Billionaires Dollar Series

I bite my lip. There is no telling where Liam and I stand after this many years of silence. We’re not the kids we once were, and it’s difficult to find glimpses of his former self in the tall man before me. His smiles were never this charming before.

“Well,” I start, “it’s not really a profession kids grow up aspiring to, you know. Although you were always fond of math. Leading the Mathletes to the championships, and all.”

He snorts. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”

“Right. Well, that was where you were the last time I saw you.”

Liam drums his fingers on the table. “And the last time I saw you, you had dyed a pink streak in your hair and your favorite band was Green Day.”

“Oh, don’t remind me.” I put my head in my hands. “My worst phase.”

“And for fourteen years,” he says, “that’s the image of you that’s stuck.”

“Thank God I’ve given you a different one, then,” I say, even though it’s one of me in a too-large hoodie and no makeup.

His smile widens. “I like both, but this one is preferable.”This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

Yeah, I should have gotten something to drink. My hands feel useless in my lap, my throat dry.

“Why did you stop by?” I ask, running a hand over my hair. Yes, most of it is still in the ponytail. “You said you had a favor to call in. Like I said, I’m happy to reimburse you for the shirt.”

Liam snorts. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Oh?”

He glances around at the restaurant, the other tables too far away for their conversations to be anything more than hushed murmurs. “The favor is significantly bigger than I have any right to call in.”

“If it has anything to do with insider trading or cocaine, I’m out.”

Liam breaks out into a surprised laugh, just as I’d hoped. “All the stereotypes in one sentence. I’m impressed, Maddie.”

“You’re the only investment banker I’ve ever met,” I say, smiling. “So you’re going to have to prove me wrong.”

“That’ll be easy. I’m not asking you to do either of those things.”

I pretend to wipe sweat off my forehead. “Thank God. I wasn’t prepared for the moral question of whether to turn you in or not.”

“I’ll spare you that, at least.” Liam’s smile falters, but it’s slight. It’s enough for me to see the boy I once knew in his face, despite the five-o’clock shadow. “Do you enjoy working here?”

“Marco’s is one of the best restaurants in Seattle. Absolutely, I do.”

“Excellent,” Liam says, but his tone doesn’t sound like it is. He takes a sip of his wine, leaning back on the chair. “I’ll just come right out and say it.”

“Please do.” My mind is running on overdrive trying to figure out what he might want. Another, smaller part of me is disappointed he hadn’t shown up just for old times’ sake.

“I’m trying to close a business deal,” Liam says. “In an effort to seem more… family-friendly, so to speak, or value-driven, I might have said that I had a girlfriend. A fiancée, to be precise.”

My smile is incredulous. “You’re joking.”

“I wish I was,” he says. “It was the best thing I could think of.”

“What are you going to say when they prove you wrong?”

“Well, that’s the thing.” He inclines his head to me. “I’m hoping they never have to find out the truth.”

My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. He can’t be suggesting what I think he is… is he?

“Speechless,” he comments. “If I wasn’t hanging on the edge of my seat for your reply, I’d gloat.”

He doesn’t look like he’s hanging on the edge of his seat. His glass of wine in one hand, the other flung over the back of the chair next to him, Liam looks like he’s in control. Like he’s only ever in control, like the suit he wears had asked him to please be tailored to his specifications.

“So… you want me to pretend to be your fiancée? To help you somehow close this deal?”

“That’s right,” Liam says. “Just to make me seem more…”

“Likable?” I ask.

His wide smile is back, but there’s a calculated edge to it. He must be used to negotiating business. “Exactly.”

“And I was the first woman you thought of?”

Liam’s eyes darken with what looks like embarrassment. “They asked for my fiancée’s name, and yours was the first to come to mind.”

I blink at him, at a loss for words.

Liam’s not, though. His smile turns crooked, his gaze wandering over the near emptiness of Marco’s. In between lunch and dinner, the hour we all jokingly call twilight.

“I don’t want to alarm you,” he says, “but there’s a man in a chef’s jacket staring at us like he wishes he was armed.”

I glance over, only to see Jason with his hand on the door to the kitchen. His dark hair is tucked under a baseball cap.

He’s looking from me to Liam, the corners of his mouth turning down like he’s tasted something sour.

I give Liam my sunniest, widest smile, like he’s all I’ve ever wanted in life. “I’m in,” I tell him, reaching across the table to put my hand on his.

“You are?” His skin is soft and warm. He flips my hand over and threads our fingers together. “I’m assuming this has something to do with the man over there.”

It’s petty, but it feels amazing. “It might,” I say. “I’ll play your fiancée at the events you need me to, if you’ll play my boyfriend a few times here around the restaurant.”

“Someone you want to make jealous?”

“An ex, yes.”

“Yikes,” Liam says, throwing a glance toward the kitchen door, but Jason’s long gone. “And you work together?”

“Unavoidable,” I say. I’d known the risks when I got involved with someone at work, and I’d done it anyway.

Liam’s gaze returns to my hand, turning it over in his. I find myself holding my breath as his fingers trace mine. “I guess there’s only one thing left to do, then,” he says.