Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“Hold on. You have to give me a minute to let that percolate.” I turn that minute into a few, sliding off the counter to pour the coffee.
After adding cream to mine and getting the sugar for Mika, we both sip and sigh, sip and sigh, until I have my thoughts in order enough to put them out there.
“This is such a weird situation because if we were going to wreck the wedding or postpone it, there are really only a few things we can do. Character assassinating her isn’t going to work. Her dad already knows she’s a bad girl, and your dad wouldn’t care. Besides, that’s just rank mean, and I could never do that. Sure, I could fudge the venue, delay the dress, and stuff laxatives into the cake—all brilliant ideas that will get me fired. I could send out invitations with the wrong date and time or send out notices that the wedding has been pushed back. More grounds for getting fired. Or we could play the long game.”
“We don’t have time,” Mika says.
“It would be the long game in the short run. What’s the one thing that could really fuck up this deal?”
“The business deal, not the marriage.”
“That’s right, but if one goes down in flames, the other dies a hard death too.”
“Uh…”
“You said this guy values honor more than anything, meaning his name is everything to him. If he thought your dad was a douchebag asshole who ran a chain of bug-infested hotels, do you think he’d really be so keen to do business?”
“He’s already approved my dad, though,” Mika says carefully, unsure of the slippery slope we seem to be descending.
“New evidence could come to light. I’m so sorry, but the only way I can see to not have this happen is to hurt your dad in the present but also help him see that business isn’t going to fill the void in his heart. Only you can do that. Family. And love, of course.”
“So we’re going to sabotage him, and you’re going to seduce him.”
Seducing her dad would be hard, but not as hard as the feel of him pressing up against me. The length and size of Mika’s dad’s package most definitely should not be at the forefront of my brain while I’m talking to her.
Or ever.
Last night was a brain blip. It was a night of bad decisions, but that’s it. End of.
It has to be the end of.
“No to the seduction,” I say, annoyed at how my voice gets breathy and wispy. “You’re going to have to work on him. Repair your relationship. If he sees that things can change between you both, and it would be good for both of you to heal, then maybe he’d believe in love and goodness again.”
“And besides that?”
I start in on the evil brainstorming. I swear I’m normally not this good at villainous thinking. “Hire a fake PI to make fake dirt on your dad and send it to his future father-in-law. Silly stuff only, but with just enough shadow of a doubt to be real. Plan his stag, have something horribly embarrassing go wrong, and leak the footage so it goes viral. Phone every bug and vermin exterminator in the city with fake reports of mice, rats, roaches, bed bugs—the whole freaking works—and have them show up at a few of your dad’s hotels.”
“I want to save his life, not ruin it.”
“You’re right. That’s too mean.” The whole thing is a terrible idea. “If they have an open marriage and it’s all fake, then why can’t he just find love in his own time?”
“Because I know my dad. He’s too honorable to ever do that.”
“He wasn’t too honorable to be interested in me last night.” I feel like the world’s biggest toe wort to put that out there, but it needs to be said. I’ve been open and honest about all this.
“He’s not married yet, and you’re a one-off. You’re like the one woman who has caught his attention, I swear. My mom knows about this. He’s never dated again. If he’s slept around, he’s kept it so low-key that it either doesn’t happen often or at all.”
“Your mom doesn’t know everything. He’ll probably be just fine. He’s a grown man. He has to know what he’s doing.”
Mika falls to the floor in a dramatic heap. The only thing she doesn’t do is drape a hand over her forehead and loudly declare, I’ve been slain, like they do in medieval plays. “Please! I’m getting down on my knees here. I’ll kiss your bare feet!”
“Gah, you will not!” I shuffle backward fast. “Get up! Mika. Please. Get. Up.”
“You have to help me.” She latches onto my bare ankles, then claws her way up my calves. “We can go with Project Embarrass Him To A Slight Extent and see if that works. On your end, you can try to make the wedding as difficult as possible. Seeing as it’s so short term, it shouldn’t be too hard.”