Chapter 4

Ashley

“I loveeeeee this pink top!” Sheri exclaimed, gushing over an item on her phone. I made a sound of agreement, hunched over the table trying to figure out how to escape this month's bills.

“It's so frilly, gorgeous and I bet it'll be soft!” Sheri squealed excitedly.

I didn't respond because I was deep in mental calculations.

My house rent is $120, I'm to pay Mom's bills for this month which are $500, the light bill, electricity…

“Ashely!” Sheri yelled and I was startled, pushing away the papers.

“What?!” I yelled back, frazzled.

“You're not listening to me!” She whined.

“No offense but I don't have the time to fawn over a dress that I definitely can't buy.”

“It's just $20.” Sheri frowned.

“Yeah well, $20 could go into my rent,” I tell her, bending over to pick up the papers.

Sheri's face fell, and I already knew what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth, just like I knew my response. “I have some cash I could loan you.”

“No, thanks,” I say, looking over the paltry sum in my account. It wouldn't even cover anything.

For a moment, I was tempted to take Sheri up on her offer but she's already helped me out more times than I can count.

Relying on her would become a bad habit if I continued to let her help.

“Sheesh, you're so stubborn.” She abandons her phone, peering over my neck to see my screen. “How do you expect to pay off that?!”

“When my fairy godmother visits me,” I say dryly, heaving a sigh.

Placing her chin on my shoulder, Sheri says, “What of Cynthia and RemoteCo?”

The mention of Cynthia's name takes me back to that horrible event and that handsome stranger. “Cynthia is a no-no after I botched her event, and Remote, well let's just say the site has been dry for some time now.”

“What do you mean?” Sheri grabs a chair to sit on.

“I haven't been able to get any extra jobs from there lately!” I push back from the table in frustration.

“Have you checked again today?” At my answering glare, she shrugs. “What? There's no harm in trying!”

She takes my seat and begins to type.

I don't waste my breath in telling her that there's no use.

“Woah! Come see what I found! See there is some power in positive thinking.” Sheri giggles, throwing me a triumphant look over her shoulder.

Curious, I sidled closer to look at the screen.

My eyes widened when I read the mockup.

“Are you crazy?!” I pulled away. “No fucking way would I do that!”

“Why? It looks genuine.” Sheri was confused.

“Really? It could be a serial killer for all I know.” I threw a skeptical glance at the ad.

She rolled her eyes. “Stop being so bloody dramatic. It has an address and I looked it up, it's public. Besides, you'll pin your location to me at all times, anything goes wrong I'll call the cops.” She was making a lot of sense, but being somebody's fake fiance for $10,000 sounded fishy to me. I'm sure someone with that kind of money to blow could find other alternatives. “Think about the positives, what if it's real? That kind of money would get you out of debt.”

I sat down on a chair, considering her words. On some level, I know that Sheri is right and all I needed was to lower my pride and accept but doing that would depict that I was very desperate.

“Fine,” I say, squaring my shoulders. “How does this go?”

“Luckily for you, it says, ‘’Weekdays are free. From 5 pm, Just send a message to this email'

I carried out the instructions and we waited with bated breath for my phone to ding.

We got a reply minutes later, and the address was surprising…to say the least.

It was a high-rise building off Allen.

We still had enough time to spare, so I paid off some bills, movie binged with Sheri before it was time to get moving.

I was so nervous, I started to sweat.

Even the AC in the cab didn't do anything to stop it.

I was shown to a private entrance, but the building was eerily empty and I prayed that I wasn't getting into something dangerous.

Digging my nails until my purse, I breathed out several times to calm my erratic heartbeat.

“He's in there, waiting for you.” The guard gestured to the door. I thanked him and knocked.

Twice.

“Come in.” The voice was deep and smooth, wrapping around me like a favorite blanket.

I channeled my inner Marilyn Monroe and strutted in, all my worries on the back burner, acting like the boss bitch that I hoped to be.

But that all halted when I saw him.

I faintly recognized him that night, but now under the semi harsh glare of the lights, it came to me as clear as day.

Adam Young. Multimillionaire and bachelor extraordinaire of New York.

If it was a troll, I could have fared better but no, he was no one than the stranger that had held me captive with his eyes that day.

His eyes also flared with recognition but he recovered faster than me.

“It's an honor to meet again, Miss…?” He stretched out his hand and that single action rebooted my brain.

“Reed.” I subtly cleared my throat. “Ashley Reed.”

“Well, Miss Reed it's lovely to meet you again. Shall we?” He placed his hand light at the small of my back, moving me forward.

As I brushed past him, his cologne assuaged my senses, disorienting me for a second.

“I'm guessing you're here about the ad?” His eyes were stern, the veneer of charming playboy stripped away.

“I doubted if it was real…and I'm still doubting.” My eyes roved over the beautiful lines of his face.

“Bare in mind miss, this isn't some child's play. I'm willing to double the amount with incentives if I can get you to agree tonight.”

The certainty in his tone made me sit straighter. “What does that mean?”

His brows furrowed. “Isn't that why you're here? “You need money- badly I suspect- and you're willing to do anything for it. I need a fake girlfriend, win-win.”

How dare he?!

Resisting the urge to slap his stupidly handsome face, I push my chair backward watching his face fall as I gathered my things to leave.

“Wait, where are you going?!” He was half out of his chair when I was almost at the door.

I half turned, a hand on the knob.

“With all due respect Mr Young, you can take your money and shove it up your white ass!”

And with that, I slammed the door on my way out.