A Deal With the Devil (11 page)

“You weren’t exactly open to the idea when I first brought it up.” His eyes searched her face for a clue as to what might have changed her mind.

She looked down and cradled the steaming brew with both hands. “True.”

Jake studied the note and then set it aside. “Looks like you’ve thought it all through.”

“I have.”

He leaned back against the booth and studied her face. Unable to discern anything from her calm demeanor, he took a swig of coffee in part to hide his consternation and then said, “Before we get into the details, I need to know what changed your mind.”

She shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“It does to me.”

She studied his face and then her lips curved up. “You’re worried I’ll back out.”

“Maybe,” Jake said as his thumb tapped the table. “You’ve done a complete about face and for no apparent reason. You might decide to do so in the middle of our game and I can’t risk that happening. I have too much riding on this. I have to know you’re serious; that you’ll hang in with me.”

She arched a brow. “This is a game to you?”

“No. It’s a game to my grandfather,” he said. “Everything is. For me, this is about as real as it gets. My entire business future hangs in the balance.”

She sniffed. “I won’t back out. If we can come to terms, I’ll see our agreement through to the end. You have my word.”

She said that now, but when the situation got difficult—as he suspected it would—she might try to back out. After all, there seemed no good reason for her to agree to the deal in the first place. At least no reason he could see and he needed to ensure his partner in crime committed as whole-heartedly as he.

“I’m not thrilled about lying to Max. You know how much I care for him.” She paused and then shrugged. “But the way I see it, the trust fund technically belongs to you. So we’re really not taking anything you wouldn’t already get. We’re just speeding it up a little.”

“Your reasoning is great, but it’s about me. I need to know why
you’d
agree to go through with this. What changed your mind? You said Paris isn’t important to you anymore and yet you’ve asked for a year in Paris. You don’t need money, but you say you want cash.”

She tucked a few strands behind her ear and looked down at her plate. “Actually, I
do
need the money.”

His suspicions increased. “Why? Kate said you got a promotion.”

“Why I need the money is none of your concern,” —she traced her index finger along the rim of the mug.

“It is my concern. I have to know you’re committed.”

She sighed. “Fine. If you must know, Rob is opening a restaurant and I need the cash from this deal to help him out. And, after I thought about it a little more, I realized Paris is important. You were right. It’s a second chance to live a lifelong fantasy. I can’t pass that up.”

He should’ve known her reason had something to do with Rob. She’d always been a pushover when it came to her brother.

Before he could respond, the waitress arrived with two plates of eggs and bacon and an order of fresh banana pancakes for Jake.

Jake poured maple syrup onto his plate. “So you’ve got some skin in the game, too.” At least there was a logical reason for her change of heart and it provided a small degree of confidence that she’d see their agreement through till the end.

“I do.”

Satisfied, Jake turned his attention to his food. Since he’d only been back from Iraq a few days, every meal tasted like a Thanksgiving feast. He inhaled the heady aroma of eggs and bacon and maple syrup. Then he picked up his fork and dug in.

He’d almost cleaned his plate before he glanced up and noticed Amanda wasn’t eating. He watched her as she pushed the eggs around her plate. He swallowed a mouthful of pancakes and speared another generous portion as he said, “Aren’t you hungry?”

Amanda set down her silverware, picked up her napkin and dabbed at the corner of her mouth. “I want to get this settled. Are you okay with my terms?”

He swallowed another huge mouthful. “The year in Paris plus two hundred grand seems fair since you’ll have to put your life on hold while our deal plays out. Who knows? If things get intense enough, you may even need some time off from that crazy job of yours.”

She shook her head, causing her hair to toss back and forth. “I can’t take time off work.”

He shrugged. “You may have to. We’ll see how it goes. I mean, this is a fake engagement, but only we know about the fake part. And knowing my grandfather, this thing is sure to come packed with parties and pretend wedding planning and God only knows what else. Once our charade starts, I’m guessing it’ll be fast and furious.” Jake pushed his plate away and leaned back. “This deal is more than generous, so you’ll be able to afford to take off if you need to.”

“Monetarily, maybe,” she said, as her brow furrowed. “But there are other things to consider.”

“Like?”

“Like my future career, which I can’t afford to ruin just because of this deal. I’m not starting a business like you. I work for other people, remember?”

He regarded her for a long moment and then said, “I thought you wanted to do your own thing someday.” His eyes searched her face. “Has something changed?”

“I do. I will. I’m just not ready to follow through on the idea yet.”

He pushed his plate away. “We can deal with your job situation later. I want to discuss a few other things before we leave.”

She narrowed her eyes and squared her shoulders as if readying for a fight.

Jake raised his index finger. “You need to sign a contract.” He wasn’t about to give her an out. If she was in, he wanted to ensure she stayed in.

“Okay.” She crossed her legs and regarded him with a healthy dose of suspicion, as if she wasn’t quite sure what he’d say next.

He raised a second finger. “The agreement will include an iron-clad confidentiality clause. My grandfather can’t
ever
know the truth.”

“Of course,” she said. “I don’t want word of this arrangement to get out either.”

His eyes narrowed. “Be honest. Have you told Kate?”

Amanda shifted uncomfortably and started to fiddle with her napkin.

“So . . . I’m guessing that means yes. And if Kate knows, then Sam does too.” He shook his head. “I’ll have to put the fear of God into them.”

“They won’t tell anyone. You’re paranoid.”

He’d make sure they wouldn’t. He planned to head over to Sam’s place right after he finished here. He wasn’t about to take any chances. He pointed at her. “You can’t tell anyone else and that includes your brother.”

She rolled her eyes. “Calm down Paranoid Pete.” She stood and extended a hand. “So it’s a deal?”

“Deal.” As his fingers gripped her soft skin, he felt an undeniable sizzle of energy. He pulled his hand away, trying to ignore the tingle of awareness that lingered. He’d thought the months away had cured him of the instant turn-on of her touch. But a year seemed an eternity in a place like Iraq and it must have been harder on him than he realized. Jake cleared his throat. “Sam will draw up the papers and I’ll stop by in a few days so we can sign them and get this baby rolling.”

“Sounds good.” She stood and slipped on her coat. “Thanks for breakfast.”

Jake threw enough cash on the table to cover the bill and resisted the urge to take her elbow as she limped along in front of him. He didn’t because he knew she’d just push him away and she’d probably give him an earful. But he still held the door open for her as they walked outside.

After they said their goodbyes on the sidewalk, Jake strode to his SUV. He pulled out of the parking space, turned right at the corner and poked along through late morning traffic, headed toward Lincoln Park.

* * *

He circled Sam’s block twice before he found a parking space. He maneuvered into the tiny spot, and climbed out. Then he jogged up the stone steps, leading to Sam and Kate’s townhouse and rang the bell.

Sam flung the door open, grinning ear to ear. “Hey bud. I still can’t believe you’re back.”

“You have a few minutes?”

Sam stepped back to let him inside. “I’m about to head to the gym. You up for a workout?”

“I went earlier. This won’t take long.” Jake looked around. “Is Kate here?

Sam shook his head. “She’s at prenatal yoga; won’t be back for an hour.” He headed to the kitchen. “Coffee?”

“Sure.” Jake pulled out a barstool, straddling it as he sat down.

Sam poured a cup of Kate’s fancy brew and pushed it toward Jake. “According to Kate, it’s been a wild few days.”

Jake snorted. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Sam raised a brow. “Tell me I heard wrong. Tell me you don’t plan to pay Amanda to fake an engagement.”

Jake scowled. “I figured Kate would tell you.”

“Of course she told me. She actually thinks it’s a good idea because it’ll help Amanda with her financial issues. I’m the one who think it’s insane.”

“Financial issues. You mean the loan to her brother?” Jake swigged his coffee.

“You say that like there’s one loan. Make it plural and not a loan and you’re closer to the truth. The kid’s a vampire; he’s sucked her bank account dry.”

Jake set his mug down and frowned. “How much has she given him?”

“According to Kate, it’s about a hundred grand and he just asked for twenty thousand more.”

Jake nearly swallowed his tongue. “
What
?” He finally understood why she agreed to the deal. That kind of debt would be a strong motivator for anyone. He didn’t know whether to feel relieved that she’d stick to their agreement or pissed that Rob had taken such advantage of her.

“I know. So back to the issue of your insanity,” Sam said. “I get why she’d do it given her situation. What I don’t understand is why you’d ask her.”

Jake shrugged. “The engagement has to look real or Max will never go for it. I’ve only been back four days; do you think Max would actually believe I met and fell in love with someone else?”

“Probably not,” Sam conceded.

“It’ll be easier to convince him we got back together. Besides, you know how much he’s always liked her.”

Sam nodded. “And I know you’re still hung up on her.”

“Bullshit. I got over her a year ago.”

“Uh-huh.” Sam swigged his coffee.

“It’s why this deal makes so much sense,” Jake said. “No emotional messiness.”

Sam cast a sideways glance at Jake. “I say it’ll be messiness central.”

“You think it’s not over between us.”

Sam shrugged. “An observation.”

“You’re wrong. It’s over. Trust me. Has been for a long time.”

Sam set down his mug and rested his forearms on the counter, his eyes laser-focused on Jake. “Dude, that’s a load of crap I suggest you try selling to someone else. I say you’re headed for trouble.”

“It’s a business arrangement.”

Sam smirked. “Yeah, right.”

“That’s why I’m here. I need you to draw up the contract.”

“You think she’ll try to back out?”

“She might. I can’t risk it.”

Sam shook his head. “You should be the one backing out. After the way you ended things, I don’t see this engagement sham headed anywhere this side of sane.”

Jake frowned. “Did I ask your advice?”

“No, you asked me for legal assistance and as your attorney, I provided some unsolicited but eminently-wise counsel. Consider it a bonus.”

“You’re not my attorney. You’re my friend who happens to
be
an attorney, which is the whole point. I don’t want the family lawyer involved.”

“Okay, here’s some advice from a friend. If you really need to fake an engagement, ask someone else. She may agree to it because she needs the cash, but if you follow through with this bone-headed plan, I think it’ll be like watching a car crash in slow motion.”

Jake pushed his mug away and stood. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He glared at Sam as he grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair and headed for the door.

Sam trailed behind. “Just trying to help.”

Jake turned and looked Sam in the eye. “Then stop with the advice and call me when the contract is done.”

Sam waved his hands in mock surrender. “Sure dude. It’s your funeral.”

“There’s one other thing. Can you do some recon and find out what Rob’s up to? I’d do it myself but it would look suspicious,” Jake said. “I don’t trust that kid and based on what you told me about the money, it’s with good reason. Something’s going on and I want to find out what it is.”

“That’s the first thing we’ve agreed on since you walked in the door.”

Jake flipped up his coat collar and walked outside. “Later.”

As he jogged down the steps, he heard Sam mutter something about oil and water and absolute insanity before he shut the door.

Jake grinned. What did Sam know anyway?

* * *