CHAPTER 4

          Sunny Makkena…

          The amazing, sleazy Sally Bowles all dressed up in silky panties was gone. The redhead standing on the stage, in front of him, was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt.

“What can I do for you?”

          She was even more breathtaking wearing those ‘civilian’ clothes than she was in her stage outfit.

“Do you speak English? Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth, Mister…?”

“Karlsen. My name is Magnus Karlsen,” he said and held out his hand to her. “And I understand English perfectly well, amongst other ten foreign languages.”

          Sunny eyed him curiously but sat down on the edge of the stage so her legs dangled off and took his hand. He was almost taller than her like that, and he realized how short she must be.

“Oh, wonderful. Such a precocious young man. I bet your parents are extremely proud of you. Well, I am Sunny Makkena and I’m here because Quincy Lloyd said you wanted to talk to me. So, what is this all about?”

          Magnus gazed at her. From the upper view of the box, Magnus thought she was stunning, but being this close to her caused his heart to pound like a fucking drum. His hands wanted to reach out and brush the flaming waves from her face.

          He shook his head to clear the sudden need to lean forward and kiss the hell out of this naughty, sexy woman.

          Possess her in every way possible right on that stage, hearing her scream his name again and again…

          Watch her while she’s going down on him, her fiery red waves caressing his abdomen…

          See her sexy mouth wide open, willing to take every inch of his shaft and suck him dry…

“Sunny… This is a very fitting name,” Magnus replied roughly, staring.

“Don’t let my smile and hair color fool you,” she muttered and lowered her eyes. “I’m not always so… sunny. Usually, I’m extremely dark and twisted.”

          She cleared he throat and gazed at him again. 

“Anyway… Uhm… Did you want to talk to me about something?”

“Right… Talking… Yes,” Magnus said and cleared his throat, also. “Miss Makkena, I have a proposition for you, if you’re interested.”

          Immediately, she pushed to her feet, barking a laugh.

“Oh, God, not this again! Are you kidding me? Dude, this is a fucking theater not a nightclub. It’s true, I spent most of the time on stage wearing silky panties, but I am an actress. So, take your proposal and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine because the answer is no.”

“What?!” he asked quickly.

“I see… This is you playing dumb… Well, allow me to be more explicit, buddy. Look, I play an easy woman on the stage, but it’s only for the show. I’m not that woman. I’m quite the opposite. ‘Capisci’? (Ita. “Understand?”) This is fiction through and through.”

“Wait… Sunny…”

“Dude, I’m not a whore, so, stop insisting. Still, just to show you I hold no grudge… if you go outside, take the right, then turn left, walk straight ahead for a good fifteen minutes, you will find the perfect spot for what you’re looking for,” she added and started walking toward the backstage. “It’s called ‘Velvet Whispers’. What you’re looking for is right there. ‘Bye-Bye, mein Lieber Herr’,” she added singing.

“No! Miss Makkena, stop! You’ve got it all wrong,” Magnus exclaimed. “Please! That is not what my proposal is about. That is not what I’m asking.”

          Sunny stopped but didn’t turn around.

“And what are you asking… ‘Mr. Karlsen’? Make it quick before I lose my patience and call the security in here to take you out. Are you drunk out of your mind? Are you high? Are you all of the above?”

          Magnus gritted his teeth and hung his head.

“No, Miss Makkena, I’m not drunk or high. What I meant to say was I would like to hire you for your… acting skills. I’m talking about a weekend gig,” Magnus explained quickly, hoping she’d turn around.

          This was his only shot to survive the weekend with his parents.

          He really needed Sunny Makkena to say yes to his proposal.

          Sunny turned slowly, her arms crossed over her chest, and the light hit the little, shiny piercing in her nose.

“A weekend gig, huh? You need me for my acting skills… Really? Why do I get the feeling it is not a play you are asking me to be in?”

“Well… It is a play… Sort of…” Magnus replied, continuing quickly when she took another step backwards. “Look, it is not your usual play, but it pays well, and I swear it is nothing illegal or dangerous.”

          She squinted at him, tilting her head, and those marvelous, hypnotic green eyes of hers pulled him into their depths as she slowly moved closer to the edge of the stage.

“What exactly are you asking me to do if you don’t want me to be in a play… Mr. Karlsen?”

“Magnus…”

“Answer quick, ‘Mr. Karlsen’,” she added, emphasizing his name, “or I’m outta here so fast it will make your head turn.”

“I need you to pretend to be my fiancée this weekend,” he told her, leaning against the stage and trying to act like it wouldn’t matter if she said yes or no.

          While she thought it over, it gave him a chance to study her face, the gentle slope of her cheeks, and the way her eyebrows knitted together while she chewed on her delicious, plump, red bottom lip.

          His eyes wandered and Magnus caught the ends of a colorful tattoo on her right arm disappearing under her t-shirt. The urge to see what that was almost drove him to jump onto that stage, but Magnus forced his feet to stay on the floor.

          Sunny was already on edge, watching him with guarded eyes.

          No reason to scare her off any faster.

“What kind of man hires some actress to be his fake fiancée?” she finally asked.

“A man who has lied to his parents for the last year about being engaged,” Magnus replied honestly. “Listen, if you want the job, I’m willing to talk to you about all the details tomorrow at my office. Otherwise, just say so, and I’ll be on my way. No harm, no foul.”

          He pushed off the stage and turned his back to her until her quick steps and thud made him glance back. She’d hopped off the stage. Sunny barely reached his shoulders as she stood in front of him. Her head leaned back as she looked up at him.

“Maybe you should take a breath and slow your wild horses, Viking Boy,” Sunny challenged, those green eyes shimmering with determination in the bright theater lights. “As you can see, you are already in the right place… If I got it right, time is of the essence here. If you walk away now, where are you going to find another actress so quickly? At the ‘Velvet Whispers’? At ‘The Naughty Nest’? I promise I’m not trying to be shady or anything. The majority of the girls working there are great, but they don’t seem… fiancée material for a ‘Hot Shot’ like you.”

          Magnus tried hard not to laugh.

“I’m sure I can find someone else.”

“If you say so…”

          Magnus shrugged as he picked out the swirling colors focused on him. There was more than just green… He could see rays of sunlight gathered around her pupils. Magnus frowned, the lump in his throat making it hard to get the words out.

“Still, indulge my curiosity… How much are you paying for the whole show?”

          Shit! He hadn’t even thought of that. Magnus pulled a number from the air and ran with it.

“Thirty thousand,” he told her. “All expenses paid, of course. I will need you to dress for the part, as well.”

          Sunny’s eyes widened, but not with greed. Her whole body stiffened, and she chewed on her damn sexy lip again. Magnus bit back a groan as well as the want swelling in his chest to kiss her until she was dizzy.

          ‘Really? What the fuck is wrong with you, man?’

          He was here to hire her for a job, not fuck her right then and there.

“Where is this office of yours?” she asked.

“Does that mean you’re agreeing to do it?”

“You need to learn how to walk before running, Viking Boy! It means I will come to your office and talk to you about it. But,” Sunny added when he frowned, “it’s a very, very, very tentative ‘yes’. Before agreeing to… this charade, I want to make sure I know what the hell I am getting myself into. I have enough problems of my own. I don’t need yours too.”

          Magnus grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a business card.

“Meet me at this address in the morning… Around nine, if it’s okay with you. We will go over everything, and I will have an official contract drawn up. Just to show you that is a perfectly… ‘clean’ offer… That there’s no hidden agenda.”

          Sunny took it and stuffed it into her jeans pocket.

“Right... Well, I guess I will see you in the morning, Mr. Karlsen,” Sunny said as she shifted on her feet.

“Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Miss Makenna,” Magnus added, wanting to already ask her out for a drink just to find out more about that tattoo and see if there were others.

          His eyes wandered down her deliciously pumped body, remembering all those dancing moves she’d done during the play, dressed in lingerie, silky shorts, and revealing short dresses. He started cursing mentally and took a large step backwards.

“Just one more thing… Tonight, you did an exceptional job on that stage. Taking my eyes off you has been impossible,” he added, waved, and hurried out of the theater before he did something he’d regret.

          She called her thanks after him, but Magnus didn’t stop walking. Sunny Makkena might be one hell of an actress, but he couldn’t explain what the fuck she did to him.

          Would he survive a weekend with this woman?

“It’s all an act,” he told himself firmly as he exited the theater. “All just a fucking act. She is sweet, stunning, and funny, but you need her for one thing and one thing only. Your future tranquility depends on this woman's performance. So, keep it zipped in your pants, and more importantly, keep your hands and other body parts away from Miss Sunny Makkena… ‘Viking boy’.”