It was starting to get to Yvonne. She liked nothing more than a woman who wanted to please her. But with Ruby, it was just an act. Yvonne knew that.

But that didn’t make it any less enticing.

She shook her head. Yvonne wasn’t going to go down that road with Ruby, and she certainly wasn’t interested in anything romantic with the woman. Yvonne wasn’t interested in relationships at all. She didn’t need anyone else. She’d gone through her entire life alone.

And that was how she liked it.

Chapter 5

“Let’s get down to business.” Yvonne gestured toward the couch at the other side of the coffee table. “Have a seat.”

Ruby sat down. It was telling that the first thing Yvonne had done after arriving home from work was ‘summon’ Ruby to the living room for a formal discussion. Was Yvonne going to behave so coolly toward Ruby for the entire year? That was going to get on Ruby’s nerves quickly.

Yvonne reached for the bottle of scotch on a nearby side table, offering Ruby a glass. Ruby declined. Yvonne poured herself a glass before settling back in her seat.

She pushed a sheet of paper across the coffee table toward Ruby. “I drew up a contract outlining our agreement. I’ll give you some time to look over it, then we’ll sign it later tonight.”

“Sounds good to me.” Ruby skimmed the contract. There was nothing surprising in it.

Yvonne crossed her legs. “Now, about our cover story.”

“Right. I haven’t had a chance to think about it yet.” Ruby had spent the day settling in and shopping for essentials. She’d only gotten home half an hour ago and had barely had time to order takeout before Yvonne had arrived.

“I’ve come up with some ideas myself. The simplest way to make sure we don’t slip up is to tell the truth as much as possible. If there are any elements of our history that we can use, we’ll stick to those.”

Ruby nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

“I already told my friends about you,” Yvonne said. “We work together, so it was unavoidable. I wasn’t specific about the details. I told them we met in Vegas a couple of years ago, which is plausible enough.”

“Do you go to Vegas a lot? You don’t seem the type.”

“I travel for work regularly. I go to Vegas often enough. It’s a good place to do business. All the money and decadence help prospective investors loosen up.” Yvonne took a swig of her drink. “There’s a certain type of person who is in their element when surrounded by luxury and excess. Why not take advantage of it?”

Ruby twisted a lock of hair around her finger absently. “Are you one of those types?”

“I’m not so easily impressed,” Yvonne said. “Now, where were we?”

Clearly, Ruby’s attempts to lighten the mood were falling flat. She was just trying to get Yvonne to relax a bit. They were stuck together for a year. Ruby had to get Yvonne to open up a bit.