Read Online What He Bargains (What He Wants, Book Nineteen) by Hannah Ford - Free Book Online
Authors: Hannah Ford
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system.
Had he sent this man to speak to her for some reason? She didn’t understand it, but at the same time, she wanted to know more.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Raven said.
Skylar was staring after her with wide eyes as the man in the tuxedo ushered her around the corner and into a small private room that he opened with a key.
The room was bare, except for some bookshelves and a desk and some art on the walls.
“I need you to sign some paperwork,” the man told her, turning his back to her and gathering what looked like an entire binder of material.
“Paperwork? For what?”
“A guest has expressed interest in speaking further with you,” he explained. “In order to make the guest comfortable, we have arranged for you to sign our standard non-disclosure agreement.”
Raven’s head was spinning. She knew that Jake Novak must have sent this man to speak to her, but she couldn’t believe they wanted her to sign paperwork just to have a conversation.
“This seems a little extreme,” she laughed. “I need to sign stuff just to talk to a guy at this party?”
The man in the tuxedo placed a stack of papers on the desk and handed her an expensive, heavy fountain pen. “Yes, you need to sign stuff to talk to a guy at this party. Especially this guy.”
“It’s going to take me a year to read all of this,” she said, trying to scan the document. On the very first line of the first page, in bold, it said:
CLUB ALPHA INTERNATIONAL STANDARD NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT
“You don’t have a year to read this,” the man said. “And you don’t have to sign it at all. But if you refuse, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the party.”
“Why?” she said, stepping back. “What’s the big deal?”
“It’s very simple. We make it possible for our very famous guests to engage in a relaxed environment without fear of their every word and deed being exploited for financial and political gain. In order to do that, we must at times make use of legally binding contracts.”
Raven was flipping through the astoundingly long contract, trying to make heads or tails of it, but it was no use. It might as well have been written in a foreign language.
“I can’t understand any of this.”
“As I explained, it’s a standard non-disclosure. Do you have any interest in selling the story of any conversation you might have tonight?”
“Selling it to who?”
“TMZ, People, US Weekly…”
“Of course not.”
“Then you shouldn’t have an issue signing this contract.”
Raven hovered over the contract, trying to figure out what to do. If Jake Novak had asked for this, then she wanted to do it. If that’s what it took to get more time with him, she was powerless to say no. But at the same time, she felt crazy for signing a contract that she couldn’t even understand.
Luckily, I’m just drunk enough not to care.
“Okay, show me where to sign,” she told him. “And hurry up before I change my damn mind.”
For the first time, the man in the tuxedo smiled at her. “Just a few places,” he said, and then began flipping through the contract. “Here. And here…and here…initials and date here.”
By the end, she might have been signing her life away.
----
T he party continued , but the conversation with her mystery suitor never materialized.
Raven was vaguely drunk, dispirited, hanging around and trying not to keep looking over at Jake Novak, who had seemed to make a point of drifting from one girl to the next as he made the rounds.
Why isn’t he coming over to talk to me? I signed the stupid forms they wanted me to sign. Isn’t that what he was waiting for?
None of it made any sense to her.
Maybe some other rich man had been interested in her—but so far, nobody had approached, and the only she cared about was Jake Novak.
Each time he talked to a new woman, Raven felt the same sense of jealousy and fury and then shame for feeling those things.
And each time, she saw how the new woman
Had he sent this man to speak to her for some reason? She didn’t understand it, but at the same time, she wanted to know more.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Raven said.
Skylar was staring after her with wide eyes as the man in the tuxedo ushered her around the corner and into a small private room that he opened with a key.
The room was bare, except for some bookshelves and a desk and some art on the walls.
“I need you to sign some paperwork,” the man told her, turning his back to her and gathering what looked like an entire binder of material.
“Paperwork? For what?”
“A guest has expressed interest in speaking further with you,” he explained. “In order to make the guest comfortable, we have arranged for you to sign our standard non-disclosure agreement.”
Raven’s head was spinning. She knew that Jake Novak must have sent this man to speak to her, but she couldn’t believe they wanted her to sign paperwork just to have a conversation.
“This seems a little extreme,” she laughed. “I need to sign stuff just to talk to a guy at this party?”
The man in the tuxedo placed a stack of papers on the desk and handed her an expensive, heavy fountain pen. “Yes, you need to sign stuff to talk to a guy at this party. Especially this guy.”
“It’s going to take me a year to read all of this,” she said, trying to scan the document. On the very first line of the first page, in bold, it said:
CLUB ALPHA INTERNATIONAL STANDARD NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT
“You don’t have a year to read this,” the man said. “And you don’t have to sign it at all. But if you refuse, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the party.”
“Why?” she said, stepping back. “What’s the big deal?”
“It’s very simple. We make it possible for our very famous guests to engage in a relaxed environment without fear of their every word and deed being exploited for financial and political gain. In order to do that, we must at times make use of legally binding contracts.”
Raven was flipping through the astoundingly long contract, trying to make heads or tails of it, but it was no use. It might as well have been written in a foreign language.
“I can’t understand any of this.”
“As I explained, it’s a standard non-disclosure. Do you have any interest in selling the story of any conversation you might have tonight?”
“Selling it to who?”
“TMZ, People, US Weekly…”
“Of course not.”
“Then you shouldn’t have an issue signing this contract.”
Raven hovered over the contract, trying to figure out what to do. If Jake Novak had asked for this, then she wanted to do it. If that’s what it took to get more time with him, she was powerless to say no. But at the same time, she felt crazy for signing a contract that she couldn’t even understand.
Luckily, I’m just drunk enough not to care.
“Okay, show me where to sign,” she told him. “And hurry up before I change my damn mind.”
For the first time, the man in the tuxedo smiled at her. “Just a few places,” he said, and then began flipping through the contract. “Here. And here…and here…initials and date here.”
By the end, she might have been signing her life away.
----
T he party continued , but the conversation with her mystery suitor never materialized.
Raven was vaguely drunk, dispirited, hanging around and trying not to keep looking over at Jake Novak, who had seemed to make a point of drifting from one girl to the next as he made the rounds.
Why isn’t he coming over to talk to me? I signed the stupid forms they wanted me to sign. Isn’t that what he was waiting for?
None of it made any sense to her.
Maybe some other rich man had been interested in her—but so far, nobody had approached, and the only she cared about was Jake Novak.
Each time he talked to a new woman, Raven felt the same sense of jealousy and fury and then shame for feeling those things.
And each time, she saw how the new woman
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