“Yes, Mr. Park.” I heard Lewis’s voice in the background and waited patiently.
“Hey.” Harry came back to the phone. “Sarah?”
“This is Sarah.” I said in my normal voice. “Eugenia just gave me the phone.”
“Uh huh.” Harry paused. “I wanted to make sure we were still on for this weekend.”
“What?” My voice was surprised. “You still want me to go?”
“You and Jane. Yes, of course.” His voice was dry. “My parents are expecting it.”
“Oh ok.” I felt disappointment fill me again. It was all to keep up the pretense for his parents. “Where are we going and for how long?”
“Trinidad and Tobago. And for about four days. I may have to pop off to Guyana during that time period though, so you and Jane will be with Lewis and my parents.”
“Lewis is coming?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And I’m still pretending to be your girlfriend?”
“If that’s okay?” He paused. “I hope that…”
“It’s fine,” I cut him off. “Whatever. It’s all about the money anyway.”
“I see.” Harry’s voice sounded angry. “Well, I hope you saw your money deposited in the bank?”
“Yeah. I was about to go on a shopping spree right now actually,” I lied.
“Maybe you should wait until you get another job before you blow all your money?”
“Maybe I’ll just find another John.”
“Sarah,” Jane hissed at me.
“Anyway, when should we be ready?”
“Sarah, we should talk.” Harry’s voice sounded urgent and pained. “I don’t want there to be any uncomfortableness between us.”
“When should we be ready?” I ignored his last comment and he sighed.
“I’ll pick you both up tomorrow at 6pm. Lewis will be in the car with me.”
“Ok, bye.” And with that, I hung up the phone. “I hate him,” I whispered miserably. Jane walked over to me and gave me a hug.
“It’ll be okay, Sarah. You’ll see. We’ve got my rules to follow.”
I rolled my eyes as she hugged me and sighed. “I don’t even think your book is going to fix this, Jane.”
“Just wait and see.” She smiled at me mysteriously. “Let’s just wait and see.”
Chapter 18
“This is an awful lot of clothes, Jane.” I surveyed all the bags on my bed. “We’re not going for very long.”
“Trust me. You need to look your best at every moment. Sexy but sweet. Sultry but standoffish.”
“I hope I can pull it off.”
“You’re an actress, Sarah. You can pull it off.” She grinned. “Now, do you remember the plan?”
I sigh and think. “Be happy. Be friendly. Look sexy. Flirt with other men. Ignore him. Pretend I don’t care. Tease him but be undercover about it.”
“Yes.” She beamed. “Good girl.”
“Can I ask you something, Jane?” I looked at my best friend curiously. “We’ve been best friends for years. We moved to New York from Florida together for heaven’s sake. And I just want to know where you got all these ideas from. God knows neither of us have been lucky in love before and we certainly haven’t dated any billionaires before.”
“So don’t laugh but I watched a bunch of romance movies.” Jane grinned self-consciously.
“Aw Jane. For me?” I gave her a big hug. I knew how much Jane hated rom -coms.
“Yeah.” She grinned. “So don’t let me down.”
“I won’t. I’ll be a proper damsel in distress. Oh Harry, oh Harry, stop, stop. Hehehe.” I burst out laughing and then sighed. “Okies. Time for me to shower and get ready.” I walked to the bathroom. “Oh and Jane, are you sure about Lewis?”
“I’m sure. Maybe I’ll find a handsome stud in Trinidad and Tobago.” Jane smiled. “Now go and make yourself beautiful.”
“Yes ma’am.” I laughed and sang as I got into the shower. All of a sudden, I felt excited and felt a surge of adrenaline run through me. This was it. This was make or break time. I was going to make Harry fall in love with me or die trying.
***
“You look gorgeous, Sarah.” Jane grinned at me as I twirled around. I was wearing a short plaid skirt and a white top and had curled my hair a little bit. Dark eyelashes framed my big blue eyes and my lips were glossy and red. “You look like a hot schoolgirl.”
“You don’t think it’s too obvious?” I frowned staring at myself in the mirror. “Like I am trying too hard to look like a sexy schoolgirl.”
“Guys are too dumb to figure it out.” Jane laughed. “You look hotter than Britney Spears did in the ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ video.
“Yay.” I giggled and we made our way downstairs. Harry had called and said he and Lewis were parked and waiting on us. I walked slowly not wanting to trip in the heels I was wearing. I took a deep breath before heading out of the building and Jane squeezed my arm.
“You’ll be fine, Sarah.”
“Here goes.” I walked to the back of the black Mercedes CLS550 Coupe and waited for Harry to open the boot latch. I stood there studying my nails as he got out of the car and didn’t look up until he said my name.
“Hey Sarah.” His voice was soft and I looked up, surprised to see his face so haggard and stressed.
“Hey,” I said in a bored voice and casually pushed my shoulders back and stuck my br**sts out. I kept my grin to myself as I saw him take in my appearance.
“You look beautiful today, Sarah.”
“Yeah?” I looked at him nonchalantly and yawned. “Can we hurry this up? It’s cold out here.”
“Yes. Sure.” He grabbed my bag and put it in the back. “Are you okay?” He stared deep into my eyes and I felt myself falling into the blue ocean of his eyes again.
“I’m fine.” I smiled sweetly and as I moved away I let my br**sts brush against his arm. I heard his reaction in his swift intake of breath and smiled to myself. “Jane, you can put your bags in now,” I called out to my waiting friend.
“And you can sit in the front as well if you want.”
“Oh that’s okay.” She smiled.
“I’d like to see how Lewis is doing,” I said silkily, aware that Harry was watching my every move. “Have a laugh, you know.”