Dani Clark hated leverage.
She hated it in business. She hated it in people. And she especially hated that she was standing in the middle of her bakery at six in the morning, mentally calculating how much of her pride she could afford to lose.
The ovens were already warm. Batter sat waiting. The day would begin whether she was ready or not.
Behind her, the door opened.
"You're early," she said without turning around.
Parker Grayson set his coffee down on the counter. "You said six."
"I didn't say you had to be here."
"You didn't say I couldn't."
She glanced at him, then back to her mixing bowl. "I don't need an audience."
"I'm not watching."
He absolutely was.
She could feel it—the quiet awareness, the way he took in the space, the equipment, the cracks she'd learned to work around. Parker wasn't pretending this morning. He wasn't charming. He wasn't trying.
That somehow made it worse.
"Did the bank call?" he asked.
Her jaw tightened. "Yes."
"And?"
"They want projections. Again."
He nodded once. "I can help with that."
She stopped mixing and turned slowly.
"And here it is," she said. "The catch."
"There was always going to be one."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"No," Parker agreed calmly. "But you agreed to my terms."
Her grip tightened around the spoon. "I agreed to marry you. Not to owe you."
"They're the same thing," he said evenly.
The silence that followed cut sharply.
"Say that again," Dani said quietly.
Parker didn't flinch. "This arrangement exists because we both need something. I don't pretend otherwise."
She stared at him, chest rising and falling.
"So every spreadsheet, every phone call, every connection…"
"…comes with strings," he finished. "Yes."
That was the truth she hadn't wanted spoken aloud.
"Then let's be very clear," Dani said. "You don't get to own my business."
"I don't want to."
"You don't get to make decisions for me."
"I won't."
"And you don't get credit for saving me."
His mouth twitched. "That one's going to be hard."
She stepped closer. "Then don't help."
He met her gaze evenly. "I will. As long as we both honor the deal."
She looked away first.
The meeting with the bank happened two days later.
Dani sat stiff-backed at the small conference table, hands folded, while Parker spoke with quiet authority. He didn't dominate. He didn't interrupt her.
He reframed. Projected. Clarified.
When she spoke, he backed her numbers without overshadowing them.
That annoyed her almost as much as it impressed her.
Afterward, stepping onto the sidewalk, she said, "You enjoyed that."
"I enjoyed winning," he corrected.
"I don't need a savior."
"Good," he said. "Because that's not what this is."
She stopped walking. "Then what is it?"
He turned to face her. "An exchange."
The word settled heavily between them.
"I protect your bakery," Parker continued. "You protect my future."
"And when your future no longer needs me?"
"That's when this ends."
Her voice softened despite herself. "And if my bakery still needs you?"
He hesitated. "That," he said carefully, "is a different negotiation."
The next weeks blurred into a strange routine.
Parker showed up when it mattered—meetings, permits, vendor calls. Never uninvited. Never lingering longer than necessary.
Dani noticed.
She also noticed how he never touched anything without asking.
"How much does this cost?" he asked once, pointing at a mixer.
"Too much."
"Replacement timeline?"
"Six months."
He nodded. "We'll build that into projections."
She eyed him. "You're very comfortable spending money that isn't yours."
He smiled faintly. "I'm comfortable spending money that keeps you in business."
She didn't thank him.
She didn't trust herself to.
The tension came from what didn't happen.
Long nights. Shared coffee. Close quarters.
No touching. No confessions.
Just awareness.
One night, while she was bent over a counter, scraping batter, she felt his presence behind her, close enough to feel the heat of him.
"Personal space," she warned.
He stepped back immediately. "Sorry."
She swallowed. "Good."
Her heart didn't slow.
The proposition followed them everywhere.
A supplier suddenly returned her calls. A zoning issue disappeared. The city clerk smiled a little too warmly.
"You didn't tell them, did you?" Dani asked one afternoon.
Parker raised an eyebrow. "Tell them what?"
"That I'm engaged to you."
"I didn't have to."
She exhaled sharply. "That's what scares me."
He studied her. "You knew this would happen."
"I knew," she said. "I didn't like it."
That night, Dani lay awake thinking about the cost.
Not money.
Control.
The more Parker helped, the more visible the exchange became.
She wasn't being rescued.
She was being positioned.
The realization sat heavily.
The next morning, she confronted him.
"If this ever stops being temporary," she said, "I walk."
Parker didn't argue. "Understood."
"And if you ever expect more than what I agreed to—"
"I won't."
She searched his face. "You're very calm about this."
He smiled faintly. "That's because I'm not confused about what this is."
"And what is it?"
He met her gaze, voice low.
"A proposition."
Her stomach flipped.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
And as she turned back to her ovens, Dani realized the most dangerous part wasn't the deal.
It was how easily she was starting to forget that one day, it would end.
Dani didn't like how quickly things started to change once Parker began helping.
It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't obvious.
That was what unsettled her most.
It showed up in small ways.
A supplier who had ignored her calls suddenly apologized and offered flexible terms. A zoning issue quietly shifted to "under review." The city clerk smiled and told her she was lucky to have support.
Support.
Dani hated that word now.
She stood at the counter after closing one night, staring at the receipts, doing math she knew by heart.
The numbers were improving.
But not because of her alone.
Because Parker Grayson existed.
"You didn't tell them to do that, did you?" she asked without looking up.
Parker paused. "Do what?"
"Be helpful."
He sighed softly. "I didn't make any calls."
"You didn't have to. Your name did it for you."
He leaned back against the counter. "This is the reality of the arrangement."
"I know," Dani said tightly. "I just don't like it."
"You don't have to like it."
She snapped her head up. "I have to live with it."
They held each other's gaze.
"Say it," she said.
"Say what?"
"That this comes at a cost."
He nodded once. "It does."
"And that I'm paying it."
"Yes."
The honesty hit harder than reassurance ever could.
Later that week, Parker accompanied her to meet a new distributor. He stayed quiet, letting Dani lead, but the man across the table kept glancing at Parker, nodding too eagerly.
Afterward, Dani muttered, "He barely heard a word I said."
"He heard you," Parker replied. "He just believed me."
"That's worse."
Parker didn't argue.
They walked back in silence.
"You could stop coming," Dani said suddenly.
He stopped. "Do you want me to?"
She hesitated. "I don't know."
"That's not an answer."
"I know."
She exhaled sharply. "Every time you show up, things get easier. And every time things get easier, I wonder if I'm losing something."
"Control," he said quietly.
She nodded. "Exactly."
Parker studied her. "Then take it back."
"How?"
"By setting the terms again."
She crossed her arms. "Fine. New condition."
"Okay."
"You help when I ask. Not before."
He nodded immediately. "Agreed."
"And no silent fixing."
He smiled faintly. "That one hurts my efficiency."
"Too bad."
He lifted his hands in surrender. "Your bakery. Your rules."
She held his gaze. "Don't forget that."
"I won't."
That night, Dani stayed late.
The shop was quiet. The ovens are finally cooling.
She sat alone at the back table, staring at the engagement ring she'd taken off and placed beside her notebook.
She hadn't earned any of this.
Not the leniency. Not the cooperation. Not the breathing room.
And yet she was using it.
Because she had to.
Because walking away meant losing everything she'd built.
This is temporary, she reminded herself.
A deal. A proposition. Nothing more.
Across town, Parker loosened his tie in his hotel room, replaying the look on her face when she'd said control.
He hadn't expected her to name it so clearly.
Most people never did.
And that, he realized, was exactly why this was becoming dangerous.
Not because of attraction.
But because she saw him.
And every day the deal worked, every day the arrangement held, the line between transaction and choice blurred just a little more.