Five

Brie

I never imagined that I'd be in this situation, but here I was, preparing the most outrageous plan with Alex to increase our ‘exposure’. It was a bizarre scenario, given that we had never really gotten along, and for as long as we had known each other our relationship had been characterized by an intense feeling – bordering on the wrong side of the love-hate line – for each other. However, when it came down to business, we were willing to put our personal differences aside and work together to achieve our goals.

And this was business, at least to me. The contents of the contract sitting prettily on my desk at home still made my head spin, and I almost screamed when I got the first payment not too long after I signed it. If there was one thing I knew for sure about Alex was that he kept his promises down to the very last letter.

I had a hundred thousand dollars just sitting in my account, waiting for the rest of the payment, and all I had to do was be seen with the man in public. A genius scheme, but that was to be expected from him. He was a smart man, after all.

No amount of smarts could make me like him though.

“No,” I stressed for the umpteenth time, watching his eyes cloud with annoyance from beneath my lashes. 

“Three dates a week, Brie. And I drive you to work every day.”

I scoffed. “Nice try. I know what you’re thinking: a plan within a plan. Typical Arterra.”

He gave me an offended look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. for some reason, the gesture caught my attention.

“Can we not fight just this once? Please.”

“Sure,” I quipped. “ But you’re not driving me to work. I don’t need unnecessary drama.”

“Fine,” he ground out.

I leaned back in my seat and smiled, satisfied.

After a few minutes of back and forth discussion that surprisingly had no insults thrown in, we had a simple plan in the works.

To my surprise/horror, our first order of business was a date.

That night!

***

I paced the lengh of my bedroom, eyeing the garment bag lying across my sheets and wondering for the umpteenth time why I thought it would be a good idea to date Alex.

Even though it was fake.

“I cant do this,” I moaned.

“Of course you can. Its just one night.”

“Of hanging around snobbish elites,” I shot back at Sade. 

The tiny blonde woman was my best friend, and the only one aware of the full details of my deal with my boss. Since she was also aware of how much I hated the man, she found the situation very amusing.

“Except you deal with them every day,” she sang, moving from where she leaned against the wall to my bed.

“Not while I’m pretending to like the worst person ever to grace the planet earth!”

She laughed and I dropped to the bed. 

“You are the only one who would find this situation funny.”

She held up the garment bag and pulled the zipper down with a whoosh.

When I saw the gown in the bag, my eyes widened, and she let out an impressed whistle.

“I don’t know about you, but this dress is worth it,” she whispered.

I hated to admit it, but she was right. The dress Alex had picked for our first night out together was a beautiful navy strapless number with a sweetheart neckline that shimmered in the soft glow of my overhead lights. 

When I put it on, it was even more perfect. It clung to my waistline and then poured in a waterfall down to my ankles. A slit ran up the left to my mid thigh, and a pair of shiny black heels completed the look.

“Beautiful,” I breathed at my reflection. “Apparently my boss has high taste.”

Sade agreed with a hum and ushered me into my vanity chair. After almost thirty minutes of primping, I was ready.

As always, Sade had outdone herself. My hair poured down my back in its natural form, held away from my face by glittering hairpins that matched the shine of my hair. the makeup was just the way I liked it: it only served to accentuate my features.

Sade looked from my bed, a satisfied smirk on her lips. “Looks like you ready to go.”

I took a deep breath and before I could reply, the doorbell rang.

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered.

***

My hands were damp as I crossed the distance to the front door through the living room. My heart beat a rapid tattoo against my ribs.

"Stop it," I whispered to myself as I held the doorknob. "You can do this…"

I steeled myself with a deep breath and opened the door.

My eyes met Alex's, and my breath caught in my throat.

He might be a pain in the ass and a generally annoying person, but there was no denying that the man was drop-dead gorgeous.

His body in the grey tux was nothing short of breathtaking. My eyes trailed the length of his body from his toes, past the firm, finely outlined arm muscles, and to eyes that mirrored my appreciation.

I screamed at myself internally. When he gave me that smoky look, his blue eyes taking on a darker hue, it was hard to remember why I hated him in the first place.

But I shook myself out of the stupor.

"Are we leaving or not?" I snapped.

His eyes hardened, and his lips thinned. "Let's go."

The car ride was silent and fraught with tension, but that was exactly how I liked it. Still, I caught myself glancing at his side profile, wondering what exactly was going through his head.

More than once, I think I saw him glancing at me too.

If I didn't know better, I'd say he almost looked… hurt.

I sighed, mentally berating myself.

"Okay, how about this. We get through this night without getting on each other’s nerves."

He looked at me for one long second, eyebrow raised. "Okay…" he drawled. “As long as you’re up for it. We need people to actually believe we like each other. In other words, you should stop acting like I’m a piece of gum stuck under your heels.”

I felt a vein throb in my temple. “I will, as soon as you stop acting like you own me.”

He gave me one of those irritating smirks that made me want to cuss him out, but I kept my cool.

“This isn’t working,” I said, looking away from him and out the window. “Do you have to be so damn infuriating?”

“If it means you would even deign to speak to me? Then yes, I do.”

I whipped my head around and stared at him, eyes wide in surprise.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Forget about it,” he said, a small smile on his face.

Alex Arterra, confusing and infuriating as always, I thought to myself. Taking a deep breath, I decided to face the business at hand: the stupid party.

“I’m going to ignore that. What should I expect tonight?”

Just like that, it was like a switch was flipped and Alex returned to his normal, calculative self.

“Honestly, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Just smile, dance, and wave off a couple of questions. I know you stalk me a lot, so answering personal details shouldn’t be a problem.”

This time, I had no words to say, and we rolled into the valet parking space of the hotel without any more arguments. 

To my surprise, Alex handed the key to the valet then opened the door for me. 

“Shall we?” he asked, holding one hand out to me, his eyes soft.

I placed my hand in his.

“Let’s get this over with.”