A Deal with the Bossy Devil by Kyra Parsi

14

It looked like a jewelry box.Like a ring box.

But what would Adrien be doing with an engagement ring? He just said he was single. Was he helping one of his buddies propose? Was that why we were flying down to BC? Was I supposed to be helping in some way?

And why did my chest feel so tight all of a sudden? Was I having a heart attack? Or was it a fear response?

“Is that a ring?” I whispered, keeping my voice low in case it was a secret. Adrien answered by popping the box open, and holy mother of diamonds. “It’s huge.”

“I’m gonna need you to wear it.”

My hands curled away from him instinctively, clasping against my chest. “No. What? No. Why?”

“I’m going to need you to wear this while we’re on the island,” Adrien repeated coolly. “Give me your hand.”

Was he out of his goddamn mind? “I’m not giving you my hand.”

“Great. Then put it on yourself.” He tossedthe box.

I gasped, instinctively jumping out of my seat to catch it… only to trip on my own foot and start to go down again. Until someone caught me.

Adrien. It was Adrien who caught me. On his lap.

“Can you just… be for two fucking seconds?” he growled quietly.

“You’re the one who threw the box!” I hiss-whispered in his face. A hint of aftershave touched my lungs, and it was actually infuriating, how good he smelled. “What’s the matter with you?”

Thankfully I’d managed to catch the ring before it rolled under someone’s seat or something.

“I lightly tossed it, and it would have landed on your lap if you hadn’t flailed like a freshly caught salmon lit on fucking fire.”

His arm was wrapped around my waist, his other hand holding my wrist. And for some unknown reason, the proximity was… kind of slowing my brain functioning down. “Mmmkay, you should probably let me go before I start thrashing again.”

Something wicked flashed across Adrien’s features. “I’d get used to this if I were you, we’re going to need to—”

“Ma’am, I’m very sorry, but I’m going to have to ask that you get back into your own seat.” The flight attendant looked like she was having absolutely none of my bullshit as she stood above us, lips prim with disappointment. Which was kind of unfair if you asked me, since Adrienhad been the one who’d practically pulled me onto his lap.

Still, I couldn’t help flushing as I mumbled an apology and moved back to my own seat, a little too aware of Adrien’s hard body as mine maneuvered against it. So, he worked out a lot. Who the hell cared?

Jamie, probably. She’s super into muscly dudes.

Just like that, the nausea was back.

“All right, back to the topic at hand,” Adrien said. He didn’t look at all embarrassed over being scolded by that flight attendant. “You need to wear the ring.”

I put the box in his cupholder. “No.”

“I’m not asking.”

I ground my teeth and crossed my arms. He was going to order me to do it, I knew he was. But I could hold out for just a little bit longer.

“Sanchez, it’s part of the deal. You need to wear the ring.”

I glared at him. “Tell me what we’re doing first.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

God, he was such a dick!

I snatched the box out of the cupholder and yanked it open, but before I could grab the ring, Adrien placed his hand on top of it, his warm fingers brushing against my skin. “Okay. All right. Just… wait. Relax for a second.”

That wasn’t going to happen. My blood was boiling in my veins, and I could feel the heat of anger lash at my patience as it spread through my body. How was it possible for one person to get under my skin so easily? Every time the man opened his mouth, I wanted to push my fist through a skull. Preferably his.

My chest was rising and falling with so much weight you’d think I’d just finished sprinting through another airport.

He chuckled, dimples popping. “You really can’t stand me, can you?”

“Isn’t the feeling mutual?”

He sucked his lips into his teeth, then said, “Yeah… we’re going to need to put a short pause on this charming little dance of ours.”

I met his gaze again, not at all distracted by the fact that his fingers were still wrapped around mine. Neither of us had let go of the box. “Are you going to tell me why?”

“Because my parents think we’re engaged.”

I laughed.

He did not.

“Wait… wait, what?”

“My family thinks you and I are engaged to be married.”

Thu-thump.

My eyes kept bouncing between his, trying to figure out what the joke was. “I don’t get it.”

Adrien moved a touch closer and cleared his throat. “My family is under the impression that you and I are engaged to be married, and I need you to pretend like that’s the case while we visit them.”

I shook my head, trying to clear it. The soft smell of his cologne was making it hard to think. “Did you… did you like forget to take your medication or something this morning?”

His mouth jerked. “No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Oh… then I still don’t get it.”

He sighed. It was a deep, heavy release of air that eventually morphed into a soft chuckle. “Okay. Sanchez, we are on our way to visit my family. They think you and I are engaged, and I just need you to go along with it for a few days. That’s it.”

Adrien paused, giving me time to process. But I had so many questions that it was hard to pick just one.

I glanced down at his hand on my lap, and the flash of midnight velvet peeking out from in between our fingers. “But… why?”

“Long story.”

“You’re kidding.”

“You don’t need to know the reason; you just have to—”

“Then no.” I made the decision right then and there. No. No way. This was officially taking it too far. And I didn’t think Alba would disagree with my decision if she knew. “I’m not doing it. I’m not willing to lie to your family for you, especially when you won’t even give me a reason. This is where I officially draw the line.”

His features pinched in frustration. “We have a deal—”

“No.” He could call off our deal if he wanted because there was no way I was going to do this for him. It was shady as hell, and… icky. It felt icky.

Adrien huffed through his nose, his mouth pressing together. Then his eyes fell shut like he was regrouping.

“Fine,” he eventually ground out, “it’s my mother if you must know. She’s kept… insisting on setting me up on blind dates over the last few years, and they always go poorly. Without fail. And the amount of cleanup is usually… not worth it. Six months ago, after a particularly shitty experience, I caved and told her I was in a relationship.”

I slipped my hands out from under his warm palm and crossed my arms. “And?”

“And I can only keep up the lie for so long. Especially since I haven’t actually introduced them to the woman I’m dating… which is where you come in.”

That still didn’t add up. “Where the hell does the engagement piece fit? Shouldn’t it be enough for you to be in a relationship? Why does a ring need to be involved?”

He was already tired of having to explain himself. I could tell.

“It’s part of the long game. In a few months, I’m going to tell them that we split. A broken engagement with a person you think you’re going to spend the rest of your life with tends to have more impact than a normal breakup. It’ll… buy me more time before she starts insisting that I go on those awful dates again.”

“It can’t be that bad…” I muttered.

“The glitter bomb you found in my office was sent to me courtesy of someone I went on two dates with eight months ago. And it’s not the first present she’s sent me.”

I quirked a brow. “Why? What did you do to her?”

“What makes you think I did something?”

And because I wasn’t in the mood to answer dumb questions, I said, “Why don’t you just be honest with your mom and tell her how much you hate the dates?”

“She’s sensitive,” he insisted. “I’ve tried breaking it to her gently but... let’s just say this way’s better for everyone involved.”

I didn’t believe him.

Something was off. Not… clicking. There were about a million better ways for him to handle this situation, and he was smart enough to know that. So, either he was lying, or he was omitting a key piece of information. There was absolutely no way this was just about not wanting to hurt his mother’s feelings.

“What would this entail?” I asked him carefully. “Like… what would I need to do, exactly?”

His left cheek ticked, his jaw clenching momentarily. “We would need to act like a newly engaged couple. Happy, in love, and all that gushy bullshit. It’ll need to be convincing.”

Thu-thump.

“And how are we supposed to make it convincing? Just… like… hold hands in front of them?” I suddenly couldn’t think of what normal couples did in public. My mind was a blank slate.

“To start. Yeah.”

Thu-thump. Thu-thump. Thu-thump.

“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think—”

“I’ll let you out of the deal, write you a recommendation letter to provide to your future potential employer, and give Alba her old job back effective immediately after this trip.”

It felt like someone had hit Pause on my brain. I blinked at him.

The look he was giving me was so intense it was poking holes in my lungs. “If you can make it believable and convince my whole family that we’re happy and in love, I’ll do everything I said.”

Yeah… okay. There was definitely something he wasn’t telling me.

“And you think you’ll be able to make it believable?” The majority of our conversations ended with us wanting to rip each other’s throats out. Just the sight of his face made my fists clench. How did he imagine we’d be able to pull this off?

Adrien nodded. With confidence. “Yeah. I don’t think that part is going to be an issue.”

Oh. So I’d be the more likely one to give us away? Was that what he was insinuating?

“Adrien, you can’t even look at me without three separate veins protruding right out of your thick forehead.”

His mouth did that amused twitch thing. “How about this then: if I give us away, you’ll still walk away with everything I mentioned.”

I nibbled on my lower lip. Clearly, the man had all his marbles rolling loose inside that big head of his. But also… Alba would get her job back in a week, and I wouldn’t have to put up with his bullshit anymore. “Can I take the watch off?” I asked him.

“Yes.”

Thank fuck. “And… you said we’d be there for one week, right? Seven days?”

“It shouldn’t be more than a week, but let’s cap it at ten days. Just in case.”

I could do that. Ten days was better than—

“Oh. Wait,” I said, my spine perking into a straight line. “Rooms. I want my own room. Nonnegotiable.”

Another twitch of his mouth. “We’ll be staying in their guesthouse. It’s a two-bedroom, and you’ll have your own bath. Anything else?”

“Yeah. I want it all in writing.”

He nodded, a smirk tugging at his mouth. “Deal.”

“Deal.”

I shook his hand and reached for the velvet box, shoving the diamond ring onto my finger with a grin. Just ten days and this whole thing would be over. I’d never have to interact with Adrien Cloutier ever again.

Let the lying games begin.