Holly set her coffee mug on the table and slid back in her chair. “Help? What makes you think I would want to help you?”

“Touché.” He forced a smile onto his lips, but even he knew how fake it made him look, so he wiped it off his face. “I deserved that.”

She didn’t contradict him.

Paul tried again. “My parents’ thirty-fifth wedding anniversary is coming up, and I’m supposed to stay with them for a full week to take part in all the festivities. Thing is, they’re going to throw every available rich heiress at me while I’m there.”

“I don’t see how I could help you with that—even if I wanted to,” she qualified.

“Well, I told my parents that I’m not single, but they didn’t believe me.”

Holly shrugged. “Really not my problem.”

Paul lifted his lids and looked into her blue eyes. For a moment he lost himself in their depths. Oh God, she was beautiful. “I told them I already had a girlfriend.” He noticed Holly’s chest lift. “I told them my girlfriend’s name is Holly.”

Holly’s heart stuttered to a halt, only to restart at triple the pace. He’d told his parents about her? He’d told them that she was his girlfriend? A ray of hope suddenly blossomed inside her, opening her heart and spreading warmth through her entire body. Paul had changed his mind about her. He didn’t condemn her for what she’d done in the past.

She leaned forward, her hand reaching out, wanting to touch him.

“So I figured, considering you’re a professional, I could hire you to play my girlfriend for that week.”

Her hand snapped back as if she’d touched a hot stove.

“Play your girlfriend?” was all she could echo, and even those words came out like a whisper, the air in her lungs having suddenly deserted her.

Paul glanced out of the window, as if he was embarrassed about having made this suggestion. “Yes. I’ll pay more than your going rate, of course, considering you won’t be able to . . . uh . . . service any other clients during that time. Your travel and all your expenses will be covered. You’ll fly to New York first class. If you need appropriate clothing for the week in the Hamptons, I’ll buy you what you need.”

Numbly, she listened to his words. He’d come to hire her as his escort. He hadn’t come back to make things right between them. He hadn’t come to apologize for the way he’d treated her.

Holly’s hand slipped to her stomach, where Paul’s child was growing inside her. If she’d ever had a smidgen of hope that there could be a future for them, it had just been extinguished. He would pay her. Because to him, she was still a whore. And he would never be able to see her as anything else.

Under no circumstances would she accept his offer. Because if she ever slept with him again, she would only make things worse. She had to protect herself for the sake of her unborn child.

“I’m afraid I’m booked,” Holly lied.

Surprise spread in his face. “But . . . I haven’t even told you the dates yet.”

“I’m not available either way.”

Paul leaned over the table and lowered his voice. “Why don’t you just say what you really want to say, Holly? You’re not available to me. No matter the date. Isn’t that it?”

“Since you already know the answer, I think we’re done here.” She rose, but his hand clamped around her wrist and he pulled her back down.

“No, we’re not. Fine, Holly, let’s have it your way. What would it take for you to accept my offer?”

“You have nothing that I want.” It was the biggest lie that had ever crossed her lips. There was so much she wanted from him. His respect. His love.

“How much? Name your price.”

Shaking her head, she protested, “You can’t afford me. I don’t do freebies anymore.” She lashed the words at him and watched them hit their target. Paul flinched.

His eyes blazed at her with fury. “I will pay whatever it takes. So name your fucking price!”

Blinking for a moment, she recalled the loan application Keller had rejected. It was just a figure, but she threw it out anyway, knowing he’d never agree to it. After all, what man in his right mind would pay such an exorbitant amount for one week with an escort?

“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” She readied herself to leave, knowing that finally this nightmare would be over once he rejected her ridiculous demand.

“Agreed.”

Holly nearly choked on her own saliva, and for a moment she couldn’t even think. She must have heard him wrong. “What did you say?”