tuck in nicely with that goal.
It was a big goal, but Andy Payne was a big deal. With his help there wasn’t anything standing in Gage’s way.
* * *
Andy strolled into the Monarch building wearing her best suit. Bone-colored, with a silky black cami under the jacket, her Jimmy Choos an easy-to-navigate height. She had to work in them, after all.
She’d never understood any woman’s desire to sacrifice form for comfort. She wasn’t a fan of compromise.
Andy hadn’t accepted her fate from the weekend, either. Yes, she’d quit the dating app that’d been a total waste of resources. And, yes, she had felt the sting of embarrassment about propositioning a handsome stranger at a bar, but that didn’t mean her search was over. There was still a chance, though slim, to find a stand-in date. Maybe she would meet a nice guy on her way out of this very building. Or maybe at the resort.
Doubt pushed itself forward but she fervently ignored it. Instead she allowed herself to feel the familiar thrum of excitement as she rode the elevator up to the executive floor. First days were her favorite.
She’d done extensive research on Monarch, noting that the only photo of the staff was one gathered outside the front of this very building, their faces tiny and nondescript. If businesses were to entrust Monarch with their well-being, they needed to see the trustworthy faces who worked here.
Unlike most businesses, Andy had worked hard to keep her identity under wraps. She had no qualms about pulling a bait and switch on day one. By then everyone was invested and her reputation had preceded her. She never blatantly led her clients to believe Andy Payne was male, but much like the assumption that a surgeon was always a man, so, too, was one made that the wild success of her Fortune 500 business must be attributed to someone with a penis instead of a pair of breasts.
The pay gap that existed between men and women didn’t exist for her, thanks to her subterfuge. Her clients paid what was asked, and it was too late to pull the plug once the contracts were signed. She wouldn’t apologize for it.
She was absolutely worth it.
She was the best at what she did and she endeavored to leave every business better than she’d found it. Monarch was going to be another link in a long chain of satisfied customers.
With a flip of her hair she exited the elevator on the executive floor. Three huge offices with glass walls stood empty, a front desk staffed with a young blonde woman in front of one of them. Andy was early, so probably the executives hadn’t come out of the coffee or break room yet. Muted voices and laughter came from an unseen room in the back.
One of those voices likely belonged to Gage, the senior sales executive who’d hired her.
“May I help you?” the assistant asked.
Andy addressed her by her name, advertised on the nameplate on the front of her desk. “Hello, Yasmine. Andy Payne for Gage Fleming.”
“Andy Payne?”
“That’s me.” She grinned.
“Oh, of course, Ms. Payne. We have you set up in the conference room as you requested.”
Yasmine quickly recovered from her surprise at discovering that Andy was a woman. Good for her.
In the conference room, Yasmine pointed out the projector and offered to fetch Andy an espresso.
“Americano, if you can.”
The other woman dipped her chin in affirmation and left.
Andy unloaded her bag on the table—a rigorous sales plan and a dossier on Monarch minus details on the man she was meeting, since she’d learned virtually nothing about him via the website.
Done right, they could implement her suggested changes in the week and a half she had before she would have to fly to Ohio for Gwen’s wedding.
Gag. Just the thought of that bit of unfinished business rankled her.
But Gage Fleming had hired Andy on her merits at business, not based on whether or not she was datable. She shoved aside all thoughts of the wedding and focused on what she did most—what she did best—fixing companies.
Flynn and Sabrina left the haven of the break room, Gage and Reid following behind. On their walk to their offices, Gage asked Reid, “How was your trip?”
His British friend, coffee mug lifted, grinned. “Grand.”
“Because of...”
“Suzie Daniels. A pretty American in a foreign land who needed companionship from a local who was willing to show her a good time.” Reid rested his palm over his heart. “I showed her repeatedly. Lucky lady.”
Gage had to chuckle. Reid was a playboy and a half, but he was also a nice guy. No doubt Suzie Daniels had kissed him farewell and hadn’t regretted a single minute of their time together. Gage hadn’t been as fortunate with his past hookups. He must throw off a serious boyfriend vibe. The women he dated always wanted more, always wanted it too quickly and weren’t happy when he declined. The last woman he dated had told him he’d wasted her time and said she wished she’d never met him. Ouch.
“And your weekend?” Reid asked, stopping next to Gage’s office.
“Went to From Afar with Flynn and Sabrina on Friday night for a drink after work. After they left, the strangest thing...” Gage fell silent when he spotted a flash of red hair in the conference room. And when her head lifted slightly and he caught sight of her profile, he recognized her instantly.
She was the woman who’d attempted to buy him like a suit off a rack. The more he’d thought about that interaction the more it had bothered him. Not because he felt cheap or used, but because the beauty who’d invaded his dreams had truly believed the money was going to seal the deal with them. As if she didn’t have enough confidence to strike up a conversation about what she needed, but instead felt the need to offer him cash.
“Holy hell.” Gage grabbed Reid’s arm and dragged him back into the hallway they’d just exited, Reid complaining since he’d sloshed coffee onto the carpet and narrowly missed his shoes. Gage had done a good job of spilling his own coffee on his shirt. Hot liquid burned through the pale blue button-down, and he swore.
“What just happened?” Reid shook coffee droplets off his fingers.
“She’s stalking me.” Gage scrubbed at his shirt with one hand.
“Who?”
Reid peered around the corner and Gage slunk farther into the hall. When he’d concluded that the redhead was “crackers,” he’d thought he’d been half joking. Apparently, he hadn’t.
“That’s the woman I was just going to tell you about,” Gage whispered, though there was no way she could hear him from the conference room. “She approached me at the bar Friday night and offered to pay me two grand to spend a weekend with her.”
Reid’s eyebrows lifted, wrinkling his brow. “And you said no.” He stole another peek and regarded Gage dubiously. “Why?”
“Because she’s insane?” That seemed the only reasonable explanation now.
“You’re the insane one, my friend, if you didn’t snap her up and have your way with her right there on the bar top. Hell, I wouldn’t have charged her at all.”
“The offer wasn’t for sex. It was for me to fly to Ohio and attend a wedding. She wanted me to pretend to be seeing her or something.”
“Oh.” Reid’s disappointment was obvious. “That’s not the same thing at all.”
“No. It’s not.” Gage returned to the break room and set his mug aside. He grabbed a dish towel and scrubbed at the coffee stain low on his shirt.
Reid wasn’t far behind. “What’s she doing here?”
“I have no idea.”
“Gage?” Yasmine stepped into the break room. “Andy Payne is here to see you.”
“Perfect timing.” Gage gestured at his soiled shirt. “Tell him I’ll be right out. Who’s the redhead?”
Yasmine blinked. “Andy Payne.”
“Andy Payne is the fixer, love,” Reid told her gently. “We want to know who the vixen in the cream-colored suit is.”
“Andy Payne,” Yasmine repeated with slow insistence and enough confidence that Reid and Gage exchanged glances.
“She’s Andy Payne?” Gage asked, still trying to wrap his head around the idea that the woman who approached him at the bar was the “guy” he’d hired to whip his sales team into shape.
“Surprising, right? How sexist are we?” Yasmine shrugged. “I thought Andy was going to be a dude, too.”
Reid smiled to beat all. “I believe I’ll go with you to meet this Andy Payne, Gagey. Do bring up Friday for my benefit, yeah?”
“No,” Gage growled, his head still spinning with the new information. “I’ll go alone to meet...her.”
As he exited the break room, he muttered, “Again.”
Four
The projector was positioned, her laptop open and the PowerPoint presentation cued up.
Andy tidied the bound sales plans—one for her and one for Gage. She’d arranged herself at the head of the conference table and placed the report to her left elbow at the corner. She found it easier to coordinate a plan when they weren’t facing each other from opposing sides.
Sometimes these meetings went smoothly, with the managers or CEOs who’d hired her easing into the adjustment as they learned that Andy Payne was the female currently introducing herself. Other times, they reacted angrily and accused her of pulling a fast one on them. Mostly it was the former.
They’d hired her for her expertise, and that was what she reminded them of when she arrived. She’d only had three men ever react poorly and had only ever lost one job because of it. The sexist bastard. No matter, her contract was ironclad and nonrefundable. She’d bought a weekend spa retreat with the money that particular time and had no qualms about enjoying her paid leave.
She sat on the edge of the padded chair and turned her head in time to see a man rapidly approaching the conference room. She recognized the scruffy jaw, the slight curl to the longish hair on top of his head...and the answering recognition in his caramel-brown eyes.
She stood slowly, feeling her jaw drop to the floor as he shut the conference room door behind him and looked down his nose at her. Although she wasn’t that much shorter than him.
“You’re Andy Payne,” he said flatly.
Her mouth still agape, she managed a stunned nod. Warmth seeped from her cami, over her décolletage and up her neck. No doubt she was turning a stunning shade of pink while he watched her.
And he did watch her. Carefully. And unhappily.
As quickly as she could move, she slapped the lid closed on her laptop and yanked the cord free from the wall. “I’m—uh,” she said as she hastily stacked the reports. “I have to...um...”
She yanked her bag off the chair but the strap caught, scattering the pages in her dossier on Monarch to the floor along with several pens, her cell phone charger and a tube of lipstick.
This was going well.
She crouched to the floor to sweep the contents of the bag back into it. “You must be Gage.”
“In the flesh.” He knelt next to her and picked up one of her pens that had fallen to the floor.
“I didn’t know you were you when I approached you on Friday or I never would’ve done it,” she said as she gathered her things. A lock of hair swept over her eye and she blew a puff of air from her lips to move it.
“You don’t say.” His eyebrows flinched slightly, but some of the anger simmered away, his expression almost bemused as his eyes roamed over her face.
He was stupidly attractive. Even more so in a suit. Even with a coffee stain on his shirt that looked fresh. That attraction was all the more reason why she couldn’t stay another moment. She’d never be able to look him in the eye again after she’d... God...offered to pay him to be her date.
“I’ll refund your money for the consultation contract.” She snatched the pen from his hand and stood. He stood with her and the view of the rest of him was finer than it had appeared on Friday night. His muscular chest pressed the confines of his shirt, a dark blue tie in place and knotted just so. His slacks were navy as well, and a brown leather belt bisected his waist. His shoes matched—expensive and shiny.
“First you want to hire me, now you want to give me a refund. You offer to pay me an awful lot.”
She blanched.
“And the hell you will.” He folded his arms over his impressive chest. His unsmiling mouth pursed. “I hired you to do a job. You’re not running out on me just because you—”
“Don’t say it.” Her eyes sank closed and she palmed one burning-hot cheek. Was it possible to die of humiliation? “I know what I did and I apologize.” She reopened her eyes and turned them up to his. “Please tell me you didn’t tell anyone about it?”
“I told my friend Reid. He works here. You’ll meet him later.”
“You told someone?” Her voice was edging along hysterical and she forced herself to calm down. “You could’ve kept that to yourself.”
“Is that a joke? A gorgeous woman approaches me in a bar and I decide to stay one drink longer to get to know her and then she offers to pay me two grand for my companionship? It’s a hell of a story, Andy.”
He thought she was...gorgeous? And he’d wanted to get to know her?
It was far and wide two of the most flattering compliments she’d heard in a while.
“I didn’t know you were the Andy Payne when I told him. I thought you’d tracked me down at work, and that you were going to... I don’t know, try and reconvince me.”
That was fair.
Why would he assume she was here for any other reason? She’d been on a mission to achieve her goal on Friday and had—incorrectly—assumed that when she ran from that bar, mentally vowing never to return, she wouldn’t see Gage again.
She hadn’t asked him his name, either.
“I wasn’t myself that night. I was angry about my date not working out and then I noticed you—” She snapped her mouth closed before she accidentally said too much, and then rerouted the conversation. “This is no fault of yours. I’ll go directly to my office from here and refund your money immediately.” She added the laptop and reports to her bag and pulled it over her shoulder.
“No deal.” He stepped in front of the door and blocked her path.
“Step aside, Mr. Fleming.”
“Not going to happen, Ms. Payne.” His nostrils flared as he pulled in a breath. “I hired you. You agreed to do a job. I know you’re the best—I did my research. You’ve been cited as an asset by hundreds of companies, and I’m not letting you go because you made a mistake and now you’re uncomfortable. We have a contract. I was told your fee was nonrefundable.”
That was true. Normally. “I’ll make an exception.”
A warm, gentle palm landed on her upper arm. His voice was equally gentle when he said, “I don’t want an exception. I want you to stay and double or triple our numbers like you promised. This is important.”
His words were sincere. And a good reminder that she prided herself on her work ethic. She never let clients down. She worked tirelessly for them because their businesses mattered. Employees had families to care for, and when she made their companies more money, the companies in turn lined the pockets of those hardworking men and women. What she did wasn’t about fattening up greedy CEOs. She did this work for the people. All of them.
And right now Gage looked like someone who needed her help.
“Did you find a date for the wedding yet?” he asked.
She blinked, stunned by the change of topic.
“I’ll go,” he said. “You stay here for the time you promised and I’ll go with you to Ohio to your sister’s wedding.”
“But—”
“I suspect you’ll insist, so I’ll let you take care of the room and flight, but you can keep the two grand.” He dipped his chin in a show of sincerity. “Okay?”
As much as she hated to admit it, his offer was really, really tempting. She had to face reality, and the reality was that she was no closer to finding a date for Gwen’s wedding than she was to sprouting wings and flying there on her own steam.
A bigger part of her was tempted simply because of Gage. He was attractive, and had found her attractive, and she wouldn’t mind spending more time getting to know him. Of all the dates she’d set up in an attempt to find a companion for Gwen’s wedding, Gage, from his warm brown eyes to his shiny leather shoes, was the only one who’d made her heart flutter. Dr. Christopher certainly hadn’t wanted to get to know her better. He hadn’t even had the decency to turn the money down.
Even so, she found herself answering, “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“Too bad. You already did, on Friday night. Now I’m accepting.” He lifted her bag off her shoulder, his fingers leaving behind an imprint of heat she couldn’t ignore. He set the bag on the conference room table, pulling her laptop out and extracting the reports, one of which had an ugly crease on the otherwise pristine cover.