The Boyfriend Arrangement

“You mean aside from throwing away twenty-eight-million dollars?”

He nodded. “That’s just money. Something else is bothering you. Something more important.”

Sebastian. Could that be what he saw? “I’ve just had a rough week, Grandpa. Nothing has been going my way, be it my love life or anything else. Someone tried to blackmail me and they stole Mama’s sapphire necklace when I didn’t pay them in time. The guy I love lied to me and I don’t know what to do. Really, losing the money is just the latest thing to come up. I’m not having a big birthday celebration. I don’t feel much like celebrating.”

“Tell me about this man. You said he lied to you.”

She nodded. “He kept me in the dark about so many things in his life. I worry that he can’t open up to me. Why would he keep things from me?”

“Why would you keep your friends and family in the dark about your own situation, Harper? I imagine you’ll find the answers to your questions about your gentleman in your own motivations.”

“I was embarrassed. I didn’t want anyone to know I could be so stupid. They might treat me differently.” As she said the words aloud, she realized her grandfather was probably right about Sebastian and his secrets. Would she have treated him differently if she’d known he was physically fragile? Perhaps. Was he embarrassed that he’d let his drive get in the way of his health? Probably.

Since they’d started out as a week-long fake romance, there’d been no reason for him to tell her those things. Honestly, if she hadn’t been blackmailed, she wouldn’t have confessed her own truths to Sebastian. Why would she expect him to do the same?

They had a lot to learn about each other. A week wasn’t nearly enough time to peel back all the layers and expose the secrets shared with only the most intimate of partners. She’d overreacted out of fear, she knew that now. Seeing Sebastian lying on the ground surrounded by EMTs...the sirens, the wires, the shouting... It had been all so unexpected, so scary. Josie and the gun hadn’t been important anymore. All that had mattered was Sebastian.

She’d almost lost him in the moment and she hadn’t understood why. Then she’d turned her back on him and walked away—losing him for certain—just for doing the same thing she’d done her whole life.

She was a fool.

“Harper, why do you think I added that provision to your trust?”

She turned back to her grandfather and shook her head. “To scare me straight? I was a spoiled little diva. I’m sure you didn’t want me to make the same mistakes as Daddy did.”

“That’s a little harsh,” he said. “You just didn’t know what it was like to go without. You didn’t grow up poor, like I did, so you didn’t have the appreciation for it. That wasn’t your fault. But you have it now, don’t you?”

Harper

chuckled bitterly. “Most certainly. I kick myself every day for wasting what I had. I think about what I could’ve done differently. If I’d been smart or industrious like Oliver...”

“You don’t have to be like your brother. He’s one of a kind, and so are you. Let me ask a different question. If you were to have a second chance and someone handed you that two-million dollars over again, what would you do?”

She didn’t even have an answer at first. “That’s hard to say, Grandpa. I’d probably go wild and pre-pay my co-op fees and utilities for the next year. Stick the rest in the bank for a rainy day.”

Her grandfather’s old, weathered lips curled into a smile. “Okay then.” He reached across his desk for his cell phone.

Harper was confused by his response. “Okay what?” she asked.

“Okay, it’s time to call my estate manager and discuss releasing the rest of your trust fund.”

“What do you mean, release it?”

He reached out and patted her hand. “Happy birthday, Harper. I’m satisfied that you’ve grown into the mature, responsible woman I’ve always known you could be. And as such, you’re about to be twenty-eight-million dollars richer. Now go find this man you’re in love with and plan a proper birthday celebration.”

* * *

Sebastian walked into the lobby of Harper’s building as though he were approaching the X on a treasure map. Finding where she lived hadn’t been an easy task. To ask for it from her friends was to admit he’d never been to her home before—an incredibly suspicious fact considering they were dating. But without any other options, he’d had to confess the truth about their fake relationship to Emma when he’d hunted her down at FlynnSoft. But it was only when he’d told her that he was hopelessly in love with Harper, for real, that she’d given him the address for Harper’s building.

He was in the process of signing in at the front desk when he heard a voice from over his shoulder.

“She’s not home.”

Sebastian paused and turned to find Harper standing behind him with a full bag of groceries in her arms.

“That’s a shame,” he said. “I really wanted to talk to her about something important.”

Her blue-gray eyes searched his face for a moment. “Something important, huh? Well, maybe I’ll let you up and you can wait for her. I’m sure she’ll be interested in hearing what you have to say for yourself.”