Duh. I’m extra thankful for it too. Means everyone will vacate this town and the bar will be virtually empty, making work a breeze. “Go on.”
“I have to go back home.” He pauses, his gaze cutting away from mine and uneasiness slips down my spine. I have no idea what this has to do with me. “I want you to go with me.”
Okay. That I didn’t expect. “What? Why?”
His gaze meets mine once more. “I want you to pretend to be my girlfriend for a week.”
I gape at him. I feel like a dying fish. Closing my lips, opening them. As if I’m gasping for my last breath, which I sorta feel like I’m doing. “You’re kidding.”
He slowly shakes his head. “I’m not.”
“Why me?”
“I…” He shakes his head and clamps his lips shut, as if he doesn’t want to tell me. “I’ll pay you.”
I cross my arms in front of my chest. They’re elevated from the stupid puffy jacket. I hate it so much but it’s the warmest coat I own. I bet I look like a blimp. “I’m not for sale.”
“Listen, I don’t want to pay you for anything—sexual.” His voice drops an octave and chills scatter all over my skin. The way he said that was sexy, though he didn’t mean to be. “I just need you to pretend to be my girlfriend. We won’t have to share a room or anything like that. I’m not going to try and get in your pants, but we’ll have to look like we’re together, you know what I mean?”
No answer. I want him to continue this so I can remember later how I had Drew freaking Callahan begging me to be his pretend girlfriend. The moment couldn’t get any more surreal than it already is.
“I know you have a life and a job and whatever else that you do. It’ll probably be hard for you to ditch everything and go away with me for a week, but I swear, I’ll make it worth your time.”
He makes me feel cheap with that last remark. Like I’m the whore every guy brags that I am. The exaggerations are out there. The stories so outrageous, I don’t bother denying them. There’s no point. “How much are you talking?”
His gaze locks with mine and I’m trapped. Anticipation curls through me as I wait for his answer.
“Three thousand dollars.”
* Chapter Two *
T-Minus 2 days and counting…
For once, I want to know what it feels like to be someone’s first choice. – Fable Maguire
Fable
I still can’t believe I agreed to do this. Three thousand dollars is way too much money to let pass by. And Drew knows it. He had me the moment that staggering number dropped from his perfect lips. Despite my wariness and worry over how the heck I’m going to leave town for a week and not have my world completely fall apart while I’m gone, I said yes without any hesitation.
Guess I’m just too greedy. I can’t let that sort of opportunity go and that makes me feel like crap. Despite how much I tell myself I’m doing it for my family. For my brother, Owen. He’s only thirteen and I hate to see how much of a troublemaker he’s turning into. He’s sweet, he has a good heart but he’s fallen in with a shitty group of boys at school and he’s doing bad stuff like cutting class, minor shoplifting and I know he’s smoked weed a few times. I’ve smelled it on his clothes.
Our mom doesn’t care. I’m the only one who does. And now I’m leaving for a week. He’ll be out of school for only half that time, but that’s enough time for him to get into trouble.
The tug of war going on in my heart is near overwhelming.
“Why you gotta leave?”
I pull the old duffel bag no one’s used in however long from the top shelf of the closet and toss it on my mom’s bed. A cloud of dust puffs up when it lands. “I won’t be gone long.”
“A week, Fable. You’re leaving me here with Mom for seven fucking days.” Owen flops back onto her bed next to the duffel bag and starts coughing from the dust lingering in the air.
“Don’t cuss.” I smack his knee and he rolls over with an exaggerated yelp. “It’s a special job that’s going to pay me a lot of money. We’ll have a good Christmas.”
“I don’t give a shit about Christmas.”
I shoot him a harsh glare and he mumbles a halfhearted sorry. Since when did he feel so comfortable cursing like that in front of me? What happened to the whiny little brother who followed me everywhere as if he worshipped me?
“And what sort of special job pays you so much money for such a short amount of time?” The sarcasm in his voice is clear. He’s too young—no, not really, I’m just fooling myself—but I hope he doesn’t think I’m off prostituting myself.
I sure feel like I am.
My brain scrambles as I try to come up with an excuse. I can’t tell Owen what I’m really doing. I didn’t tell him how much money I was making. He just knows it’s a lot. Didn’t tell my mom either, not that she cares. I haven’t seen her in well over twenty-four hours, but she has a new boyfriend so I’m sure she’s with him. “I’m going to be a nanny for a family while they go on vacation for Thanksgiving break. They have three kids.”