Lumpy? I huffed a small laugh.

“You two been together long?” Fairchild asked as the waitress set down our drinks.

“Feels like forever,” Parker said lightly.

“I admit, I’m surprised to see you here,” Fairchild went on, taking a sip of his Scotch. “The whole time you were fighting, you always had a new lady on your arm.” He chuckled. “I remember one fight, Morgan showed up with three women,” he said to Jackson. “One on each arm and one leading the way to the ring.”

This fucking guy.

I wanted to meet Parker’s gaze and give her a commiserating look. Not that I thought she’d appreciate it right now; the woman was tight as a drum and nearly vibrating with irritation. “Eh, well… when you know, you know.”

I saluted Parker with my beer before taking a deep pull. I didn’t know shit about romantic love. But for a chance to save everything I did love, I’d fake it. With that, I leaned forward, bracing my forearms on the table—much to Miss Priss’s evident dismay.

“Forget the women,” I told Fairchild. “Did you ever hear the story about the time I met Donny Douglas for an underground fight?”

As expected, Fairchild’s eyes lit up. “I didn’t. When was this?”

Hook, line, and sinker. I launched into the story, knowing it would keep Fairchild entertained, that with each word, he’d want me around more—and Parker by extension. Yeah, she needed me. She just didn’t know it yet. But she would.

Four

Parker

I shivered in the chilly late spring night, my heart thumping in my chest as I watched Rhys talk in undertones with Mr. Fairchild. Jackson and Camille had already left. Finally, Fairchild got into his Town Car, and I narrowed my gaze on Rhys as he sauntered back over to me.

He walked with the swagger of a man who’d just won a boxing bout.

The big jerk.

“So, I just saved your ass.” He had the audacity to grin.

The anger that had been slow-cooking in my gut since we’d all sat down to dinner threatened to boil over. If I stayed here one more second, I would eviscerate him with the power of my mind.

I was sure of it.

There was no way a person could be this angry with someone without that energy manifesting itself. I abruptly turned away from Yvonne’s and began walking south toward the apartment I shared with my best friend Zoe. It was thirty minutes by foot, which should give me some time to walk off my uncharacteristic rage.

“I’ll walk you home and we can discuss terms.” Rhys fell into step beside me.

Bafflement overtook the fury. “Excuse me?”

He shrugged. “You still need someone to pretend to be your boyfriend, right? And I think I can say with certainty that Fairchild thinks I’m the shit.”

Yes, Fairchild definitely thought Rhys was the poo. Of course he would. They were both Neanderthals. I gritted my teeth, frustrated that my short legs could never out-stride the tall boxer beside me. A boxer, for goodness’ sake!

Not that I didn’t appreciate boxing. Any competitive sport demonstrated discipline, determination, and skill. Those were all good qualities.

No, the boxing didn’t bother me.

It explained the muscles and the broken nose.

What bothered me was the sycophantic bromance that had developed between Rhys and Fairchild. He never outright agreed with any of the backward, bordering-on-misogynistic bull-twaddle that came out of my boss’s mouth, but Rhys also hadn’t outright disagreed.

For most of the evening, Jackson, Camille, and I had to listen to Rhys entertain Fairchild with stories of his glory days as a boxer. It wasn’t that the stories weren’t somewhat interesting; it was just that they opened the door for Fairchild’s commentary. And his toxic masculinity.

The whole point of the dinner was to show Fairchild I was an important addition to the team. All he cared about was Rhys.

“You derailed my dinner,” I seethed.

“Derailed it?” Rhys huffed. “Anytime Jackson brought up the subject of renewable energy, Fairchild’s eyes glazed over. You should thank me for keeping the guy interested enough to stay through the entire meal.”

“Yes, I so enjoyed him constantly grilling you about how much blood you’ve spilled and how many women you’ve bedded. That’s what I always look for in my dinner conversation.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault your boss has no manners. The point is, I kept his interest. The guy loves me.”

Ugh, unfortunately true.

“It seems to me if you want this guy to keep you around, then the way to do that is to pay me the two thousand dollars a week to be your fake boyfriend. He wants me around and where you go, I go, right?”

I stumbled to a halt, the anger mixing with frustration because I knew there was logic in his proposal. He was absolutely correct. And I hated it. “I don’t know you from Adam.”

The muscle in his jaw ticked. “Like you know my brother from Adam? Or is the difference that he has a degree and I’m an uneducated meathead who runs a gym?”

Why did he deliberately try to see the worst in me? “You are very prejudiced.”

Rhys’s expression darkened. “Tinker Bell, like you said, you don’t fucking know me.”

“Don’t curse at me.” I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to be intimidated by him even though my legs were shaking a little at the idea of agreeing to his proposal. “I’m hardly going to hire a guy who hates me because I grew up with money.”

He exhaled heavily, his earlier tension seeming to dissolve. “Tinker Bell,” he said, his tone softer, “I don’t fucking know you either. How can I hate you?”

Tinker Bell. Is that how he saw me? Tiny, spoiled, and ill-tempered? Ouch. Wrinkling my nose, I began walking again. “Don’t call me Tinker Bell.”

“Do we have a deal?” Rhys persisted as he fell into step beside me again.

I cut him a look. “Why do you want to do this?”

There went that muscle in his jaw again. Tick, tick, ticking. “I need the money,” he bit out.

As if that was something to be ashamed of?

Still, Dean needed the money because he was unemployed. Why did an ex-professional boxer who owned a gym need money? I wouldn’t be involved in anything nefarious. I said as much to him.

He grimaced. “It’s nothing criminal. Jesus Christ. All the money I earned boxing went to my family, to Dean’s education, and other shit they needed. Now the gym isn’t doing great and the extra cash could help inject some new life into it.”

“You paid for your brother’s college education?”

He grunted; I took that as confirmation.

The anger inside me simmered a little. A guy who spent his earnings on his little brother’s education couldn’t be all bad, right? It was actually kind of sweet.

I considered him. “If we do this, I’ll need you to be flexible with your schedule. You must be able to attend events and dinners at the drop of a hat. That was the deal with Dean.”

Rhys looked down at me with those too-beautiful eyes and nodded. “Deal.”

I bit my lip, hesitating over making it official. Dean was so easy-going and charming, I’d been instantly relaxed in his company. The thought of playacting a romantic relationship with him hadn’t bothered me in the least.