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“You don’t have any other options.” Lifting my wrist, I check the time on the watch my grandfather gave me at my college graduation. I’m already late for the next meeting, but I have no intention of leaving this office until she’s understood that tomorrow she’ll be meeting me at the altar whether she likes it or not.
Her eyes drop to the floor as she shuffles her feet. “I’ll think of something else.”
My head shakes. “You don’t have the time. By tomorrow night, he’ll have that video and all of the pictures out to every publication because he’s sick and twisted.” I scratch the back of my neck, wishing she’d just agree to this so I can leave this office and no longer be alone with her. “The only way to make it stop is for you and I to be married. I’ll grant the media outlets interviews and photoshoots with us. Every single one of them will know not to run anything about you unless it’s approved by me first.”
She works her bottom lip between her teeth as she thinks through my words. I try not to be offended by the apprehensive look on her face. She isn’t my first choice either—but no one would be. I didn’t have any particular wish to get married until this opportunity fell into my lap. Now, I can’t deny how much we gain by helping the Bishops, by having me marry her.
“How long?” she asks, catching me off guard.
“What?”
“How long do we have to be married? This isn’t for love. Iwant to marry someone I love. So how long am I expected to stay married to you? What will stop him from releasing it after we get a divorce? I wouldn’t be under your family’s protection anymore, after all.”
I roll my lips together as I attempt to hide my smile from her. Damn. She’s surprising me at every turn.
“There’s no set time limit. We can discuss years down the road possibly if you wish. Then you’ll be free of me and free to choose whomever you want to marry…forlove,” I finish sarcastically.
“I don’t like that answer,” she fires back immediately.
I move off the wall, rounding the desk so I stand right in front of her. She’s cornered. There’s nowhere for her to go. She’s way too close again, her sweet scent overwhelming my senses.
Winnie tries to get away from me by fully pressing her body against the window. Her palms lie flat against the glass, her chest rising and falling with quick breaths. Against my better judgment, I crowd her space. Our chests barely press against one another.
If someone were to walk in, this position might look far less innocent than it actually is. I don’t care how it looks. I want to get my point across and maybe even get under her skin in the process.
“You’re in no place to negotiate,” I tell her, my eyes roaming her face. The daylight from the window shines against her pale skin, showing the slightest splatter of freckles along her cheek. It doesn’t look like she’s had any kind of sun recently, so I’m wondering if these are permanently etched into her skin.
“We’ll be married for one year,” she negotiates. Her eyes briefly flash to my lips before her aquamarine eyes meet my gaze. “And we’ll tell people it was an amicable split. That we support each other fully. Maybe people will even see us having lunch or something after like a couple of friends. That way, Blake doesn’t try anything even after we’re done.”
I resist the urge to tell her that it won’t be toolong after we exchange vows that I’ll be paying Blake a little visit. Give me a few days, and I’ll make sure he never does anything to harm my wife or her reputation—even if she won’t always be my wife.
“I don’t see the point in negotiating with people when I already hold all of the power. Seems like a waste of breath to me.”
My fingers twitch at my sides as I ache to reach out and run them through the locks of her red hair. It seems even brighter underneath the morning sunlight. Even though she has it neatly pulled back away from her face, bringing more attention to her sharp cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes.
“You’re getting so much from my family. And I get it. You’re doing us a huge favor. But can we agree to one year?Please.” The last word is said so softly, so desperate, that it does something to my heart. I haven’t felt bad for someone in a really long time. In fact, I can’t recall the last time I felt remorse. But for the briefest of moments, I feel it with the pleading look in her eyes and the way her words get cut off with her plea.
She’s right. My father went back and forth with Spencer so much that he ended up getting a far better deal in this agreement. If she only wants to be chained to me for a year to help prevent a scandal, it still works out fine for me and my family. We’ll have a stake in the company far longer after our divorce papers are finalized.
“We’lldiscussour arrangement again in one year,” I answer, trying to ignore the way my chest feels heavy at the smile I’ve earned from her.
“Yeah?” She shifts slightly, making our bodies press against one another more for a fraction of a second.
“Don’t get your hopes up. We might find this arrangement needs to last far more than a year. But I’m open to discussing it. No matter the length of this marriage, it has to seem real, and it has to seem realimmediately. Are you ready for that?”
At first, she doesn’t answer. She takes so long I wonder if she intends on answering at all. Maybe she doesn’t care about herfather’s company. Maybe she doesn’t care about her reputation and I’ve read her all wrong.
Or maybe she’s just trying to pretend like she has some sense of control in a situation where everyone knows she doesn’t have any at all.
She lowers her head and speaks to the ground. “Tell me what you want.”
CHAPTER 6
WINNIE
I’m way tooclose to ArcherMoore. His smell surrounds me, and he smells far better than any other man I’ve ever been around. It’s rich but deep. One of those smells that’ll stick with me even after he leaves my presence. All of the men who ask me to dance with them at parties or take me on dates all wear the same three colognes. It’s as if they don’t realize that they all smell exactly the same.
He doesn’t.
