Courtney walks into the kitchen. She’s wearing the jeans and T-shirt she wore yesterday, and they’re a touch rumpled. Her hair is sticking up on the left side, but she looks lovely.
Vince’s eyes practically bug out of his head, and then his lips curve into a smirk. He saunters toward her. “I’m Vince, Julian’s better-looking brother.”
She’s momentarily caught off guard, but then she says, “I know. I saw the calendar.”
He laughs. “Did you, now?”
“Hold on a second,” I say. “What calendar?”
“The charity one,” Vince says. “At least, I assume that’s what she’s talking about. To my knowledge, it’s the only calendar I’ve appeared in.”
I frown. “Why don’t I remember this?”
“I didn’t tell you about it. I figured you wouldn’t approve of me getting half naked for a photoshoot, even if it was for charity. Like you said, it’s probably best you don’t know the details of my life.”
Dear God. I have a headache.
“I think you were more than half naked,” Courtney says.
“Mm,” Vince says. “You’re right.” He turns to me. “You backed out of the orgy, but since you got laid last night, I think you deserve your phone back.” He takes it out of his pocket.
I’m torn. I really want my phone, but at the same time, I don’t want Vince to have the wrong impression. Yes, it looks like Courtney and I slept together, but we didn’t. Instead, I made her a strange deal.
In the light of morning, that deal now seems particularly weird.
Courtney takes the decision out of my hands. “We didn’t sleep together,” she tells my brother. “I understand why you think that, but I assure you, it’s not happening.”
Admittedly, I’m a bit disappointed she’s so firm about that.
“Instead,” she continues, “Julian is paying me five thousand dollars to teach him how to enjoy life.”
My idiot brother laughs his head off. “Dude,” he says to me. “If you wanted to learn to have fun, I would have done it for free. Actually, I did my best to help you yesterday, but you weren’t having any of it.”
I cannot believe this man once ran a successful tech start-up and worked almost as much as I do.
“Look,” I say, “I don’t like your particular brand of fun, but maybe my family does have a point. I could use a break from working fourteen-hour days, and I need to learn how to enjoy myself.”
“Huh. This is the first time you’ve ever admitted I’m a genius.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“More or less.”
“No...”
I trail off as Vince turns his attention to my overnight guest.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
“Courtney.”
“And you haven’t actually slept with my brother?”
“That would be correct.”
“But to help him learn to enjoy life, it’s necessary for you to stay in his penthouse?”
“Apparently,” she says. “He’s under the impression he needs ‘serious help’—his words, not mine—so I’m supposed to be around all the time. Except when I’m at work.” Her gaze locks with mine and I swallow hard.
