AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I scoff, a knee jerk reaction that is protective by nature. “What are you talking about?”
Kaden is grinning on one side of his face, a crooked, excited smile. He touches my wrist as it rests against the table, and shock surges through my heart.
“Hear me out for a second,” he begins. “It would be a fake marriage, of course. I need to wed in order to inherit my grandfather’s fortune. So we get married, likely for about a year, and get the money. We can divorce after that, and I’ll help you use some of the money to settle everything. The cost of your mother’s medication, debts, anything. You won’t even have to think about it while you’re married to me. You’ll also get one million dollars for helping me out.”
Kaden’s smirk remains, likely aware of how absurd his proposal is. He knows this is ridiculous, but he does not seem to care. Once again, the man boggles my mind and leaves me reeling.
I settle into the booth, pulling my hand from his. He calmly takes his own hand back, showing no sign of offense. His face looks eager, waiting expectantly for my answer.
“So you’re asking me – after not seeing me for nearly five years – to go in on a fake marriage with you?” I say, continuing to scoff. “Why on earth would you pick me for something like this?”
Kaden leans his chin on his palm, his stare one of amusement and curiosity. He has yet to look away, even down to his mug. Still, he says nothing in response. I wonder if he has any intention of answering my question.
My thoughts begin to indulge in enticing fantasies during the silence, taking note of the sharpness of his jaw, his teeth, the eye candy my body would submit into tasting easily. He has always been attractive, a trait that has not diminished with time. I wiggle in the booth, crossing my legs to distract myself from the way they start to burn.
I blink heavily and clear my throat. His expression is still full of ego, likely enjoying the power he has over my previously dormant sexual feelings. “Are you going to answer my question, Kaden?”
He finally leans back, his icy blue eyes scanning my lips, my neck, but never going down past my collarbone. A part of me wants him to ogle me, to look at my breasts, imagine his hands massaging them.
“I think that it is something that will be mutually beneficial, that is all. I hadn’t thought of it until I saw you right here, right now, to be honest.”
I nod, peeling my gaze from his, pretending to mull over his proposition. He isn’t completely wrong, but I am not sure how I am going to explain to my mother that I am going to marry a man just for the money. It all sounds so old fashioned and, frankly, boring.
But I will not lie to myself and say that getting to be around Kaden wouldn’t be thrilling. My body is responding to his presence in a way it hasn’t responded in years.
So I do the smart thing and let it breathe. “Give me a few days to think about it,” I say, rising from the booth. “I’ll give you my number.”
Kaden nods silently, handing me his phone already opened to his contact list. I hand him mine, and we trade information. Then we trade back. He is confident, almost smug, as he takes his phone back, flashing me a broad, steady smile.
“I look forward to hearing from you,” he says.
I have to force my legs, which suddenly feel like jelly, to spin around after bidding him farewell. I go back to work without having eaten lunch and bury myself in work, thinking that the distraction will stop my spinning mind.
I work past five, wanting to get a lot done before the next day swarms me with documents and calls all over again. I leave around 8 p.m., taking a cab home to avoid walking in the dark alone. When I get inside the apartment I share with my mother, I flick on the light.
It’s a bleak place, dull and without personality. But it has the minimum requirements a person needs in a living space, which is all I need for now. I toss my purse onto the couch and bolt into the kitchen, pouring myself a stiff whiskey in a plastic cup.
I take a quick look around, realizing my mother is already in bed for the night. With her heart condition, early nights and fatigue are not uncommon. I watch her sleep for a moment, verifying that everything is okay, then return to the living room.
I wander over to the window that looks out over the street. Headlights from cars blink as they pass by, unaware of my ruminating presence. I think about Kaden, his proposal, how different but the same he is from all those years ago.
I had been desperate back then. My father had died in a car crash and left a crippling debt on my and my mother’s shoulders. And there was Kaden, emerging from the fog to let us breathe and handle the burden. It is the only time I would let a man think he could take care of me, especially when it came to money.
Most men tend to think women are like piggy banks. You put money in and sex falls out. But Kaden had never expected that. That only made him more appealing. That is what now has me standing here, licking my lips and thinking about him in the most inappropriate ways.
He was confident, refined, so sure of himself today. He knows a fake marriage is absurd. But it was like he was looking into my soul, seeing my own repressed need for adventure as readable as the pages of a book.
His argument is certainly valid. I could finally pay off all my debt. I could pay for mother’s heart medications without feeling like I am barely keeping my head above water. Plus, I would be on the arm of one of the most gorgeous men in the universe, as his wife. To be honest, there isn’t much about this deal that turns me off.
I shoot back the rest of the whiskey and slam the cup down roughly. I run my hand through my hair in front of the window as spatters of rain begin to fall. I hold my hands there, staring outside and imagine him coming up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and nipping at the subtle skin on my neck.
My body warms up like a volcano. I let my hair drop and let out a heaving sigh.
This is a dangerous proposal to accept. The way Kaden sees through me with that high-powered perception of his is dangerous. But I haven’t dabbled in danger in a very long time. My soul is riveted, and I am thirsty for something beyond the agony of the mundane.
I run my hands over my body, looking over at the arched back of my own silhouette, envisioning what we would look like together as husband and wife.
4
