Page 23 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘Should we talk business?’ Ethan asked as the last of their plates were cleared.
‘I think we’d better,’ Sera said. ‘Before I pass out drunk on the table.’ A lovely, warm daytime-drinking buzz coursed through her veins, and everything was bright and shimmering around the edges. Especially Ethan.
He rubbed his hands together. ‘My plan worked. Get you drunk and take advantage of you.’ His eyes went round. ‘That came outsowrong. I didn’t mean take advantage of you… that way. I meant financially.’ He slapped his forehead. ‘Which still sounds awful. I was joking. It was a joke. A terrible one.’ He sighed. ‘I apologise.’
She laughed. It was the first time she’d seen him lose his cool, other than around Ernie and Kevin. ‘It’s nice to know I’m not the only one with foot-in-mouth disease.’
He shook his head. ‘Foot-in-mouth is a constant affliction for me.’
‘This whole super cool actor thing is fake, then?’ she teased.
‘Not completely fake. I have my super cool moments.’ He grinned, all teeth. ‘But around people I like…’ He stopped for a moment, his gaze crashing into hers. ‘I become a blathering idiot. Obviously.’ He threw his arms out wide as if to say,See?Then smiled. But it wasn’t the movie star smile that made his dimples almost leap off his face. This one was different, softer. More genuine. This was Ethan.
A thousand hot little sparks whizzed down her spine.Oh shit.She was in trouble. He wasn’t just gorgeous – he was every kind of adorable. Her heart clenched. She had to remember why she was there.This is a business deal. This is a business deal. This… Is… A… Business… Deal.
‘I was thinking,’ he said, tugging her from her thoughts. ‘And please let me know if this isn’t doable. We could get together three times a week and I’ll pay you three-fifty a session. Which I’m imagining would be around an hour?’
Her jaw dropped, so shocked by his offer that she couldn’t form words. ‘Um… uhh…’
‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I’m being cheap. Let’s say five hundred an hour, or part thereof?’
‘Or part thereof?’
‘Yeah. So, if we go an hour twenty, that would mean we’re into the second hour so—’
‘One thousand dollars?’ she squeaked.
‘Exactly. Is that not enough? I didn’t research it.’
‘Ethan, that’s too much. Way, way, way, way,waytoo much. I was thinking about a hundred bucks. That’s around what training goes for, and that’s the upper end.’
‘Yeah, but that’s training dogs. You’ll be training me.’ He pulled out his phone. ‘I’m writing it all down, and I’ll get my business manager to send it through to you in an email later. If anyone asks, we’ll call it research for an unnamed project. Okay?’
She nodded. ‘Research. Got it.’ She made a mental note to remind her team to keep Ethan’s visits under their hats.
He spoke as he typed. ‘Minimum three sessions a week – your schedule dependent – if we can do more, great. At five hundred dollars an hour or part thereof. Plus, I’ll commit to hosting one charity fundraising event, which I will organise and cover the costs for. Or, at least, my publicist will organise.’ He grinned, and this time it was one hundred per cent Ethan James, movie star.
‘Ethan, no.’
His brow furrowed and his bravado drained away. ‘Is three times a week too many? I don’t want to be a pain. I know you’re busy.’
‘It’s not the time. I can make that work. It’s the money. It’s too much. You’re too generous.’
He leaned his elbows on the table and stared deep into her eyes. ‘Look, Sera. They’re going to be paying me a shit tonne more than that for this movie and without you, I might end up getting fired. This is an investment in my career and my future. Personally, I don’t think I’m being generous enough.’ He placed his hand over hers. ‘I’m just thankful you’d even consider helping me.’
Business!Sera’s brain was screaming at her as the warmth from his palm made her skin sizzle.
‘Deal,’ she said, slipping her hand from under his and offering it to shake.
‘Best deal I’ve ever made,’ he said, taking her hand and holding it tight.
The waitperson appeared beside them, his phone ready. ‘Is now a bad time?’
Sera almost gasped with relief.
Ethan ever-so-slowly slid his hand from Sera’s, his palm gliding over hers, his fingers fluttering across the tips of her fingers, his gaze locked on hers.
Then he turned towards the waitperson, all breathtaking smile and dimples for years. ‘What’s your name, my man?’
