“So what is Hannafort saying?”
“Let’s say that we’ve gone from a place where both parties were head over heels to a place where one side is thinking about leaving the dance.”
This deal had been in serious discussion for only a month, so things were still fragile. After months of convincing Lyle to talk to them, they were just starting to get comfortable with each other. This was supposed to be the honeymoon phase, but that seemed to be over. “Seriously? It’s that bad?”
“As he put it, he has no patience for negative publicity that could have been easily avoided.” Sawyer rocked back in his seat.
“How was I supposed to avoid this? No one could’ve predicted this.” Noah had been looking forward to a quiet day in the office. He had no meetings, only a few phone calls, and he and Lily were supposed to have a discussion about some new projects. He’d been looking forward to that, however hard he’d have to try to concentrate on work.
“I think his point was that it never would’ve happened if you weren’t the guy who dates dozens of women.”
“What he really means is that if I wasn’t like Dad.” Which I’m not. Noah grumbled under his breath, frustrated beyond belief. He would never admit it to anyone, but part of the reason he’d been going out so much was because of Lily. The nights when he went home alone were awful. He couldn’t watch TV, he couldn’t read a book. His mind kept drifting to Lily, everything she’d done or said at work that day, replaying in his head like a never-ending movie. There was something about her that stopped Noah dead in his tracks.
But Sawyer had been crystal clear about it—all of that was too bad. Lily is the best employee we have ever had. She is perfect. Don’t mess this up. We need her and all you do is break hearts.
Noah got it. Lily was forbidden fruit.
“How do we convince Mr. Hannafort that Noah’s not that kind of guy?” Charlotte asked.
Sawyer snickered. “By finding him a wife. Or a fiancée.”
Charlotte stifled a grin. “But it would have to be right away. Preferably before we go to Hannafort’s daughter’s wedding.”
“Ideally, yes.” Sawyer stared off into space like he was brainstorming. Charlotte was doing the same. Noah wasn’t about to contribute to their ludicrous meeting of the minds. There was no woman in his life he’d consider asking to marry him. No one was even close.
A knock came at the door. Noah turned as Lily walked in with four black binders in her arms. “I have the revenue projections from Mr. Hannafort’s team. I cross-referenced them with our own, which are considerably more conservative.”
“Great. Thank you,” Sawyer said.
Lily doled out the presentations while Noah remained standing.
“Lily, you can take my seat. I’m happy right here.”
She settled in, rocking her hips from side to side. “You got it all warmed up for me.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. Good God, she was going to be the death of him.
Noah opened his binder. There was no time to absorb all of the information in this report, but one quick glance at a few spreadsheets told him one thing—they were going to make a lot of money if this deal went through. And his actions, which had been perfectly innocent at the time, could end up taking it all away. Charlotte, and Sawyer in particular, would never forgive him. Or if they did, it would take a very long time. There was already enough acrimony in his family from their dad. Noah refused to be the cause for this blowing up in their faces.
“Wow.” Sawyer flipped through the pages. “These numbers are impressive.”
“They are.” Charlotte closed her folder and chewed on her nail. “Can’t let this get out from under us.”
“No, we can’t.” Noah racked his brain for a way to make himself seem less like a Lothario.
Charlotte narrowed her vision on him, then her sights drifted to Lily. She sat a little straighter and turned in her chair. “Lily, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Would you have any interest in going to a wedding with all of us? This weekend. I don’t know what sort of personal obligations you have, and I know it’s short notice.”
As the words out of Charlotte’s mouth found his ears, Noah quickly realized what she was doing. She was setting him up. With Lily. The woman who he’d been fighting to keep in the friend zone. Noah bugged his eyes at Charlotte, but she shot him a steely look right back.
“A wedding? Do you mean Annie Hannafort’s wedding?”
Charlotte smiled effortlessly, like this all made perfect sense and would not cause a single problem. Noah already had a dozen reasons not to do what Charlotte was about to suggest. The reasons were already stacked up and waiting, and he’d only been living with this realization for less than a minute. “Exactly. It’s just that we would need you to be Noah’s date. Well, more than his date. We would need you to pretend to be his fiancée.”