The silence was unnerving.

Gabriel let it stretch between him and Hayley for a few minutes. And then ten minutes. Fifteen.

Finally, he said, "I understand if you want to change your mind."

He waited for her reply. She just kept driving, not saying anything.

"We can still go back," he said, "and see if you can still get that apartment. Or you can call Mrs. Anderson now."

If the apartment had already been leased to someone else, it would be his fault. He should have told her that living with him was one of the conditions of the job. Maybe deep down he suspected that if he did, she wouldn't have agreed to do it.

He could set things right. If he gave her enough money, she would be able to get a decent enough place. One that didn't make her want to cry just thinking about living there.

But if he did, he'd be giving her a reason to turn down the job.

He took a deep breath. "If the apartment is no longer available," he said. "I'll give you the money for another one. You don't have to take the job."

"No, it's fine," she said. "We had a deal. I'm not changing my mind."

"I should have told you exactly what the job required."

"Yes, you should have."

"I'm sorry. Like I said, if you don't want to do it, I'll still I give you money for a new place."

"That's very generous. But I don't take charity."

"It's not charity."

"Maybe not to you, but it is to me."

Somehow he knew it would be futile arguing with her. "I understand."

There was another awkward stretch of silence until Hayley broke it. "You never told me why you needed a fake girlfriend," she said.

"I'm trying to keep my mother from setting me up."

Her eyebrows rose. "That's it? That's what you're paying a million dollars for, so you don't have to go on a few dates?"

He smiled. "I'm paying a million dollars so I don't have to say no to my mother several times a week."

"I guess it sounds better when you put it that way. It's just... That's a lot of money."

"You haven't met my mother."

"Are you trying not to upset her?"

"I'm trying not to disappoint her."

She nodded, her eyes still fixed on the road.

"Tell me about your parents," he said, leaning back in his seat.

"They're up north in Redding. My mom's a doctor and my dad is a county engineer." She smiled. "He does a lot of gardening these days."

"And what do you do?"

"Retail. I work at a small shop in Melrose." She shot him a curious glance. "Shouldn't you have first done a background check on me before giving me this job?"

"I'm pretty good at sizing up people."

"Really. You just knew I wasn't doing anything even slightly shady?"

"Yes."

She shot him another curious look before turning her focus once again on the road. They drove in silence for about a minute before she said, "Where do I drop you off?"

"Your place."

At her look of alarm, he added, "I mean, drive to your apartment. I'll get myself home after. Hayley, when I said there will be no sex, I meant it."

She nodded, visibly relieved.

"And you can't tell anyone about the arrangement."

"Of course."

"Not even Jenna."

"What?" She frowned in confusion. "Why not?"

"Look, I know she's your friend—"

"My best friend."

"Right. But I can't risk her accidentally letting it slip."

Hayley's lips were pressed together tightly.

"Like you said, it's a lot of money," he continued. "I'm protecting my investment. Because if this gets out, all that money will go to waste."

She was quiet for a long time before she finally said, resignation in her voice, "Fine."

***

Jenna's eyes grew wide. "OMG, really?"

Hayley forced a smile despite the guilty lump in her throat. "Yeah," she said. "We just... clicked, you know?"

With a squeal, Jenna covered her mouth with her hands. "Hayley my God you just hit the jackpot!"

"Well, actually—"

Hayley's words were cut off when Jenna sprang from her chair at the kitchen table and launched herself at Hayley in a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you!" Jenna said. When she let go and looked into Hayley's eyes, she said, "Gabriel is loaded, girl. And he's so brutally hot."

"He is, yeah. I mean, the hot part." Hayley shrugged. "The money doesn't really matter."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "You say that now."

Hayley sat down at the table, reaching for her coffee. Jenna made breakfast today, as she did most days. She was such a morning person, and she loved making breakfast because she wanted everyone to be in as good a mood as she was. "Seriously. I just..." Hayley swallowed. "I just really like him."

"Did you two, like, do it last night? Was it amazing?" Jenna sat back down to her toast and eggs. "I bet it was amazing. I mean..." She paused, a dreamy look in her eyes. "That body. It's so... hard." She giggled.

"Uh, yeah. It was great." Hayley averted her eyes, focusing on her coffee. The previous night, she and Gabriel had decided she would tell Jenna they'd slept together. It made their suddenly being a couple seem more realistic. The truth was, they had spent a couple of hours in a late-night coffee shop having dessert. "You don't think it's weird? Him and me being together, I mean. You saw his ex-girlfriend, right?"

Jenna waved a hand in dismissal. "Girl, we can't all be as hot as Tallah Spencer. That doesn't mean you're not hot."

Hayley snorted, her cup close to her lips. No guy had ever called her hot. Cute, maybe. Nice-looking. But not the kind of girl to catch the eye of a man who never dated anyone less than gorgeously perfect. "Don't exaggerate," she murmured as she took a sip of coffee.

"Maybe if you show a little more skin." Jenna's eyes lit up as a thought occurred to her. "Is he taking you shopping soon? You could get something really sexy." She sighed in bliss. "You could get a whole closet full of sexy clothes. And shoes! I'm so jealous."

"There's no reason for me to buy me clothes, okay. I already have clothes." Hayley set to work putting scrambled eggs between two pieces of toast. She took a bite of the sandwich, willing the food to dislodge the guilt churning in her stomach. She hated lying to her best friend. While she took comfort in the knowledge that Jenna would totally forgive her and that Hayley was doing this this job for both their sakes, she couldn't help feeling awful.

"But he'll want to. That's the point." Jenna could not be dissuaded. "Oh, how did things go with Mrs. Anderson?"

Hayley swallowed her food. "Yeah about that. Uhm... I checked, and that apartment down the street is still available. Maybe we should take that instead."

"But I thought we couldn't afford it. " Jenna was understandably confused. "I mean, it's totally so much better than that place in Pomona. Did they bring down the rent?"

"Not exactly." Hayley hesitated, then continued, "I have some money put away. I'll use that to make up the difference." It wasn't a total lie. Gabriel had wired a hundred grand to her bank account last night. It was more money than she had ever owned in her whole life. And it should have made her happy, except she couldn't quite think of the money as hers. She didn't earn it. Well, not yet. The question of what exactly she had to do to earn that money kept her awake for most of the night. He said he didn't want sex. But what man gave a woman that much cash and not expect her to give up something for it?

There was a catch. There had to be.

Jenna shook her head. "I can't let you do that! The only reason we need a place closer to Los Feliz is because of my parents. It's not right for you to give more than your share—"

"It's okay, really. Pomona is too far from Gabriel's place anyway, so I'm doing this for me too."

Jenna nodded in enthusiastic agreement. "Okay I guess that makes sense. Wow you really like him, don't you?"

Hayley bit her lower lip, contemplating how to bring up the next subject. "It's not that." She shook her head. "I mean, yes, I like him. That's why I'm..." She hesitated. "I'm moving in with him."

"What?" Jenna's eyes were wide.

"It's too soon, I know." Hayley averted her eyes again, picking up her coffee. "I just thought we could give it a try."

"But if we're not roommates anymore—"

Hayley shook her head firmly. "We're still roommates okay? I need someplace to go in case things don't work out." And even if things worked out as planned, she would be back to sharing an apartment with Jenna after three months. But of course Hayley couldn't tell her that.

"Okay." Jenna was smiling again. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks." Hayley hoped she had mustered up enough enthusiasm to sound believable. "How did things go with you and Reinheart?"

Jenna sighed, her happy expression disappearing. "He's not interested. I mean, we talked and everything. But I think he just wants to be friends. Now that I think about it, maybe he only asked me out so I could bring you along, and you and Gabriel could hook up." She held up a hand. "I'm not mad, I promise. It's nice to know I had something to do with you getting together with his best friend. It's just that..." She sighed again. "Reinheart is just so hot."

"Are you okay with seeing him again? I mean, he's..." She stopped, because she couldn't make herself say the words "my boyfriend. "He's Gabriel's best friend. But if you're not comfortable seeing him again, I won't make you."

"It's fine." Jenna picked up a piece of toast, staring at it thoughtfully. "I'll get over it."

***

The chauffeur Gabriel hired to pick up Hayley insisted on carrying her gym bag up to the apartment.

The "apartment" turned out to be the penthouse of a large, modern and impeccably designed building. Her nervousness increased with every floor they passed as the elevator rose silently. With no bag to hold, and only a small purse slung on one shoulder, she fidgeted with the access key the building manager had given her, after Hayley showed him her ID.

"Thank you," she said to the chauffeur when the elevator doors slid open to reveal a narrow hallway. She reached for her gym bag. "I'll take it from here."

She tipped him a fifty, which he accepted with a smile. It was a lot more than she usually gave for tips but she had money now. Sort of.

"Thank you, miss," he said, nodding once.

She stepped into the hallway and walked across to the door. There was a soft click when she held up the access key card against the lock. Pushing the door open, she looked around.

She very nearly gasped at the size of the apartment. High ceilings, enormous windows, furniture in dark gray and soft beige whose clean, elegant design would have looked right at home in a magazine spread. There was even a fireplace made of marble.

She swallowed, legs frozen in place. Was she really going to be living here? What if she broke something? She eyed three jade vases on a long table against a wall, and instinctively knew they were antiques. And ridiculously valuable. Jesus Christ. The living room alone must have cost millions of dollars to furnish.

"Hello?" she called out, desperate to see a familiar face. Every instinct told her to run, leave. She had the very overwhelming sense she was in over her head.

There was a faint sound of splashing water from somewhere. Following the sound, she walked toward a sliding glass door. She still had her gym bag in her hands, afraid of putting it down and somehow soiling the immaculate perfection of the floors.

A swimming pool with a marble deck stretched out in front of her. A male figure was swimming away from her, oblivious to her presence. She stood in stunned silence, watching a body of almost god-like perfection move gracefully and strong through the water. When he reached the end of the pool, he raised his head, pushed away from the deck, and swam back the other way.

Did he see her? He didn't show any indication he had. Torn between opposing urges to run away before she was found trespassing in a domain that she clearly didn't belong to, and to stay in place and drink in the sight of a nearly naked Gabriel.

Before she realized what was happening, he had reached the end of the pool a few feet in front of her. He rose, hauling himself up the pool ladder with one hand, his other hand slicking back his wet hair.

The word "Hi" froze in her throat at the sight of water dripping down his bare, muscular chest and abs.His words from two nights before echoed in her mind.

When I said there will be no sex, I meant it.

Gabriel stood — hands on hips, eyes assessing her. "You're here."

"Yes." She swallowed. "I'm here."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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