The Billionaire's Alibi: The Proposition Read Free Page B

realize she was being sarcastic.
    “Ha. Ha. Ha.” he said mockingly. “No, really—you have no idea who am?”
    She made a face. “I know that every time you open your mouth, your charm dissipates just a little bit more.” She raised her hand, pinching together two fingers to make a point. “I already told you, I’m not interested in your secrets, and I’m not interested in your money.”
    She made her way to the checkout, so he grabbed a pack of Twizzlers off the shelf and lined up behind her, adding several packs of gum to his purchases to distract from the meat packages.
    “Come on,” he said. “I’m trying to be friendly.”
    She laughed, but it wasn’t the cute laugh that he normally coaxed out of women. This laugh was aimed at him. “Typically when people are trying to be friendly they start by introducing themselves, not by offering up a bribe.”
    She unloaded her cart onto the conveyer belt. Will watched the young cashier slowly scan every item, one by one. He needed a game plan—if she didn’t want him, and she didn’t want his money, what did she want? He didn’t believe that she could just let this go. At some point in the future, she was going to see a picture of him on a gossip site like Zoey Fromme, and she was going to remember him.
    In his experience, there were only a few successful ways to keep someone quiet. Money, especially the kind that came with an obligation. Loyalty, which was typically gained through a long series of interactions, but could more easily be acquired by establishing a deep, quick emotional connection with someone. And finally, leverage, which was best gained by uncovering someone’s secret.
    If she wasn’t going to accept his money, and if he couldn’t seduce her, he needed to find another way to convince her to keep her silence.
    Will surreptitiously glanced over her shoulder as she swiped the Black AmEx card and scrawled her name across the signature pad—Alexa Romo, in loopy letters with silly dots in the center of the O’s.
    Alexa Romo? He imagined there were thousands of people with the last name Romo, but Alexa seemed uncommon enough. Still, he needed more—a license plate, a copy of her driver’s license, a credit card number. He was going to have to stick with this girl until he got something on her. His reputation was at stake, not to mention his clean record.
    The bagger helped her load the groceries into her cart, and she quickly pushed it towards the exit. “See you later,” she glanced back at him, “random person who won’t give me his name.”
    He kept an eye on her as the cashier scanned his items, his agitation starting to become evident. With his package safely in the plastic bag, he quickly scooped up the rest of the items and dropped a bill onto the counter.
    “Here’s a fifty, keep the change.” He grabbed his bag and rushed toward the exit.
    She turned around right as he reached her. “You can’t follow me around everywhere, unless you want me to file a report against you for stalking.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “… in addition to the potential drug charge.”
    “I thought you weren’t planning on reporting it,” he whispered back.
    “That was five minutes ago,” she said. “The longer you follow me, the less I want to keep your secret.” She studied his face, then raised her eyebrows. “You do know that, don’t you?”
    Will glanced her over—she was smart… too smart to believe any lie he could make up to get her information. Instead, he decided to go with the truth.
    “I know that you think you have no idea who I am, and that you saw me in one of my less-than-stellar moments… I want to make sure you won’t talk.”
    “Does it matter? Even if I wanted to say something, it’s still my word against yours.”
    “I’d rather not take my chances,” he said. “A he-said-she-said story is surprisingly convincing when everyone is trying to paint you as someone you’re not. So really, if you’ll just