13 Web of Lies

Without so much as a glance behind me, I urged my feet to keep walking ahead. I wanted to put as much distance as I could between me and what had just transpired on that balcony.

"Rose!" I heard Jordan call after me but I paid no heed.

My heels clicked loudly against the marble floor as I rushed down the stairs.

"Your coat, miss," the old man— James handed me my coat when I reached the entrance.

I quickly snatched it from his hands and threw it over my shoulders.

"Rose!" I heard him right behind me and marched outside the doors. "Fucking hell!"

"What just happened?" I turned to face Jordan once I descended the stairs.

"I didn't know she would come home," Jordan ran his fingers through his hair.

"Why does she think I'm your girlfriend?" I barked.

"You need to lower your voice, Rose," he stepped towards me and spoke in a hushed manner.

"Lower my— lower my voice?" It only got louder. "Jordan you let your mother think that I'm your girlfriend and I just lied through my teeth for you. I don't even know why!"

He grabbed my hand and pulled me further away from the entrance.

"What are you doing?" I struggled to free my wrist from his clutches but his grip was strong. "Leave me!"

"Making sure no one hears us," he said. "Stop struggling."

"I hardly think our voices would echo up to the first floor. We are out of that house!" I followed him reluctantly as he dragged me away from that mansion.

"I didn't know she would show up today," He spun on his heels and let go of my hand as we reached the middle of his huge courtyard.

I rubbed my palm over the area where he held it so callously. "You need to tell me why she thinks I'm your girlfriend."

"Because I fucking told her!" he yelled and started pacing around me.

"You told her?" I retorted. "That clears up things for me, thank you very much."

"I do not appreciate your sarcasm, Rose," he sneered.

"And I do not appreciate you making me lie to your mother and not telling me anything about it."

"I just said that to get her off my back," he glared at me.

"Are you supposed to start making sense anytime soon?"

Jordan's glare melted away and he sighed heavily. His shoulders appeared to be tense. "She's been trying to pair me off with her friends' daughters for so long now. She wants me to stop, and I quote, 'meandering about like a horny hound', and settle down and get married! So she keeps sending girls my way. Girls I have no interest in even looking at, let alone settle down with. When she called the 3 days ago and religiously pestered me about the same... I told her I had a girlfriend and that I was serious about her."

"So you lied?"

"Of course I lied, Rose. She wasn't going to leave it alone otherwise," he massaged his temples with his fingers as he paced back and forth.

"How do I come into the picture? Why did she think I was your girlfriend?" I raised an eyebrow in wonderment.

"I might have told her my girlfriend's name was Rose."

I gaped at him. "You... You might have what?"

"You were right there in front of me when she called and I couldn't think of another name. I would have arranged for someone else but I didn't know she would show up today. And then she saw us together," he came to a halt in front of me and threw his hands in the air in frustration.

"It's not like we were indecent," the memory of our bodies crashed together in a moment of passion flashed past my brain. I dismissed it quickly. "Y-You could have said we were business associates or you could have simply told her that I'm writing a magazine on you and we were just having dinner."

Jordan scowled. "I'm sorry for not thinking on my feet. My life was hanging in the balance!"

I crossed my arms across my chest and gave him a stern look as he continued pacing back and forth in front of me. "Well, tell her it's not true. Tell her you lied. Tell her I am not your girlfriend."

"That's not gonna happen, no," he let out a half-suppressed, sarcastic laugh.

"I'm sure you can find some other girl who is dying to be your girlfriend. Call any one of them and have them play this role of a lifetime," I mocked. "Leave me out of this."

"Those girls don't want to play that role, they want to be my girlfriend and I don't want any of that. Besides she saw with me—"

"We were just talking! People can talk without being in a relationship, can they not?" I screeched. My head was spinning. This was way too much information and I was not nearly enough drunk to process this.

No way could I process this while sober.

"I panicked. I wasn't thinking fast."

"You think?!" I scoffed. "Tell her you lied and I'm not your girlfriend and bring someone else instead of me."

Jordan stared at me, angrily.

What the hell does he have to be angry about?

"I can't tell her that my girlfriend just changed overnight!" he shouted.

"Why? She must be used to it," I scoffed inwardly.

I chided myself for uttering that bitter sentence. My mouth seriously lacked a filter. But I hardly think it would have any effect on this incorrigible man.

And rightly so. Jordan seemed to have ignored my comment. His eyes moved; calculating, analyzing a way out of this mess, and then darted towards me. "She has to think I'm serious enough to finally get her to give up this insane hunt of hers," he paused, "we're just going to have to keep this facade up for some time. At least when my family is around," he clasped his hands together and set his eyes upon me.

"I'm sorry, 'we'?" I reconfirmed.

Maybe I heard him wrong.

"Yes, we," he nodded calmly.

I laughed. "No, Jordan. 'We' are not going to do anything. This is YOUR mess, you take care of it. And I insist you drop me home now."

"I wasn't asking," he said.

The audacity of this man.

"You know what? You should have! You should have asked me before dragging my name into this mess. And don't you think it's highly convenient for your mother to just drop in unannounced especially when you brought me, out of all the places in the tri-state area, to your house for a dinner that wasn't even anticipated in any foreseeable future for the both of us!!"

Jordan inched forward, his eyes looking at me in disbelief. "Are you saying I planned this? Do you think I want to have a girlfriend? Do I look like someone who would enjoy being tied to a leash like that?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything about that!" I yelled.

"Then I would prefer that you refrain from commenting on my personal life at all," he composed himself.

"I would like nothing more than that. I am here to cover your professional life but your current demands are diverting my path."

He looked at me for a few seconds in complete silence. His green eyes steady and cold. I wondered what might be fabricating in that genius yet annoying brain of his.

"Okay, Miss Rose—"

*Miss Rose? Seriously? So now he decides to get formal?*

"— you either go along with my plans or you're fired. The choice is yours," Jordan articulated.

I could not believe the arrogance of this man.

Furious.

I was absolutely, vehemently furious!

"You cannot do that," I managed a response. My breathing had fastened to level with the anger that seethed in my veins.

A smug, disdainful smile appeared on his face. "I most certainly can."

I cannot believe I was attracted to this monster of a human. I cannot believe I let him kiss me. I cannot believe I liked it so much that I wanted him to do it again! And again.

This was... this was...

"Unprofessional! This is highly unprofessional of you, Mr. Parker," I, too, returned to the formal addresses.

"That is the least of my concerns, Rose. You either do this or lose your job," he closed the gap between us as I stood enraged and appalled. "I, too, did a background check on you and I know you desperately need this job. Unemployment doesn't suit you much, wouldn't you agree?" His warm breath tickled my ear and a shiver ran down my spine.

I regarded it to be due to the resentment I felt for him and chose to ignore the possibility of that being my body's reaction to his proximity.

"You're really just a sick bastard, aren't you?" I scrutinized him.

"Call me whatever but I want this to work. It's unfortunate for the both of us that you were present with me when my mother decided to show up but this is my only way out."

"You should know that I have information about your company that I can use against you," I eyed him with contempt, "should you 'fire' me."

Jordan snorted at my attempt to turn the tables. He looked rather amused instead of bothered. "Drop the pretense and get real with me here, Rose. You and I both know that you cannot play dirty. You're too clean to be corrupted."

I was outraged.

"You didn't seem to believe that back up on that balcony."

I noticed that his right eye twitched. He glared at me. "Decide. Are you in or are you out?" he spoke through his teeth.

"Do you feel no shame in putting me in a position like this?"

"If I started feeling bad for everything I did, I would cripple and die from the emotional exhaustion," he said with an airy wave of his hand. "I do not bother myself with that. Decide, Rose."

On one hand, I could not afford to lose this job. I had finally landed a job that paid so well and I was desperate to keep it. The long list of unpaid bills didn't sit pretty in my drawer. Not to mention how I would be causing trouble to Jeremy at his work. Jeremy would understand if I quit on Jordan's impertinent ass but I hardly doubt his bosses would care about me that much to let Jeremy get away with this.

But on the other hand, I no longer wanted to have anything to do with Jordan Parker. He was worse than I had expected him to be. Was humanity so completely lost on him?

"You are taking a lot of time, Rose. Do I initiate a contract with you for our new agreement or do I tear up our previously signed deal?" The sound of his voice made me want to slap that arrogant mouth off his face but I couldn't resort to physical blows right now. Especially when I was on his turf. I couldn't even get home from here and God knows what he would do to me if I tried something like that again.

I had to play this smartly.

"I need time to think about it," I finally said.

"I don't have time to give you time," he replied.

"It is only fair that I get some time to think about whether or not I want to pretend to be your girlfriend or lose my job if I fail to do that. I'm sure in that dead heart of yours there must be some compassion left!"

Jordan stared at me for a few silent seconds. "Fine. You have until tomorrow morning."

"I need the whole day," I argued.

Jordan's nostrils fluttered as he took an angry breath in. "Fine. You have until the end of tomorrow to make a decision. After that, you're either fired or my 'play-along' girlfriend," he smirked.

Murderous.

I felt murderous.

"Fine," I barked. "Can you at least drop me home now?"