Love Me to Death (5 page)

She takes a deep breath. “I can’t afford to cut corners or get this wrong. Everyone needs to believe we are madly in love otherwise this might not work.”

“I thought this was just for your mother’s benefit.”

“It is but I am a top jewelry designer and, unfortunately, that means I know a lot of people. As you know, often we can discover that the world is a very small place. If I cover every angle then there will be no room for any mistakes. It is very important to me that my mother has no reason to doubt this. If I’m careful then she will never know anything other than what I tell her.”

She designs jewelry, must be pretty high end to afford this place. “Understandable.”

“Yes,” she agrees.

“Why will it be necessary for me to spend the night in your luxurious penthouse?” I smirk, looking around at my surroundings.

“For appearances of course.” She rolls her eyes. “The longer we are ‘together’ there will be an expectation that we will at times share the same bed. You will, of course, be staying in the guest bedroom, don’t worry.”

“If it helps appearances I can stay in yours,” I tease.

“Do you have any other valid points, Mr. Cole?” We’ve gone formal again. I chuckle.

“As a matter of fact, I do. I take it these sessions and meet-ups are like ‘getting to know each other’ classes?”

“Correct.”

“Ok, and why on earth would you want to change my appearance and name?”

“I don’t want to change your appearance; that point was added before I met you.”

I smile at her words. “So you
are
attracted to me then?” I say smugly.

“My family will believe I am,” she states simply. I smile.

“Same thing really.”

She dismisses my comment. “And in regards to your name, I am not a fan of it. Shortening it doesn’t work for me since I don’t like the sound of Bren, and the only other thing I can shorten Brennan to is Nan. Now, I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to call you Nan.”

No wonder she keeps calling me Mr. Cole.

“You can call me Nan or Nanny, it sounds a little kinky.”

“I have no desire to get kinky with you.”

I let out a loud laugh.

“You’re adorable.”

“Can we move to the next point?” she says with another eye roll.

“As you wish. So, just to be clear you’re going to call me Cole?”

She nods.

“Do you not think that might come off as a little strange around my family?” I laugh. Why am I talking about her being around my family? I don’t introduce girls to my family. Am I seriously considering signing into this crazy deal?

“It might … maybe I can consider a pet name when we are around them.” She seems to be thinking hard.

“This should be fun since I’ve never taken a girl back to meet them before.”

Her head shoots up and her tough-girl exterior falters for a minute. “You haven’t? Do you think they’ll believe you?”

“Babe, for five thousand dollars a month, I can make them believe I’m the president of the United States.”

She laughs at this. I like it.

“Good.” She breathes.

“Ok, on to section three — my least favorite part. I’m good with not discussing the agreement with anyone other than you — I’m not even sure anyone would believe me anyway. I can stay in character, that’s a breeze. I’ll even refrain from using video equipment to shoot the sexy movie I was planning.” She scoffs. “But no alcohol, what kind of messed up rule is that?”

“A sensible one.”

“Elaborate?”

“How often do you get drunk?”
Too often.

“Not often.”

She rolls her eyes in disbelief. “And how often do you forget what happened the night before?”
Pretty much every weekend. I can’t even remember what I did last night!

“Rarely.”

Once again she looks at me as if I’m a liar and she has every right to.

“Well, I can’t risk you getting so drunk that you blurt out anything about our agreement especially if you forget you said it by the next day.” She has a point.

“Not even just a little glass every now and then?”

“Nope. If you refrain from it there is zero risk.”

“Ok,” I agree even though I’m planning to drink anyway. “Now, a point I refuse to abide by is three point eight. The one that says I must not ‘Date, text, call, touch, kiss, grope or engage in any sexual contact/activity with any potential lover. Failure to do this will directly affect the authenticity of his role as ‘lover’.” I look into her eyes. “Please elaborate?”

“You can’t date or have sex with any other women.”

She says it as though it is the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah but point three point six says I can’t have sex with you either so my
point
is, who the hell can I have sex with?”

“No one.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to work for me.”

“I just told you that I know a lot of people. How is it going to look if one of those
people
were to see my so-called boyfriend taking a different girl back to his bed every night?”

“It’s not every night just three or four.”

“Oh, that’s just great.”

“Look, you’re asking me to abstain from sex for a whole year, so either you’re crazy or you’re a virgin and have no idea what sex feels like.”

“I’m neither. I’m dying, and I am trying to give my mom a little freaking hope before I leave this earth and she never sees me again. Imagine how heartbroken she’ll be if she thinks that the first man her daughter gave her heart to breaks it by sleeping around? Especially when she was the one who begged her to give love a chance!” Her face is red by the time she stops speaking and her eyes have glazed over.

I take a deep breath. This thing means a lot to her. I don’t know why and I must be crazy, but I nod my head.

She stares at me in confusion for a minute.

“You mean you won’t have sex?”

“Please don’t say it out loud, it’s too painful but yes I’ll agree to your little term if it makes you happy.”

“Thank you,” she whispers after a few seconds of silence. She smiles at me, and for the first time since I walked into her penthouse, it seems genuine. That smile does something to the very pit of my stomach, but I push it away and move to the next point.

“You actually put a point in the contract that ensures I don’t fall in love with you, seriously?” I chuckle.

“It’s important,” she says simply.

“Trust me, I don’t do love so there are no worries there but why on earth have you put it in? Don’t women love it when a guy falls in love with them? Isn’t that the ultimate goal of every little girl?”

“No, it’s selfish.”

“What?”

“I’m dying, Cole, it would be selfish to allow someone to fall in love with me when I know that I probably won’t even be around in a year’s time.”

I get it. I nod and move on.

“You’d want me to be involved in your funeral?” I whisper.

“For my mom, if you do she’ll believe you really loved me and it will put her heart at rest.”

“But then you want me to just disappear?”

“Yes, I can’t expect you to play the role for the rest of your life. She’ll just believe she was too much of a reminder of me. She’ll understand. I don’t want her to ever know that it wasn’t real even after I’m gone.”

“Ok. So no one knows about any of this except us?”

“And Misty.”

“You trust her?” I ask.

“With my life. And in the event of my early demise, she’ll ensure that you continue to get paid according to our agreement.”

As much as I need the money, nothing about that sentence makes me feel good.

“I know that I am asking a lot of you, so if you don’t want any part of it then I understand. You’ve signed the NDA so legally you cannot share this information with anyone. If you want out then now’s the time.”

I stare into her eyes and behind the little act she has put on today I see so much pain.

“Pen,” is the only word I say.

I see the corner of her mouth twitch in amusement as she slides it across to me. We do the same ritual as earlier, both printing and signing our names in silence.

“So, what now?” I ask once everything is in place.

“I have another appointment. Leave all of your details with Misty, and I will contact you tomorrow,” she says as she stands up and walks toward the door. I’m not sure whether I’m supposed to follow her or wait for Misty to come and get me. I decide to stay seated.

I pick up my glass of water and take a swig while watching her walk away. Just as her hand makes contact with the door handle, she pauses.

“Cole?” I’m still getting used to being called that but it sounds good when it comes from her mouth.

“Mmm hmm?”

“Thank you.” Then she disappears without another word, and I realize that my life is about to change drastically.

I spray myself with cologne before heading outside to the taxi that just pulled up outside of my apartment building. I swiftly avoid Larry’s door on my way down. I haven’t paid him yet, and I’m not in the mood for his drama. I used to think that having your landlord living in the same building was a good thing, and it was until I stopped paying my rent.

I get in the taxi and let the driver know where Bobby lives. I sit back and think about my crazy day. I’m still trying to figure out whether or not signing that contract was a good idea, but the look in Ned’s eyes when she talked about her mom just did something to me. It made me think about my mom.
I miss her.
There was no way I would have ever done anything to let her down,
ever,
which is why I am in the mess I am right now.

My phone rings in my pocket and I smile when I see Layla’s name pop up.

“Hey,” I say at the same time that she says
sorry.

“What? You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yes, I do. I didn’t mean to come across cold earlier. I just want you to get your life together. I hate seeing you struggle.”

“I know, Sis, it’s ok.”

“Look, I honestly don’t have the money to help you out but if Larry really throws you out, then you know you can come and stay with us for as long as you need to.” I love my sister.

“That means a lot but I’ve sorted it out now.”

“What?” She sounds beyond shocked.

“Yeah, I took your advice, got off my lazy ass and got an actual job.”

“Doing what?” Yeah, how do I explain that?

“Just some acting work.”

“That is fantastic! I’m so proud of you. I knew you could do it.”

“I know, so thanks for giving me that little talk earlier, I needed it.”

“Anytime.”

“Well, I’m off to go and meet Bobby, but how about you and I go out for something to eat next week …
my treat.”

“That’s sweet, Bren, but I don’t want you to spend all of your money.”

“I won’t be, honestly, and this gig I got pays pretty well. I’m contracted for a whole year.”

“That’s amazing! Ok, it’s a date then, I look forward to it. See you next week. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Kiss Alex and Sophie for me.”

“I will.”

I hang up with the goofiest smile on my face. I’ve never wanted my sister to have to take care of me, but it’s been that way for much longer than I wanted it to be and now it’s time I returned the favor.

“Is this the place?” the taxi driver asks.

I look up from my daze and see Bobby’s apartment building just outside.

“Perfect, let me just give him a call.”

I dial Bobby’s number. He picks up after the first ring.

“Sup?”

“I’m outside.”

“Be down in five.”

“Ok.”

I’m pretty excited to meet the twins he’s been talking about. Especially since all I’ve thought about is Ned since I left her penthouse four hours ago. She’s been a bit of a distraction, in my brain and my pants. I need a way to get her off my mind. That’s where the twins come in handy. Well, one twin anyway.