The Arrangement

By Cristina Grenier

The last place Makayla Price ever expected to actually get accepted to is Columbia. Upon the arrival of her letter, however, she's ecstatic - at least until she comes to terms with her own financial shortcomings. She's prepared to accept disappointment, when a drunken night with her roommate lands her on one of the most eligible sugar baby sites in the country. Makayla is horrified to find that, not only does she have an account, but someone's willing to pony up every and anything she needs to send her to Columbia...for a price. 

Dominic West has always put his business first. He's never been a romantic, and the throngs of women after his money don't help. Makayla, however, is different. The agreement they stipulate gives him exactly what he needs, with none of the emotional entanglement. It's a perfect solution - at least until he realizes that tangling with the gorgeous pre-Med student is more than he bargained for. They've agreed that sex is completely off limits, but touch? Touch is something he can deal with, and something she desperately needs. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Monster Media LLC
• Release date: Mar 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386476474

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The Arrangement

Cristina Grenier

Prologue

She could always tell when she was getting close to her neighborhood. She knew the way by heart. The teenager had been walking it for the past three years - she probably could have done it with her eyes closed and her feet would have found the way.

But if she kept them open, the slow deterioration of the town began to show the moment she was beyond the main square.

Makayla had thought about it more than she liked to admit it, and she supposed that very few visitors actually went beyond the square. It was pretty, perfectly manicured, and lined with shops and restaurants that she could never hope to be able to afford. The length of real-estate that extended from the square to Trembley Academy was the public face of the town. Most of its sixty thousand residents had nice little cottages or brick houses just off Main Street. Personally, Makayla wasn’t even sure they were aware that Trembley went on beyond the square.

Every day when school ended, she left the pristine classrooms alone and tried to tell herself she didn’t long for the company of friends. Makayla was sure that it would only mean disaster if she got too close to anyone. She was only attending Trembley Academy because she had received a scholarship. She couldn’t imagine that any of the other students, who came from moneyed households and pampered lives, would be happy to learn that their sacred halls had been invaded by an outsider.

So, instead of approaching anyone, Makayla watched. She watched gaggles of girls gush over a different boy from one week to the next. She watched them involve themselves in extracurricular activities from art to mathematics, joining clubs that would take them all over the country for competitions. She watched them go on field trips that cost more money than she had ever seen in her life - watched them live and love their lives, and promised herself that, one day, she would be just like them.

But, in the meantime, she walked home every afternoon. She made sure no one watched as she passed beyond the square and the buildings became more and more sparse. Here, the economic trouble that had plagued the country in the past years was more apparent. More than half the shops had boarded up their windows and the people roaming the streets weren’t as well-dressed.

But they were far more like her than anyone at Trembley Academy.

Though she attended school there, in Makayla’s mind, the Academy wasn’t so much the real world as a haven made for young people to shelter them before it was time to emerge into it. At school, there were no fights. No screaming matches and no missed meals. As long as she continued to do well, she was just another student.

Her home situation couldn’t have been any more different.

The further she got from the square, the more dilapidated buildings grew. There were no longer any gleaming cars sitting out front of pretty little houses, but half run down apartment buildings with junkers on their withering grass lawns.

And still, she continued to walk.

Makayla had gotten robbed more than once coming home from school. She quickly learned not to carry any money with her - not that she had much in the first place, really - and to wrap her books in plastic for when they were eventually strewn over the dusty sidewalk. Luckily for her, today wasn’t one of those days.

She made it all the way down to the end of the main road before turning off onto one of the many side streets. Here, most of the street lights were burned out, but the town didn’t bother with repairs. Who would ever appreciate them? This wasn’t a tourist haven. They weren’t going to make any money here, which meant it was pointless to contribute.

But Makayla didn’t need the lights. She walked to the very end of the road, grateful that most of the houses seemed to be deserted. Only yesterday, someone had spotted her Academy uniform and called her an entire encyclopedia of nasty names- told her she was pandering to folks who didn’t give two shits about her. Makayla didn’t bother to correct them. She had long learned to let comments like theirs slide right off her.

There was a single lamp on in the front room of the ramshackle house where she lived. At the sight of it, the young woman hesitated, stopping at the end of the weed-clogged drive.

She didn’t want to go in.

She never wanted to go in.

But where else did she have to go? She should be grateful enough that they were even allowing her to attend Trembley Academy. If she asked for board, she was almost sure she would be refused - and besides, that might launch an inquiry into her situation at home.

Which was the last thing she needed.

Makayla was on her own, and she had been for a long time. She didn’t need anyone to help her. She just needed to tackle her days one at a time.

Taking a deep breath, she did her best to prepare herself for what she would see when she walked into her house. It was always the same, but that didn’t make it any better.

As she began up the walk, she promised herself that things would change. That one day, she would escape, and all this would just be a painful memory. She would rise above the world that had produced her, and she would prove that she was more than just her roots.

Someday, she would be free.

Chapter 1 - The Acceptance Letter

10 Years Later

Makayla! Makayla, wake up!

Groaning, the dark-haired woman pulled her pillow over her head and resolutely kept her eyes closed. She had just gotten to bed two or three hours ago after pulling a double at one of her jobs and she fully intended to sleep for the rest of the day.

When she realized the previous week that she was going to have a day off for the first time in six months, she made grandiose plans to go to the gym and get out of the apartment. Of course, now, those lofty goals were completely forgotten.

"Makayla!" Her door burst open, hitting the opposite wall with a sharp thunk. Makayla jumped, but still refused to remove the pillow from her head. Maybe if she pretended she was dead, her roommate would just go away. Makayla, it’s here!

Her eyes popped open.

Despite her exhaustion, Makayla bolted upright so quickly her head spun and she had to grasp at her headboard for purchase. Melody stood in front of her, looking as smug as a cat in cream. While Makayla was wearing a ratty pair of sleep shorts and a t-shirt that was three sizes too big for her, Melody looked as if she’d just returned from a clubbing session, despite the fact that it was just after ten in the morning.

At the sight of her friend’s long legs in a sparkly mini-skirt, Makayla arched a brow in inquiry. Did she really want to know?

Melody merely grinned at her. I just got home. I’ll give you the juicy details about last night later. She thrust a thick manila envelope at her sleepy friend and Makayla caught it in both hands. First, you have to open it.

Though she had known exactly what Melody was referring to when she said it, having the damned thing in her hands was more than enough to make Makayla anxious and nervous all at once.

Her hand trembling slightly, she traced her fingers over the return address in the upper left-hand corner.

Columbia University

College of Physicians and Surgeons

Office of Admissions

107 Haven Avenue, Room 105

New York, NY 10032

All at once, she didn’t know if she wanted to open it. It seemed like she had been waiting forever for this day.

Makayla recalled the moment six months ago when she had talked herself into applying. She had been finished with undergraduate for almost two years but found herself indecisive when it came to medical school. Of course, it wasn’t just the academic quality of the institution. For her, it was also about the cost.

Columbia was an immense stretch for her. An Ivy League school that she doubted would even glance at her application when they found that her undergrad degree was only from a lesser known college in the foothills of California somewhere. But still, a small voice inside her urged her to try. The same voice that had helped her to escape when she thought she’d never be able to.

And now, here she was.

She stared down at the envelope for a long time - long enough for Melody to get anxious herself.

The blonde merely scowled down at her, rocking back and forth in anxiety. "Jesus Christ, Kayla, are you trying to kill me? Open it."

Makayla merely glanced up at her before finally slitting the top of the envelope open with a fingernail. There was a thick sheaf of documents inside, but she only needed to see the one on top.

The moment she read the first word, her heart almost leapt out of her chest.

Congratulations.

Melody screamed. Actually screamed.

Makayla clutched the document vicelike in her hand, doing her best to read the rest of the acceptance letter - but the task became increasingly harder as her eyes filled with tears.

Congratulations. They had accepted her. Accepted her into Columbia University Medical School. Maybe she had fallen asleep after all and she was just dreaming all of this. But she was pretty sure she was awake - Melody was shaking her, hugging her - all but tackling her to the bed. "I told you! She insisted, her grin nearly splitting her face in two. I told you so!"

That she had. While Makayla told Melody she was only applying to Columbia for shits and giggles, her roommate and best friend saw straight through her. She was one of the few people who knew how hard Makayla had worked to get where she was in life - how many obstacles she had to overcome.

And she knew how much the younger girl wanted Columbia.

She, of course, was of the opinion that Makayla would be a shoe-in. Though she had gone to a smaller college, her undergraduate grades were perfect - and her MCAT scores were off the charts. When she suggested this to Makayla, however, the young woman had only told her that she would need more than that to get into one of the best medical schools in the country.

Makayla had never been so glad to be wrong.

Let me see, let me see! She laughed through her tears as Melody grabbed for the letter, giving it over to the blonde.

Even as her friend read it aloud, Makayla couldn’t believe it. She had been accepted to Columbia School of Medicine. Though she had known from a young age that she wanted to work in the medical field, she had never, in her wildest dreams, imagined that she would make it this far.

"Look at all this stuff. Melody had taken possession of the envelope and was looking through its contents excitedly. It’s got registration dates, housing information...it’s all here! They want you, Makayla."

It was, in part, the validation that she seemed to have been seeking her entire life - someone telling her she was worthy. But Makayla wasn’t naive enough to think it would be that easy.

Nothing ever was.

Somehow, she managed to get her papers back from Melody, and the two women settled in her bed to look over them more carefully. It was a lot of information to take in - where to report and when to do it by, the different types of physician classes you needed to take for your first year. Of course, every time she glanced at her admissions letter, Makayla’s spirits soared - but the last piece of paper in her packet was enough to bring her back to reality with a nasty jolt.

Tuition.

The number was in the five figures, per year, and though Makayla had been expecting it, her eyes widened.

There. There it was: Her obstacle.

At the sight of the numbers on paper, Melody snatched the paper away from her once more, her mouth dropping open. "Fifty thousand dollars? A year!? What the almighty fuck?"

Makayla forced a smile. "It’s one of the best schools in the country, Mel. And it’s in New York City. Are you really surprised?"

Melody scowled, setting the paper on Makayla’s bedside table before running a hand through her loose waves. Her expression turning contemplative, she chewed her lower lip. Maybe you can ask for scholarships. They gave them to you in high school, right?

Makayla couldn’t help the incredulous laugh that burst from her. "That was a private school in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. This is Columbia we’re talking about. I’m sure there are people who need it a lot more than I do."

Her words earned her a hard stare from her friend. What?

"Makayla Renee Price, don’t you dare start. There is no one who deserves this more than you. No one."

Her words were still echoing in Makayla’s ears when she settled down enough to attempt her nap once more. Of course, at this point, it was all but fruitless. She was too amped up after receiving her letter - and too disappointed with the knowledge that she’d never be able to afford to attend.

She closed her eyes tightly, wondering if there was any way she could work her way through med school, like she had her undergrad studies.

Of course, the school she attended in California was fairly cheap, and even then, she had to work two jobs to make it through. Hell, she was still working two jobs now to take care of the loans she’d taken out in her senior year.

Though Makayla was no stranger to hard work, she knew that trying to hold down two jobs while getting her MD was a stretch. No sane person would attempt it - especially just after moving to a new city.

Putting her pillow over her head, she tried not to think about it. She’d gotten in, hadn’t she? Her only goal had been to see if she would even be accepted. She hadn’t even really given any serious thought to going, had she?

How could she?

Sighing, she willed sleep to come. When she woke up, she would do her best to deal, as she always had. For the moment, she needed some well deserved rest -if she could get her overactive mind to gear down.

By the time Makayla got up that evening, she was irritable. The sleep she had was fitful, and plagued with dreams that involved her doing any number of things to get herself to New York City. As a result, she all but snarled at Melody on her way to the shower, and felt immediately guilty the moment she shut herself in the bathroom.

Wasn’t her acceptance letter supposed to have made her happy?

Resolving to apologize to her friend, she stared at herself in the mirror. Even though she’d been accepted to Columbia, nothing about her had really changed. She still saw the same person staring back at her. The same untamable curly hair, same dark circles under her hazel eyes, and the same tired frown she wore to work every day.

She was just a little ray of sunshine, wasn’t she?