Amusing You - Claire Cullen Page 0,9
his office. The omega had been reluctant to come until William had said the magic words. The name of the agency was all it took to get Harper following him instead of arguing.
Once they stepped into the office, Harper picked up where he’d left off.
“How do you know about Inspire? Did Zac tell you?”
William busied himself turning on the lights and powering up his computer.
“I haven’t spoken to Zac in weeks. This has nothing to do with him. It’s private.”
He went into his Inspire Inc. profile, bringing up his potential matches.
“Then what does this have to do with me—oh.” Harper stared at his own picture. “Oh, fuck no.”
“We matched,” William explained.
Harper gestured at the screen. “I can see that. Fucking hell.”
“Right. So, you can see why I asked you here.”
The omega frowned at him. “Actually, no. I can’t. Why don’t you explain it to me?”
“I had to talk to you before you realized I was the person you’d matched with.”
“And here we are, talking.”
“Yes, well…” At a loss for how to explain, he picked up his most recent folder for his passion projects and spread the sketches out across the table.
Harper took a step closer, his eyes darting from drawing to drawing, lingering on some longer than others.
“What am I looking at?”
“These are ideas, things I draw when inspiration hits.” He pointed to three lackluster sketches. “Those are what I’ve drawn in the past six months.”
He gestured to three more, full of life and detail. “And these are what I’ve drawn since I first caught your scent yesterday.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” William rushed to tell him. “Not at all. We’re in no way compatible on a personal level, and yet… it seems you are the perfect muse for me.”
Harper rolled his eyes. “You’re not my favorite stick in the mud either.”
“I’ll understand if you don’t want to take the position, but they’ve told me you are the only match they’ve found in their system. Somehow, we are uniquely suited. And I…” He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. “My career is falling apart, Harper. If I can’t pull things together, my reputation, and the reputation of this firm, will be in tatters. That doesn’t just hurt me; it hurts Beckett and Zac too.”
Maybe it wasn’t fair to bring Harper’s best friend into it, but William was desperate.
Harper crossed his arms and all but glared at him.
“If you’re talking about having a thing on the side, I can tell you now I’m not interested. I signed up to Inspire because I want to be a muse, not some alpha’s dirty little secret.”
William blanched at Harper’s harsh words.
“No, I— That’s exactly what I want, too. A muse. I don’t do relationships.”
“That explains a lot,” the omega muttered.
William pretended he hadn’t heard him. “I want to do this by the book, through the agency. But if that’s going to work, we need to keep our prior contact out of it. They won’t allow the arrangement otherwise. We’d also need to keep it a secret from Beckett and Zac.”
Harper mused on that, biting on his lower lip.
“I already told you I don’t like to keep secrets from Zac.”
“You’d have been keeping them anyway if you were matched through the agency. Their non-disclosure policy is strict. If you so much as reveal your alpha client’s name to anyone, your contract and any earnings are forfeit. Same for alphas who try to out their muses. And they burn you with other agencies, so you can’t work with any but the least reputable.”
It was a harsh policy, but necessary for everyone’s sake.
“So you’re asking me to lie.”
William all but wrung his hands.
“I’m asking you to be my muse. But to do that, yes, I’m asking you to conceal the fact that we know one another.”
He’d do a lot to secure Harper’s agreement, but what did he have to offer to make it worth the omega’s while?
“I need to think about this,” Harper said.
“Of course. I understand. If it helps at all, I’ve seen an almost fifty percent increase in my work productivity since I first heard your voice on Inspire.”
Harper regarded him coolly. “Am I supposed to be flattered?”
“Whatever you have going for you… it’s very powerful.”
“You don’t even like me.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“But I need you.” William paused and swallowed. “If additional money would help you make your decision…” He felt wrong offering it, but he was at the end of his tether.
“No.” Harper’s voice was tight. “It’s not about the money. You’re