Tell Me You're Mine (The British Billionaires #1) - J. S. Scott Page 0,40

next few minutes explaining the conversation I’d had with Damian earlier in the day.

“So part of you is doing this for his mom?” Kylie asked.

I nodded. “It sounds like she’s worked so hard to feel worthy of the Lancaster family, and she doesn’t deserve this.”

I sorely missed my own mother, so maybe I was a sucker for a mom in distress.

“I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be advantageous, Nic,” Kylie mused. “You want to go international. It would be good for ACM. But not if the bastard breaks your heart in the process.”

I let out an exasperated breath. “Damian Lancaster is not going to break my heart.”

I just had to make sure I reminded myself that his looks and charm meant nothing if his personality and morals sucked.

Kylie sighed. “I wish he could be the kind of guy who you could just have a fling with if he’s really your Mr. Orgasm.”

“Is he the one, Nic?” Macy asked.

As I thought about the way Damian made me feel, and that damn kiss, I answered honestly, “Maybe. I’m not saying he’d definitely make me fall to pieces sexually, but he made me feel…something I never have before.”

Damian had made me feel beautiful.

Desirable.

Raw, powerful lust that I wanted to drown in.

“Could you have a fling with him?” Macy asked.

Was it possible that I could do a one-nighter with somebody like Damian Lancaster just to see what it felt like to have sex with a man who really seemed attracted to me?

It was a tempting thought, but I needed to keep my head on straight if I wanted to be his fixer. “Probably not. I don’t want to mix business with pleasure. Doing this job right means too much to ACM.”

“So what’s your plan?” Kylie asked curiously.

“I already told him that he needs to make an official statement,” I answered. “And stay away from any further orgies.”

Kylie’s expression shifted, and I could tell she was thinking about crisis management now. “I think the hoopla here in the US will die down fairly quickly. The only reason the press here got interested was because it’s such a big deal in England at the moment. I’d say he’ll have to do most of his reforming in the UK.”

“I think you’re right,” I agreed. “We Americans can have a short attention span, especially when it’s a story that isn’t happening here. But I doubt that England is going to be quite as forgiving.”

“He’s going to need some very carefully crafted good publicity,” Kylie pondered. “You’re going to have to go with him to London.”

My stomach clenched in protest, even though I already knew that I was going to have to go to London with Damian to fix the situation. “I know.”

Kylie smiled slyly. “Maybe England needs a fairy-tale romance fit for a duke. Love can change a man, right?”

My heart protested that idea for a moment, but I knew it had to happen. “That was my plan. He needs to find a woman with an excellent reputation and no skeletons in her closet, and then be seen treating her like she’s the only female in the world for him. Eventually, people will put that whole thing behind them if he can put on a convincing performance.”

“If this is all for show, what happens when it’s over?” Macy asked, sounding confused. “It’s not like he’s going to marry someone just for good publicity.”

Kylie sat up as she answered, “That’s where it would come in handy if the woman was American. Eventually, she could just claim that she misses her own country, and disappear permanently back to the US. Damian could say it was an amicable parting, and he could even be the injured party.”

“Fantastic idea,” I said. “But where are we going to find this paragon? I don’t know how many American women Damian knows, and I’m a little afraid of the ones he might suggest. And really, I don’t think this should be an outside job. Even bound by a tight nondisclosure, it’s going to be hard for any woman not to talk about this job, or try to make the whole scenario real. Kylie, who do we have at ACM who could pull this off? It has to be a woman who isn’t married, and has a very clean background. And she has to be a believable love interest for Damian.”

Macy and Kylie pinned me with a fixed stare.

“There’s only one woman at ACM who isn’t married, and who’s that squeaky clean,” Kylie said. “A female