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Her face pinched. “Felicity Reynolds.”
“Know of her?”
She nodded. “I’ve heard of her. Now I know why you’re so desperate.” The teasing lilt to her voice made me laugh.
After a beat, she said, “Achievable? Can we make everyone believe this is real?”
The real question was if I could keep myself from believing it is. But I didn’t say that out loud. Instead, I said, “What do you think it will take to make people buy in?”
She blinked slowly, long dark eyelashes fanning over pale cheeks. I swore her chest hitched with her breath. “Public appearances,” she began. “Going to your games. Some posts online.”
I leaned in close, because she hadn’t mentioned the most important part. I wanted Mia to know just how much this mattered to me. “Trent will be watching me to make sure I’m not pretending solely so I can avoid his daughter. My career, my life here in Dallas close to Cottonwood Falls, is on the line. It won’t be enough to stand in the same room and say we’re together.” We were inches apart. I could tell I was making her uncomfortable, but I needed to press, to see if she could really act interested in me. If I could pretend without letting myself fall over the edge.
Leaving no space between us, I flicked my gaze to her lips. “Could you kiss me, knowing it means nothing?”
She blinked, then forced her gaze to meet mine. Her voice was strong, belying the worry in her eyes. “For my company, I could do anything.”
I stayed close, searching her eyes for the truth. When I found it, I used all of my strength to step back. “Good.”
She nodded, seeming far less affected than me. “Relevant...” She added a check mark by the word in her notebook. “Timebound?”
“It has to be until the end of the season or until Felicity gets a boyfriend,” I said.
“That will be a couple months past our board meeting—which will help with the believability on my end.”
I nodded. “Should we shake on it?”
She arched an eyebrow and closed her notebook. “I’ll have legal send you a contract detailing our respective obligations along with an NDA.”
Wow, she really was taking this seriously. “You can trust my word,” I insisted.
“Sorry, Ford, but someone willing to put on an act to fool the entire world isn’t going to fool me too.”
Her words left an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach—even if they were true. “Okay.”
She stood up, tucking her notebook in her purse. “Call Vanover once you’ve signed the documents to set an appointment with me. We can discuss the game plan.”
“We can’t do it now?” I asked. I had the evening free.
She shook her head, a smile in her eyes like she was in on a joke I didn’t yet know. “This is my personal time, Ford. Our arrangement is one hundred percent business.”
I tilted my head. “I thought we were friends.”
“We’re business partners,” she corrected. Then she walked out of the house.
I watched her walk to the car waiting in the driveway and slip into the back seat. The driver glanced toward me for half a second before closing the door behind her and driving her away.
At the end of the driveway, the car turned and disappeared from sight. I waited for a moment before turning and looking back at my empty home.
I’d gotten exactly what I wanted... so why didn’t I feel like celebrating?
11
MIA
Vanover swept into my office,a scheming smile on his lips and a ceramic mug in his hand.
“What are you so happy about?” I asked, taking my afternoon green tea from him.