5. Name Your Terms

Name Your Terms

Nova

W hat was I looking to get? I forced my heart to settle the fuck down as Lincoln leaned back. Surely, he was just being friendly. Honestly, I was still floored that these three men wanted to spend any time with me, let alone bring me to a big fancy party for their employees to see them with me. It still wasn’t making sense to me. I looked at the three men sitting around the table. Lincoln looked like a bronzed Adonis. Benjamin was toned, and there wasn’t an ounce of fat on his body. Grant was by far the bulkiest of them. His muscles had muscles. And then there was me. Short, overweight, and average. I did not look like the woman that should be on any of their arms, let alone in them.

I took a deep breath and then started to talk. “Um, well, my father died in a car accident about eight months ago. It... I haven’t been the same since. Because of this, my live-in long-term boyfriend broke up with me a few days ago. So now I am alone for the holidays and don’t think I’m ready to face that reality yet.” I expelled a breath of air, and they waited patiently for me to continue. Come on, Nova. You got the hard parts out.

“So I’d like someone, or I guess, in this case, someones, to do all of the traditional holiday things with. Baking Christmas cookies, decorating the Christmas tree, watching Christmas movies....” I trailed off as I heard the words coming out of my mouth. I sounded so childish, and there was no way these successful billionaires who didn’t even have the time to date in their league had the time or desire to do these things with me.

“Why did you stop?” Lincoln asked.

“I’m sorry. I just realized how silly this must sound to you. You’re too busy for nonsense like this,” I replied, feeling my cheeks heat in embarrassment again.

“I don’t think it sounds silly,” Benjamin replied. “We grew up together in foster care. We didn’t have traditions like that. It might be nice to partake in the holiday festivities this year.”

I lifted my hopeful eyes to him. Did he mean that, or was this entire thing just a joke to them? He seemed sincere. I looked at Lincoln, who was smiling at me. This man hadn’t stopped staring at me since I sat down, and what the hell was the deal with my hair tie?

Grant smiled as he pulled a pen from his breast pocket and placed it in front of me. “Write it all down, and I’ll make sure to include it in the final draft,” he instructed.

I took the pen and listed all the traditions I didn’t want to do alone this year. There were eight items on the list. I chewed on my bottom lip as I looked over the list. This didn’t seem fair. Suddenly, Linc reached over and placed his thumb on my lip, saving it from the punishment I was giving it.

“What’s got you worried, Sugar?” he asked softly.

I ignored the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach at his nickname. “This doesn’t seem fair to you all. You get one night from me, and I get what will amount to multiple days with you. It isn’t even.”

“Nonsense,” Grant replied. “We’ll have the same amount of days together. And I think, considering we’re asking you to come to a big party with the three of us, a handful of activities probably isn’t a fair trade-off, all things considered.”

I wasn’t sure about that, but so be it if it didn’t bother them. I capped the pen, placed it on the contract, and slid it back to Grant. “What happens when you change your minds and want to bring someone else?”

“We don’t go back on our word,” Grant replied, “but I can add in a clause that if either party doesn’t uphold their end of the contract, they will pay the other party compensation for their time in the amount of twenty dollars a date. Does that sound good?”

I nodded. I didn’t plan on collecting.

“I’ll get your requirements added to the contract and have it brought to you tomorrow to sign,” Grant advised me, folding the contract and placing it and the pen back in his jacket pocket.

I nodded nervously as silence fell across the table. Now what were we supposed to do?

“I guess that concludes our first meeting,” Ben announced as he stood.

“Yes, umm, thank you. I look forward to spending more time with you,” I said as I awkwardly held my hand out to shake. Ben and Grant accepted the uncomfortable handshake, but Linc brushed my hand aside as he wrapped his arms around me for a hug.

“This is going to be fun, Sugar,” he purred. Pressed against him like this, I could almost let myself pretend it was real and made sense, but I knew better.

“I’m sure it will,” I replied, gently extracting myself from his arms. He winked at me, and I watched them leave the shop.

What the fuck did I just get myself into? I didn’t have much time to analyze that because Stef immediately came from behind the counter, chattering like an overexcited... well... teenager.

“Oh my God, Nova. Do you know who they were? Why were they here? What did you talk about? Why did Lincoln West keep touching you?” The girl was bouncing on her toes excitedly as she rattled off question after question.

“Stef!” I yelled, interrupting her, “Not everything is your business.”

“Don’t try to pull that on me,” she persisted as she followed me into the kitchen. “To my knowledge, you’ve never had any interactions with them in the past. So what’s the deal? Why so chummy now?”

I sighed as I opened the closet and pulled out another box of decorations. There wasn’t any point in keeping the information from her. They were going to be around a lot more in the next month. “If you must know,” I said as I pushed past her to go back to the front of the shop, “we entered into a business arrangement of sorts.”

“What kind of arrangement?”

“As you know, Paul broke up with me,” I started.

“I always hated that scumbag,” Stef interrupted vehemently.

“So, I didn’t want to do all of the Christmas things alone,” I continued without commenting on her outburst. “Bree gave me a card for a dating app, so I signed up looking for companionship. As it so happens, they also need someone to bring to their New Year’s Eve party, so we’ve agreed to help each other out.” I dragged the tables in front of the windows away and grabbed the can of fake snow while Stef stood frozen with her mouth open in shock.

I started spraying the edges of the glass and made it halfway around the first window when Stef shrieked, making me jump.

“OMG! OH-EM-GEEE!” She screeched as she jumped up and down. Her shining green eyes were practically popping out of her head in excitement as her brown ponytail swung around haphazardly, smacking her in the face on more than one occasion, not that she noticed. “Do you know what this is?”

I looked at her cautiously. “It’s a platonic business arrangement,” I told her before she could get carried away.

“No, it’s the start of your fairytale happily ever after! Three incredibly sexy, insanely rich bachelors want to bring you to the year’s biggest party as their shared date! While also agreeing to do a bunch of romantic Christmas things with you. It doesn’t matter how you look at it. That’s hot!”

“Stef,” I warned in an attempt to reel the girl’s overactive imagination in. “This isn’t a Hallmark movie. We agreed that it was strictly platonic. They aren’t looking for anything long-term, and neither am I.”

“We’ll see,” she grinned. “Christmas is a magical time of year, after all. You never know what could happen.”

“Stef,” I said in exasperation at her unwillingness to accept the facts of the matter. “I’m not their type. We aren’t even playing the same game, let alone in the same league.”

“Please,” she scoffed, “as if they could find someone better than you. Paul really fucked with your head. You don’t even realize how much of a bombshell you are. And don’t forget that I was here to witness your meeting. I saw how they looked at you, and believe me, there wasn’t a single platonic thought in their minds.”

Before I could reply, a group of customers entered the shop, and she danced back behind the counter to assist them. Was she right? I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I dismissed the thought. There was no way such sought-after bachelors would be interested in me past what we had agreed upon. Though Linc seemed awfully suggestive, a small voice popped up to say. He was just being nice, I said to myself with a nod. That’s all there was to it.

I continued decorating the shop, and when I finished, I stood back to admire my work. I had to admit that having the shop decorated for Christmas helped to lift my spirits. They immediately plummeted again when my phone rang, and I saw who it was on the Caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Nova, it’s Paul.”

I rolled my eyes. “What do you want, Paul?”

“Did I leave my good jacket at your house? I can’t find it.”

“I haven’t seen it,” I replied. And if I had, I would have tossed it into the fireplace.

“Well, can you look?” he demanded, sounding annoyed.

“Sure,” I agreed, wanting to get him off the phone as quickly as possible. “I’ll check when I get home.”

“Fine. Talk to you then,” he said as the line went dead.

I shook my head. Now that we weren’t together, I was beginning to see what everyone else seemed to notice—a privileged, selfish little weasel. I hope I find the jacket so that I can burn it.