Page 8 of Billionaire Grump's Baby

She blinks those big Bambi eyes at me. I hold her gaze, and for a second, it’s like we’re the only two people in the whole restaurant.

“Come on,” I coax. “From what Sarah said, you need this as much as I do.”

“Fine,” Hazel says abruptly. “But afterwards we’re typing this up and filing it somewhere official. In case you try to weasel out of one of the deal points.”

I grit my teeth and ignore the insult to my honor, doing my best to concentrate on getting this damn deal hammered out. “You said you needed access. What’s that mean in practice? An hour a week?”

She snorts. “Try ten hours.”

“I can give you five,” I say. I watch her expression, waiting. When she grudgingly nods, I add the first rule to our list.

Luke gives Hazel five hours a week for access/interviews.

“What else?” I say.

She chews her lip, and I briefly lose control of my thoughts.

“If we’re doing this in two months, you can’t micromanage me,” she says. “I’ll take two weeks for research and interviews. Then I’ll turn in a rough outline for you to approve. After that, we’ll use your five hours a week to focus on fleshing out the details for that week’s chapter. Are you ok with a short book?”

“If we make it too long, no one will believe I wrote it,” I point out.

That earns me a flicker of a smile. The first genuine one I’ve gotten from her today.

It makes me feel wistful and hungry at the same time.

After I add herNo micromanagingrule, I add a third rule.When not working on the book, we stay out of each other’s lives.

“We only interact five hours a week, and we keep it focused on the book. Otherwise, we’ll just start fighting,” I say.

Otherwise, I’ll just start thinking about your mouth, I think.

She purses her lips. “I know this will shock you Luke, but you don’t need to put that part in writing. Not every woman is dying for your company.”

“Too late. Already wrote it down.”

She heaves a long-suffering sigh. “Is there anything else we need to cover? Legal stuff? Pay?”

“Sarah will work out the contract details with my lawyers,” I say. “Although now that you mention pay...”

I add a fourth rule.Hazel gets a 25% bonus if Luke makes’ CEO in six months. “Some extra incentive for you.”

Her eyes widen. I can practically see her doing the math in her head. “I can make that work,” she says faintly.

“Good.” I sign and date the contract. Then I pass the notebook to her.

She hesitates.

I hold my breath.

“Oh, fuck it. Here goes nothing.” She leans over the notebook, and. her hair falls over her face as she signs.

I can’t tell if she’s happy about this devil’s bargain we’ve struck.

It doesn’t matter if she’s happy, I remind myself.For the next two months, she’s not Cooper’s sister. She’s just an employee, like anyone else who works for you.

Our waiter emerges from the kitchen and places a gourmet version of macaroni and cheese in front of her.

It’s covered in caramelized onions.

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