Engaging The Enemy. Reese Ryan

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СКАЧАТЬ room under Kayleigh’s cold stare, waiting for her to stop him.

      She didn’t.

      He turned the doorknob and stepped one foot onto the sidewalk, the bell jingling above him.

      Still nothing.

      “You really don’t have anything else to say?” Parker turned back to her.

      “Don’t let the doorknob hit you where the good Lord split you.” She grinned, her eyes shimmering with amusement.

      Parker blew out an exasperated breath and stepped back inside. “Look, there has to be something we can do to sweeten the deal for you. I can do the one-point-five and throw in renovation of your new space so that it meets your specific needs. Or maybe an all-expenses paid vacation.”

      “What did you say?” She narrowed her gaze at him.

      He now had Kayleigh’s rapt attention.

      “I said we can renovate your space so it fits your needs.”

      “Or...”

      “Or throw in an all-expenses paid vacation.” Something in Kayleigh’s expression unnerved him. The wheels were definitely turning in her head.

      “That.” She shook a finger in his direction, her gaze not meeting his, as if she was still working everything out. “I want the all-expenses paid vacation, but you won’t have to pay for it.”

      Parker scratched the back of his neck. Kayleigh Jemison had confounded him for years. He didn’t think it was possible, but today she was more confusing than usual. “That doesn’t make any sense. The whole point of the offer is to—”

      “I know how negotiations work, Abbott,” she said dismissively. “Just listen and don’t panic while I tell you the rest.”

      Now Parker was really alarmed. He set his attaché on the floor again and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m listening.”

      “You pay me twice the property’s assessed value. That will allow me to lease a new shop and buy a nice condo in the same complex.”

      Parker had no desire to overpay for Kayleigh’s crumbling building, but his father had insisted that he do whatever it took to acquire the property. It was to be his anniversary gift to Parker’s mother, and a sound investment for their business.

      “I’ll consider it,” he said gruffly.

      “But there’s one more thing I need.”

      “In addition to us overpaying for the property?”

      She didn’t acknowledge the comment. “As a condition of our deal, you’ll need to accompany me on a one-week, all-expenses paid trip to the Caribbean.”

      He stared at her for a moment, waiting for the punch line.

      “But you despise me.” When she didn’t disagree, Parker leaned against a display case, his arms folded across his chest as he studied her. “Why would you want me, of all people, to accompany you?”

      He wasn’t always the best at reading people, but there was definitely something that Kayleigh was having a hard time getting out.

      “You have to pretend to be my fiancé.” She cringed as she said the words.

      “What?” Parker pressed a hand to his forehead, stunned by her request. “You’re not serious.”

      “You need this building for whatever your next big venture is, and I need a fake fiancé for a week. It’s not as if I’m asking you to trade murders, Abbott. This isn’t Strangers on a Train. Do you want this building or not?”

      “There are escorts for this sort of thing, or have you not seen The Wedding Date?” he retorted. She wasn’t the only one who could throw around a film reference to make a point.

      “You’re no Dermot Mulroney,” she mumbled under her breath. “This isn’t some romantic fantasy, and I have zero interest in sleeping with you. So if that’s what’s worrying you, let me put your mind at ease.”

      Kayleigh Jemison evidently had no compunction about taking a Louisville Slugger to his ego.

      “We’ll pay double, without the pretend fiancé thing. Final offer.”

      “Then no deal.” She folded her arms. She’d gone from sheepish to defiant again. “The fiancé thing is nonnegotiable.”

      He’d thought she’d thrown that in as a bargaining chip just to get him to agree to double his original offer, but she was serious.

       Dead serious.

      “Then we’ll pay one and a half times the assessed value and I’m sure one of my brothers would be happy enough to get a free vacation and play your fake fiancé for a week.”

      “Twice the value and you play fake fiancé for a week. Am I not being clear about this? Because I really feel like I am.” She smirked, a hint of victory in her voice.

      Parker ran a hand over his head and groaned.

      “You’re dreaming if you think I could even begin to pull this off. You know I was a terrible liar when we were kids. That hasn’t changed.”

      “Then you’d better learn, Abbott.”

      “Why can’t you take Max or Cole? Either of them would be thrilled to go on an all-expenses paid island vacation. I’m sure Cole would be more than happy to share a bed with you.” His brother Cole, the one sibling who didn’t help manage the distillery, seemed determined to sleep his way through half the town.

      “No one said anything about sharing a bed. That’s what makes you a pretend fiancé, genius.” Kayleigh clenched her fists, her chest puffing out.

      “You expect me to fake intimacy? We were friends once, but we hardly know each other now. And you think I’ll be able to pretend well enough to fool someone who was your close friend? You’re being completely unreasonable here.” Parker took a cloth from his pocket and cleaned his glasses. “Even for you, and that’s saying a lot.”

      She sneered at him, then sighed. “You’re right. We’d never fool Kira with this.” She gestured between them. “She’d sense that we’re virtual strangers.”

      Parker breathed a sigh of relief, returned his glasses to the bridge of his nose and picked up his pen again. “So in lieu of the whole pretend fiancé thing...”

      “No in lieu of.” Kayleigh shook her head vigorously and a few of her bouncy red curls spilled from the bandanna. “I didn’t say we weren’t doing it—I just said it wouldn’t work the way things stand between us now. That means we need to put some effort into it. We have ten weeks to get to know each other.”

      “Kayleigh, how do you expect—”

      “That’s the deal, Abbott. Take it or leave it.” Even the insidious grin slowly spreading across her face couldn’t dim her beauty. If anything, the sly smile СКАЧАТЬ