Page 6 of Love is Fake (Love is Everything #1)

“You said everyone has to sign one of these things, right?” I slap the War & Peace sized NDA on the table.

“So my boss would have had to sign it too,” I look at him for verification, and he nods.

“If she was happy to sign it and I’m sure her lawyers looked it over far more thoroughly than I’ll be able to, then I’m okay to sign it.

” I scrawl my name at the bottom of the last page and date it, pushing the pile of papers back to him.

“What if I’d slipped something else in there without telling you, like a requirement for your first-born child if Lennox doesn’t make a full recovery?

” Declan looks at me, his expression serious.

For a split-second I’m not sure if he’s joking or not and then his dark-blonde eyebrow quirks up in amusement.

“Ha – preppy and funny, the girls at the country club must love you,” I tease back, glad to feel the ice thawing a little.

I get the impression Declan is the serious one in the house, balancing out the moodiness of Lennox and the easy-going nature of Kai. The three of them must be an interesting dynamic to observe.

Declan barks a laugh and he seems as surprised as I am by the unguarded sound. He recovers his uptightness quickly though.

“It’s getting late, I’m sure you’ll want to be heading back.” Declan gives me the politest ‘get the hell out of here’ I’ve ever received, and I wonder if ‘PR-mode’ is second nature to him. “I’ll walk you out.”

I nod my thanks because there’s no way in hell I’d be able to find my own way out of this mansion. I’d probably wander the halls for days until my skeleton was found by one of the (many) maids who I’m sure work here.

We’re silent as Declan leads me to the front door and – for once – I don’t try to fill the awkwardness. He seems to be lost in his own thoughts, anyway. Probably wondering how he’s going to manage to persuade his client to take on a woman he ostensibly can’t stand the sight of.

“Good to meet you, Isa bella,” Declan jokes with emphasis, motioning me through the door. “I’ll give your boss a call when we have this all straightened out.”

I wave my goodbye as I try not to trip down the stairs towards my car, the thick ring binder weighing me down.

“You’re driving that back to the city?” Lennox appears out of nowhere next to me, making me jump out of my skin. And his voice… he’s injected just enough derision in it to make me grind my teeth. Entitled asshole.

Breathe, Izzy, breathe. You’re not allowed to punch clients in the face no matter how tempting it might be.

I hold one hand to my chest, closing my eyes for a moment and recovering from him scaring the crap out of me.

“It’s the only car I have, so…yeah.” I don’t bother to look at him as I march up to my half-dead tin can, but he’s in between me and the car in a matter of seconds.

It makes me wonder how a big guy can move so fast. He barely has a limp, but when I look up into his face I see a sheen of perspiration on his forehead, as if it’s an effort to move the way he has been.

“Where are your crutches?” I frown up at him.

He makes a dismissive gesture with one hand and I struggle not to roll my eyes.

Damn alpha males. Pro athletes are the worst – they think they’re indestructible and that the rules of normal human physiology don’t apply to them.

By the way Lennox operates, I know that he’s not going to be the one to break the mold.

“The more weight you put on your knee, the longer it’s going to take to fully heal.” I haven’t even looked at his file yet and I know that much. “I’m guessing I’m not the first person to mention that to you?”

“You’re not driving that.” Lennox nods towards my sad little rental as if I haven’t even spoken.

He’s really good at ignoring me and it’s irritating as all get-out.

“It’s as likely to break down on the side of the road before you make it half-way as it is to burst into flames before you’ve even driven it off the property. ”

“You know cars don’t really do that outside of the movies, right?

” I lift an eyebrow at him. Years of working in my father’s auto shop have robbed me of the illusion that cars just spontaneously combust as a matter of course.

It was one of my dad’s bug-bears about action movies.

He would harp on about it to anyone willing to listen – ‘anyone’ would usually be me.

Lennox levels me with a look that speaks volumes, all but asking if I think he’s an idiot. “Thanks for the completely unnecessary physics lesson. My point is, it’s not safe for you to drive,” he insists.

And whose fault is that? I think ungraciously. If he didn’t drive such a monstrosity of a truck, it wouldn’t have turned my bonnet into a damn accordion.

“Well I sure as hell am not getting an Uber from here to Manhattan, and last time I checked, you weren’t the boss of me, so…

” I hold my keys up and shake them perilously close to his face, motioning for him to move so I can open the door.

He’s already too close to me and the idea of coming into closer quarters to reach around him for the door makes me warm in all the wrong places, which just makes me even more frustrated with myself.

How the hell am I going to have this man laid out on a couch and do my damn job if my inner sixteen year old is melting at the thought of actually touching Lennox Gray even after the supreme levels of ass-hat-ness he’s shown?

Woman up, Izzy. You’re a professional.

“Pretty sure you signing that NDA makes me your boss, so…” Lennox holds his hands out palm up, watching me expectantly.

“You’re my client not my boss,” I clarify although we’re into semantics now. As long as I’m working with him, I’m essentially working for him, but that doesn’t mean I have to do whatever he says.

How the hell does he already know I signed the NDA anyway?

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Lennox shrugs, making his huge shoulders roll and I catch myself thinking how much he’s filled out since high school. “Now, are you going to give me your keys or am I going to have to take them from you?”

He raises a perfectly arched eyebrow and there’s a flash of something dark in his eyes. It makes me think he’d very much enjoy prying the keys from my grasp and I tell myself that I’m not at all affected by the intensity of his look.

A noise of frustration escapes me. It’s already been a long as hell day and I still have a two hour drive back to the city.

“Why do you even care if I break down on the way home?” I don’t add the fact that he hasn’t shown the least bit of interest in me as an actual person in either of our encounters today. I figure he’s a smart guy, he can figure that part out for himself.

“I’d be concerned if any of my staff are left stranded, especially when I know how spotty cell reception is on that road.” He stares me down as if it’s some kind of contest I hadn’t realized I’d entered, and I tell myself I’m not at all intimidated.

I shift a little on my feet. He’s right about the cell reception.

I’ve discovered that much on my way here.

If I break down, calling a tow truck would be a matter of luck and I could find myself waiting for hours.

Still, him calling me staff irks more than a little, which no doubt had been his intention.

I flick a stray curl out of my eyes in annoyance. “You don’t want me to use the car I came here in, so what are you suggesting Mr. Gray?”

“Like I said, it’s just Lennox.” I’m fairly certain I’m not imagining the way his teeth grind. It makes me feel inordinately pleased with myself for pissing him off just as much as he does me.

“And, I have a spare truck for you to use.” He throws me a set of keys and I catch them instinctively.

“You want me to drive one of your cars?” I look dumbly at the Chevy logo on the keyring in my hand. “I can’t take this.”

“Don’t get excited, it’s a loaner.” His mouth kicks up in a half-smile at my expression and I make a point not to notice how it makes him even more attractive. “And I’m not taking no for an answer. If we’re going to be working together, I’d prefer it if you remain in one piece.”

This guy changes moods so fast he’s making my head spin. I try to remember if I’ve read anything in the tabloids about him being bipolar because that’s the only way to explain how he’s gone from treating me like dog poop he’s just stepped in to seeming to give a crap about my personal safety.

I shake my head to dispel my confusion, weighing the keys in my hand. “So, are we going to be working together?”

“You’ve got a forty-eight-hour trial period, starting tomorrow at 8am. Let’s see if you can change my mind in that time. If not…” He shrugs for me to fill in the blanks. If not, he’ll be looking elsewhere, and I’ll have lost our clinic’s biggest contract ever. No pressure then.

“Forty-eight hours isn’t exactly long enough for you to see any results from the therapy,” I point out.

He shrugs broadly again, his signature move. “That’s your problem, Isabella, not mine.”

He watches my reaction and it strikes me that he’s looking at me how a predator would look at its prey. He’s thrown the gauntlet down and he’s wondering if I’m going to take it. If he knew me, he wouldn’t be looking so expectantly. I don’t shy away from a challenge.

“Alright, but that means you have to follow all my advice and that includes using your crutches.” I give his injured knee a pointed look.

Lennox smirks at me, with that infuriatingly appealing smile of his. “You’re negotiating with me now?” He sounds shocked, but more amused than irritated.

“It may not be what you’re used to, but when I take on a client, I’m all in and I don’t mess around.

Either you do what I say, or you can forget about being ready to play next season.

” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s what he’s going to be working towards and I see from the expression on his face that I’m not wrong.