they take it all the time.”
“Well, I might get another chance,” she said, her tone nervous.
I shaded my eyes from the sun and looked at her face. “You think so?”
Fuck! I really hated the way I found myself anxiously waiting to hear what she had to say.
“Maybe,” she said carefully. “If you agree with my proposal.”
Okay, she sounded twice as apprehensive now. “What’s wrong, Nicole? You sound worried. Talk to me. What’s so bad about coming back to England? You’ll never have to do a pitch for my executives again. I swear.”
“It’s not that.” She fidgeted in her lounge chair. “Look, I really do want a chance to help you fix your current situation.”
“And I want you to do that,” I said eagerly. “I took your advice already, and made a public statement. So why is working with me a problem?”
She took a deep breath. “I think I’ll need to go back to England with you.”
“Excellent,” I agreed. “That definitely won’t be an issue. We’ll fly together. Take my jet. It’s a hell of a lot more comfortable than business class.”
I wanted Nicole to go back to England with me, so her plan was the same as mine so far.
“You need to find yourself a girlfriend,” she said in a rush, like she was having a problem forcing the words out of her mouth. “A woman who has a good reputation and background. Preferably American so she can go away quietly when the good publicity is over. The media needs to tell another story about you, Damian. Something positive.”
I frowned at her. This definitely didn’t suit my plan. “I don’t know any American women, and I’ve never had a long-term love interest. I told you that, Nicole. I don’t have the time.”
Nicole glared back at me. “Then it’s time for a change.”
“Even if I was on board with your idea, which I’m not, where do you suggest I find this woman?” I was irritated. I had no desire to cozy up to some suitable woman just for the pictures and the positive press. Especially considering that my plan was to seduce Nicole.
I’d just wait it out, let the whole damn thing blow over, and keep Dylan out of the country until that happened. There was no way I was going to pretend to be a pathetic, lovelorn idiot. Yeah, I’d do a lot for my mother and for the Lancaster name, but not that. Anything but that. I had no fucking idea how to romance a woman.
“Maybe you already have found her,” Nicole suddenly squeaked.
“I’m not following you.” I was getting annoyed, and all I wanted her to do was tell me her plan so I could simply refuse to cooperate.
I wanted her in London, but we’d just have to come up with another plan. I wasn’t good at being charming or pretending, so the public would never buy my false affection for a woman I didn’t know.
Dylan could have pulled this whole idea off, but I couldn’t.
Nicole sounded anxious as hell when she started to speak. “I’m educated, and I haven’t had any scandals in my past. I don’t have skeletons in my closet. And I know exactly what has to be done. There’s no paper trail of you hiring me, so we can wait to sign an agreement until after this is all over. I’m willing to go play your temporary girlfriend if you’ll give it your best effort,” she said stiffly. “Believe me, I don’t like this plan any better than you do, but I don’t want any of this to go outside of ACM, even with a nondisclosure. The less people who know, the better, and I’m really the only person at ACM who can do it.”
A large, glaring lightbulb finally switched on in my sluggish brain, and my lips curved up in a smile as I looked at Nicole’s flustered expression.
Oh, hell, yes!
I completely changed my mind about her proposed plan. It was absolutely brilliant, and it was going to mesh with my strategy perfectly.
She was going to be the one to play the adoring girlfriend.
She was going to be my love interest.
She was going to go back to England to drum up some positive publicity about what a great guy I could be when I wasn’t participating in orgies.
Now didn’t that just change…everything?
I wouldn’t have to pretend that I was fucking obsessed with Nicole, and only Nicole, because that was actually my reality right now. No acting necessary. With her, my annoying fixation was