Czytaj książkę: «The Boyfriend Arrangement»

One

“You have got to be kidding me!”

Sebastian West scanned his proximity card for the third time and yet the front door of BioTech—the biomedical technology company he co-founded—refused to open. Seeing his employees moving around inside, he pounded his fist on the glass, but all of them ignored him.

“I own this company!” he shouted as his secretary walked by without making eye contact. “Don’t make me fire you, Virginia.”

At that, she came to a stop and circled back to the door.

“Finally,” he sighed.

But she didn’t open the door as he’d expected. Instead she just shook her head. “I’m under strict orders from Dr. Solomon not to open the door for you, sir.”

“Oh, come on,” he groaned.

She couldn’t be moved. “You’ll have to take it up with him, sir.” Then she turned on her heel and disappeared.

“Finn!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, pounding on the glass with angry fists. “Let me in, you son of a bitch.”

A moment later Sebastian’s former college roommate and business partner, Finn Solomon, appeared at the door with a frown on his face. “You’re supposed to be on vacation,” he said through the glass.

“That’s what the doctor said, yeah, but since when do I take vacations? Or listen to doctors?” The answer was never. He certainly never listened to Finn. And as for vacation, he hadn’t taken one in the decade since they’d started this company. You couldn’t be off lying on a beach and also breaking barriers in medical technology. The two were incompatible.

“That’s the whole point, Sebastian. Do you not recall that you had a heart attack two days ago? You’re not supposed to be in the office for a minimum of two weeks.”

“A mild heart attack. They didn’t keep me in the hospital for more than a few hours. And they’re not even sure I really had one. I’m taking the stupid pills they gave me, what more do you want?”

“I want you to go home. I’m not letting you in. I’ve had your badge deactivated. I’ve also sent out a memo that anyone who lets you in the building will be terminated.”

So much for piggybacking through the door behind someone else. He did have a laptop, though, if he could get Virginia to bring it out to him. That wouldn’t technically be breaking the rules if he worked from home, right?

“I’ve also had your email and remote access accounts temporarily suspended, so you can’t even work from home.” Finn was always remarkably good at reading his mind. He’d been able to do it since they were in college. It was great for working together. Not so great for this scenario. “You are on mandatory medical leave, Sebastian, and as a doctor, I’m sorry, but I’m going to enforce it. I can handle things for two weeks, but I can’t run this company with you dead. So get some R and R. Take a trip. Get a massage. Get a hand job. I really don’t care. But I don’t want to see you here.”

Sebastian was at a loss. He and Finn had started this company after school, pouring their hearts and souls into technology that could make people’s lives better. He was the MIT engineer and Finn was the doctor, a winning team that had developed advanced technologies like prosthetic hands and electric wheelchairs controlled by a patient’s brain waves. That seemed a noble enough cause to dedicate his life to. But apparently a decade of trading sleep and vegetables for caffeine and sugar had caught up with him.

Of course he didn’t want to die; he was only thirty-eight. But he was close to a breakthrough on a robotic exoskeleton that could make paraplegics like his brother walk again.

“What about the new prototype for the exo-legs?”

Finn just crossed his huge forearms over his chest. “Those people have gone a long time without walking. They can wait two more weeks while you recover. If you keel over at your desk one afternoon, they’ll never get it. As it is, I’m having a defibrillator installed on the wall outside your office.”

Sebastian sighed, knowing he’d lost this fight. Finn was just as stubborn as he was. Normally that was a good match—they never knew when to take no for an answer. But that wouldn’t benefit him in this situation. He knew the doctor’s orders, yet he’d never once imagined that Finn would enforce them this strictly. He’d just thought he’d work ten-hour days instead of the usual eighteen.

“Can I at least come in and—?”

“No,” Finn interrupted. “Go home. Go shopping. Just go away.” With a smug expression Finn waved at him through the glass and then turned his back on his business partner.

Sebastian stood there for a moment, thinking maybe Finn would come back and tell him he was just kidding. When it was clear that Finn was deadly serious, he wandered back to the elevator and returned to the lobby of the building. He stepped out onto the busy Manhattan sidewalk with no real clue as to where he was going to go. He’d planned to take it easy for a few days and head back to work today. Now he had two full weeks of nothingness ahead of him.

He had the resources to do almost anything on earth that he wanted. Fly to Paris on a private jet. Take a luxury cruise through the Caribbean. Sing karaoke in Tokyo. He just didn’t want to do any of those things.

Money was an alien thing to Sebastian. Unlike Finn, he’d never had it growing up. His parents had worked hard but as blue collar laborers they’d just never seemed to get ahead. And after his brother Kenny’s ATV accident, they’d gone from poor to near destitute under the weight of the medical bills.

Scholarships and loans had gotten Sebastian through college, after which he’d focused on building his company with Finn. The company eventually brought money—lots of it—but he’d been really too busy to notice. Or to spend any. He’d never dreamed of traveling or owning expensive sports cars. Honestly, he was bad at being rich. He probably didn’t even have twenty bucks in his wallet.

Stopping at a street corner, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and noticed the leather had nearly disintegrated over the years. He’d probably had this one since grad school. Maybe he should consider getting a new one. He had nothing better to do at the moment.

Up ahead, he spied Neiman Marcus. Surely they sold wallets. He made his way across the street and over to the department store. Sebastian stopped long enough to hold the door for a group of attractive women exiting with enough bags to put a kid through a semester or two of college. They looked vaguely familiar, especially the last one with the dark hair and steely blue eyes.

Her gaze flicked over him for a moment and he felt it like a punch to his gut. His pulse pounded in his throat as he tried to unsuccessfully swallow the lump that had formed there. He didn’t know why he would have such a visceral reaction to the woman. He wanted to say something but he couldn’t place the woman and decided to keep his mouth shut. Half a second later she looked away, breaking the connection, and continued on down the street with her friends.

Sebastian watched them for a moment with a touch of regret, then forced himself into the store. He made a beeline for the men’s department and quickly selected a wallet. He wasn’t particularly choosy with that sort of thing. He just wanted black leather and a slim profile with enough room for a couple cards and some cash. Easy.

As he found a register open for checkout, he noticed a strikingly attractive brunette ahead of him. Sebastian realized she was one of the women he’d just seen leave the store a few minutes before. The one with the blue-gray eyes. He wished he remembered who she was so he could say something to her. They’d probably met at one event or another around town—Finn forced him to go to the occasional party or charity gala—he couldn’t be sure, though. Most of his brain was allocated to robotics and engineering.

Not all of it, though. He was red-blooded male enough to notice her tall, lean figure, long, chestnut hair, big blue eyes and bloodred lips. It was impossible not to notice how flawlessly she was put together. She smelled like the meadow behind his childhood home after a warm summer rain. Deep down inside him something clenched tightly at the thought.

What was it about her? He told himself it was probably nothing to do with her, exactly. The doctor had told him to refrain from strenuous physical activity—Yes, that includes sexual relations, Mr. West—for at least a week. It had been a while since he’d indulged with a lady, but maybe since it was forbidden, his mind was focusing on what it couldn’t have.

Why was he so terrible at remembering names?

As Sebastian got closer to the counter, he realized the woman was returning everything in her bag. That was odd. If the register was correct, she’d just purchased and immediately returned about fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of clothes. He watched as she slipped out of her leather coat and shoved it into the empty department store bag, covering it with the packing tissue so you couldn’t see inside.

His chronic boredom was temporarily interrupted as she piqued his curiosity with her actions. “Excuse m—” he started to say.

She turned suddenly and slammed right into his chest, forcing him to reach out and catch her in his arms before she stumbled backward on her sky-high heels and fell to the ground. He pulled her tight against him, molding her breasts to his chest until she righted herself. He found he really didn’t want to let go when the time came. He was suddenly drunk on her scent and the feel of her soft curves pressing into his hard angles. How long had it been since he’d been this close to a woman? One he wasn’t fitting a prosthetic to? He had no clue.

But eventually he did let go.

The woman took an unsteady step back, pulling herself together with a crimson flush blooming across her cheeks. “I am so sorry about that,” she said. “I’m always in such a hurry that I don’t pay attention to where I’m going.”

There was a faint light of recognition in her blue-gray eyes as she looked up at him, so he knew he was right about meeting her somewhere before. “No, don’t apologize,” he said with a wry smile. “That’s the most exciting thing to happen to me all week.”

Her brow furrowed in disbelief.

Perhaps, he mused, he didn’t look as boring as he was.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He laughed off her concern. She was tall for a woman, especially in those stilettos, but he didn’t really think she could inflict damage to him. “I’m fine. I’m just glad I was able to catch you.”

She smirked and looked down self-consciously. “I suppose it could’ve been worse.”

“You actually look really familiar to me, but I’m horrible with names. I’m Sebastian West,” he said, offering her his hand in greeting.

She accepted it tentatively. The touch of her smooth skin gliding along his sent an unexpected spark through his nervous system. He was usually focused on work, and other pursuits, like sexual gratification and dating in general, typically took the back burner. But with one simple touch, physical desire was moved to the forefront.

Unlike their brief collision, this touch lingered skin-to-skin, letting him enjoy the flickers of electricity across his palm. The connection between them was palpable. So much so that when she pulled her hand away, she rubbed it gently on her burgundy sweater as if to dull the sensation.

“You do look familiar,” she agreed. “I’m Harper Drake. We must’ve met around town. Perhaps you know my brother Oliver? Orion Computers?”

That sounded familiar enough. “He’s probably pals with my friend Finn Solomon. Finn knows everyone.”

Harper narrowed her eyes for a moment, looking thoughtful. “That name sounds familiar, too. Wait...are you involved in some kind of medical supply business?”

Sebastian’s brows rose in surprise. That wasn’t exactly how he’d categorize what he did, but the fact that she remembered that much stunned him. And, to be honest, it pleased him just a little bit.

“You could say that.” He grinned.

* * *

Harper beamed. She was pleased to finally place this guy in her mind. When she’d caught a glimpse of him earlier, he’d grabbed her attention. He’d looked so familiar when he’d held the door for her that she was certain she’d known him from somewhere. Unfortunately, Violet being so hell-bent on running up the street to pick up Aidan’s wedding present had meant she couldn’t stop.

Once she’d split from her best friends, Lucy Drake, Violet Niarchos and Emma Flynn, she’d stealthily circled back to Neiman Marcus to return everything she’d just bought. She couldn’t have that weighing down her credit card for long. She hadn’t expected to run into the familiar man again. Certainly not literally.

Real smooth, Harper.

“Okay, well then, I think it must’ve been one of the hospital benefits this past winter.”

He nodded. “I do think I went to one of those. Finn tries to get me out every now and then.”

Sebastian West didn’t have a face she could forget, even if she lost context. He had a strong jaw, a nearly jet-black goatee, eyes just as dark, and a crooked smile that stirred something inside her. No, she’d remember him for sure. If she had a type, he’d be it.

It was a shame he wasn’t one of the rich CEO guys her brother associated with all the time. She didn’t mean to be shallow, but meeting a guy with his act together financially would certainly benefit her current situation. It would also make her feel a little better about how things would be handled once it all changed on her birthday.

The last seven years had been one long, hard lesson learned for Harper. One in the value of money the spoiled little rich girl she’d once been had never really experienced before. She would be the first to admit that her father had basically given her everything she’d wanted. After her mother died, he’d spoiled her. And continued to spoil her until he’d no longer had the resources.

Harper had never imagined that the well would run dry. When it had, she’d made a lot of necessary adjustments in her life. At least secretly. It was embarrassing enough that she’d blown all the money she’d inherited when she’d turned eighteen—especially since she was an accountant—she didn’t need anyone else knowing about what she’d done.

After falling from the top of the world to her current spot near the bottom, she’d earned a whole new appreciation for money and for the people who were good at managing it. And soon, when she had money again, she intended to be very careful about how she handled it. That included triple-checking every guy she dated. Not that she intended to date Sebastian...

“Well, I’m glad we bumped into each other today,” Sebastian said with a sly grin.

Harper chuckled. As her gaze broke away from Sebastian’s for a moment, she saw Quentin—her ex, of all people—walking toward them. Grabbing Sebastian’s arm, she turned them both toward a display of men’s shoes, hoping maybe Quentin hadn’t seen her. “I’m sorry,” she muttered under her breath. “I’m trying to—”

“Harper?”

Damn it.

Harper turned to face the ex-boyfriend she’d done her best to avoid for the last two years. She stepped away from Sebastian, leaning in to give her ex a polite but stiff hug. “Hello, Quentin,” she said in a flat, disinterested tone she knew he wouldn’t pick up on. He never did.

“How have you been?”

Lonely. Anxiety-riddled. “I’m great. Never better. How about you?”

“Amazing. I actually just got engaged.”

Engaged? Quentin was engaged. The one who didn’t want to commit. If Harper hadn’t already been feeling crappy about being the last single friend in her social circle, this moment would’ve been the straw that broke the camel’s back. She pasted a fake smile on her face and nodded. “That’s great. I’m happy for you.”

Quentin didn’t notice her lack of sincerity. “Thank you. Her name is Josie. She’s amazing. I can’t wait for you to meet her. I think you two would really get along.”

Harper had to bite her tongue to keep from asking why his ex would have any interest in hanging out with his fiancée. “I’m sure we would.”

“So, Harper...” Quentin said as he leaned in to her. His arrogant smile made her shoulders tense and the scent of his stinky, expensive cologne brought to mind nights with him she wished she could forget. “Will I be seeing you at Violet’s wedding? It’s the event of the year, I hear. I can’t believe she’s flying all the guests to Dublin for it. And renting out a castle! It’s wild. Maybe I should’ve dated her instead of you.” He chuckled and she curled her hands into fists at her sides.

“I am going,” she said with a bright smile she hoped didn’t betray her anxiety over the upcoming trip. “I’m one of her bridesmaids.”

“Are you going alone?” Quentin cocked his head in a sympathetically curious way that made her hackles rise.

Why would he assume she was going alone? They’d been apart for two years. He’d moved on. Surely she could’ve found someone to replace him by now. She hadn’t, but she could’ve. “No. I’m not going alone. I’m bringing my boyfriend.”

The minute the words passed her lips she regretted them. Why had she said that? Why? He mentions a fiancée and she loses her damn mind. She didn’t have a boyfriend. She hadn’t even committed to a houseplant. How was she supposed to produce a boyfriend in a couple days before the trip?

Quentin’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “Oh, really? I hadn’t heard you were dating anyone lately.”

Harper was surprised that he’d been paying attention. “I’ve learned to keep my private life private,” she snapped. After their messy, public breakup, it had been another lesson hard learned. She hadn’t even considered dating for six months after they’d ended due to the trauma of the whole thing.

“Well, who’s the lucky guy? Do I know him? I look forward to meeting him at the wedding.”

A name. She needed a name. Harper’s mind went completely blank. Looking around the department store, her gaze fell on Sebastian as he perused a nearby display of dress loafers.

“You can meet him now. Sebastian, honey, could you come over here for a minute? I’d like you to meet someone.”

Sebastian arched his brow inquisitively at Harper as she mouthed the word “please” silently to him. He wandered over to where she was standing. “Yes, dear?”

“Sebastian, this is my ex, Quentin Stuart. I’ve mentioned him, haven’t I? Anyway, I was just telling him about the two of us going to Ireland for Violet and Aidan’s wedding.”

Quentin stuck out his hand to Sebastian. “Nice to meet you, Sebastian...?”

“West. Sebastian West.” He shook Quentin’s hand and quickly pulled his away.

“Sebastian West as in BioTech?”

“Actually, yes.”

Harper didn’t recognize the name of the company, but then again she didn’t know much about Sebastian because they weren’t really dating. She remembered a brief discussion at a party about him working in medical supplies and how he didn’t get out very much. She’d figured he’d sold wheelchairs and hospital beds or something. Maybe she’d been wrong. Quentin wasn’t the type to waste brain power on remembering things that didn’t impress him.

“Wow, Harper. Quite the catch you’ve got in this one.” An uncomfortable expression flickered across his face and quickly disappeared. “Well, I’ve got to run. I was on my way to meet Josie and I’m already late. I’ll see you two lovebirds on the plane to Dublin. I look forward to speaking with you some more, Sebastian.”

Harper watched Quentin walk out of the store. Once he was gone, her face dropped into her hands. She just knew she was bright red with embarrassment. “I am so sorry,” she muttered through her fingers.

Sebastian surprised her by laughing. “Want to tell me what that was all about?”

She peeked through her hands at him. “Um... Quentin is my ex. It was a messy breakup, but we still hang in the same social circles from time to time. When he asked about my date for the wedding we have coming up, I panicked. I told him you were my boyfriend. It’s a long story. I shouldn’t have dragged you into that, but he put me on the spot and you were standing right there.” She gestured toward the display and shook her head. “I’m an ass.”

“I doubt that,” Sebastian said, a twinkle of laughter still in his dark brown eyes.

“No, I am. I’ve made the whole thing ten times worse because now I’m going to show up at the wedding without you and he’s going to know I lied. And I just know he’s going to show up with his beautiful, new fiancée and I’m going to feel even more like crap than I already do.”

Harper knew she should’ve just owned that she was single. How bad would that have been? To just state proudly that she’d been dating and not interested in settling down or settling on the wrong guy. She was almost thirty, but that was hardly the end of the world. In fact, her thirtieth birthday couldn’t come soon enough. It brought a twenty-eight-million-dollar payout with it that she was desperate to get her hands on.

“Don’t worry about what he thinks,” Sebastian said. “He seems like a schmuck.”

“I’m no good at the boyfriend thing. I have questionable taste in men,” Harper admitted. “It’s probably better that I just make up boyfriends instead of finding another real one.”

Sebastian nodded awkwardly. “I’m glad to help. Well, I hope the wedding goes well for you.”

“Thanks.” She watched him leave. But with every step he took, the more panicked she became. She had no easy way of contacting this guy once he walked out the door. She didn’t want to let him get away quite yet for reasons she wasn’t ready to think about. “Sebastian?” she nearly shouted before he got out of earshot.

He stopped and turned back to her. “Yes?”

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