THE $10K TEST

Maya didn’t sleep.

She stared at her ceiling until 3am thinking about salsa, and lies, and the way Caleb looked when he thought he’d lost everything in front of Lena.

At 7:03am her phone buzzed.

*Venmo: Caleb Hart sent you $10,000.00*

*Note: "Penalty paid. Worth it."*

Maya sat straight up in bed. Alimony barked.

“Worth it?!” she said to her dog. “That’s not how this works!”

Her rules were clear. No falling for clients. No personal involvement. No $10k flirty notes.

She typed 4 different texts and deleted all of them.

_"Don't do that."_ Too harsh.

_"Thank you."_ Too soft.

_"Are you insane?"_ Too true.

She threw her phone on the couch.

At 9am, Caleb showed up at her office unannounced.

No laptop. No suit. Jeans, plain black tee, and sunglasses. He looked like a different person. A human person.

“You paid me,” Maya said the second he walked in.

“I did.” He sat on the leather couch. The no-crying couch. “You saved me last night.”

“I did my job.”

“No,” Caleb said. “Your job was to make me dateable. What you did was make me not look pathetic. That’s different.”

Maya crossed her arms. “So what now? We’re done? Your ex is engaged. Contract’s void.”

Caleb took off his sunglasses. He looked tired. “No. Contract’s not void.”

“What?”

“I still need help,” he said. “Just... not with Lena.”

Maya’s stomach dropped. “With what then?”

“With me,” he said simply. “You said it yourself. I outsourced my whole life. I don’t know how to be a person. And last night, for 10 minutes at that taco table, I felt like one. Because of you.”

Maya looked away. “That’s dangerous, Hart.”

“I know,” he said. “That’s why I’m telling you to your face. 60 days. Still $50k. But new goal: Make Caleb Hart someone worth dating. Even if it’s not me dating you.”

The air in the office felt heavy.

“Rule 1 still stands,” Maya said, voice tight. “No falling for the client.”

“Rule 1,” Caleb nodded. “Got it.”

“Rule 2: No lying.”

“Got it.”

“Rule 3: If you flirt, you pay $10k.”

Caleb smiled. That dangerous one from Chapter 1. “Noted, Coach.”

Maya sighed. She was so screwed. “Fine. New assignment. Today. No phone. No work. We’re going to Barton Springs.”

“The public pool?”

“Yes. You’re going to swim. And talk. And be bad at something in public.”

Two hours later they were at Barton Springs. Austin heat, cold water, kids screaming.

Caleb was terrible at swimming. He sank. Like, actually sank.

Maya had to pull him up. “You’re a billionaire and you can’t swim?!”

“I grew up in Palo Alto! We had pools! With lanes!” He was sputtering and laughing. “Save me, Coach!”

She did. She pulled him to the edge and he was dripping and smiling and for a second Maya forgot every rule she’d ever made.

Her phone buzzed in her bag. Unknown number.

_“Ms. Rhodes, this is Victor Bennet from Bennet Global. I’d like to discuss your client Caleb Hart. It’s urgent.”_

Maya’s blood went cold. Bennet Global. Caleb’s biggest competitor. The company trying to force him out of his own board.

She looked up. Caleb was still in the water, hair wet, smiling at her like she was the only person in the pool.

She didn’t tell him about the text.

Not yet.