Page 109 of Playboy For Hire

“But you made it.” I smiled. “And I bet your presentation went great.”

He shrugged. “The presentation, sure. I’m not sure if it’ll make up for my otherwise lackluster grade in that class, but at least it’s over.”

“And soon the whole thing will be over. Just one more group project tomorrow, and then graduation, right?”

“Yep.” He smiled, but it looked a little muted.

“Your parents still haven’t changed their minds?” I asked.

“No.” He let out a big breath of air. “I apologized and everything, but I guess my dad thinks I’m not worth the gas money. My mom keeps telling me I shouldn’t have antagonized him, and I just…” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s fine, honestly. The business school got the sucky time slot this year. Ceremony starts at nine. I’ll probably just skip it, catch up on sleep instead.”

“What? No, you have to go.”

Ryder blinked. “Why?”

I flushed. “Because I wanted to go and celebrate with you. And Auntie Thea, too. That is, if you haven’t given away your tickets yet.”

“Are you serious?” He looked incredulous.

“Yeah. If it’s alright with you, that is.”

He broke into a broad smile. It was my favorite smile of his. The one he gave when he was surprised and thrilled, and not trying to be smooth or polished at all. I loved it.

“It’s alright with me.” He gave me a shy look. “If you’re sure you want to come.”

“We wouldn’t miss it. And if you have any extra tickets, I think Violet might want to come too. Though she’d probably make you pick her out another new dress.”

“Oh my god,” Ryder said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve taken her shopping three times in the last week.Three. Times.”

“You are allowed to tell her no, you know.”

“Yeah, but it’s not exactly unpleasant. Besides, she’s started paying me.”

“Really?”

“Really. She asked me what I thought my hourly rate should be, and when I couldn’t come up with something, she pulled out two hundred-dollar bills and said, ‘We’ve been out for two hours today, so that ought to do it.’”

“Holy shit.” I shook my head. “I knew she had money, but I didn’t expect her to be that generous. She makes Auntie Theaand me bring our own pencils when we play bridge. Doesn’t want us wearing hers down.”

“Evidently, helping her find clothes is a more important service. She set me up with another one of her friends for next week—someone named Lucille? So it looks like I might find a new job sooner than I expected: personal shopper to little old ladies with fashion obsessions.”

“I mean, if you enjoy it…”

“I actually do.” He shrugged. “They’ve got great stories. And it’s fun to help other people out.”

“You know you really don’t have to quit working for Heartbreakers Anonymous, though, right?”

“I know.” Ryder leaned in and pulled my glasses down to the tip of my nose so he could kiss the spot right between my eyes. “And I love you for it.” Then he pulled back and gave me an assessing look. “Are you nervous about tonight?”

I pushed my glasses back up to the bridge of my nose. “Yeah. But I’m nervous about everything. I’m sure it’ll go fine.”

“It’ll go perfectly,” he said. “All we have to do is make sure we’re at the bar before they arrive. Come on, we want to grab a good table.”

He took my hand—another thing I still wasn’t used to—and we walked to Bart’s Basement. We’d gotten there well before trivia started, but the bar was far from empty. I was grateful we’d managed to snag a table up front. It was closer to the exit, which I was going to need pretty soon.

“Okay, you sit there,” Ryder said, motioning for me to sit so I was facing the door. “You remember what Tessa looks like?”

“Yep.”

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