“So, you’re dating my sister,” Jeremy says.
“Yes.” I keep it simple, rather than explaining the whole story. From what Courtney’s told me, her sister knows the details, but her brother doesn’t.
“Be careful,” Will says. “He tried to punch me in the face for doing that.”
Naomi gives Will a playful shove.
“It’s interesting,” Jeremy muses. “Courtney hasn’t brought anyone to meet her family in a long time, and then suddenly she shows up withyou. I know who you are, Julian.”
That sounds ominous. I’m not sure what to say.
“You’re a playboy,” Jeremy says. “Every week, you’ve got a new woman. You’re rich, so you can get away with treating women like crap. And now you want to fuck with my sister?”
Oh boy.
“Stop the overprotective brother routine.” Courtney glares at him.
“Besides,” Naomi says, “you’ve got it wrong. Julian’s brother is the playboy who posed semi-nude in a calendar. Not him.”
Jeremy frowns at this new piece of information. “Right.”
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I have every intention of treating your sister well and zero intention of posing nude in a calendar.”
“You know what you should do?” Naomi says. “Since you have so much money...”
“Naomi!” Courtney hisses.
“You should take my sister to Paris.”
“I offered,” I say.
Naomi turns to Courtney. “Then why aren’t you in Paris right now?”
“Because I can’t take a week off work with only one or two days’ notice.”
Naomi groans. “You’re no fun.”
“How about we go away next weekend?” I suggest. “You won’t have to miss work, or maybe an afternoon at the most.”
“To Paris? No. The flight will consume almost the entire weekend—”
“Not to Paris.” I consider the options. “Montreal?”
“Yes!” Naomi says. “You should totally go to Montreal together. Julian, you should give her a credit card so she can buy a new wardrobe for the trip. Like inPretty Woman.You should take advantage of your rich companion while you have him, Courtney. One more week until...” She puts her hand over her mouth.
“One week until what?” Jeremy asks.
Courtney gives Naomi a dirty look. “You weren’t supposed to say anything.”
“What am I missing here?” Jeremy narrows his eyes at me.
Well, this is going to be fun.
Courtney bites her lip. “Julian’s family wanted him to take two weeks off work because he’s a stressed-out workaholic, and he hired me to be a companion of sorts for those two weeks. To teach him how to have fun.”
“Is he paying you to be aprostitute?” Jeremy starts to stand up, but Lydia pulls him back down.
“It’s not like that at all,” Courtney says. “I see why you’d think that, and Naomi’s mention ofPretty Womanprobably didn’t help, and Julian and I, we did... But it’s not like that.”
