He sighed, and she had a hard time not taking in the breathtaking beauty of his face as he pushed his hair back, making it stand in all directions. “I know. I know. I failed utterly. Please don’t leave. Please.”
She sucked in a breath, her anger fading in the face of his begging. There was something in his eyes she hadn’t expected that made her pause in her mission to completely walk away and forget him.
Desperation, or was it loneliness?
How could a man that looked like him be lonely?
“I don’t understand any of this,” she said, shaking her head. “Fine. Let’s talk.”
“Citrine will let us use his office,” he said, walking with her. He quickly stepped in and explained to Citrine, who made himself scarce, walking to another room.
She followed Dante in and was about to sit hesitantly in the chair she’d been in before when he shook his head. He walked around the desk and pulled out Citrine’s large, leather office chair and gestured for her to take it.
When she raised an eyebrow, he grinned. “You’re the boss right now, so you get the desk. You can question me all you like.”
She couldn’t help a smile crooking the corner of her lips as she let out a snort and took her spot behind the desk. “See, this is more the schmoozer I expected.”
“I’m glad.” He sat in the chair across from her, crossing his legs at the ankles lazily and putting his hands behind his head.
It displayed his arm muscles to amazing advantage, and she noticed with surprise he wasn’t even sweating.
She was.
Was this a different world or something? Had these men dropped here from another planet? What on earth was going on?
She shook her head and leaned back, getting comfy in the chair. “Why were you such a douche to me?”
“You caught me off guard,” he said.
“Because I’m a shrew?”
“Because you didn’t melt in my presence,” he said sardonically. “Because you didn’t melt in awe of my beauty.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “So you’re aware of it, then?”
He made a sweeping gesture to himself. “This perfection? Keenly.”
She laughed, feeling her muscles slowly relax. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all.”
“So if you did hire us, what would you want us for?”
“A date to a wedding,” she said.
“That’s not so hard.”
“For a week,” she added. “In a small town, a few hours’ flight from here.”
“Oh,” he said, taken aback.
“Do you not do that?”
“We can do anything for the right client.”
“Anything?” she joked, winking.
To her surprise, he flushed slightly on his high cheekbones. “No, not everything. Uh…”
“Good,” she said, making a spin in the chair and catching herself again. “Because romance is off-limits. I’m not looking to date someone.”
His expression in response to that was dubious. “Why not?”
“Well, first, you don’t expect romance when you’re hiring someone to perform a service. And second, I gave up on it a long time ago. I’m just not the kind of girl who needs it.”
He scoffed. “How did you decide that?”
“You don’t need to think about that,” she said, placing her hands on the desk and leaning forward. “All you need to think about is if you’d be willing to play my fiancé in front of my family for a week.”
He smirked, his full lips turning up. “I’m an excellent actor and quite charming, despite my embarrassing display today.”
“I suppose I could give one of the other men a chance, too,” she said.
He jolted upright, rattled. “No,” he said. “I’m the only one for the job. I guarantee that. Hopefully, with some time and help, the others can improve. But I’ve known them almost all my life, and I can say authoritatively that I’m the one for this.”
So he did have pride in something. She studied him, finally feeling she was getting beneath the pretty boy facade to the person beneath.
She no longer felt like the frump at the mercy of the popular guy, but just a woman talking to a man who was willing to work for her. With her. However, it worked.
As long as he was this charming, she could probably handle it.
“Besides,” he said. “I need to get out of this place. I could use the vacation.”
“Hanging with my family in a nosy small town isn’t going to be a vacation,” she said.
He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t care. I need some fresh air. New scenery.” He grinned at her, and she cursed herself for being caught off guard by the sheer attractiveness of his smile. Such white teeth. Such pretty lips.