Page 50 of An Inconvenient Plan
“Uh, money.” His neck burned. He’d hoped she’d discover it much later and simply tuck it into her wallet, letting him off the hook for the previous disaster of a night when he’d tried to give her back the shoebox of cash.
She marched toward him, her gaze murderous. “You’re paying me for sex?”
“No!”
She stopped in front of him. “That’s what it feels like, Josh. I sleep with you and then I find a wad of cash in my purse.”
He had to defuse the situation or they’d never get past this money thing. He went for a teasing tone. “I don’t pay for companionship, unlike some people I know.” She’d paid him to be her wedding escort, which was how he got the money in the first place.
Her jaw dropped, and he immediately regretted the words. “Hailey, I was joking because that’s how I got the money.”
She held up a palm, fury written all over her face. Then she stepped around him, strode to his bedroom for her phone, and returned. She pulled the wad of cash from her purse and tried to hand it to him.
He put his hands behind his back. “Just take the money. It’s yours. You earned it.”
Her nostrils flared, her lips in a tight line. She shoved the money in her purse, turned on her heel, and headed for the door.
“Not like a prostitute,” he added belatedly.
She yanked open the door, slamming it behind her.
He punched the air. Fucking A. The woman was impossible. All he’d wanted to do was make amends and she wouldn’t let him.
At least she’d kept the money. Problem solved. Sort of.
Of course, there was still the problem of the playboy prince trailing around after her while she did nothing to discourage him. Josh had told her what needed to happen—goodbye, prince.
Fuck it. If he couldn’t get through to Hailey, then he’d have to get through to the prince.
14
Hailey fumed the entire walk to her office. It was bad enough Josh was acting like a jealous lunatic, but then he had to make it worse by stashing a wad of cash in her purse after she’d slept with him. Maybe he hadn’t meant it in a whorish way, but it didn’t exactly feel good to be paid after sex.
By the time she finished checking her email back at work, she was calm enough to have a civilized conversation with Josh. If he apologized profusely, she would make every effort to put his stupid guy move behind her. She was, above all else, a classy lady. She pulled out her phone and called.
“Morning,” he said, sounding slightly out of breath.
“Are you working out?”
“I’m running, but I can talk at the same time. Sorry about this morning. I didn’t like the way things ended between us.”
She smoothed her hair, slightly mollified by the sincere apology. It wasn’t overly elaborate, but then neither was Josh. “What part are you sorry for?”
“The truth is, I didn’t think you’d take the money if I just handed it to you. I was trying to make amends. Really you should be thanking me for taking the high road.”
She seethed. His apology tanked when he put it all on her. “It’s so great that you’re up on that high road while I’m down here getting spit on.”
“I didn’t spit on you. Geez, you’re twisting this into something evil. For the last time just take the money. It’s yours anyway. I was just temporarily holding it.”
“And what about the jealous lunatic part?”
“What about you kick the prince to the curb?”
So she got a half-ass apology and another jealous lunatic jab. Was this how their relationship was going to go? Because this wasn’t sitting well with her at all and he was too hardheaded to meet her halfway. Maybe this had been a mistake. She’d been worried all along about them making it work after their long history of fighting. Maybe they should cut their losses before someone really got hurt. Every time their family got together, it would reopen that wound. She broke out in a cold sweat.
“Hailey?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
