Read Online The Arrangement 14 by H. M. Ward - Free Book Online Page B

to be your madam name? Because I totally think it should be. Miss Thang, plus some air snaps.” He does it and watches me.  
    I poke at my ice cream. “I’m so torn. I want the white picket fence, not an office full of pricks buying girls.”  
    “So, have both. You can be the suburban madam. Who said you couldn’t have the fence?”  
    Glancing up at him, I answer, “They don’t go together. That kind of life is sweet and quiet with kids and a dog. The life Black is offering is flash, power, and cash.”  
    “Like I said, do both.” I’m about to tell him that I can’t, and he cuts me off. “Think long term, Avery. Do this for a little while, enough to get your house and the life you want, and then quit.”  
    “That sounds familiar.”  
    “You weren’t a madam this time and you had a run of bad luck.”  
    “No one would marry me after that. That’s a closet and a half full of skeletons, skeletons in the basement, skeletons in the trunk—they’ll be everywhere by then.” Not to mention the real one decomposing as we speak. The thought makes me nauseous.  
    I must have turned green, because Marty shoves me his soda. “Drink.” After a moment, he asks, “Feel better?”  
    I nod. “Yeah, thank you.”  
    Leaning back in the booth, Marty nods. “And if it’s not too forward, I would.”  
    “I couldn’t ask you to do that.” I shove ice cream into my mouth and concentrate on the chocolate. The fudgy goodness could make a person orgasmic. A person, being me. I nearly moan.  
    Marty laughs. “I’d give you a jar of hot fudge every day.”  
    “And I’d be three hundred pounds.”  
    “And I’d never forget your birthday, and I’d occasionally dress like a cowboy just for kicks.”  
    That makes me spew. “Marty!” Sexy cowboy Marty was the funniest thing I’d ever seen and I would have laughed if I didn’t want to kill him at the time.  
    He pushes a napkin at me and wipes my sputtered chocolate spittle off his hands. “I’m serious. I’ll be your backup plan. If you say yes to Black, I’ll take you no matter how many things you’ve done—or who you’ve done. Tell me I’m good enough to be Plan B, Avery. I’ll get you the white picket fence and we can name the dog Bob. What do you say?” He holds out his hand, like his offer is serious.  
    That’s when I realize it is. He wants me anyway he can take me, and if I go through with Black’s job no one will want me. It’ll mean that I’ve left Sean, because if I chose Black over him, he’ll never forgive me.  
    Reaching out, I take Marty’s hand and shake. “Deal. I’m your picket fence wife. When everything turns to shit, you’ll sweep me off my feet.”  
    He smiles and follows it up with a wink. “You know it.”  
     
     
     

CHAPTER 13
     
    I spend the rest of the day hanging out with Marty. My phone rings right after we eat dinner. It’s Black. “Hello?”  
    “Go to your dorm room and wait. Ferro will be there shortly.” The line goes dead.  
    I sigh, and slump back into my seat before pushing my hair out of my face. “Can you drop me back off at the dorm?”  
    Marty looks confused. “I thought you were supposed to stay away from there.”  
    “I am, but Black said Sean will be there.”  
    Marty nods and pays the tab. He drops me off at the tower and drives away after I go inside. I stand at the bottom of the stairwell, not wanting to face all the jeers that will come when I go up. I decide to grab a drink first and then go up with Sean.  
    I push through the door and walk to the nearest bar, which is a bit of hike. Cars zoom past me and I worry that each one will try to put a hole in my head. I text Sean and tell him where to meet me.  
    He replies: No. Go to your room .  
    That makes me laugh. I text back: Make me.  
    Then I pocket my phone and don’t answer when he calls. Yes, I’m acting like a petulant child, but he can deal with it. I shove inside and go to a back corner