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“Sophie is gutted, as you can imagine.”
I feel a sharp pang in my chest. “How is she?” How could I have forgotten to ask about Dmitri’s daughter? So thoughtless. Being so lost in my own grief is no excuse. We’re all going through it.
“Physically, the doctors expect Sophie to make a full recovery.” Jayson grimaces. “However, I am not so confident about her mental state. She still doesn’t seem to fully grasp her father’s death.”
“That’s understandable.” I can relate. I’m nowhere near accepting my own father’s passing. It still seems like he’s going to come around the corner, rub my shoulder and ask me what I want for dinner. But, it’s been less than a week, and I know it will take time—for both me and Sophie. But where will she go? “What happens to Sophie now?”
“There is an aging aunt in Greece who will look after her, but Sophie is begging me not to send her away. Her life is here in New York, and she knows nothing of our homeland, aside from vacations spent on Trini Island and occasional visits to Greece.” Jayson leans forward, folding his hands together. “As such, I have agreed to keep her here, with me.”
I nod. “That sounds like the best solution. She’s already lost so much. It wouldn’t be fair to make her lose everything else.”
“I’m pleased you agree.” A strange expression lights his face. It sends a shiver down my spine, though I can’t say why.
“Back to my business proposition,” he says briskly. “I want you to marry me.”
I gasp. “Are you insane?” Jayson proposing marriage is almost as big a bombshell as Dad’s death. He’s the man I dream about, not a man I actually marry.
“Probably,” he says with a hint of tiredness. “Yet, I see no other option.”
“I don’t need you to take care of me, especially not by marrying me.” Briefly, I entertain the idea of what I might have said if Jayson proposed in other circumstances. Considering up till now he’s barely known that I’m alive, there would never be any other circumstances besides these improbable ones.
“It isn’t to take care of you, Harper. Well, I suppose it is in some ways. You’ll be well provided for, and I’ll make sure you have a more than generous settlement when we divorce.”
My eyes narrow. “I haven’t even agreed to marry you, and you’re already discussing getting a divorce?”
Jayson sighs. “Here’s the thing: I’m proposing a temporary arrangement, Harper. Let me assure you, the idea of marrying someone I barely know is as strange for me as it is for you.”
I look at him, dumbfounded. “What do you need me for? If you’re looking for a marriage of convenience, for whatever reason, I’m pretty sure you’d have a hundred candidates volunteering within an hour.” I force back a twinge of jealousy I realize I have no right to feel. But it’s true; Jayson is a hot commodity. Rich, sophisticated, and above all, incredibly sexy. He doesn’t need me.
“I could find someone else,” he concedes, “but that wouldn’t help Sophie.”
I stop short at the mention of his niece. “What about Sophie?”
“She needs someone she knows to be here for her. I’ll be tied up for months trying to step in for Dmitri. I’ll have to learn his duties and start running a company I never expected to inherit. I want Sophie to have someone with her, someone who loves her as much as I do.” He leans a little closer and I catch a whiff of his cologne. It’s woody, masculine. A hint of citrus. “I know you’re fond of her, Harper. And she’s fond of you as well.”
I nod. Sophie’s only five years younger than I am, and we became friends during the years Mitch worked for Dmitri. “Of course I am, Jayson. I’d be happy to help with Sophie.”
He nods. “Good. I’ll sort out the arrangements. A civil service with a justice of the peace seems like it’ll be the quickest, easiest way.”
I put up my hand. “Hang on a second here, Jayson. I didn’t agree to marry you. Why should we get married just so I can help with Sophie?”
The intensity of his almost-black eyes makes me squirm as he stares at me. “You know that Sophie lost her mother three years ago when she had an aneurysm.” At my nod, he continues. “Of course Dmitri loved Sophie, but you know how busy he was, and when he remarried, there was even less time for her.”
“Not to mention, Sophie didn’t get along so well with Ione,” I add ruefully. Ione was her mother Althea’s social secretary. After his first wife’s death, Dmitri hired her as his assistant, and he married her less than a year later. Ione was a beautiful young woman, and she wanted no competition from her beautiful young stepdaughter, either for Dmitri’s attention or anyone else’s. Sophie ended up at boarding school within months of the marriage.
“In a sense, everyone Sophie loves has abandoned her. Some by choice, some by fate.” He rubs his face once more, then runs his hand through his dark hair. “I need to provide her with a strong foundation.”
“I’m not going to leave her until she’s recovered,” I say.
Jayson shakes his head. “No way. She needs more permanence, more security, than having just a companion could provide. Not to mention, living in my home would destroy your reputation if we aren’t married.”
I gape at him. “Are you serious? It’s the twenty-first century. Who cares about that sort of thing?”
“I care,” he says coldly, making me flinch. “People will think you’re my mistress, and I can’t have that. You’ll have several new duties, including taking over some of Ione’s charitable affairs. In my social circle, you won’t receive the full respect you’re due if people think you’re sleeping with me without being married.”
I wince at his not-so-subtle reminder of the difference between our social classes. Jayson is a billionaire, and I’m just the daughter of a worker. But I can easily imagine the disapproval. The people Jayson knows are pretty self-important. “Why don’t you hire a social secretary? My school is forty minutes away. Sophie can move in with me for now, and we can reevaluate when she’s healthy.”
Jayson stands up, coming around the huge desk to sit on it near me, until he’s far too close for comfort. “You won’t be returning to school,” he says bluntly. “Your father left you no money for tuition. Your private college is expensive, and they don’t participate in federal financial aid programs.” At my surprised look, he says, “I checked.”
