“I’ll have to take your word on that one,” I mumbled. “I’ve been doing battle with him for months, and he hasn’t budged until now.”
“Oh, I never said he isn’t stubborn,” she answered with humor in her tone.
“And that’s a good quality?”
“Actually, I think it’s a quality you both share. You are on the other side of the argument.”
“I’m an attorney,” I reminded her. “I get paid to be argumentative.”
Jade smiled as she stood up. “Thank you, Riley. But please know that if this ends up painful for you in any way, it stops. I know how much you dislike being in a fishbowl. We can resolve this a different way.”
“I’m good,” I told her with a falsely cheerful tone. “I just need to lay some ground rules, and everything will be fine. In a few months, that property will be safely in our hands so it can become a protected breeding ground for the least terns.”
We said our good-byes, and I headed back to my office.
This time, I had absolutely no problem writing back to Seth.
If we were going to do this masquerade, I was going to do it on my terms, with very little room for negotiation.
CHAPTER 6
SETH
Dear Mr. Sinclair:
After careful consideration, I’ve decided to accept your offer, but you’ll need to take it with the following terms:
GROUND RULES
Rule #1—I will dress appropriately, but under no circumstances will you get to dictate what I wear to each function.
Rule #2—You’re not allowed to ask me to dance with any male at the event, even if it will benefit your business.
Rule #3—You’ll hold your criticism of anything you dislike about my behavior, unless and until there are no other parties present. We discuss things alone.
Rule #4—NO SEX. AT ALL. EVER.
Rule #5—YOU WILL NOT PUT YOUR HAND ON MY ASS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Rule #6—You have to be respectful at all times.
If you can agree to these terms, you can send me a list of events you’ll be attending, and I’ll draw up the contract.
Riley
“Is she fucking serious?” I grumbled aloud as I sat in my office alone on Tuesday.
Okay, maybe I did have a little bit of a problem with rules four and five. I was going to be tempted to stroke that shapely ass, and I definitely wanted to have sex with her.
But the rest of the rules were complete bullshit.
If I had Riley by my side, I’d never disrespect her. And it annoyed the hell out of me that she’d even have to put that in her ground rules.
Never, in my entire life, had I disrespected any female. Hell, I had sisters. I wouldn’t want any male to ever treat either one of them with anything but the utmost courtesy.
I stared at the other requests, wondering who in the hell would want her to dance with another guy. I sure as hell wouldn’t.
It wasn’t my nature to be a control freak, so the other stuff didn’t make sense, either. Like I’d ever censor what she wore? Riley could come with me naked if she wanted to.
Wait! Scratch that!
I didn’t want any other guys to see her nude. Just the thought of it made my gut ache. But did she really think I cared whether she wore whatever the hell she wanted to wear?
What the fuck did she mean that I couldn’t criticize her? What asshole would do that when they had a woman like Riley at their side?
Truth was, I’d feel damn lucky to be with her, even if it was only an act.
“Son of a bitch!” I said in a gravelly voice as I picked up my cell and punched in her number.
Luckily, we’d traded contact information before she’d left the Coffee Shack so we could have a discussion after she’d had time to think about my offer.
Honestly, I probably would have caved in and not built the resort because of Jade. At some point in time, I knew I’d give it up because it would hurt my little sister if I built a high-rise and scared her beloved birds away.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was a sucker for my little sister’s sad face.
The idea of getting Riley to go with me to various social gatherings had simply been a way to make sure I kept seeing the stubborn, gorgeous redhead who I couldn’t get off my mind.
Yeah, it would be nice to have a date for every function I wanted to attend. It would make them easier to deal with. But I wasn’t going to bullshit myself into thinking that was the only reason I wanted to make a bargain with her.
Truth was, I didn’t just want a date. I wanted her. And if I just gave up the property, we’d never have a reason to meet up again. For me, that was completely . . . unacceptable.
“Law Office of Riley Montgomery,” she chirped when she picked up the phone.
“What in the fuck was that email all about, Riley?” I rumbled, without messing with a general greeting.
“Seth?” she said, her tone cautious.
I hated myself for loving the sound of my name coming from her lips. “How many other guys do you set ground rules with? What in the hell did you mean by writing that bullshit email?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said in her lawyer voice. “I wanted to lay down some general terms. If you don’t agree, there’s no point looking at further negotiations.”
“Cut the crap with me, Riley,” I barked. “Did somebody really do this shit to you in the past?”
“I-I don’t understand,” she said in an unusually vulnerable tone.
Fuck! Her hesitation made my damn chest ache. Someone had treated her like shit. “Let me make myself perfectly clear to you, then. Rules one, two, three, and six should be completely unnecessary, and I doubt you would have included them if you weren’t afraid they might happen. I’ll grant you that four and five might need to be mentioned, because it won’t be easy to keep my hands off your beautiful ass when nobody is looking. And I think you already know that I’d like to get you into my bed, but not unless you want that, too. It’s not going to be negotiated in a fucking contract.”
There was total silence from her end of the phone until she finally murmured, “Y-you’re okay with the terms?”
Dammit! There it was again. That hesitation. That uncertainty. I tried to tamp down my indignation a notch. “What I’m saying is that I would never disrespect you under any circumstances. I don’t give a damn what you wear or what you say, and it would be a cold day in hell before I’d ask you to get close to some pervert just because it would help my company. Jesus Christ, Riley. What guy would do that shit?”
“Some would,” she replied.
I was relieved to hear her go back to her normal argumentative tone.
“Some? Like your ex-fiancé?”
“He wasn’t exactly tactful,” she replied drily.
“Must have been a dick,” I observed.
“Which is why we’re no longer engaged,” she replied grimly.
Well, at least she’d kicked the bastard to the curb. But that fact didn’t keep my fist from clenching on my desk.
I had two little sisters who my brothers and I had taught to be themselves, to be unique. None of us would have ever wanted to mold them into what we wanted them to be.
Sure, we’d scrutinized every love interest they’d ever had, but only because we wanted to make sure any guy they dated was safe, and good enough for Brooke and Jade.