Page 27 of Mr. Hotshot CEO

Chapter 8

Courtney

Julian strides purposefullyback inside the penthouse, as though he has some very important business to attend to. Two lines appear between his eyebrows and he frowns.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “If I’d known your brother was here, I wouldn’t have come out.”

“It’s fine. You had no way of knowing.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “Unfortunately, Vince will probably inform my parents of your existence, and my family will descend on my home to meet you. They’ll be thrilled.” He does not say this sarcastically. No, he’s serious. “They’re desperate for me to ‘settle down,’ as they call it, even though my life is already pretty settled. My grandmother threatened to bring prospective brides to my office every day if I refused to take time off.”

I laugh.

“It’s not funny,” he says. “Well, okay. I guess it’s funny if it’s happening to someone else.”

I kind of like the idea of meeting his family. Since we’re not actually together, I don’t feel any pressure to get them to fall in love with me. Vince’s visit was entertaining, and I think seeing Julian with the rest of his family could be entertaining, too.

“I could pretend to be your girlfriend,” I say.

“Whatever for?”

“So they stop bugging you about finding a woman. Just for the next two weeks.”

He shakes his head. “No fake relationships. That’s ridiculous.”

“I was totally against the idea of fake relationships, too. But then my sister asked my brother’s best friend to pretend to be her boyfriend for a long weekend at a beach house, because she didn’t want to show up by herself when her ex-boyfriend was there and—”

“My head hurts just thinking about that.” Julian groans.

“Anyway, long story short, they’re a happy couple now.”

Crap. I’ve made it sound like I want a fake relationship because it could turn into something real.

I hurry to add, “Not that I want that to happen to you and me.”

“Of course not,” he murmurs. “What do you have against me, anyway?”

“Nothing. I just don’t do relationships. You said you don’t, either. Remember?”

He nods. “In my case, it’s because I work too hard. I might want a relationship, but I’m too much of a workaholic for one to ever succeed.”

“Is that what your ex-girlfriends said when they dumped you?”

“Yes. They complained that I was always at the office and wasn’t emotionally invested in the relationship.” He pauses. “But that can’t be your reason for not dating.”

“It isn’t.”

A silence.

“Care to elaborate?” he asks.

“Not really.”

He seems to accept that. “Would you like me to make you a latte?”