One Wild Night

Wait!" Tom raised his hand to stop her before she could open her mouth to voice her objection.

"Just hear me out first. I understand you are not interested in guys or relationships... I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend for real. Just let me practice how to be a good boyfriend with you, and then you can point out my flaws while we are at it, and make me an ideal boyfriend," Tom said, looking at her hopefully.

Lucy let out an awkward laugh, "I don't think that is a good idea. I don't even have any relationship experience, so how am I supposed to make you the perfect boyfriend?" She asked in amusement.

"Exactly! You could also learn a thing or two about guys and relationships in the process. Haven't you ever wondered what being in a relationship would be like? You could just do this for fun. It's a win-win for us both," Tom suggested with a smile, but Lucy wasn't smiling. 

"You should get someone else to date you for this experiment. It doesn't have to be me."

"You expect me to break a stranger's heart? There is no way I can tell someone else I want to practice something like this with them. You are a perfect choice since I'm sure I can't break your heart," Tom said confidently.

He wasn't trying to lie to her this time. No. This wasn't a lie. All he wanted was a fair chance to love her and show her that she was capable of love and being in a relationship. He would tell her the truth by the end of their fake relationship since there was no way he could tell her the truth when he was yet to win her heart. 

Fake girlfriend? Lucy wasn't sure she liked the idea. In fact, not that she wasn't sure. She knew she didn't like the idea. 

"Again, don't forget that if we get this right, I will be in a stable relationship for the first time in my life, and it will be all thanks to you," Tom added when he saw the hesitation on her face. 

Seeing how excited and happy he was about it, she sighed. What harm could come from doing it? It wasn't like it was going to be a real relationship anyway. Besides Sonia and her family had been badgering her for so long about being in a relationship of any kind... So maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea. She could tell them all that she was dating, and once it was over she would tell them she found out relationships really weren't her thing, and maybe they would finally give her a break. 

"I will only do that on one condition," Lucy said.

"I will do anything," Tom assured her with a bright smile, happy to see that she was giving it a thought.

"The company is off-limits. No one at the company can know that we are in a relationship. This means that at work you are simply my driver. No naughty talks or silly games in my office or around the company premises. My job is very important to me, and if we are going to do this, I will like you to understand that," Lucy said, looking at him squarely in his eyes. 

If she were someone else, he probably would have been concerned that she was saying that simply because she was ashamed of him... But Lucy didn't strike him as that type, "Just the company is off-limits, right?" Tom asked.

Lucy cleared her throat, "Yes."

"Fair enough," he said with a nod since that meant he could do whatever else he wanted with her outside the company.

"Anything else you want to add now?" He asked with a slightly raised brow when he noticed how her brow had furrowed thoughtfully.

"How long will this experiment last?" Lucy asked curiously. 

"Until you think I'm good enough to go into a real relationship without ruining it," Tom said, making Lucy cock her head to the side. 

"Does that mean the duration depends on me? Once I say it's over, we can end everything?" She asked curiously and then sighed in relief when Tom gave her a nod.

Although he knew she hadn't agreed because of all the reasons he had given her, he was glad she decided to go along with it, "Yes. At least that way I will know why they all left," Tom said as he picked up his glass and drank from it. He really prayed his plan would work, and she would fall in love with him before the end of all this. The moment she says the magic words to him, he would confess it all to her and hope she understands. 

Lucy didn't know how to respond to that, so she picked up her wine glass and sipped from it. It seemed like he had been hurt a lot by all the ladies he had been with in the past, and from all indications, he might get hurt again. Or maybe not. Maybe she was being too hasty in judging Anita. Hadn't Anita said a lot of nice things about him earlier? That meant she had noticed some of his charming qualities, right? And even if Anita ended up being a very demanding girlfriend, Lucy preferred to believe that Tom's love for her would be strong enough for him to be patient with her and change her.

Lucy began to wonder how she would be able to successfully matchmake him with Anita if she was acting as his fake girlfriend. They would definitely have to keep their relationship a secret from Anita. Maybe this would give her a better chance at matchmaking them? Even if they were not going to start dating immediately, throwing them together often would help in making Anita more aware of Tom. That way by the time he was ready to ask her out officially, she would be more than willing to say yes to him. 

"I'm curious about something. Why did you agree to do this? Are you eager to help me get her because you want to honor your promise so I don't quit working for you, or is there another reason?" Tom asked, curiously. 

Don't I just wish it was that simple? Lucy thought warily. She would rather he continued to believe that she was doing him a favor by being his fake girlfriend, rather than tell him that she was trying to use him to get Sonia and her family off her back so that they would stop worrying about her so much. 

She paused when something else occurred to her. How would this new arrangement affect their previous arrangement? They were supposed to have sex after dinner, right? Were they still going to do it? Why was she beginning to feel like she had just complicated things the more?

"Are we still going to have sex tonight?" Lucy suddenly blurted out before she could stop herself, making Tom who had just taken a sip from his wine glass choke on it.