Run, Girl (If You Can)

"You want me to what?" Aiden asked his boss doubtfully over the phone.

"You said your neighbor is an actress. I am in need of her services tonight for an event. All she has to do is smile, nod, and look pretty on my arm and I'll give her $5,000 for her trouble," Aaron said loftily.

"Do you know which neighbor I was talking about?! She's Keeley's roommate! What if she finds out?"

"I'll have her sign a nondisclosure agreement and threaten to sue. Simple."

Aiden ran a hand through his copper hair with exasperation.

"You're seriously going to pay someone else to be your date? Why not just ask Keeley?"

Aaron's voice was cold. "She has a paper to write; she'd say no."

He sighed. There was no reasoning with this ice block. He was sure Jennica would jump at the chance for a paid acting gig but still…this was risky.

"I'll ask her and call you back."

Aiden walked across the hall and hesitated in front of their door before knocking three times. Thankfully Jennica was the one to answer the door.

She smiled. "What's up?"

"Can I come in? I have a…kind of weird request," he said awkwardly.

She invited him in and gestured for him to sit on the couch. Keeley's cat rubbed herself against his ankles once he did and he felt a sneeze coming on.

Jennica sat down on the other side and looked at him expectantly.

"Okay, so my boss called…he has to go to this fancy cocktail party tonight and his dad threatened to set him up on a date if he didn't bring one himself and he asked me to find somebody to play his fake date. You're the first person I could think of."

Skepticism was clear on her face. "What's wrong with him that he can't find a date himself?"

Oh, how Aiden wished Aaron could be a fly on the wall in that moment; that would take him down a peg! He burst out laughing and couldn't control himself for a few minutes. When he came back to his senses, he wiped his eyes and grinned as he answered her question.

"Nothing. He's probably the most eligible bachelor in this city and doesn't want to be linked with someone who will take advantage of the exposure."

Jennica's eyes widened. "The most eligible bachelor…are you talking about Graydon Meyer or Aaron Hale?"

"Shh!"

Aiden hurriedly glanced toward the bedrooms but saw that Keeley's door was firmly shut and study tunes were spilling out from under the crack. She probably couldn't hear but still…

He whispered as quietly as he could. "Aaron Hale. He's willing to pay you $5,000 for a few hours of your time. All you have to do is wear the outfit he provides, show up, smile and nod. Please? You'd be saving my life here."

Jennica caught on and replied just as softly. "I didn't know you worked at Hale Investments."

"I'm in their IT department but that's not important right now. You'd also have to sign a nondisclosure agreement that says you're liable to be sued if you tell anyone about this. Aaron's a little paranoid that the love of his life might find out."

Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion and he could tell she was wavering about the whole thing.

"…why does he need a fake date if he has a girlfriend?"

"She isn't his girlfriend yet; he's still working on it," Aiden explained.

And the girl was right there in the other room! If Keeley found out, she would be even less likely to give Aaron a chance.

He figured that telling the whole truth might give him a leg up here. Jennica seemed like a sympathetic person—a sob story might get to her.

"Truth be told, he knows his parents won't approve of the woman he loves so he hasn't told them yet. They keep trying to set him up on blind dates with all these socialites and he's been dodging them as best he can but he got cornered tonight and really needs help."

Jennica's expression softened. She definitely felt sorry for Aaron. Success!

"I didn't realize things were so complicated for rich people. Alright, I'll do it. It'll cover five months of rent with a bit leftover so it's not like I have the room to say no anyway."

She stood up from the couch and smiled mischievously. "Take me to your leader."

===

When Aiden and Jennica arrived at Aaron's place, he had a stylist waiting to make her look glamorous in the largest guest bathroom upstairs.

She was whisked away to get beautified and Aiden was able to gawk at how insanely fancy Aaron's apartment was. The rich truly lived differently.

He lived in a two bedroom unit (one room held all of his computer equipment) that boasted one bathroom and a tiny kitchen attached to the living room. His entire apartment probably only made up ¼ of a single floor here.

"Dude, your house is sick," he said in awe.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Sick?"

"It's slang. Means it's awesome." Was this guy seriously so dense about common linguistics?

"Oh." Aaron glanced around as if to assess his dwelling. "I suppose it is."

He supposed?! Aiden would never understand this guy. Whatever. It wasn't his job to understand him. His job was to work in the IT department by day to monitor what happened in the company and do what Aaron asked within reason off the clock.

This particular escapade was a bit outside his usual duties but what could he do? Aaron paid really well and he had a mom and little sister to support after his dad left.

Besides, he had the benefit of always having the shiniest new toys to play with. Sometimes Aaron got him electronics that weren't even on the market yet. There were pros and cons to having an eccentric boss.

"If you don't mind, my mission here has been accomplished and I have a lovely RPG calling my name back at home so I'm going to use your driver again while she gets ready."

Aaron clapped a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from leaving. "Wait! Did you…see Keeley at all while you were there?"

Aiden smirked. Of course that's the only thing he cared about. The poor schmuck had it bad.

"Nope. She was in her room the whole time listening to movie scores as she worked on that paper. I did meet her cat though."

"That's more than I've done," he said grouchily, his ice factor increasing a few notches.

Aiden wasn't truly afraid of Aaron but he couldn't deny he wasn't a fan of when he went into full-on glacier mode.

"Hey man, you're the one who wanted me to be her neighbor. It's not like I've ever been inside her house before today. On your orders."

This placated him and he let Aiden go. What a weird guy.