He moved like he was going to squeeze her arms but dropped his hands at the last second. She hated herself for wishing he had touched her. “Listen, Olivia, I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to hear me say that, but I had to take this opportunity. They hunted me down through Cameron, and Parker called me. Before I knew it, they were making me an offer. All I had to do was get you on board.”
“Well, you failed because I am not doing this. You shouldn’t have agreed either.”
“It’s amillion dollars, Liv. A million dollars! You try saying no to that.”
Her blood was boiling again. “I don’t have to try because I’m sayingnoright now! It’s not that hard! No!”
He made a strangled sound of frustration and squeezed his hands in his hair. He dropped his arms with a slap against his thighs. “This doesn’t have to be so hard. I need the money; you need the money. All we have to do is stick it out for one month together.”
Olivia folded her arms and looked away. She hated to admit that he was right. They both needed money: her, for her grandmother’s care, and him, to afford to live in a world with moreand more jobs drying up. And a million dollars would do the trick, even if it was split in half and heavily taxed. When she really considered it, she realized she couldn’t say no.
But it was going to be one hell of a challenge.
“Fine,” she said. “But we need rules.”
“Rules?”
“Yes, Chuck.” She stepped closer to him and lowered her voice to a hiss. “We both know that we are basically a lit stick of dynamite together, so we’re going to have to…keep our distance in the house. Otherwise, we’ll just blow up and lose.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. They were standing close enough that she could smell a hint of mint on his breath. Without her needing to fully spell it out, he knew precisely why they needed to keep their distance. The reason tangibly filled the air between them. “That’s a good point. We can’t risk that. So, what will the rules be?”
Olivia scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “Notnow. We have to go back in there and finish this nightmarishly ill-informed decision we are making first. We can talk about it later.”
“Okay!” he agreed at the harsh bite in her voice. “Can I at least get a shake on it so that I know you’re not going to turn on me when we get back in there?”
Olivia let out a mighty sigh, hoping she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life. She stuck out her hand. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
A smile twitched his lips upward as he slipped his hand into hers. “Thank you.”
“Well, this looks promising,” Cameron said as he materialized. Mansi was right on his heels.
Olivia dropped her hand with a flush in her cheeks.
“Good news,” Mansi said. She nodded at Cameron. “Insidesource says the show is desperate for a ratings boost. That’s why they want a new direction.”
Cameron proudly grinned. The source must have been his.
“What does that mean?” Olivia asked.
“It means we’ve got some leverage,” Mansi answered. “They want you two badly, and they’re probably holding back with their offer.”
“We’ve got room to negotiate,” Cameron added.
Mansi shot him a smile.
“Did you two become a team while we were out here?” Chuck asked.
Cameron clapped him on the shoulder and turned them back toward the building. “We’re all in this together if you say yes, so we should start acting like it.”
Olivia realized she’d asked Mansi to come as a favor, and Cameron was there for his job. She wondered if she should cut in Mansi for a percentage once they reached an agreement. Knowing her, she’d probably refuse the money.
Mansi held Olivia back and gave her a serious look. She spoke with her voice lowered. “Olivia, are you sure you want to do this?”
Olivia looked at her in surprise. “You were the one who encouraged it!”
“I know! I just…Sorry.” Mansi bit her bottom lip, which was painted dark red. “I’m only doing my best-friend duty by giving you one last out.”
“I appreciate that, Manse. But I think I can handle it.”