Chapter 181

Liam’s POV

Joanna’s face lit up like it was Christmas morning and her birthday at once. Her mouth opened, but before she could say one word, I interrupted her.

“On one condition.”

She closed her mouth, pressed her lips hard together for a moment, then spoke. “What is it?”

“This will absolutely be a secret from Aria. No texts from you after hours. No calls. No late night meetings. We will be engaged in the eyes of Markus only, to get him off our backs, and that’s it.”

“I’ll need to tell my family,” Joanna said. “Or the deal isn’t worth it for me.”

Joanna’s family and Aria did not travel in the same circles. I didn’t see the harm in agreeing to this.

“Fine,” I said.

Joanna smiled. “Then it’s agreed.”

A feeling of wrong scratched along the inside of my skin. I couldn’t help feeling like I was signing a deal with the devil.

Looking away from her, I moved to my own desk, where I lowered my things and started preparing at my desk. She watched me for a time.

“That’s it?” she asked. “Don’t we have more to talk about?”

“What’s left for us to say?”

“We need to strategize,” Joanna said. “Convincing your father that you’ve changed your mind is going to take more than a few words. You have to be willing to prove to him that your opinion of me has changed.”

“A few words will suit him,” I said. After all, Markus himself told me that he expected me to keep Aria as a mistress. If how he treated his wife was anything to go by, then he shouldn’t need me to pretend to be in love with Joanna.

Joanna, apparently, disagreed. Standing from her desk, she walked toward mine, closing the distance between us. When I tensed up immediately, she stopped.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” she said. “No one will believe we are engaged if you act repulsed by the very sight of me.”

“It’s not that bad,” I said, even though repulsed was an apt description. She was an attractive enough woman but she wasn’t Aria. To know what Joanna wanted from me was the true reason for my revulsion. I didn’t want to be her fiancé, even for pretend. I hated that I had no other choice.

“It is. When I come near you, you look like someone kicked your puppy.” She moved closer then, stepping right up against the other side of my desk. The couple feet of mahogany separated us like a barrier, and for that, I was incredibly relieved.

“You need to become more accustomed to my closeness,” Joanna said. “If we are going to pass as a couple, you need to seem like you actually enjoy having me around.”

“Markus won’t care,” I insisted. “And if your family is anything like them, they won’t care either. We don’t need to pretend like we are in love.”

“Who said anything about love?” Joanna asked. “I’m saying, you need to look like you can at least tolerate me. Else, Markus and my family will know that we’re faking to have them get off our backs. We have to be convincing in that we are at least like a team in this.”

I didn’t really believe that and focused my attention on my computer screen. I’d already given her enough of my time today. This entire conversation was ridiculous, and I’d entertain it no longer.

Joanna hated being ignored. Placing her hands on my desk, she inched closer and closer to me, bending nearly in half, draping herself over the desktop. Her low-cut shirt revealed her breasts, which I immediately darted my eyes away from.

She smirked. “You can look. I’m not ashamed of my assets. On the contrary.”

“This is wildly inappropriate,” I said.

“Not if we are engaged,” Joanna said. “Don’t be so cold, Liam.”

“You are making me regret this decision,” I told her firmly. “If you don’t back off, I will change my mind.”

“So testy,” she pouted. “Don’t pretend you don’t like what you see.”

Suddenly, beyond her, I saw Jackson walk through the opened door to the office. His eyes immediately widened, looking at me and then at Joanna stretched out suggestively over my desk.

I froze, even as Joanna, not knowing Jackson was there, continued to persist.

“We need to be closer, Liam,” Joanna said.

Jackson’s face went from shock to outrage in half a heartbeat. He’d been pissed at me before, thinking I was harassing Aria. But then Aria told him that she and I were married. What must he think now, seeing Joanna throw herself at me?

Could he tell I was doing my best to ward her off?

“What the hell is going on in here?” Jackson snapped. With the fire in his eyes, directed about both Joanna and me, I couldn’t lie to myself for a second to convince myself he was on my side.

His loyalty was ever to Aria, his friend and trainer. I was just some asshole boss. Right now, I was some asshole boss who looked like he was cheating on Aria.

“It’s not what it looks like,” I tried to assure him.

He narrowed his gaze. “That’s what all cheaters say.”

Joanna took her sweet time pulling herself up from my desk, like she didn’t care at all about the misunderstanding. With that smirk in place, maybe she even preferred things to be misinterpreted this way.

I regretted ever agreeing to any of this.

“Jackson,” Joanna said, her voice cold even as she smirked. “You need to learn to mind your own business.”

“I’ll mind my business when it doesn’t concern my friend,” Jackson snapped. Gesturing to Joanna, he looked right at me. “Does she know about you and Aria, or is she in the dark too?”

“She knows,” I said, “But again, it’s not what it looks like.”

“The hell it isn’t,” Jackson said. “What else could this be?” He waved between Joanna and me. “Does Aria know you two are fooling around?”

“We aren’t fooling around,” I insisted.

Jackson scoffed. “Then what the hell is going on. You lost something on your desk and needed her boobs to help find it?”

“Why, you are a crass little boy, aren’t you?” Joanna snapped. “Maybe HR would like to know how you are talking about me.”

“Sure. Call me into HR. I’d be happy to tell them everything I’ve seen go on around here.”

“Jackson,” I said. “Calm down and let me explain.”

Jackson glared at me openly.

“Listen to your boss, little boy. Or you might not have a job anymore,” Joanna said.

With a headache growing, I rubbed my forehead. “Joanna. Do not threaten my drivers. Jackson’s job is not at stake here.”

She closed her mouth but continued giving Jackson a warning look. He returned it with his own fierce glower.

“Your job isn’t at stake here,” I told Jackson again. I was still the head boss in this office, God damn it. Joanna might like to pretend she had ultimate authority, but in truth she did not. No one was getting fired without my approval on the matter.

Jackson turned his glare onto me again.

“Then I better hear a damn good explanation for this. Or I’m going straight to Aria with what I’ve seen.”