Romance for Cynics. Nicola Marsh

      Cash frowned and stared down his soon-to-be former best friend. ‘You owe me after I got your ass out of trouble the night the dean bailed you up following that butt-out-the-back-window-of-the-uni-bus prank.’

      Bart grinned like a goofball. ‘Those were the days.’

      Cash rolled his eyes. ‘You’re a putz.’

      ‘A putz that’s going to get you out of a fix, apparently.’ Bart swivelled on the ergonomic chair. ‘I can put in a good word for you but it won’t do any good...’

      A frown momentarily creased Bart’s brow before he snapped his fingers and leaped from the chair. ‘There is a way the firm can take you on. Guaranteed.’

      Relieved he’d found a way out of this mess, Cash nodded. ‘Whatever it is, I’ll do it.’

      A knowing grin spread across his friend’s face. ‘Sure?’

      Pinching the bridge of his nose, Cash perched on the edge of his desk. ‘As you so delicately implied, that woman has my balls in a vice, so yeah, I’ll do anything.’

      ‘Fine. Then all you need to do is find yourself a girlfriend for a week.’

      ‘What the—?’

      ‘The firm’s running a massive fundraiser in the lead up to Valentine’s Day. A week-long love-in, where couples do a bunch of mushy stuff together, get filmed, soundbites get posted on the firm’s website and people vote for the most romantic couple.’ Bart’s smug grin widened. ‘You wanted positive PR. What could be better than raising a stack of cash for a good cause while being viewed by millions? Oh, and make sure your girlfriend is clean and wholesome, the opposite of your usual arm candy.’

      Speechless, Cash gaped at his friend. ‘Are you freaking crazy? Where the hell do I find a girlfriend for a week?’

      Bart waved away his concern. ‘Minor details.’ He strolled towards the massive French windows overlooking the sprawling lawn of Cash’s Williamstown mansion. ‘I’m sure you’ll figure something out.’

      Cash’s fingers curled into fists. This couldn’t be happening. Bad enough he’d lost a bundle after following a bad investment tip from one of the best in the business, an old college mentor.

      But having some scorned woman spreading gossip and innuendo about him because he’d knocked her back? That was something else. She was damaging his reputation in an industry where reputation was everything.

      He gave financial advice to the stars. Australia’s elite actors and musicians came to him when they wanted to invest their money. And he’d built a considerable fortune from it.

      He liked money. Liked the comfort derived from seeing cold, hard cash accumulate in the bank, providing security and reliability. Two things he’d never had growing up.

      With the threat of his cash source drying up, Cash had turned to Bart. His mate’s solution sounded easy enough but he couldn’t exactly pull a girlfriend out of thin air.

      Bart wolf-whistled. ‘Hey, what about her?’

      ‘Who?’

      ‘The hottie in the obscenely tight shorts.’

      Cash crossed to the window, where Bart had his nosed pressed against the glass like a hormonal teenager.

      ‘Lucy? You’re kidding, right?’

      Lucy Grant, his gardener, would be the last woman he’d ask to be his fake girlfriend for a week.

      The woman despised him.

      Not that she’d ever said or done anything overt, but she gave off an air of untouchability that made him want to ruffle her.

      So he’d tried. Several times. Whenever they crossed paths, he’d flirt with her. Deliberately taunting, trying to get a rise out of her.

      Nada.

      Her hands-off aura intrigued him a little, but he hadn’t given her aloofness much thought. Except those odd times he’d been taking a business call and found himself at this very window, copping a very nice eyeful of firm ass, long legs and B-cups in a tight tank top.

      Watching Lucy stride as she mowed his lawn or bend over as she clipped hedges made working from home that much more pleasurable.

      In fact, he timed his rare workdays from home with her fortnightly gardening visits. Maybe she’d crack one of these days and give him a smile? Doubtful, considering the death glare she’d shot him this morning when they’d crossed paths on the back patio.

      ‘Why not?’ Bart peeled his nose away from the window with reluctance. ‘The firm only has room for one more couple and they’re closing applications today.’ He tapped the side of his nose. ‘I put in a good word for you and you’re in. Guaranteed.’

      ‘You’re nuts,’ Cash said, his gaze unwittingly drifting to where Lucy stood near the front gate, pruning with her usual efficiency.

      For all he knew, Lucy had a hubby and a string of dirt-smudged rug-rats at home. Though she didn’t wear a ring...not that it meant anything. Probably took it off for safety reasons while working.

      Cash shook his head. ‘I don’t know the woman.’

      ‘No time like the present to get to know her.’ Bart glanced at his watch. ‘I need to head back to the office and I need your answer now. You in?’

      Tension knotted the muscles in Cash’s neck. The last thing he felt like doing was parade around for seven days acting like a lovestruck fool.

      But his business was everything. He’d worked too long and too hard to let it suffer because of circumstances beyond his control.

      He’d approached Bart because he needed positive PR. But Valentine’s Day? Seriously?

      ‘Three...two...one...’ Bart made a buzzing sound and Cash nodded.

      ‘Fine. I’ll do it.’

      Bart smirked as he shrugged into his suit jacket. ‘So who’s the lucky lady going to be?’

      ‘Leave that to me,’ Cash said, mentally scrolling through his list of female friends and coming up empty.

      Half of them he’d dated and would never go there again. The other half wanted more and would see this week of lovey-dovey crap as a full-blown declaration.

      Uh-uh. He needed someone without any romantic illusions.

      Someone without any view to the future.

      Someone without cunning, ulterior motives or the urge to shackle him to a ball and chain.

      As he walked Bart out and Lucy acknowledged him with a curt nod, he knew.

      He needed someone like Lucy.

      * * *

      ‘Damn it.’ Lucy’s pruning shears slipped and she hacked off a chunk of ivy leaf violet when Cash appeared at the front door.

      The guy had that effect on her. The ability to raise her hackles and make her want to chop something off—not of the flora variety.

      Not his fault entirely, that she had a healthy disregard for millionaires in slick suits. It was a personal aversion, one she’d honed to a fine art nine years ago.

      And Cash seemed more charming than most, with his ready smile and quick wit. But that was what put her on guard: his ability to flirt without trying, his easy-going approach when she knew it would be a practiced façade presented to the world.

      Go-getters like him wouldn’t get anywhere if they were that laid-back all the time. And she knew enough about her number one client Cashel Burgess, courtesy of Google, to assume he would be a tiger in the boardroom.

      Self-made millionaire by the time he was twenty-eight. High IQ, skipped a year at high school. Economics degree. MBA. Impressive jobs at elite actuary firms before