“You’d never overstay your welcome, not here,” he assured me.
I shrugged and moved back to the couch.
“Jaime, really, it’s fine. I have a huge place, and I really enjoy the company, human and otherwise. You five can stay as long as you need to.”
“Well, either way, I still need a job. I can’t expect you to pay all my bills too,” I said as I took a peek outside to see the big three dogs running and chasing each other. Max walked slowly around the yard on his own, and I grinned. “See? I told you so,” I whispered. “Those people at the shelter didn’t know what they were talking about, little guy, trying to put you down.”
“He seems to be doing all right,” Charlie said over my shoulder.
“Yes, and he’ll only get better with time.”
“I think we could, too.”
“Charlie, I...”
“If you marry me, your bills won’t be a problem at all,” he said. “My club is quite the profitable venture.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything as I sat back down on the couch. “I’m still not saying yes.”
“Fine. If you won’t agree to be my fake bride, will you at least say yes to a job?”
My jaw dropped. Was he really offering me a job?
Chapter 16
My fingers paused on the keyboard, and I glanced at him. “A job? At your club?”
“Why not? I need someone to run the front desk, and you know the sport well enough to even work as an instructor.”
“I know fencing, not martial arts.”
“And that’s where I’ll put you. I know you won’t have any problem passing the certification test.”
“Certification test?”
“It’ll be a breeze for you,” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at me, in a way that let me know it probably had to do with facing him down again.
A huge grin spread across my face; the rematch would be a good thing, and putting Charlie on his ass again would be the highlight of my day. “I guess that’s an offer I can’t refuse,” I said. “How’s the pay?”
He laughed into his coffee. “I can promise you fair. So is that a yes?”
I wanted to hold out and make him work for it, but I glanced at the bill reminder on my laptop screen and mentally calculated how much money I’d have left in my account by the end of the week. Damn. I can’t even afford a hazelnut latte, I thought with a sigh. “Yeah, I’ll take it. When do I start, Boss?”
He smiled widely, enjoying it way too much, and I inwardly cursed. Now I would forcibly be around Charlie every day, having to follow his orders, till I had enough money to move out again. Even I couldn’t take such a constant bombardment of unwanted proposals. The idea of all that money at the end of two years sounded perfect, though, and it would enable me to get my own place, donate more to dog rescues, and actually enjoy my days. Still, marrying Charlie for those reasons just seemed wrong. I really, truly cared about him, as more than a friend, and I knew my feelings would get involved at some point. I knew my heart was destined to be broken if I allowed myself to be part of his stupid plot.
If I’m going to marry him or anyone else, I told myself, it’s going to be for the right reasons. Charlie showed promise, at least in the way he’d been acting since his return, but I had to wonder. How long will it be before he gets bored with me and moves on to someone who’ll sleep with him? I wanted to maintain the no-sex rule to try to keep our friendship alive, and allowing anything physical to happen betwe
en us was just asking for disaster.
“I put out fresh towels, if you want a shower,” he said. “I’ll get the dogs in.”
“No problem, since they act like they’re yours already anyway,” I said with a chuckle.
“I can’t help it if I’m a dog person at heart,” he said with a laugh. “It’s good they like me. It will make it a whole lot easier to convince their mama that this is a good place to be, a good thing to do.”
I turned to smile at him. “So what, Charlie? You plan to manipulate my children and expect me to just follow their lead so they don’t have to leave their new daddy. Sorry, but this isn’t some stupid sitcom or chick flick. It doesn’t work that way in real life.”
“It’s not a bad plan,” he said, watching the dogs through the back door, “and if all else fails, I’m sure we can convince Hollywood to make a movie out of it.”