"Sooo, to summarize. I have two options. Live with Harry and plan his wedding. Or live with you and pretend to be your girlfriend, so the Maid of Honor-a famous interior designer who wants to ruin your career-doesn't hate you."

Hayden scoops vanilla ice cream for me in a glass. His brown hair has gotten longer. It's falling over his eyes, but in a hot way.

"Correct."

"You, of all people...want to fake being a couple?"

Harry left after breakfast after proposing his offer. He and Edwin are getting married in less than three months, and there is still a lot left to do.

It's a destination wedding and they're both too busy to email the planner and vendors back and forth. So I could really help them.

On the other hand...Mr. Liar over here thinks we're starring in a romantic comedy movie.

He sighs, pulling his hair back. "I'm desperate, alright? No need to rub it in."

"Why? I understood-sort of-when it was for your ex. It was just for one night. But this is for three months! And if you're the Best Man and she's the Maid of Honor, you'll be at a lot of mutual events, won't you? Not to mention, the entire week in Mexico for the wedding."

"Because she knows people. Experts, celebrities, journalists. I don't. My company is still new. Yeah, my guys work hard. But their loyalty depends on how much they get paid. If I don't expand, I'll lose them. And if she decides to spread rumors...I'm pretty much fucked."

I would assume he's exaggerating, but the distress in his voice proves otherwise.

"Why would she hate you so much?"

He sets my affogato in front of me on the kitchen island. "Because she's Astrid's cousin."

"Pardon?"

Or as Germans would say, entschuldigen sie?!

Hayden settles across from me, chestnut brown eyes on me, his cologne a seductive distraction. "I don't think they're close. Astrid never mentioned her when we were dating."

I bat my lashes coyly. "You want me to charm her, the way I charmed Ass-trid?"

He laughs harshly through his nose. "She's not obnoxious like her. She's more uptight."

"Good thing I know how to handle uptight people." I give him a pointed look, to which he deadpans with unnaturally long lashes.

"Yeah, you'll have a much better influence on her than me. That's what I need."

I laugh like a rich person holding a glass of wine, except it's ice cream mixed with coffee.

"What?" He scowls.

"Come on." I tilt my head. He's so silly. Trying to be modest.

"What?"

"Hayden."

"I'm not following."

"Dude."

He blinks, slightly irritated, but not bothered enough to talk. I blink, refusing to take the bait.

He eats his affogato, waiting for me to speak. I eat mine, waiting even harder.

I narrow my eyes, because this is getting annoying. He narrows them back, now amused that he's getting under my skin.

What were we talking about?

"Well?" He licks the melted ice cream off his bottom lip.

"Yeah, I refuse to believe that you don't know the effect you have on women."

"What effect?"

I wave my hand vaguel over him. "Were you born yesterday? You're a tall, kind of good-looking, sort of attractive, entrepreneur and homeowner. Do you know how bad the dating pool is out there? Use your...assets to charm her and you're done. You don't need my help."

He looks down, stirring the living crap out of his ice-cream. Not the reaction I expected.

A smirk? Maybe. An eye-roll? Definitely. But not discomfort. Hm...

"I'm not going to flirt with someone that I'm not interested in," he finally says.

"Okay, then just be her friend."

"Not interested in that either."

"Okay, now you're just being difficult."

"I don't like to use people. If I'm nice to someone, it won't be because of a secret agenda. I hate when people do that."

Oh. An admirable quality. "Well, if you give her a shot, maybe you'll want to be friends with her."

He scoffs. "I'm not befriending a four-eyed, ugly turtleneck. She's probably dealing with early menopause. That's why she's so unhappy."

Every positive thought I had about Hayden. I request a refund. Now. "You're an asshole."

"I am." He smirks. "That's why I need your help. People like you...for some reason."

"For some reason?!"

"I know. I don't get it either."

He winks to let me know he's joking and my heart flips like a fish out of an aquarium.

Oxygen. He depletes it.

I shake my head with a smile. "Now that I think about it, anyone in their right might would've walked away the day you interviewed me."

"But you didn't."

"I got bribed." I raise my half-eaten mug to emphasize. "But what you did to me wasn't an interview. It was an interrogation."

"And I was right to be suspicious, wasn't I? Miss Homeless-Living-In-Her-Car? Miss Never-Cleaned-A-House-In-Her-Entire-Life?"

"Okay, Mister-Needs-A-Fake-Girlfriend-Because-He-Has-Zero-Personality."

He chuckles, but it's self-conscious. "You don't have to say yes. I won't hold it against you. It'd probably be smart if you live with Harry and plan his wedding."

"Are you nuts? I've never planned a wedding in my life. I'm not risking planning a destination one that is less than three months away. If something goes wrong, I'll never forgive myself."

Also, I work for Harry full-time. Living with him is more risky compared to the two hundred dollars that I make by working for Hayden on Saturdays.

He pins me with a long gaze. "Is that your final decision?"

"Not yet. I have a few questions."

"I'm listening."

"What are the requirements of being your fake boo?"

He clears his throat, gathering his thoughts. "Well, we live together. So we'd have to pretend that we've been dating secretly for a while, otherwise it won't make sense. We'll probably need to post a few pictures online. Although I'm not that active on social media."

"Me neither. Also are you okay with your family finding out?"

"Doesn't matter. They won't care." He runs his hand through his hair and tiredly sighs. "Also we'll have to come up with a story about how we met each other."

"I ran out of options and settled."

"Shouldn't that be my line?"

Oooh, low blow. But it's hard to be angry when he laughs and gets those laugh lines.

I wiggle my brows. "What about physical display of affection, hm?"

"Around her?"

"Unless you're willing to pay extra for private pleasures. But fair warning, I am not gentle."

He replaces a smile with an eye roll. "I'm good."

"But seriously. I assume Ass-trid told her you're a dom, right? That's why she's judging you."

"Probably. Although, I'm scared to find out what her definition of a dom really is."

"Yeah..." I don't want to know either. "If I warm her up to me, she'll probably ask questions."

Hayden tenses. I guess it's not something he considered.

"I don't mind pretending that we're in that dynamic. It might be better. That way I can correct any misconceptions she might have about you."

"If it's too much-No. It is too much. You've never had a dom before. It's hard to lie about something that you don't know."

"You can fill in the gaps. Plus, I've never been in a happy and healthy relationship either, so I'll have to improvise either way."

"Let's worry about that when the time comes." He stands up, taking our mugs to the sink. "I have to head back to work. Why don't you take the next few hours to settle in. I'll pick you up after work and take you shopping."

"For what?" I frown.

"Whatever you need."

"Why?" I chuckle. "I'm fine. I don't need you to drive me to places. I can do it on my own."

"Because that's what friends do. They help each other." He rinses our mugs, causing the muscles across his broad back to twitch under his black cotton shirt. "You can't be my housekeeper anymore."

"Wait, you're firing me?"

He turns the faucet off, rips a paper towel to dry his hands and faces me. "Yes."

"Why?"

"For the next three months, this house is yours. I'm not going to pay you to clean it. You can't be my housekeeper, roommate, friend, and fake girlfriend."

I can see his point, but it's still disappointing to lose the money. "Okay. I understand."

"We can take turns cooking dinner?" He steps closer as I lower my head. "I'll just hire a new housekeeper for Saturdays."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. You don't have to help me. I lied to you. I know how you feel about that. Not that it's okay to lie in general. But for you specifically, I know it's a trigger. I just hope you know...I didn't lie to hurt you. I lied because I was mortified."

Everything about him softens. His voice, his expression. "I know. You don't need to explain."

"Honestly, it fucked up my mental health." I laugh. "I'm kind of glad you and Harry know now. It was so exhausting to pretend."

"I still don't understand how you pulled it off. I'm just glad nothing happened. That's why I couldn't-" His jaw clenches and unclenches. He takes a deep breath. "Harry's right. I suck at saying the right things. But if you ever need to talk, I'll do my best to behave."

I smirk. "As you should."

"She has to ruin it." He rolls his eyes.

I chuckle. "And same goes to you, of course."

He doesn't respond, just looks back at me. I suddenly became too aware of his presence, the heat and energy radiating from his body.

It hitches my breath and I swear, I swear his pupils get bigger.

He clears his throat and rushes out of the kitchen. "I'll see you later."

After he leaves for work, I carry my belongings into his spare bedroom. With his blessing, I use his laundry and dryer.

The spare bedroom is plain and simple. It has a queen-sized bed with a walnut headboard and a built-in nightstand. There's a matching dresser and a TV hanging on the wall right above it.

On the left side of the bed is a closet with a sliding mirror. On the other side is a window. And across from it is a small bathroom with cream walls and gold accents.

It's easily the fanciest environment I've lived in before. Before my mom got a divorce, we lived in an old apartment. The elevator never worked and the stairway reeked of rotting garbage.

Then we had to move. We lived with her boyfriend at the time. It was a smaller apartment, but it didn't matter. For a while, I fell under the illusion that we were a happy family. Until the drinking started. Then the fights.

After she broke up with him, there was always someone else. Someone worse in some unpredictable way. And the mother I adored deteriorated day by day.

So did I. I just learned to sweep it under a mask.

Truth be told, I'm scared of facing it. Maybe when I have my independence. A place to call my own. Stability and safety, then I can open those damaged parts of myself and heal them. Maybe.

"Hey, buddy!" I greet Milo late afternoon. His tail is wagging faster than a helicopter blade. "Guess what? I'm going to live with you! Isn't that exciting?"

His quick, loud barks make me flinch.

"Okay, I hope that's 'YES, oh my God, Hazel, thank you for making my life better and blessing Hayden with your preseeeence'."

I finally take a much needed shower. A hot, steamy shower with excellent water pressure.

When I'm done, I realize that my towel is in the dryer, so...shamelessly, I use Hayden's robe.

On my way out of the bathroom, I stop when someone knocks on the front door.

Hesitantly approaching, I stand on my tiptoes to check through the peephole and find an older woman with glasses and bleached blonde hair.

I make sure that the robe is secure around my waist and crack the door open just enough to poke my head out.

The woman adjusts her glasses. "U-um, is Hayden home?"

Damn. Hayden doesn't waste time. How did he already find my replacement?

"Are you here for the housekeeping interview?" I ask politely.

"What interview?" She blinks a couple of times, furrowing her brows. "I'm his mother."

Ohhh, okay. She's just his mother-

HIS MOTHER?!

A/N
Hey lovelies, sorry I'm only posting 1 chapter this week 😭 I've been soooo tired. Drained. Exhausted. Sleepy. Going through some health issues and I hope next week will be better

But hope you like their new situation and what's to come! If you are, don't forget to vote <3