Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance by Samantha Westlake Page B

cover up any sign of his arousal.
    "Two weeks," she said finally. "That's enough time for us to get the bill in place, but you can still have a few days to try and bring it down. I will, of course, be trying to stop you, but you can try."
    "Two weeks," Tanner repeated.
    Alicia nodded. "And during that time, we're on the same side. You're on my side, and you're being helpful. No false personas, no trying to lead me down the wrong avenue, no giving me the wrong information, nothing like that."
    "And what do I get?" Tanner asked.
    "You?" Alicia blinked. "You get me being honest with you."
    Tanner sat back and considered his options, covering by taking another sip of his scotch. It wasn't an ideal situation, but this whole thing with Alicia had been on the wrong foot since the beginning. He'd spent the whole time off balance, with her somehow, inexplicably, managing to keep one step ahead of him. He hated to admit it, but he needed this truce, perhaps even more than she did.
    "Honesty," he said, drawing out the word, tasting it as if he'd never encountered it before. "This might be new for me."
    Alicia actually snorted, a short little laugh that she couldn't fully contain. "Maybe it will help you grow, make you a little less of an ass," she countered.
    "Low blow," Tanner protested. But after another second, he set his drink down and held his hand across the table, careful not to let his sleeve dip into his entree. "But I don't see any other options. Deal."
    "Deal," Alicia agreed, shaking his offered hand.
    "So, care to tell me everything?" Tanner cracked, after taking his hand back.
    Alicia, however, didn't laugh. "Where would you like me to start?"
    Tanner searched his mind. What sort of question would give him a hint at her weaknesses, would offer a crack in her armor that he could exploit later? He tried to find the most strategic question possible to ask - but instead, his mouth chose an entirely different question, one that he hadn't even considered asking.
    "Why didn't you get that spot as high school valedictorian?"
    Across from him, Alicia blinked; clearly, that wasn't the question she'd been expecting. "That's what you want to know?" she exclaimed.
    Tanner hadn't intended to ask that question, but he realized that he truly did feel curious. "Yes, it is."
    She blinked at him, rearranging her thoughts. "It was my own fault," she said at length. "I had a class with a teacher who really liked me, because I was the model student."
    "Somehow, I can see that," Tanner commented, making her smile.
    "Well, I thought that, since the teacher really liked me, I could breeze past the final in the class. I didn't study, didn't put in the time - and I totally bombed it." Even now, Tanner saw a wince pass across Alicia's face at the memory. "I went to the teacher, begged him to let me retake the exam, but he stayed firm. He told me that I'd be fine, still have the future I wanted - but I needed this as a lesson to show me that I needed to work at being perfect."
    "It seemed to have worked," Tanner said, trying to keep her from getting depressed. Her face had fallen as she remembered that particular moment in her past.
    She sighed, but then brightened again. "It did, I suppose. I didn't agree with him at the time, but I suppose that I do now - not that I'd want him to do it again, if I had the chance!"
    That first question seemed to break the dam. "Now, your turn," Alicia told Tanner. "What did you want to be as a kid, before you sold your soul to the Republican party?"
    "First off, they paid a very nice premium for that soul, and it's proved to be a far better investment than any other that I've made," Tanner countered. He thought back, seeking a truthful answer. "But when I was younger, I really did want to go into politics. I still believed that it was pure, that I could do real good, that it wasn't all just another system to be manipulated."
    "So cynical," Alicia murmured, shaking her head at him. "I hope I never get like that."
    She