The Boyfriend Arrangement

“How would you like to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Ireland?”

Two (#u1b9ae30d-4375-5478-bd24-ba3f62cf3d6e)

Sebastian didn’t know what to say. He’d never had a woman offer him a vacation, much less a woman he hardly knew. Actually he didn’t have women offer him much of anything. It was impossible when he never left the lab. The only woman he was ever around on a daily basis was his assistant, Virginia, who was in her late fifties and married.

“Um, run that by me again?”

Harper closed the gap between them with an apologetic smile on her face and a sultry sway of her hips. So many of her features were almost masculine in a way, with piercing eyes, sharp cheekbones and an aquiline nose, but there was nothing masculine about her. Her dark brows were arched delicately over eyes that were like the stormy seas off Maine where he was born.

He imagined a similar maelstrom was stirring inside her to make an offer like that to a complete stranger. Surely she could find a romantic interest if she wanted one. But he was willing to say yes to almost anything she offered when she looked at him that way.

“My friends are getting married in Ireland next weekend. They’re flying everyone there, plus putting all the guests up in a castle that’s been converted into a hotel. It wouldn’t cost you anything to go but some leave from work. I’m not sure what your boss is like, since this is short notice, but I was hoping you would be interested.”

“In going to Ireland?”

She nodded. “With me. As my boyfriend. I just introduced you to Quentin as my boyfriend and said you were going, so he’s going to expect you to be there.”

His brow furrowed. Her boyfriend. For a week. In Ireland. What could go wrong? Absolutely everything. Pretending to be her lover could be complicated. But what could go right? His gaze raked over her tall, lean figure with appreciation. Everything could go very right, too.

Wait—crap—he wasn’t supposed to be “active.” Just his damn luck. “Just to be clear—are you wanting or expecting you and me to...um...”

“No!” Harper was quick to answer with wide eyes. “I mean, not for real. We’d have to pretend to be a couple around everyone else—kiss, be affectionate, you know. But when we’re alone, I promise it’s strictly hands off. I’m not that hard up. I just can’t go to this thing alone. Not after seeing Quentin and finding out he’s engaged. I just can’t.”

Sebastian blinked his eyes a few times and tried to mask some of his disappointment. He wasn’t sure if he could stand being around her, touching her in public and then just flipping the switch when they were alone. The doctor wanted him to, but he wasn’t the best at following doctor’s orders.

This day had done well to throw him off his game. First, getting locked out at work with mandatory vacation and now this. A beautiful woman wanted him to travel with her to Ireland for free and pretend to be her lover. That just wasn’t business as usual for him. He wasn’t entirely sure what to say to her. It seemed foolish to say yes and downright stupid to say no.

“I’ll pay you two thousand dollars to go. It’s all the money I have in my savings account,” Harper added, sweetening the pot as she seemed to sense his hesitation.

She was serious. Her insecurity struck him as odd considering how confident and put together she seemed. He wasn’t sure why this was so important to her. There must be more to the situation with her ex than she was telling. “Aren’t your friends going to wonder where I came from? You’ve never spoken about me before and suddenly I’m your wedding date?”

Harper waved away his concern. “I’ll take care of that. My friends have been so wrapped up in their own lives lately they’d probably not notice if I did have a boyfriend. They certainly haven’t mentioned that I don’t have one.”

“And why is that?” Sebastian couldn’t stop himself from asking. But if he was going to pretend to be her boyfriend, he needed to know if there was something about her that repelled men. From where he was standing, he didn’t see a thing wrong with her. She was beautiful, well-spoken, poised and polished. Aside from the slight hint of desperation in her voice, she seemed like quite the catch. There had to be something wrong with her.

She shrugged and sort of fidgeted before responding, showing the first sign of vulnerability, which he was glad to see. “Like I said, I don’t have the best taste in men. Things haven’t worked out with anyone I’ve been attracted to since Quentin and I broke up.”

“You can’t find a decent man to go to dinner with you, but you trust me enough to travel across the ocean with you, share a bedroom and make out in front of your friends?” There was a flaw in her logic here. “I could be crazy. Or a criminal. Or married. I could attack you in your sleep or steal your jewelry. The possibilities are endless.”

Harper scoffed at his trepidations. “Honestly, I take that risk on every date I go on in this town. Have you seen the guys on Tinder lately? No...you probably haven’t.” She chuckled. “I know you have a job, you smell nice, you’re handsome and you went along with my lie just now, so you’re easygoing. You’re already a head and shoulders over every date I’ve had in the last six months. If you don’t want to go, or can’t, just say so. But don’t turn it down because you’re concerned about my blatant disregard for my own welfare or poor sense of judgment. My friends are already well aware of that flaw in my character.”

“No, I can go. As of this morning my schedule is amazingly wide open for the next two weeks.” That was an understatement. But was this what he should spend his time doing? He didn’t exactly have a more tempting offer.

“Do you find me physically repulsive?”

Sebastian swallowed hard. “Not at all. To the contrary, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve laid eyes on in a very long time.”

Harper’s eyes widened a touch at his answer, but she quickly recovered with a sly smile curling her lips. It must have boosted her confidence because she moved a step closer to him, closing the gap until they were nearly touching. “Do you think you’d have trouble pretending to be my lover? Or have a problem kissing me?”

Every muscle in Sebastian’s body tightened as she spoke. The warmth of her body and the scent of her so close caused an instant physical reaction that would answer any of her questions if she bothered to notice. He balled his hands into fists at his sides to keep from reaching for her. He’d craved the sensation of touching her again since the moment he’d let her go after the collision.

He shook his head stiffly. “No. I think I can manage that.”

Harper’s gaze never left his. “Okay, great. Are you opposed to a free trip to Europe? You have a passport, right?”

“I have a passport, yes.” It had no stamps in it, but he had one. Finn did most of the travel around the world, schmoozing on behalf of their company. Sebastian kept his nose in his paperwork and schematics, but Finn had made him get a passport anyway.

“Okay. Then I see no reason why you shouldn’t say yes.”

Neither did he. Why was he making this so hard?

It really was a simple thing. He had no reason not to go. All he had to do was walk around Ireland with this stunning woman on his arm. He had no intention of taking her money, but a trip would be a nice distraction without any work on his plate for the next few weeks. What else was he going to do? Finn was right that he could help more people healthy than dead, but taking a break was hard for him. Being a couple thousand miles from his work would make it easier.

“When do you leave for the wedding?”

“Monday afternoon.”

“It’s Friday morning. Three days? Are you serious? Won’t your friend think it odd that you’re suddenly adding a guest to her wedding on such short notice?”

“Not really. I RSVP’d for two. I just needed to find my plus one.”

“You’re cutting it awfully close. Desperate?”

“I prefer to think of it as optimistic.”

“Three days...” he repeated. Something about this whole situation struck him as insane, but there was a fine line between insanity and genius.

“So does your silent resignation mean you’re at least considering coming with me?” Harper grinned wide, her whole expression lighting up with excitement.

It was hard for him to turn her down when she looked at him like that. He wanted her to keep looking at him that way for as long as possible. “Well, yes, I am. I’m just not sure I’ll make a very good boyfriend, fake or otherwise. I’m kinda out of practice.”

“I’m not worried about that.” Harper leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck in an unexpectedly intimate way. His whole body stiffened as she pressed against him. “You know what they say.”

Sebastian took a deep breath and tried to wish away the sudden rush of desire that coursed through his veins as she stood close. It seemed wrong to react like this to a woman he’d just met, despite how easily she was able to coax it out of him. “What’s th-that?” He stuttered in his response, something he hadn’t done since elementary school. She had managed to get under his skin so quickly.

“Practice makes perfect.”

He nodded. “I’ve heard that.”

Harper frowned, lowered her arms and looked down to where his hands were tensely curled at his sides. She took them in her own and moved each one to rest at the curve of her hips. “Relax, Sebastian. I’m not going to bite. We’ve got to be a lot more comfortable touching each other if we’re going to convince anyone we’re really together.”

He splayed his fingers across her denim-clad hips and pressed the tips into the ample flesh there. With her so close, he wanted to lean down and kiss her. Her full, pouting lips and wide, innocent eyes seemed to plead for it. Indulging seemed like the natural thing to do. She felt good against him. Perhaps too good for the middle of Neiman Marcus. There was definitely not going to be a problem faking attraction with Harper. The problem would be pretending that the attraction wasn’t real when no one was watching.

“I’ll go,” he blurted out, almost surprising himself.

Harper stiffened in his arms, looking up at him with a smile that was hesitant to believe him. “Are you serious?”

Sebastian nodded. “Yes, I’m serious. I’ll go to Ireland with you as your fake boyfriend.”