A/N: So here's the next chapter, I'm losing my inspiration for this already and I have quite a ways to go. I'm already working on the next chapter and the one after that, fingers crossed I finish those quickly.
Not beta'd, any mistake are mine.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, not mine.
Chapter 4: We Have A Deal…
"Tell me about the money."
Rachel froze, the words ringing in her ears. Puck didn't move; he waited for Rachel to say or do something. After a beat, Rachel composed herself.
"H-how d-did you know that?"
It was a whisper that Puck wasn't even sure she had spoken. He stepped closer.
"How did you know that?" She asked even louder.
Puck thought for a moment, the truth?
He coughed, "I saw Artie, so I followed him."
He chuckled, "I saw him talkin' to you and I heard him say you owe him money?"
Rachel became enraged, "You were spying on me?"
Puck licked his lips, "Nope."
Rachel turned around and walked back to the railing, she let out a breath, and thought for a moment, could he be the one? Who else heard?
At that thought she whirled around and asked, "Who else knows? Besides you, did anyone else follow? Wh-"
He cut her off, "Babe, just me."
Rachel stomped her foot, Puck almost chuckled.
"Noah Puckerman, I am most certainly not your babe!" She let a growl; Puck quirked an eyebrow.
"You called me Noah, remembering the good old times?"
Rachel smiled, wait, Rachel you're supposed to be mad at him! Her face went stony and she sighed. Should I tell him? But he could be the one trying to shut you down. Can he be trusted?
She sighed again, might as well; he knows enough, "Alright, we'll discuss my… situation, but Noah, you must not tell anyone. It's imperative to my reputation and well truthfully no one else needs to know my business. I expect you disclose nothing and keep all aspects of any details to yourself."
Puck laughed, "Berry, I have no fuckin' clue what you just said; you coulda said all that in five words or less."
Rachel rolled her eyes, "Noah, I am quite certain that you have an understanding of my extensive vocabulary capabilities, furthermore, I will not 'dumb' myself down for anyone. More so for the fact-"
Puck took a step forward and interrupted her, "Berry, why do you need the money?"
He said it in a low grave voice that she gulped.
She was staring into his eyes and involuntarily licked her lips; she was stuck, her brain was sending the signals to move but her body refused to.
He moved from her eyes to her lips and noticed that they were wet with her saliva; if he took one more step he could kiss her.
She suddenly pulled back, the moment broken.
"I-I owe a million dollars," she started saying. "My studio is in trouble; I procured a loan in the amount of two million dollars from an anonymous investor about two years ago, under the guidance of Mr. Abrams. He assured me that I would not have complications of any sort from this loan; he had done a thorough inquiry on who this investor had helped and whether or not those individuals had had problems with him or her. Everything was going very well; I received the money and was able to expand my business, buy more space, hire additional instructors, and buy advertising and what not. I paid the first million dollars in a little over two years. Everything was copacetic, or so I thought; earlier this afternoon I met with Mr. Abrams amd he explained the issues."
She paused, "Noah, what am I going to do?"
She looked so worried; chewing on her bottom lip, tears threatening to fall, pacing back and forth, and all he could think of was that she looked breathtaking.
FUCK!
He ran a hand thorough his hair and blew out a breath, "Why don't you ask your dads for the money? Weren't they supporting you to make it big?"
Rachel laughed wryly, "Noah, I haven't spoken to them since I left Lima, almost eight years ago."
She sighed, "They wanted me to be someone, not famous for my acting, but someone who had a solid career. I couldn't depend on them; I started my studio with money my daddy's mother left when she died, it wasn't a lot, just enough for the down payment of my location, hire two dance instructors and the first three months of rent for the space."
oo
Rachel was extremely excited, today was the day; after having looked at almost six different locations, she had found The One. No not for marriage or anything like that. Her studio was finally starting to become reality.
Her real estate agent was exasperated with her, though she would never tell Rachel that; Mercedes was too much of her friend and knew Rachel too well to tell her off.
She had shown Rachel a space that was up to her standards, it was in a quiet neighborhood, surrounded by other businesses, and it was at her price level.
"Mercedes, I love it! It's the perfect size, and I can see the other shops, I think this is it."
Rachel had a wide smile on her face, her eyes shining and she could feel a giggle escape her mouth. She had found it!
She walked in and noticed that it did need some work; the paint chipping off the walls, she wrinkled her nose, a strange smell seemed to emanate from the floors, and the front windows were covered with yellowed out newspapers. She could see that the space was old and had been abandoned for some time.
Mercedes clapped her hands, "Great, let's go to my office and finish the paperwork and if we get everything signed today; it's yours."
Kurt squealed, having been forgotten by both woman, and hugged Rachel. "Rachel, we have to go shopping, these walls are dreadful; grey clashes with my skin tone, and yours."
He shook his head. "We need 500 ccs of color. Stat."
Rachel giggled. "Kurt, all in due time. The space has not even been acquired yet, but I promise; only Kurt Hummel will decide how the studio will be decorated."
Kurt held out his pinky, Rachel placed hers in his.
"Pinky promise."
oo
Rachel held back her tears; it was really starting to hit her, the more she talked about it, the more it became real.
Puck blew out a breath; she was going to lose all of it, not just her business, but her home, her life, and then he thought for a moment.
She could help him and in return he would help her, but would she really go along with it? He felt confident that she would, she was desperate.
Chicks would do anything for money.
Now to convince her.
He cleared his throat, "So, I could give you the money?"
Rachel raised her head, was he serious? "You mean you would loan me the money?"
He shook his head, "Nope."
Rachel furrowed her eyebrows, "Noah, I am not in the mood for this. What game are you trying to play?"
Puck wanted to laugh, this girl was smart; he stepped closer and simply said, "Let's negotiate."
Rachel laughed, "What? Negotiate? Don't be ridiculous Noah! I have nothing of value, what would you want from me?"
Puck dropped his eyes to her toes and slowly made his way up; lingering on her legs, then traveling up her body. His eyes stopped at her chest, taking his time to inch closer and closer until he met her eyes.
Rachel was blushing, her body was responding just to his gaze, electricity crackling in the air, and started to feel desire start to pool between her thighs.
Rachel had to push that down to be able to concentrate, she suddenly became angry sputtering out her response, "I think that you are a pig Mr. Puckerman, I am not for sell! Most certainly I am not one of those, those whores-"
Puck held up his hand, "Whoa Berry, I don't have to pay for sex, 'sides, who wouldn't wanna a ride on the Puckerone Express? I ain't askin' for that, but remember that night we had?"
Rachel flustered but then looked him, what does he want?
"What do you want then?" She asked.
Welp, here goes nothin'.
"Marry me; Ma won't get off my ass to marry 'a nice Jewish girl' and pretty much have her 'perfect Jewish grandbabies'."
She stopped listening after he said 'marry me', everything else was ignored. Marry him? Her logical side was quick to say 'no', but her desperate side thought about it for a minute. No, absolutely not! No, no, no-
"You want me to marry to get your mother off your back? Noah, lie to her? I cannot have that on my conscious; marriage is sanctity, a very very important decision not to be made lightly. On top of that would we have a wedding? Invite our family and friends to be a part of this sham? No, I cannot have our friends be a part of something so deceitful; I could not live with myself knowing I have been part of something so immoral. So my answer is no, Noah, I cannot get married to you."
Rachel felt she had been straight forward, he seemed less than satisfied with the answer, but she decided to leave and forget this entire mess.
She was ready to retreat when he said, "Engaged then."
She stopped, an engagement? Again, her logical side screamed no, no- but then she thought about it, an engagement didn't always mean marriage, a broken one was less deceitful than a mirage of something to never come.
She gnawed her lip; she was sure somehow down the line she was going to pay for this. It screamed KARMA, but she relented; could my mind be muddled by the debt?
Clearly my reasoning is off, because in no other circumstance would I even consider this.
He licked his lips, she had a look in her eye that told him that no way in hell was she going to accept; Shit, messed up already, stuck my damn foot in my fuckin' mou-
"Deal."
Puck's eyes widened in surprise, seriously?
Rachel sighed and nodded, "Yes, I am shocked as well; but given that an engagement is not something as catastrophic as a broken marriage, are the only reasons I can even begin to stomach the consequences. Now, given that this is nothing more than a business negotiation, I have a few stipulations you would have to agree to."
Puck shrugged his shoulders, "Ok."
Shit, there's always a catch.
Rachel clasped her hands together, "Very well, this will not be a long engagement, no more than six months, we have been a couple for a few months and have decided we are ready to take the next step. There will be no planning as we have decided to have a small civil ceremony and an even smaller reception; I am not going to send out invitations or save the dates. I expect fidelity, which is not negotiable; if unfaithfulness were to occur, then be rest assured that there will be consequences. Do we have a deal?"
She held out her hand fully expecting him to shake it.
Instead he had a grin on his face, "Hold up, I have one uh, 'stipulation' I wanna add."
Rachel had a horrified look on her face, oh no, what else?
Puck thought for a moment, "You have to come live with me. In my bed."
Rachel froze. "You want us to have sex?" she squeaked out.
Puck chuckled, "Our engagement has to be legit, I live in a big house with housekeepers; they could talk, find out it ain't real. Imagine one of them calling my ma and telling her we aren't a real couple; she wouldn't shit a brick, she'd shit a house. Living together, take it or leave it."
Rachel wrung her hands together, she wanted to walk away; this was not part of the plan.
"I can't." she finally said, "No."
Puck gave a dismissive shrug, "S'whatever then."
She watched him walk away and instead of seeing him, she saw her studio; everything gone in the blink of an eye.
"Wait."
He stopped and turned around. "We have a deal."
Puck arched an eyebrow; good, he thought. He reached into his front pocket and handed Rachel his card.
"Good, here's my card. Call my office and I'll let Tina know to give you directions to my house here in New York. Now, to make this official."
He pulled her towards him and kissed her, she was taken aback for a moment but gave in; his lips firm and soft, he bit her lip softly and beckoned for her to part her lips for him. His hands were on her waist, rubbing circles into her hip bones; they were starting to wrap around her, her arms were wrapped around his neck, desperate to pull him as close as she could to her.
She felt heat engulf her body, his tongue slipped into her mouth and she felt a thrill run her body; shivering with lust and want, the need to feel him inside her.
They finally parted, Puck slowly pushing himself back. Rachel had to regain her composure, her legs were wobbly and she could barely stand up straight. He fixed a strand of hair that had gotten loose from behind her ear, she gave him a shy smile, and he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.
"Later Berry."
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