Page 15 of Bossing My Holiday
He thinks it’s going to be some cute and cuddly number like twenty grand. I smirk tauntingly as I lean back, cross my legs at the knee, and fold my arms over my chest. “Two hundred grand. My grandmother had early-onset dementia and was home alone more than she should have been because she was lucid enough to tell me to enjoy my college life and not come home. I didn’t as much as I should have, because I was young and didn’t see the warning signs. She spent her days shopping online and through the TV using the five credit cards she had in her name over and over again. Anything she saw, she bought. Plus, she took out loans to get me through college because she didn’t want me to have a dime of debt to my name. Irony at its best. The minimum payments on all of that are a lovely five grand a month, and then there’s all the interest that’s been accruing for years. Her nursing home is another three grand a month because she gets partial Medicaid reimbursement.”
He does a slow rolling blink thing. Yep, I shocked him. Go me. Pat on the back and gold star for effort.
“You’ve been trying to pay that off all on your own?” His jaw clenches along with his fist around his glass.
“Yep.”
“Jesus, Waverly. The fuck?” He drags his free hand through his hair and turns away from me, almost as if he can’t bear to look at me anymore, and I’m officially done here.
“So, you see, this was a lot more than you bargained for and certainly not worth the price of admission for your holiday scheme.” I stand. “Best of luck with your family problem. I’m sure you’ll find someone else who is more suitable than I am. Don’t worry about HR. As you now know, I need this job, so we’ll forget this conversation ever happened.”
I head to the door when he stops me again. “I’ll give you five hundred thousand dollars. Half when we land in Paris Sunday morning to pay off your debts, and the other half on January first when we return home and you start working for both Braxton and me.”
Now it’s my turn to ask, “The fuck?! Who pays that kind of money for a goddamn fake girlfriend?”
He ignores my outburst. “I’ll also pay off all of your grandmother’s expenses until she no longer requires them. You will sign a contract that requires you to pay everything back in full if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain, and you also have to continue here as our employee for another three years minimum. After that, you’re free to leave on your own and will obviously continue to receive your salary with merit increases and bonuses as you always have.”
My forehead meets the door, and my eyes shut.
“Tristan…”
“I need a fake girlfriend, Waverly, and you’re the one I want for the job. Take the deal. Please take the deal.” He almost sounds desperate as he says that. “It’s a genuine offer with no sordid details other than having to do some lying and pretending.Think about it. You’ve got twenty-four hours to decide because we fly out Saturday night.”
“And if I say no?” I can’t look at him. I can’t. It’s like I’m hanging over a lava pit, and he’s offering me a way up to safety before I fall.
“I just said it won’t impact your job. I’m not that much of an asshole. I need this for me, but I also want to help you, believe it or not. And you’re too valuable to lose as my assistant.”
I’d feel guilty for calling him an asshole if I could think past the five hundred grand and nursing care for my grandmother until her death.
“I’ll think about it.”
“You can’t talk to anyone about this, Waverly. This has to stay between us.” His voice is stern, not allowing any room for negotiation on this.
I give a weak nod and flee, my OuestHicks Pharmaceuticals heels clicking and clacking as I scoop up my purse—complete with anti-asshole spray and hot pink vibrator—and fly toward the elevator. I can’t say yes. But how on earth can I say no?
5
BRAXTON
The sound of my phone ringing stirs me out of a heavy sleep. No one calls me in the middle of the night except one person, and I was almost expecting this.
“It’s midnight,” I answer, my voice thick and raspy.
“I asked Waverly to be my fake girlfriend.”
I smile even as I rub my hand up my face and roll over in bed, taking my phone with me. “How’d that go?”
“Not well. She’s in some serious fucking debt from her grandmother. The kind of debt she’ll never be able to get out from under. I offered her five hundred thousand, which is more than double the debt and to cover all of her grandmother’s expenses.”
My eyes bulge. “Shit. That’s…”
“You would have done the same.”
“I would have,” I agree. “Did she say yes?”
“I gave her twenty-four hours.”
I yawn and close my eyes again. “She’ll say yes.”
