Outrageous Proposal (A British Bad Boy Romance) by Sienna Valentine

still don’t get how all of this happened.”
    “I already told you guys last night, there really isn’t much else to it,” protested Clarice, trying very hard to make it sound like less of a big deal than it was. She was still feeling less than stable about this whole adventure, which she tried to convince herself was half the point. She was worried her sensible, protective best friend would still try and talk her out of it just when she was getting the fires back in her engines.
    “I still find this whole thing so hard to believe since it came out of nowhere,” said Trudy, throwing her big designer purse onto the plush bed and then following it with her body. “This guy seriously just… asked you to be his pretend wife? What the hell kind of twilight zone did we land in?”
    “You’re the one that dragged us here, I take zero responsibility for any zones or twilights,” said Clarice with her hands on her hips. “Like I said, I met him yesterday when he helped me back to the elevators, and the next time I spoke to him was when he pulled me away from dinner last night. He asked me to pretend marry him last night, and I agreed to do it this morning.”
    “How… romantic?” said Trudy with a laugh.
    Clarice gave a sarcastic, dramatic sigh. “Yeah, I know, isn’t he great?”
    “This is all really goddamn weird, hun,” said Trudy with a serious voice. “It’s not exactly your style lately to just run off with strange British men and their needlessly complicated life schemes. Harrison seems like exactly the type of fuckboy we’ve always hated and avoided — or is that just me?”
    A bit of shame bubbled up in Clarice’s gut, and she admitted, “Yes, I know and I see what he is, that’s why this is all just a business arrangement. I’m not actually dating or marrying him after all. I’m just getting paid to pretend I’m a princess for a week. Clearly he’s a guy who loves his job, and his job is being king of a sex resort, so… I’m not letting myself get hurt, Trude. Promise. Anyway, you all told me to come here and have an adventure. Like I said last night, I’m not into the random hookups, so this is my adventure.”
    Instead of the berating she was expecting, Trudy tilted her head and gave Clarice a sly smile. “Some serious pride welling up in me to hear you talk like that, girl. I’m finally seeing shades of the old Clarice who used to hop the fence at Coachella and flirt her way out of trouble with the security guards. I like it when you’re all fired up. You always end up landing miles ahead from where you were before in life.”
    She let out a small laugh at that memory. “That’s exactly what makes me want to do this, Trude,” admitted Clarice. She sat on the bed next to her best friend with a huff. “I know it seems ridiculous to be a part of this scheme, trust me. When he first offered it to me, I wasn’t jumping on board right away. He sort of talked me into it.”
    “With his dick, right?”
    “No!” said Clarice with a laugh. “No, we’re not banging.”
    “Yet,” said Trudy.
    “It’s not like that!”
    “I give you two days.”
    “ Anyway ,” said Clarice with an eye roll. “He talked me into it with promises of luxury, I’m not too proud to admit. I wasn’t feeling totally great about this hedonistic party stuff anyway, so now I have something different to do… and something that’s going to make me richer. Plus, it will be a fun challenge to see if I can pull it off, and if I don’t, who cares? I’ll just never go to England for any reason, I guess, so as to not run into his parents afterwards.”
    “Give me a break,” said Trudy. “I know you, girl, and I know you don’t give a flying fuck about being rich. What’s the real reason you’re giving into these shenanigans? And don’t try to bullshit me again.”
    Clarice sighed and stared at her friend. She should have known better than to try and pull one over on Trudy in the first place. They knew