Page 30 of Make-Believe Match

“Can’t wait to see it. I might be back in the next month.”

“How did the lunch with Granny go? I never got a chance to ask, you left town so fast. You sweet talk her into accepting your millions?”

I winced. “Ah, not exactly.”

“What? I thought this was a done deal.”

“It should have been a done deal. But there was a complication in the shape of a granddaughter who joined us for lunch.” And Jesus, how I’d worshiped that shape. I still thought about it every single night before bed—usually with my dick in my hand.

“Granddaughter?” He paused. “How old?”

“Late twenties, maybe. She grew up there and works there, and she’s totally against selling. She’s got some ridiculous notion she can get investors who will help turn the business around. My offer was much higher than anything else she’d get, but she refuses to listen to reason.”

“You mean there are actually humans alive you can’t sell to?”

“There’sone,” I said defensively. “And it’s only because she has the wrong idea about me.”

“Maybe she noticed you were trying to bamboozle her granny over French onion soup.”

“No, she arrived at the table with preconceived notions about my character. She was prejudicial and biased against me from the start.”

“Why?”

I exhaled. “Because we’d met before.”

“Where?”

“Remember that gorgeous brunette I left with the night we all went to The Broken Spoke?”

Xander started to laugh. “That was the granddaughter?”

“I didn’t know it at the time, okay? We didn’t get into a lot of personal details, we just had a good time. But no matter what I say, she doesn’t believe me. She’s convinced I sought her out and slept with her for nefarious purposes.”

“So now what?”

“Now I have to figure out how to make this deal happen even though she’s working against me at every turn. My boss won’t accept anything less.”

“You’ll be fired if you can’t make it happen?”

“I might not be fired, but instead of the promotion I want, I’d probably be relegated to sales manager in Bumfuck, Nowhere.”

“Well, hang in there. I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

Usually I was sure of myself too, but with every passing day, my confidence was draining.

I’d try again later tonight.

* * *

When I got home from dinner, I saw the bracelet Sara had made for me on my kitchen counter. It made me smile, and I slipped it onto my wrist for good luck. Then I texted Lexi.

It’s my birthday.

Good for you.

Sara made me a present. Want to see it?

Only because Sara sounds nice.