“More or less,” I said rather stiffly. “But to be fair, it sounded a lot less bad when Mike was saying it. So of course you would make it sound just awful. Because that’s what you do. To everything.”
“That right?”
“Yes. A
nd since you’re not going to help me—”
“Oh, I’m going to help you,” he said, and didn’t that just send chills down my spine.
“What?” I asked, even though I didn’t really want the answer.
He arched an eyebrow at me.
I was confused, and this back and forth was pissing me off. “But you just said—”
“I’m not going to go about this the way I could have if you’d just come to me,” he said, that smirk showing a hint of teeth.
“But I did come to you and—”
“And offered to suck my cock,” he said, and goddammit, he should not be saying something like that so close to me. I glanced briefly at his lips because they were right there and if anything, that smirk widened into something truly and magnificently evil. “Right. I remember. Because how could I forget something like that?”
“Yes, well, I don’t see what that has to do with anythi—”
“So, here’s what’s going to happen,” he said, as if I hadn’t been speaking at all. “We’re going to go through with your original plan.”
And that… did not compute. “What.”
“We’re going to fake date,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to fake date the hell out of you.”
“What.”
“And you’re going to play along,” he said, voice even and smooth. “No one’s going to know this isn’t real aside from you, me, and Mike, or the deal’s off.”
“Are you out of your goddamned mind?”
“Hey,” he said easily. “This was your idea. I’m just going with it.”
“It was not, it was—”
“So, we’ll fake date,” Darren said, and I wanted to punch him in the fucking mouth. “We’ll figure out how to save Jack It. And maybe we’ll even have time to help Vince and Paul with their wedding. In fact, until March, it looks like it’s going to be the Darren and Sandy show.”
“Oh please,” I said. “It’d be the Sandy and Darren show because I obviously would get top billing over you and—why am I even arguing about this?” I reached up and poked him in his considerable chest. The muscles were firm underneath the shirt. I swore I could feel the heat from his skin under my fingertip. Not that it mattered because I had to get control of this situation back. “Why are you doing this? What’s your angle, Mayne? What’s in it for you?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” he said with a rakish grin that I despised.
“No.” I took a step back. “Absolutely not. I won’t do this. I have some morals after all. Not a lot, but some. Okay, not really, but I’m going to try to have them right now. It’s my New Year’s resolution.”
“It’s October.”
“It’s never too late to start. I don’t want to do this with you. I don’t.”
Something flashed over his expression, something that I couldn’t quite make out, before he schooled his face into its usual cocky mask. He shrugged as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Doesn’t matter to me one way or another.” He turned and headed toward the stairs.
Good. This was good. I’d gotten the upper hand back. He would leave, and hopefully, I would never have to see him again.
“Just thought maybe this place meant more to you,” he called over his shoulder.
And fuck him. Fuck him for saying something like that to me. Because it was the truth. It was the only reason I had agreed with Mike to begin with (well, that and the money). And Darren knew that, knew exactly what to say to make me do what I did next. “Goddammit,” I muttered. Then, right when his hand touched the doorknob, “Wait.”