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"I talk sometimes when I’m nervous," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. "I just—"
She pushed her bangs to the side as he tilted his head. "What were you doing with Alec Reyes?"
Her hand paused on her bangs as she frowned at him. "You know him?"
The man contemplated her. "Our paths have crossed." Vague.
"He was my boyfriend until that night," she informed him.
"What happened that night?"
You happened.
"His dick fell into someone's vagina. Repeatedly."
“Ah." Ah. What was that 'ah'?
She didn’t voice that thought though.
He straightened from the desk suddenly and went to sit behind it in the large chair, the room seeming more spacious with him seated. "So, how can I help you, Zephyr?"
She loved the way he said her name. Zey-furr. She’d purr if she were a cat at the way he said it, probably go into heat too and rub all over him.
Not the time.
Swallowing, she crossed her arms over her chest to hide her nipples, noticing the way his eye dropped to her cleavage before coming back to her face. Good. He was attracted to her. That was important.
"I..." she hesitated, not even sure how to voice it.
He waited patiently.
And then she blurted out the words that had been on the tip of her brain for two weeks.
"Marry me."
Silence.
She'd surprised him. She could see that on his half-scowling face. He sat back in his chair, his single eye intense on her. "Excuse me?"
This would be the tough part, convincing him that it was nothing but a marriage of convenience, a quid pro quo scheme. But she’d come prepared.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the chair in front of his desk and took a seat, earnestly trying to make it make sense. She had the whole plan, had practiced it on Zen that morning, much to her sister's exasperation. Desperate times and all.
"Okay," there went nothing. "My grandmother, bless her soul, was batshit crazy. She had these old family relics and heirlooms that have been in our family for multiple generations, and she left it all to me, on the condition that I’m married by my twenty-ninth birthday, which is in two weeks. Don't ask me why, I still haven't figured it out. They're important to my family, and I want to pass them on to my kids too someday, which was why I was ready to settle down with Alec. But Alec is… controlling. He will never accept that I rejected him, and he’ll try to interfere so I can’t find someone else in time however he can. I wasn’t in love with him, even though I did try. But..." she paused, trying to rein her emotions back in as she talked to him, his presence alone wreaking havoc inside her.
"Go on," he prompted, his large arms resting on the arms of his chair, his golden eye sharp on her.
Zephyr exhaled heavily. "That night, I felt a connection to you. Then I found out who you were and you're probably the only guy in the city who can make Alec shit his pants, pardon my language. And then I got the idea that I could kill two birds with one stone. Believe it or not, I don’t go around proposing to random strangers. I know you don’t know me, but I'm a great person to have around. So… will you marry me? Only for like six months? My grandmother's will would be executed by then, and Alec would have gone down a peg, and then we can go our ways. And it won't be too bad. I mean we have really hot chemistry and I’m a nice person and you seem like a solid guy and I just want to—"
"Breathe."
Zephyr paused, inhaled and told herself to calm down. She was talking a mile a minute but she was nervous. This was a risk. If he said yes, she would have a great story to tell their grandkids. If he said no, she didn’t know what she would do. Her grandmother’s will, while important, was more of an excuse now; her primary goal with this venture was him.
Zephyr leaned forward as she pleaded with him. "Please."
Alpha watched her for a few minutes, contemplating something before he finally spoke. "And why would I agree?"
Zephyr felt her heart triple in its beat. “Because I've heard you haven't been with a woman in a while, Mr. Villanova. And you'd have me, and I'm fantastic in bed if I say so myself. I also have something of yours. And for six months of your life, I’ll return the secret back to you.” She leaned forward earnestly. “Be my husband, and I’m yours. You have nothing to lose, and so much to gain. I’ll happily be your friend, your lover, your wife, whatever you need.”
She could see he was intrigued.
“I’ll sign a prenup,” she continued, making it clear she didn't want his assets, at least not the financial ones. “At the end of six months when we part ways, I’ll take nothing.”
He tapped the top of the chair with his fingers, a scar on the back of his hand going up his arm. “So you know something about me, and if I marry you, I’ll get the secret and get you?”
Zephyr kept her eyes steady on him even as her fingers gripped her dress.
“Yes.”
