Page 17 of That Fake Feeling

“Astroke of genius,Rose,”Sterlingsays. “I’llnegotiate someBigBrainbranding on the building somewhere for you.”

Rosereads out the rest ofTheLearningVillageclause. “Andmake a monthly contribution to help develop a new location in theBronxand fund its ongoing future.”

She’spushing her luck.

Iblow out a puff of air. “Oh, come on—”

“Andyou can throw in a pile of toys too.”Herconfidence is growing.Likeshe’s realized we need her more than she needs us.

“Okay.”Sterlingraps his papers on the table. “Ithink that’s all perfectly reasonable.Don’tyou,Connor?”

Heslides a pen toward me.

“Yes.Roseseems to be perfectly reasonable in every way.”

Irritatinglyreasonable.

Thetable is cool against my forearms asIclasp my hands and lean toward her.

Finally, her eyes rove from my face to my hair, to my bare chest, and down my arms.She’seither checking me out or is appalled by me.It’simpossible to tell.Ican never play poker against this woman.

Shepuckers her lips and taps them. “Actually,I’dlike to add one more thing.”

Shewhisks her papers from in front ofSterlingand me and starts to write. “Anadditional clause to the first page.”

Shesays each word out loud, slowly, as she writes it. “Connor.Dashwood.Must.At.All.Times.Be.Fully.Clothed.”

Ilean back in my chair. “Butit’s okay ifyou’renot?”

Shelaughs to herself, shakes her head and looks up. “Oh,Ihave absolutely no intention of ever being anything but fully clothed in front of you.”

“Whatif we went swimming?”

“Whatare the chances of us going swimming?”

“Tobe fair,”Sterlingchips in, “Connordoes have a beach house.So, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.”

Rosesighs, strikes through “ConnorDashwood,” and starts writing again. “Both.Parties.”

Shelooks up atSterlingand me. “‘Bothpartiesmust at all times be fully clothed.’Thatdo?”

Sterlinglooks at me with his don’t-fuck-this-up face. “I’mcertainConnorwill be fine with that.”

Roseadds her brand-new clause to the other two sets of papers and hands them back to each of us.

“Okay, great.”Sterlingclaps his hands so sharplyIjolt.Hepoints at the contract in front ofRose. “Youcan go ahead and sign everything now.”

Shefolds her arms. “Oh,I’mnot doing anything until he’s signed everything first.”Shenods at the papers in front of me.

Iremain slouched in my chair and fold my arms too.

Thisis my last chance at an exit from this ridiculous scheme.Sheseems headstrong enough that ifIrefuse to sign, she’d pick up her bags and march out my front door, never to be seen again.ThenIcould blame her for ruining the plan.

I’msureJorge’sgraph will start heading in the right direction in the next three months.Thatwould be enough to stop the board from voting me out and let me maintain the businessman charade that makes my parents happy, without me having to go through the horrendous ordeal of pretending to be in love with the perfect woman.

Sterlingdrums his fingers on the table. “MaxandWalkerwould be highly disappointed if this didn’t work out.”

Therehe goes, kicking me where it hurts again.