Page 25 of Love You, Mean It

“I see Ted at quarterly board meetings and whenever he decides to swoop into the office to impress a golfing buddy. The man’s delusional about plenty of things, his business acumen not least among them, but even he knows better than to think he’s up to date on my personal life.”

“If things are that…strained between you, how would this help us?”

“Ted cares a lot about appearances. Hence refusing to actually retire, despite not putting in a full day’s work in years. It might make him seemold.” Theo rolled his eyes. “Trust me, he won’t push Mangia through if my ‘fiancée’ would be directly affected, at least not until he can come up with some tortured explanation for why it’s actually better for everyone. Think how it wouldlook.”

“If you hate him so much, why do you work with him?”

“I don’t actually have to work with him very often.” Theo shrugged, attempting—but not quite managing—to look unbothered. “But trust me, he’ll hold off on the deal until he can figure this out. Which buys us time to lay track. And the more people that know about our relationship, the more pressure Ted will feel. Even ifhemight be willing to fuck you over, he wouldn’t want the whole town tothinkhe’d do that.”

“And what about Sam?” The words popped out before I’d even considered them, but as soon as I’d spoken, I realized she was the thing still nagging at me. The look on her face in the hospital, the deep anxiety when she’d realized how bad things were. Lying to Mike had just been a logistical concern, but what about the people nearer to our respective orbits? Could we really do this to them?

“What about her?”

“She dropped everything to rush to the hospital. You two obviously have history.”

“We do,” Theo affirmed with a tight nod. “And like most history, it’s in the past. If anything, Sam would want tohelpus pull this off. She knows what Ted’s like.” A rueful smile stole over his face. “So? Any more straw men you want to raise?”

I took a sip of my coffee, long since gone cold, mainly to avoid Theo’s incisive blue gaze. I shouldn’t do this. IfTrip Taylorwanted it, there had to be a catch, one that certainly wasn’t going to hook on tohisslick exterior.

But what choice did I have? The idea was beyond crazy, it was almost guaranteed to blow up in my face, but if I didn’t try it, and Mangia came in…could I ever forgive myself? Even thinking of closing the doors on the deli—Dad’s deli—made my throat constrict. And really…what was the alternative?

“Let’s say I’m considering this,” I said. “I have some conditions. If either of us decides it’s not working, we pull the plug, no questions asked.”

“Of course.”

“And I get to tell my family what’s going on.” He could take whatever risks he wanted with Sam, I wasnotkeeping the people I loved in the dark.

“If you think that’s wise, I can’t stop you.” His nose scrunched involuntarily.

“And—”

“Ellie, you have to trust me.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then trust that we both want this to work. I mean…I could have just sued, right?” A twinkle of mischief flickered across the surface of his blue eyes.

I sucked my lips between my teeth, looking for the loophole he was going to slither through at the last second, but I couldn’t findit.

“Fine. I’m in.”

“Good. Then why don’t we break for now, and you can meetme back here tonight. There’s a lot to go over, we should get started immediately.”

“What’s the rush?”

“I’ve always been a firm believer in tackling the absolute worst tasks on your to-do list first. Which means introducing you to Ted by the weekend. So? Reconvene at seven?”

The arrogant tilt of his lips set a tendon in my jaw twitching, but I didn’t have prior plans to cancel, and besides, he was right. I nodded.

“Excellent. I think this will work out very well for both of us.” He extended his hand. I gripped it hard enough that he’d know not to fuck with me.

“By the way, I prefer being on top.”

“Excuse me?” A quizzical look overtook his strong features.

“In bed. I like to be on top. I know I said I wouldn’t tell you, but if we’reengaged,you should probably know what you’re getting into, right?”

Theo stared at me for a long second, the flush creeping past his collar giving me a perverse sense of satisfaction.

---