She rolled over in bed and covered her face with the pillow. Her mouth was dry and all she could taste was the booze. She couldn’t open her eyes, and everything around her felt way too bright.

“Oh God,” she said as she rolled onto her stomach and tried to block out the light that was streaming in around her. She must have been so wasted that she hadn’t even bothered to close the curtains.

Her head began to pound, and she grasped toward the nightstand, desperately searching for a glass of water. To her relief, her drunken-self had the presence of mind to put one there. She kept her eyes closed but took a few short sips and then flopped back down into the covers.

“This is not good,” she whispered to herself, as she slowly forced herself to open her eyes.

The light hit her and she had to blink several times to adjust. The sun was streaming in through the window and was shining right across her bed, leaving her legs warm underneath the duvet, but making her head ache even more.

“What the hell,” she said, trying to piece together what on earth had happened.

She and Scott had been out around the bars in their neighborhood, and they had had a hell of a good time. She had drunk more than she had intended, but it had been a good time and she was glad she had let her hair down for once.

She cast her mind back and remembered their flirting, she remembered how fun it had been to be in his company. He drove her mad, but he also turned her on, and then she remembered the altercation in the diner and her heart skipped a beat.

He had stepped up and protected her.

She smiled and brought her knees up to her chest before she wrapped her arms around them and held them close to her body.

Scott, the sexy neighbor, had stopped her from being harassed and acted as if she were his to look after.

She couldn’t help but smile and feel warm inside.

She looked down at her cell phone, and it was lying face down next to the bed. She wanted to reach for it, but she didn’t want to move. And it wasn’t until she suddenly remembered her and Scott’s crazy conversation and business deal that her mouth sagged open and she lurched forward to force herself to grab it.

“Surely, he had to be joking,” she whispered as she tapped the screen and made it come to life.

The first thing she saw was his name and it made her heart flutter.

He had sent her a message.

She settled back down in bed and bit her lip to try and hide her grin as she went to open it…

 

S: Good morning my darling fiancé! I hope the head isn’t too bad? Great night, thanks for showing me around, I owe you massively. Maybe I’ll repay you after you’ve helped me one more time… ;) The dinner is Thursday night. You’ll need a cocktail dress. Please endeavor to be ready for 7pm. S x

 

“Holy shit,” her heart almost hit the floor. “He wasn’t kidding.”

She lay back in bed and stared up at the ceiling. Scott had meant every word. He wanted her to play his fiancé to help him seal a business deal. And she had asked him to give her a baby.

“This is fucking insane,” she laughed.

But, at the same time, it didn’t frighten her. She knew what she wanted, and it was clear, so did he. He was handsome, funny, successful… why wouldn’t she want to pretend to be his fiancé, and more to the point, why wouldn’t she want a donation from him rather than some random stranger and a test tube?

She mused on it for a moment.

She had gone from sperm donor to actual potential father figure in less than twenty-four hours.

“You’re nuts,” she told herself as she climbed out of bed. “But I can tell this is going to be fun, so maybe it will be worth it.”

She grinned to herself and couldn’t help but hum along to the radio as she made herself a coffee and a few slices of toast. For a Sunday, she had woken up in a ridiculously good mood, even considering her hangover. And now, she knew she was ready to go out and seize the day.

She would go shopping as she had planned… but now she was going with an objective. She needed a cocktail dress for a dinner with Scott and his old school investment partners. And she was going to have to rise to the challenge and act her little heart out.

She pressed reply on the message and started to type…

 

H: You know, I had hoped that you were joking, but maybe this could be fun. You can count on me Scott ;) Fake fiancé reporting for duty… H x

 

She hit send and smirked to herself. Everything really did flow so well and easy with him, it would be a shame not to help the guy out. He clearly needed it and he seemed genuine enough.

She sat down on the couch and thought about the day ahead. She had a lot to look forward to, and now she was raring to go.

She thought about Rebecca and the fact that she had promised to keep her updated but had been so busy having a good time that she had forgotten. She looked at her phone again and opened up a message to her…

H: Morning Bec, sorry I didn’t keep you well and truly updated last night but we actually had a pretty good time! We can chat properly next week over lunch. Love ya x

 

She hit send and then within what seemed like a second, she had a reply. She looked down expecting to see Rebecca’s name, but instead it was Scott’s who flashed back at her. She bit her lip and her heart did a little dance in her chest.

 

S: Oh I knew I could count on you… after all, you’ll benefit from this too if you play your cards right…

 

Hannah grinned from ear to ear and made herself comfortable before she started to write back…

H: You’ll have to remind me of what my reward is again… I must have forgotten…

S: Very funny. There’s no chance any woman would forget that offer.

H: I’m not like other women, have you not figured that out yet?

S: I’m starting to get the full picture, but obviously I’ll need to know more. Especially with our dinner date looming, we can’t have you turning up with no idea of who I am and what really gets me going. My client will suss us immediately.

H: Well what would you suggest to rectify this situation?

 

Hannah bit her lip, she was having so much fun…

 

S:

H: Sounds good to me, maybe you can even tell me your surname seeing as you already know mine…?

S: All in good time Miss Marsh, all in good time…

H: Well, have a good Sunday x

S: Ouch, blowing me off so soon?

H: I have shopping to do… apparently I need a cocktail dress for next week so I better snap to it.

S: What are you doing later?

H: Recovering. You just about killed me last night with all of those G&T’s.

S: Lightweight…

H: My body is a temple, it needs to be nurtured.

S: I could think of a few ways…

H: Quiet, or I’ll call off our deal. I’m doing you a favor remember ;)

S: Have a good Sunday Miss Marsh… x

H: And you… Scott… x

 

She put the phone down and smiled to herself. She wanted nothing more than to keep talking to him but she wanted to make him earn it and she also wanted to keep a little bit of an air of mystery. No one had caught her attention like this for years, and it was exciting and fun. She wanted to embrace it, but she also didn’t want to ruin it by getting in over her head. She may have had her evening free but there was no way she was going to tell him that. She wanted him to wonder what she was doing and who she was doing it with. She had a life before she had met Scott, so why shouldn’t she still have one now?

She walked through to her bedroom and opened up her closet and looked inside. All her clothes looked so drab and all she could think about was getting some new things to fill the space in there rather than the same old outfits she was long tired of.

She opened the door to her adjoining bathroom and turned on the shower, and as she waited for the water to heat up, she stared at herself in the mirror.

Her cheeks looked rosy and flushed and she looked happy. It had been a while since she had felt so inspired, and she knew then that Scott was having more than just a small positive influence on her. He was starting to mean something to her.

She climbed into the shower and as the water cascaded down over her body she thought about his hands and what he could do to her. They were so big and looked experienced, and he clearly knew how to take something he wanted. She breathed in deeply and imagined him taking hold of her breasts and squeezing them as he slipped his hand between her legs and searched every part of her. She found herself gasping and pressing herself back against the cold wet of the tiles.

She knew she was going to find it incredibly hard to resist him if she were to spend time with him again. And now, when she thought of the upcoming Tuesday and going to his apartment, she felt nothing but intense delight and excitement.

She climbed out of the shower and dried herself before she got ready. She pulled on a pair of light denim skinny jeans and a cream blouse before she slipped her feet into some wedges and grabbed her favorite tote bag.

She looked down at her cell phone before she slipped it into her pocket and she saw that she had a reply from Rebecca…

 

R: You’re only forgiven if you did something outrageous. I hope you went home with him and let him fuck your brains out. You need it! x

 

Hannah laughed out loud and then slipped the phone into her back pocket.

She may not have gone home with him then, but she knew she was seeing him in a couple of days. And after their flirty exchange on the phone that morning, Hannah only had one thing on her mind…

She wanted him.

Badly.

And she was determined to get him.