She indicated his apartment with one hand. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife,” she said, quoting Austen.
He raised his brows. “That would be my mom’s logic.”
She liked that he recognized the quote. “So, some things haven’t changed in two hundred years.”
“I’d argue that I’m not in possession of a large fortune.”
“You’re not going hungry either.”
Tyler didn’t quibble with that. “Speaking of which, do you want to get dinner?”
He had been waiting for her. Despite herself, Shannyn felt a little glow of pleasure. It was obvious what the right answer had to be—and just as obvious that she had to decline. Agreement headed directly to the slippery slope she was determined to avoid.
“No, I’m fine, thanks.” Shannyn lied and picked up her coat, realizing that she hadn’t asked one important question. “Just to confirm: do you need a fake date because you’re not seeing anyone, or because you don’t want to take the person you’re seeing to meet your family?”
Tyler looked surprised. “Because I’m not seeing anyone.”
Shannyn should have asked that sooner, but she’d been...distracted. “Why not?” she asked before he could ask her a question.
“I don’t have time for a relationship.”
“Why not?”
His eyes narrowed slightly but he answered her. “Because I still have a day job, as well as my partnership in the club. I don’t have a lot of spare time.”
Shannyn couldn’t hide her surprise. “You have a day job, too?”
He nodded. “I’m a financial adviser at Fleming Financial.”
“Why?” she asked, genuinely curious. “You must be financially secure.”
Tyler put down his phone and fixed her with a look. Shannyn guessed that she was supposed to back down, so she didn’t. “Because it’s risky to start a business. Four of the partners are financially dependent upon the success of the club. I thought it would be better if there wasn’t a fifth.”
“But it’s got to be established now.”
“There are always plans for expansion and change.” That sounded evasive to Shannyn.
“But you’re the money guy. Can’t you make that work?” She didn’t mean it as a slight against his skills, but she saw that he took it that way.
“I like my job. I like my life.” There was a thread of steel in his tone. “I’m not ready to have a serious relationship so I don’t have one. Is the Inquisition over?”
Shannyn knew she should have let it go and walked out the door, but it was too satisfying to provoke him. “No,” she said and his eyes narrowed slightly. She shrugged into her coat as if she hadn’t noticed but her heart skipped a beat. “You used to study all the time, too. What’s changed in twelve years?”
“You have,” he replied. “I would never have expected the woman who called me out to suggest a deal like this one. Why the change?”
Shannyn spoke quickly, not wanting him to follow that line of reasoning. “I told you I wanted to know what I was missing.”
“I doubt that.” Tyler was watching her closely and his intensity made her simmer. What was it about his steady gaze that shook her up so much?
He was listening. That was another thing she hadn’t expected.
“Life happened,” she said, keeping her tone light. “Since that ill-fated night, I’ve realized that you aren’t that special.” She shrugged, hoping her choice of words would annoy him and terminate his curiosity. It would be much easier to keep their deal to the agreed terms if Tyler wasn’t trying to charm her.
“How so?”
“Most men are assholes. Most people are assholes. It’s not such a distinguishing trait as I once thought.”
His gaze hardened, right on cue. “Thank you very much.”
Shannyn should have stopped talking but it seemed she couldn’t. Tyler’s attention compelled her to open her mouth and confess more. It was evidently his superpower. “And when I came to this conclusion, my friend Kirsten—who is one of the few gracious souls in the world—insisted that I define my terms. She’s a math teacher. She likes everything to be precise.”
“And?”
“And I realized that when I thought someone was a asshole, that person really was just self-motivated.”
“Thus everyone is an asshole.”
“Pretty much.” She picked up her bag, feeling disheveled that she’d told him so much, and tried to have the last word. “Not all of them are smug, though. That is a bit special.”
Tyler’s mouth tightened to that line, the one that tempted her to run her fingertip across his lips. Shannyn held her ground with an effort. “What’s wrong with going for dinner?”
“It’s outside the terms of our deal. And I need to get home.” She turned and headed for the door, fighting her impulse to tackle him instead and go for another round.
“Tomorrow then?”
Shannyn spun to face him, again one hand on her hip. Surprise flickered in his expression, a sign that people didn’t challenge him often. She was up for changing those stats. “Why do you want to go for dinner?”
“I thought it would be nice....”
“Nice? No, you have a plan,” she said, interrupting him. That surprised him, too. “You have an agenda. And having an agenda is a mutually exclusive condition to being nice. Being nice means doing things for people without any hope of benefit.”
“Wait a minute...” Tyler strode around the end of the counter, ready to argue.
Shannyn held up a finger and he stopped cold. “Why exactly are you asking me to go for dinner?”
“Because you might be hungry.”
Her stomach rumbled and his eyes lit, but Shannyn shook her head. “That’s not the real reason.”
“Okay, I’m hungry.” He smiled, but his gaze didn’t soften.
“Closer.”
Tyler folded his arms across his chest, which made him look formidable. There was no doubt that Shannyn had his undivided attention, and she couldn’t pretend, even to herself, that she didn’t like it. This man could get to her, and he would, if she let him.
And then he’d toss her away and leave her heartbroken.
Been there, done that.
“I thought we could get to know each other better, so that it’s more plausible that we’re dating,” he spoke with resolve.
“Aha! So, you’re adding a condition to our agreement, but trying to slide it in under cover of biological need.” She wagged a scolding finger at him, guessing it would annoy him to be accused of anything underhanded. “That’s sneaky, not nice.”
His eyes flashed. “I am not sneaky.”
“And I’m not interested in going for dinner, thanks.”
Tyler couldn’t completely disguise that he was annoyed with her. “How exactly is this deal going to work then?”
“You’ll tell me the date, the location and the time of the wedding. I’ll meet you there.”
“No, that’s not going to work.” He took the last two steps between them and glared down at her as if he could change her mind by force of will.