I never imagined I would find myself in Ryan Miller's office sitting on a plush reclining leather chair gazing out into the sprawling city skyline as if it were mine. My hands quivered around each other in my lap, and I was trying to hold a steady thumping in my chest. It was something that I just was never going to agree to a few hours ago: pretending to be the girlfriend of Ryan Miller for a couple of months. An artificial relationship. For fifty thousand dollars.
Ryan was across from me, his expression unreadable as he held the gaze with which he studied me while leaving me feeling exposed. He was the kind of man who could make you feel alone in the largest, most luxurious place on Earth. This office spelled wealth: sleek furniture, polished marble floors, floor-to-ceiling windows showing the city below.
I moved uneasy shifts into a seat; I focus on trying to do my job. It isn't as if I hadn't read the fine print. Whatever he had promised-the formal contract-with me was more than enough for enduring all those awkward moments that were going to unavoidably come. And however, there was something in the air that made goose skin raise in tension. There was something-it was magnetic, that sweet, dangerously making me doubt my choice.
"So let's detail the specifics," Ryan said calmly, as if this were all perfectly commonplace and routine as entering into a business contract. "I'm thankful you consented to this. It will be easy."
I swallowed hard and forced myself to concentrate on his words. Nodded. "Right. The rules. We need to set clear lines."
Ryan leaned slightly forward, eyes fixed on me. "Exactly. First, you must accompany me to certain events—parties, gala, and social events. You must play the girlfriend. Hold my hand, smile at the cameras, and a few private moments can get caught by the press."
I raised an eyebrow. "Private moments?"
He smirked slightly. "Nothing too outrageous. Just something that would give them the inclination about us being an item. A peck on the cheek, a playful touch-you get the picture. Just enough to make it believable."
I bit my lip for a second, thinking through what he just said. "Okay, but what does it mean outside the public? Are we supposed to be-to us act like a couple when there's no one around?"
Ryan seemed to take a moment before answering: "No. It stays professional. No faking it when we have alone time. You have your life, and I'll have mine. We just won't be sleeping under the same roof, and there will be no sleepovers. Just everything public."
A sigh of relief escaped my lips. There wasn't a problem about getting any closer to him, but I did not want to get things blurred that much. "Okay, that's fine. What about that whole intimacy issue? I mean, if we are pretending to be a couple, we need to make sure there is some level of.....chemistry right?"
Ryan's expression didn't shift, but his eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch as if he was weighting his measure. "No actual intimacy," his voice was very adamant about that. "There will be no need for that. It's all the appearance-nothing beyond what is absolutely necessary to sell the illusion. Are we clear on that?"
I nodded quickly. "Crystal clear."
Ryan sank into his chair, his fingers lightly tap-tap-tapping on the desk. "That's good. In terms of public appearances, you need to always be in the eye of the spot with me. We'll coordinate our schedules to see that we are together quite often, but not too often for the people to get suspicious."
I winced even at the thought of being constantly opened before the public. But I stifled it. "Fine. What about things outside those events? I mean, since I will be your 'girlfriend,' people may somehow expect a few things."
Ryan's sharply linear look became suddenly penetrating. "That's the beauty of this. No need to have any personal connection. Everything's going to be superficial: no deep conversations, no long phone calls. We're just acting. For your role, you're going to have to show up whenever I need you, but you're going to keep it really casual outside of the events."
I was silent for a moment running through everything that had been said. It seemed pretty simple in theory, but there were a lot of pitfalls I hadn't thought through yet. "And what happens if someone starts asking too many questions? What if it starts to feel too real?" Ryan leaned back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head as he considered my question. "We manage it. We just stick to the story and maintain the illusion. If anyone tries to question us, we stick to the brief narrative: we're dating for a few months now, everything is going great, and that's how it progresses naturally."
Oh, I could feel a knot tightening in my stomach. This was starting to feel less like a relationship and more like a performance. But still, the temptation of the money proved too strong. And I had to admit, I did not mind the idea of Ryan being present for an even longer stretch than the one night planned. There was something about him- something drawn by magnetism- pulling me in.
"So, tell me about the money," I said, voice a little steadier now as I tried to turn it all to the practical. "You said fifty thousand. How do we pay that?"
"So," he began, without hesitation, "you'll receive that amount all at once at the end of the agreement. As discussed, fifty thousand dollars. About legality, we can just put it all down in a contract."
Nodding already, I said, "Okay, let's do that. I'll need something to sign before I really give myself over to this."
Ryan's lips twitched in the corners, as if he found my professionalism pleasing. "Of course we will. We will get that sorted. You will have your lawyer look it over if you like."
I exhaled slowly, trying to shake the nervous energy that had settled in my chest. "Okay then, and that's the broad strokes of it. Anything else I need to know?"
He studied me as if he tried to read something I was not letting show for a moment, eyes flicking over my face. "One last thing," he said, his voice lowering slightly. "This may need to be a cut break when it ends. No feeling left detected. No emotional attachments."
I stiffened. His words made something churn uneasily within me. "You think that I'm going to catch feelings?" I asked, defensive in tone.
"Ryan's glare turned gentle, but his expression still remained unreadable. "I am not saying you will. Let me make it abundantly clear: once it ends, it really ends. No exceptions." I held the gaze for a long moment, feeling a strange and maddening combination of caution and curiosity rising within me. "Understood," I said finally, my voice steady. Ryan smiled at me in a way that told me he approved. "Good. I think this is going to work out extremely well." As I stood up to go, a sense of finality wrapped around me. I had entered into the contract and could not back out now. I did not know what was ahead of me in the next couple of months, but I was sure of one thing-this was going to be far more complicated than I had anticipated. And something told me that Ryan Miller was a lot more than he let on."