that you clear that much after taxes. You’ll also get health coverage and some other things, but he can go over those details with you.”
“Aren’t people going to wonder why you’ve added me to your payroll?”
“No one will know if we don’t tell them. Douglas won’t say anything. He’s paid to be discreet.”
“Three months would be three hundred thousand, then.”
“And I thought English teachers couldn’t do math.”
She made a face at him. “That seems awfully generous, especially with the tax thing.”
“It may seem generous, but I’m asking you to do something well outside of what could be considered a normal job. I don’t expect you to be intimate with me, obviously, but we’re going to have to pretend that we’re in that sort of relationship.”
Terri felt herself blushing brightly. “I don’t know that I can do that.”
“Maybe we need to practice our act,” he suggested, crossing to sit next to her on the couch. “People need to believe that we’re madly in love,” he whispered in her ear.
The kiss was just as earth-shattering as the one the previous evening had been. When Lucas lifted his head, he smiled at her.
“That was a good start,” he said huskily.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she said, her voice wavering.
“What would it take? More money? Cars? Jewelry? A new house? What do you want? What do you need?”
She shook her head. “It isn’t about money.”
“Is it because you don’t like the way I kiss?” he demanded.
The look on his face made her laugh. “You must know that you kiss very well,” she told him. “I’m sure you’ve had a lot of practice. I’m just a middle-aged high school English teacher who is completely out of her league.”
“We could travel,” he offered. “We should travel, actually. If we were truly engaged, I’d want to show you the world. How about spending October in England?”
“How about I stay here and take care of my son?”
He sighed. “Right, I’d almost forgotten about him. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Terri frowned. “My son is the most important person in my world.”
“And I’ve never dated anyone with children before. It’s going to be an adjustment for me.”
“I think you’d be better off finding someone else to play act with you.”
“Really? I don’t agree. We’ve already worked out all of the details. I know it will be a bit odd, but it will be fun, too. I promise to make it fun. I’ll take you out to dinner every night, you and Thomas when he isn’t busy doing other things. We’ll go to shows or concerts or whatever else is available in Ramsey in September. The holidays are coming up, as well. There’s nothing worse than being single during the holidays.”
“You aren’t single,” she said with a sigh. “What about your girlfriend?”
“She won’t be a problem.”
“How can you be so sure? What if she gets mad and turns up in Ramsey and, I don’t know, crashes the Harvest Ball?”
“She isn’t going to do that and what is the Harvest Ball?”
“It’s a fancy fundraising night during the Harvest Festival, which is this weekend. Everyone in Ramsey will be there, well, everyone over the age of twenty-one.”
“So we’ll be there, holding hands and staring lovingly into one another’s eyes.”
“I don’t know that I can do that.”
“Of course you can. The truth will be our secret and we’ll have fun with it. Then, when you get tired of the game, you can end things on whatever terms you’d like.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you can dump me and tell the whole world that I’m terrible in bed if that makes you happy.”
She laughed. “I’m not sure your mother will want to hear that.”
“I’m hoping you’ll stay with me until, well, she may not make it through the holidays.”
“And then, after she’s, um, gone, I can dump you?”
“However you like with as much drama as you want.”
“I think I’d rather just quietly end things,” she said thoughtfully.
“If you do that, I’ll give you a bonus,” he offered. “I’d much rather separate on good terms.”
She sighed again. “I still think this is a terrible idea.”
“But you’re going to do it anyway, because it sounds like fun,” he said with confidence.
“I might,” she said. “Mostly because I understand wanting to make your mother happy. I never told my mother when Harold and I separated. She wasn’t well and I didn’t want her to worry.”
“So you’ll do it?”
“I can’t believe you’re going to add me to the payroll.”
“It’s the easiest way to make sure you