The Billionaire's Favourite Mistake(19)

     



 

"I need more incentive than just you spouting off logical things in the  wedding-planning meetings," Greer said suddenly, turning to him.

"What do you mean?" She wanted something else from him?

"I want an agreement between us, drafted by lawyers so it's ironclad,  that you'll give up any and all rights to the baby if I agree to this."

Asher's entire body went cold. Give up any claim on his child? Like  hell he would. If he did, he'd never see her-or the baby-ever again. It  was a gut feeling, and it hurt, because she was still thinking about how  quickly she could get him out of her life.

And here he was thinking about how to keep her in his, forever.

He swallowed hard. "Why do you want that?"

"Isn't it obvious, Asher?" She gave a small, tired sigh. "You never  wanted this child, or me. It's not fair to force a child on someone who  wants nothing to do with them. I don't need your money. I don't want  child support. I just want to be left alone once this is done."

As she spoke, his mind raced. All right. He could fix this. He could  give her what she wanted, and still manage to come out on top. He'd  bring in his best lawyer and add a loophole or a codicil of some kind  that would give him an out, and he'd just have to throw enough money at  her lawyer that he'd overlook whatever out-clause Asher added to ensure  that he could still have control of the situation. There was no way he  was going to give up any claim to Greer and the baby.

He wanted them too fucking much. It gutted him to even consider agreeing.

But he needed Greer, and this was his Hail Mary pass. If he couldn't  get her to agree to this, he didn't know what he could do to bring her  back to him. To get them back to rights. So he swallowed hard and  nodded. "Fine. It'll be as you want."

Was that a flicker of disappointment in her expression? She masked it  quickly with a firm nod and then stuck her hand out. "I suppose we have a  deal, then."

"I suppose we do."

And he had some strings to pull on the flip side. But for now? He'd  just gotten Greer to agree to let him woo her. It was a start.

She lifted her glasses and rubbed her nose, as if trying to ease an oncoming headache. "I can't believe I just agreed to this."

"It'll be beneficial for both of us," he soothed, and pulled out his  phone. "So, what time should we set up tonight for our first kissing  lesson?"

"Tonight?" Her glasses dropped back into place and she looked startled. "We're starting tonight?"

"We've only got a month, Greer, and I think we'll both agree that I  need all the help I can get," he lied. "So it's best that we start right  away."

***

Greer felt as if she'd just made a deal with the devil.

She studied her reflection in the mirror, oddly nervous. A short time  from now, she was scheduled to meet with Asher at his hotel room so they  could go over his first kissing lesson.

Kissing. She was going to teach the man kissing. As if she were the  expert? It was to laugh. Except . . . she didn't feel like laughing. She  felt like panicking. She'd agreed to help him get better at seduction?  Why did this feel like she was returning back to the lion's den? She  didn't want anything to do with him, especially not in a sexual manner.  Last time, it was frankly, terrible. It was disappointing and sticky and  she'd gotten nothing out of it except a lot of broken dreams.

Oh, and a pregnancy. Couldn't forget that.

Her hands nervously went to her stomach, where she felt a tiny flutter  inside. She didn't know if that was the baby or her nerves. Could be  both. More than anything, she wanted to back out. The thought of  spending a month with Asher practicing kissing on her was . . .  upsetting. Like getting scheduled for a month of dentist appointments.

But what he'd dangled in front of her had been too tempting to resist.

It wasn't just the help with the wedding-though, god, that had been a  blessing after all. Once Asher had decided to stop making things worse,  they'd quickly settled into a theme all of them could agree on: fairy  tales. There would be a horse-drawn carriage to bring the brides up to  the ceremony (since Tiffi desperately wanted a horse involved) and they  would use glass slippers as decor and do some fun nods to other subtle  fairy tale ideas. The girls had decided to go with their regular colors  of pink, blue, and purple highlights along with bridal white. Now she  had a game plan and could charge forward with place settings and colors  for napkins and tablecloths and the like.         

     



 

More than anything, the wedding would be classy, sweet, and easy. No  doves. No horses (other than the carriage, which she could deal with).  No costumes for guests and no one sitting in the pool. And true to his  word, Asher had helped her rein in the others when their ideas got too  crazy.

Now she had to hold up her end of the bargain. He'd done his part to  help bring the wedding together, and her lawyer was scheduled to call  his lawyer in the morning to discuss the paperwork about abdicating his  parental rights, and so now, well, she supposed she had a date to make  out with the guy to help him practice his seduction.

She ran a brush through her hair and considered whether she should put  on some makeup or nicer clothing. Then she scowled at her reflection.  What was she thinking? This was Asher. Asher the jerk. It'd serve him  right if she ate a fistful of onions before showing up.

But because she was a nervous nelly, she brushed her teeth anyhow, then  packed up her purse and the folder of printouts she'd made and drove  her rental over to his hotel. He was staying at the Cromwell, which was  exclusive but not so exclusive that she'd feel weird about showing up.  Once her car was taken care of, she sent him a text so he could meet her  in the lobby. And then she waited, clutching her folder, feeling like  an idiot and a bit of a harlot at the same time.

She gave herself a pep talk while she waited. This will be harmless.  You can just tell him about how kissing should be for the woman. You can  explain how a girl wants to be touched by a man. Give him some  pamphlets, chat about what he should consider changing in his  "technique" and then skip out. Zero emotions need to be involved. None.  This is just a mutual scratching of backs. By the time she was finished,  she felt better, calmer. One month of meaningless makeout sessions,  coming right up.

But then the elevator dinged and Asher got out, all sexy grin and  tanned skin, and she felt flustered all over again. He was wearing the  same shirt from earlier, sleeves rolled at the elbows and collar open,  but gone were the tie and the jacket. And even though she now hated the  man, she couldn't deny that he was utterly delicious for her eyes. His  casual saunter toward her and the way his expression looked like a cross  between predatory and seductive? Her nipples were getting hard just  from him looking at her.

Greer clutched the folder tighter and reminded herself that he was  nothing but packaging. She'd unwrapped the present, so to speak, and had  been less than impressed. That calmed her hormones down. She stuck her  hand out for him to shake. "Mr. Sutton?"

"Stop it, Greer," he said playfully, and ignored her hand. He moved to  her side and put an arm around her shoulders, tugging her closer to him.  "We both know each other a lot better than that."

"Yes, but tonight is about business, remember? I just want to make sure the correct lines are drawn."

"Oh, I'm well aware of the lines you've drawn."

Now what did that mean? Greer frowned to herself as he steered her  toward the elevator. Luckily, it was empty, as she didn't think she'd be  able to stand making small talk with another person as Asher led her up  to his room for seduction lessons.

They got off the elevator on one of the top floors and Asher kept his  hand on the small of her back as he led her to his room. She hadn't been  to this hotel before, and pretended great interest in the marble  flooring and the black-and-white decor in the kitchen area. Anything to  avoid the bedroom.

"Thanks for coming," Asher said, his arm sliding away from her back. He  took her purse from her shoulder and set it down on the counter.

"Why are you thanking me? You blackmailed me to be here."

"I don't think of it as blackmail-just . . . persuasion." Asher gave her a winning look. "You could have turned me down."

"And made my life more of a hell? No thank you."

His easy smile faded. "Is your life hell, then?"

For some reason, she felt as if . . . he was worried about her. That  was silly, wasn't it? "This month it is," she said tartly. Then she  thrust the folder at him. "Here. I printed these out for you."         

     



 

"What are they?" He opened the folder and started to flip through the pages.

"Instructions on how to kiss properly. Apparently you can find anything  on the Internet." She shook her head. "Honestly, Asher, I'm not sure  how you managed to keep Donna for so long without knowing any of the  basics."