He runs his hands through his hair and then across his face before squeezing the bridge of his nose. “Well, I don’t have time for all that, and you know it, Isabella. I don’t have much time left, and I thought that knowing how you feel about Granny, you would be willing to help me out.”
“She’ll know it’s not real.”
He lifts his shoulders. “We’ll have to show her it is. What? Can you not act like you love me for a few months?”
I bite my lower lip. My heart is wrenching in my chest because he thinks he has months with his grandmother, but I know that her time is even more limited than that. But I can’t tell him that. “What about you? Can you do that?”
“Yes,” he says, but by the look on his face, he’s not even convinced of it himself.
I shake my head and squeeze my hands together in my lap. “No one is going to believe you’ve just fallen in love with me, Lucas.”
He shrugs as if it’s no big deal. “I can be convincing.”
If only this was real. Already I can feel my heart breaking in my chest. There’s no way I can play this game and come out unscathed. I’m about to tell him no when he leans forward. “I have a contract already put together. I can pay you to be my wife.”
I jump out of my seat and stand over him. Surprise and shock floods through my body, and I say the first thing that comes to my mouth. “Fuck you, Lucas Blaze.”
I turn to walk out, knowing I need to cool down when his hand circles my wrist. “Stop. I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m sorry, Bella. It’s not like I’ve ever done this before, and obviously I’m not handling things the right way. Listen, forget the money...”
I spit the words at him. “Yeah because I’m not a prostitute.”
His brows lift, and he tugs me toward him. “Look, I know. Or I should have known you wouldn’t take any money. All I’m saying is that I want the time Granny has left to be in peace. That’s all. I don’t want to live with the guilt knowing that she’s worried about me... and about you.”
A lump forms in my throat. “Me?”
He nods. “Yeah, she said she’s worried about you too, Isabella. She knows you won’t have anyone when she’s gone.”
Pain shoots through me like a pinball. My grandma is gone, and so are my mom and dad. He’s right. I won’t have anyone when G leaves us, but Lucas has to know what Lottie is doing. I pull my wrist from his hold and grab on to both of his forearms. “Lucas, listen, you know she’s just trying to fix us up, right? In her head, you and I make sense, and she’s just trying to play matchmaker.”
He nods. “I know all that. I also know that she’s eighty-one years old. Let’s give her what she wants.”
“Have you mentioned this to Kelly?”
He scrunches up his eyebrows thoughtfully. “My assistant?”
I nod, and at the same time, he shakes his head. “No, but I don’t see what she has to do with this.”
Surely he knows how his assistant feels about him. “She’s not going to like it.”
He’s looking at me, his face unreadable. “I don’t care.”
I realize that I’m still holding on to his arms, and I release him quickly before taking a step back. “Can I think about it?”
He doesn’t let me get far. “Of course you can, but we don’t have long.”
I nod in understanding and leave the room in a hurry. Instead of going to the front door, I run up the steps and don’t let out a breath until I’m in my room behind closed doors. I lean back against the hard wood and look at the ceiling. I know if I want to keep my heart intact, I need to tell him no. But how can I?
Lucas
I wanted to demand an answer from Isabella, but I knew I couldn’t. I was asking a lot from her, and I needed to give her time to think about it. So when Austin texted me right after she left and asked me to go to Jasper with him to meet with a potential client, I said yes. I made sure to tell Granny goodbye so she wouldn’t expect me in the morning, and I met Austin at the distillery so he could leave his car there.
The drive to Jasper was short, and we met the client at the hotel restaurant. He’s only in town until the morning.
We met with the client for a late dinner, and everything went smoothly. Usually this was my department, but this is one of Austin’s contacts that he made when he was in college. I guess I came for the moral support.