Page 7 of Honey Sunshine

I blink, momentarily stunned. “What?”

A beat passes between us as the little neurons in my mind scramble to make sense of what he said but miserably fail to do so. “You want me to be your boy—I mean, fake boyfriend?”

“Would you like me to order a bottle of whiskey now?” He smiles politely, like he didn’t just give me a damn near heart attack.

“Harvey, I’m not going to smash your head with a bottle. This is just...” I trail off, running a hand through my hair. A short stint in front of my ex is one thing, but his family? That’s a whole different ball game.

Thankfully, a waitress comes by to take our order, giving me a few moments to collect myself.

I try not to be too concerned that my potential investor does, in fact, order a bottle of whiskey.

When the waitress takes our orders and walks off, he clears his throat. “Look, you can think about it. I just thought that if I were to show up with someone, they might finally get off my back. At least for a while. However, I want to reiterate that you can say no, and I’ll still hear your proposal. If you like, we can discuss the proposal first, before anything else. I swear it won’t change anything. Business is business, personal is personal, and since we’re covering for each other as boyfriends, I’d like to be included in that.”

Somehow, as strange as it sounds, that’s not exactly what I’m concerned about. Unlike Harvey, I’m not actually confident I can pull off that act in front of an audience. Plus, what if things get messy? I don’t want it to come back and bite me in the ass.

The last time I mixed business and pleasure together, the fucker almost bankrupted me. Even to this very day, I’m still trying to build my advertising firm back up to its once former glory. However, this man sitting across from me doesn’t seem all that bad. Something about him just makes me trust him. But still...

Play boyfriend?Hmm.

The idea rolls around in my mind, tempting and absurd all at once. What’s the harm? Going along with it might score some points in my favor for this investment deal. It’s only for one night. Once we sign our contract, we may not even stay in touch that much. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with lending a hand, especially after what he just did for me.

“Who’s going to be at the dinner?” If I’m going to agree to this, I need to know what I’m getting into.

Harvey leans back in his seat. “Just my parents.”

“Oh, okay.” A crowd of two. Not bad. We can work with that.

“And my sister, her husband, and my niece,” he adds.

Oh, god. The whole lot of them. I try not to let it worry me. A favor for a favor—with extra benefits. It’s an investment deal, after all.

“Sure, let’s do it,” I declare, sipping my glass of water.

Harvey stills in his seat. “Really?”

“Did you expect me to say no?”

He chuckles. “I’m just surprised, I guess? I didn’t think you’d agree that quickly.”

“Well, you were my knight in shining armor today, so why wouldn’t I pay it forward?” I shrug my shoulders, reaching for the fried calamari. “I hope you’re fine if I eat everything, though. I might look skinny, but I have a bottomless pit for a stomach that rivals a black hole according to Alex, my soon-to-be-killed best friend.”

He picks up a calamari and places it on my plate.

“Be my guest, Zach. My family loves to cook,” he remarks. “I love cooking as well.” He places a calamari on his own plate and locks eyes with me. “I wouldn’t mind cooking for you sometime.”

I sigh, picking up the calamari and popping it into my mouth.

“See, that’s how you win me over. With food straight to my stomach.”

He laughs, rich and deep, and I almost choke on my food.

This man just crashed into my life in the most unexpected way, and something tells me everything is about to change. But will it be for better or for worse? I don’t know. Hell, I don’t fucking want to know.

2

HARVEY

MONDAY—DAY FOUR

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