“Wouldn’t it be better if it were me, instead of some stranger?” Archer points at himself, he stands to his full height which gives him an inch or two above my brother, but the look on his face is determined. Whatever they’re talking about, Archer isn’t going to let Enzo just get his way.
“You all are crazy. As if I’d ever let V do any of this!”
I cross my arms, baffled at the sight in front of me. “Let V do what?”
Several pairs of eyes land on me, all of our friends exchanging guilty expressions. None more guilty than the three women I’ve decided to claim as my best friends. “What did you do?” I ask low, glancing around the room.
Enzo scoffs, “These three apparently think that you need to find yourself a boyfriend to impress some owner? It’s not fucking happening!”
I arch a brow and look around at the room. “What—” I glance at the girls once more and they give me sorry expressions. I blow out a breath. “Enzo, calm down.”
“Calm down?! Calm down! This is beyond absurd and you know it.” I glance at his friends, most of whom are trying to contain a form of laughter and I sigh.
Now that my dirty laundry is completely exposed…
“I’m looking for a business partner for a few months. Someone who can pretend they’re with me so that I have a fighting chance at getting a job. Hansen Marketing is Armani’s top competitor and I would love nothing more than to swoop in and steal all of their clients to make Charlotte look horrible. What’s so wrong with that?”
Now his friends are full on chuckling at the situation, but luckily Garrett, Chris and Mike launch into a private conversation, taking at least some attention off of me.
“The problem, sis, is that I don’t want some stranger going around and taking advantage of you! The girls said you have to do work retreats—”
“The hiring team at Hansen insists on hiring like-minded individuals that are family oriented. They like to see the ones who are settled.”
“Having a boyfriend doesn’t make you settled.”
I bite my lip and sigh. “No, but having a fiancé does.”
Enzo groans and rubs his eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
“Do you see why this is a good idea yet?”
I arch a brow at Archer’s question. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s talking about how he wants to play doting fiancé!” Enzo yells far too loud for the space and I freeze at the words.
Archer… the guy who used to play video games with me and discuss movies and books for hours on end. Archer, the guy who held me tight when my first boyfriend dumped me on my sixteenth birthday. Archer, the guy who left a black eye on Marcus Downing after he embarrassed me in front of the entire school… Yeah, I’m sure he doesn’t realize I know about that.
Archer, also the guy that, despite everything in the world telling me not to, I’ve had an unrequited crush on since I was about thirteen years old.
Yeah, no way I could pretend to be his fiancée.
“Oh.” I clear my throat when it suddenly clogs and give my head a bob. “Thank you, seriously, but I think it would be best if I found someone to enter into a contract with. Someone that can dump me when I get hired. Who knows what the future will bring, right?” I babble on, unable to contain my words. “I wouldn’t want to make you lie to anyone, that’s so not—”
My words get eaten up when Archer steps into my space, his gaze is locked on mine and his expression is earnest, serious. He towers over me by at least five inches—is that considered “towering”?—and I have to force my head back to look up at him.
I swallow hard.
“Viv.” His rough voice is soft and quiet, so only I can hear every word and I have to stop myself from closing my eyes and breathing in the musky scent that I associate with him. Get it together, Viv. “I want to do this for you. I don’t want some stranger helping you. We know each other. I can help you with this and then when the time comes, we’ll do whatever you need. Whatever you want.”
The words are all right and as I search his face, I can see he’s serious. Despite that we were nearly best friends when we were young, ever since I got bullied for hanging out with him and my brother constantly, I’d made sure to put distance between us.
But that didn’t stop Archer from being, well, Archer.
Good guy, extraordinaire.
So, with his hot gaze on mine and my ability to impulsively yell whatever comes to mind, I reply. “A contract!” He flinches at my loud voice and I take a breath to steady myself. “A contract.” I chuckle slightly. “With a paycheck.”
He shakes his head. “No—”