Evans sauntered into the office, uninvited. “Word around the firm is your confirmation’s just a matter of time. Now that you’re engaged and Jeffers is satisfied you’re not banging his ex-wife. All so convenient and well-timed, if you ask me.”
“Back off, Evans.”
He offered a tight smile and tossed a research file on Nick’s desk as if he were the man in charge. “Consider me backed off, Nick,” he said, emphasizing his sarcasm with a set of air quotes. “But I can’t wait to get a look at your fiancée tonight.”
“Tonight?” he asked. Not like they socialized regularly. Or, ever.
“The partner event. Can’t wait to see if you can pass off this new fiancée of yours as the real deal. If you’ve even got a woman lined up.” He offered a casual shrug and turned to leave. “Either way, watching you go down in flames is going to be the highlight of my year.”
Son of a bitch. Nick’s jaw tightened. The damned partner event. He’d assumed the event would be partners and senior associates only—as usual. He’d forgotten they included spouses. Hell, he’d never even considered it, but now that he was engaged, the invite extended to Marianne. He bit back a curse. Tonight could fast-forward his professional life to its friggin’ conclusion. Thank God they had some quality time together last night—they just might be able to pull this off. Either that, or his colleagues would take one look at Marianne’s starched cardigan and know she was a fraud. Strike that—he was the fraud.
If Dan Morgan caught on, not only would he lose his shot at the partnership, he’d lose his job, his reputation, and the respect of the partners. Pretty much career suicide. He paced across the office. He needed a loophole. An escape clause. A get-out-of-the-partner-event-free card. Except there was no way of getting out of tonight, not since his engagement had become all the talk around the firm. Better to focus on getting the details right, making sure they had their act down well enough to fool everyone. Was there a detail he’d forgotten? All of a sudden, his tie felt like it was strangling him.
Something like…a ring?
Nick couldn’t breathe. He needed a ring to seal the deal, make it look official. He forced the thought from his mind and pulled at the collar of his pristine white shirt.
A ring? Was he really going to give her a ring to complete the illusion? Jesus, he’d lost his mind. Was he supposed to stop into a diamond mart on the way home and pick up some Neil Lane knock-off? This wasn’t an episode of The Bachelor, for Christ’s sake. This was Real Life. He paced to the other side. Well, Real Life for their little Liars Club of Two.
Shit.
No ring. It was too much. Besides, even if he decided to go with a ring, with the current state of his luck, his new fiancée would spend the night decrying the politics of blood diamonds, which would be worse than the damn cardigan. He scrubbed his face with his hands. A ring would definitely make his farce of an engagement seem real, and a real engagement was critical to winning the partnership. Nick couldn’t risk anything going wrong tonight. Evans wasn’t the only associate hoping he’d fail. Hell, there was probably an office pool.#p#分页标题#e#
“Plan on coming to the event tonight?” Standing in the doorway, his boss fired off the question, phrasing it in a way that was really a statement. Amazing. Like some kind of Jedi mind trick. Nick definitely needed to develop that skill.
Dan continued. “I want to introduce you to a few of the senior partners, start garnering some goodwill. Put the business with Jeffers’s wife in the rearview.”
Nick stood, grateful for his boss’s support. “Absolutely.”
“And bring your fiancée. I’m looking forward to meeting the woman who stole your heart, not to mention saved your ass,” he joked in his deep baritone. “Bet she’s impressive as hell.”
He nodded his agreement. “Like a high-yield portfolio, sir.”
Not exactly romantic, but better than nothing.
Maybe. A vague look of misgiving crossed Dan’s face. Maybe not. His boss wasn’t the top dog at one of Manhattan’s leading firms for no reason. He knew bullshit when he smelled it.
If Nick planned to survive the situation, he needed to step up his game. “We’ll see you tonight, sir.”
“See you tonight,” Dan agreed, turning to leave Nick with his thoughts.
Not for the first time, Nick wondered what he’d been thinking when he’d come up with this plan. A six-week engagement to a woman who was practically a stranger? He tore both hands through his hair. Arrogant and reckless, just like his old man. This was why he played love cool. No entanglements. No issues.