Page 32 of The Boss I Can't Stand

“You get to stick it to Trey and his movie.”

“Yes.”

“And Finn is hot as fu?—”

“That’s not why I’m doing this,” I said, cutting her off.

“I didn’t say it was. But having eye candy on tap is a definite perk, don’t you think? What’s that?” she said, nodding to the blue velvet box I’d left on the console between the seats.

“It showed up with the army of movers Finn sent over,” I said. “I haven’t opened it yet.”

“Why not? The man sent you a jewelry box. That should be investigated immediately.” Ro picked it up, gasping. “Oh, is this your fake engagement ring?”

I grimaced. “Probably. I’m afraid to find out. I sort of imagined it going a little differently the first time a guy gave me a ring like that.”

“Oh my god, it’s a Veritique! You have to open it.”

I snorted. “I don’t even know what that is.”

“Exclusive. Expensive. Open it.”

“No.”

“Maybe you’re just afraid you’ll open it and like it,” Ro said, returning the box to the console.

I snorted. “Doubtful.” Finn hardly knew anything about me. There’s no way he’d have clocked my taste in jewelry and it certainly wouldn’t be some exclusive brand.

“I think you’ll like it a little. The same way you like Finn a little.”

“Nope,” I said, snapping theP, knowing very well I was living in that pit called denial.

“Be honest,” Ro said. “If you didn’t like him a teeny bit, you never would have agreed to this. And we already know you’re attracted to him.”

“I said he was attractive by societal standards.”

“You’re part of society.”

I huffed, letting out a long, slow breath. Okay, fine, so I found himattractive. Who could blame me? It’s not like Finnlookedlike an ogre. He only acted like one. On occasion.

“All jokes aside,” Ro said, “I hope you’re getting more than some fancy penthouse vacation out of all this. I know you want to stick it to Trey, but I also know how much Finn frustrates you.”

“Well…” I said, following the moving truck to the exit. “I didn’t want to say anything before, because I didn’t want you to feel weird about it. Or to try to talk me out of the deal.”

“Mm-hmm,” Ro said, eyeing me suspiciously. “Sounds like you’ve been scheming.”

“Just a little. So I told you about how I said no to the idea at first, but then changed my mind because of Trey. What I didn’t mention was that when I went to talk to Finn about it, he’d changed his mind too—but he thought he still had to convince me.”

“So…what did he offer?”

“He said he’d let you direct a Hart of Gold production if I did this for him.”

“What?” Ro said so loudly it could have shattered my eardrum. “You’re kidding!” She latched onto my arm, shaking me. “Sierra! Tell me you’re joking, because you can’t possibly be serious.”

I chuckled. “I wouldn’t kid about this kind of thing.”

“He actually said that?”

“He did. And of course I said yes.” A move like this could change everything for Ro.