The Arrangement Duet Box Set

by Madison Quinn

  I was surprised last night when Carter told me she contacted him wanting to pick up a bottle of wine. Kenzie isn’t a drinker. In fact, she has never requested a drink when we’ve been out; she only accepts one if offered. I don’t know if she wanted a glass of wine to relax and help her make a decision or if she was trying to let a little of her past go. Whatever the reason, I thought it might be helpful to have some here to offer her. I probably should have done this yesterday when I first proposed this new arrangement; I was too fucking nervous to even think about that. Nicholas Parker… nervous. Nicholas Parker doesn’t do nervous; I’m in control of too much to be nervous.

  “Mr. Parker, Ms. Rose has arrived,” Carter informs me just as Julie slips out of my office.

  “Kenzie, please come in,” I gesture to the chair where she sat just yesterday afternoon, which for some reason seems like a lifetime ago. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

  “Please,” she says, sitting down.

  I hand her the glass of wine with a shaking hand; I can’t remember the last time I was ever this unsure of myself. If she says no to this new arrangement, I don’t know what I will do to save PFS. I can only hope that she isn’t saying no; maybe she just has questions or wants something else besides the condo and her schooling paid for. At this point she could ask me for anything and I would give it to her if it meant she would agree to the arrangement.

  “So…” I have no idea how to begin this conversation.

  “I had a couple of questions…” she rings her hands in her lap letting me know that she is just as nervous as I am, although I’m not sure why she would be nervous seeing that I’m the one with everything riding on this proposal.

  “I thought you might,” I can’t help but smile as I try to break the tension between us. “Let’s start at the beginning. Are you in agreement to the length of the proposed marriage?”

  “Yes… I mean it seems to make sense. We need to stay married for a minimum of eighteen months unless it is mutually agreed upon that we divorce prior to that time.”

  “Correct, essentially it leaves an opening if my team is able to resolve the issue with the press, but if we can’t, the marriage still appears long enough to not raise suspicion. I want to point out, though, that it’s a minimum of eighteen months; it’s very possible we would need to maintain this arrangement longer.”

  “I understand… but I would like to add a clause that enables the arrangement to be ended prior to the eighteen month time frame.”

  “What sort of a clause?”

  “I… I want an out clause,” she says so quickly that I barely understand what she said.

  “An out clause.”

  “Please… don’t take offense to what I’m asking. This… this is just something I need.”

  “Okay… what would this clause entail?” I’m still nervous but at the same time I am moving into business mode. Negotiating contracts is what I do on a daily basis; if Kenzie wants to negotiate the prenup, I’m all for it because that means she is more likely to agree to the arrangement.

  “I want it noted that I can walk away from the marriage, but still retain the condo, under certain conditions.”

  “What would those conditions be?” My interest is piqued as to what conditions she would see the need to end our arrangement prior to the agreed upon time frame. One thing I won’t agree to is ending this arrangement if she fell in love with someone else. It’s selfish, I know, but how would it look if my marriage suddenly ends and she is seen with another man? I can’t have that—

  “If… if you intentionally cause me physical injury or if you are arrested for a violent crime,” her voice is barely above a whisper and her eyes are glued to the floor.

  My initial reaction is anger—I’m angry that she could even think that I would hurt her or anyone else. I take several deep breaths trying to process what she just said, when it finally hits me why she’s adding this clause. It’s not because of me; this is because of that fucker who hurt her before. My anger doesn’t diminish, but it is no longer focused on Kenzie; instead it is on the piece of shit who hurt her. I make a mental note to follow up with Carter to determine where the fuck we are in finding out who this shithead is.

  “I will agree to that.”

  “Really?” her eyes find mine and I see the surprise in them. I guess she expected a different response; she likely expected me to be angry at her suggesting there was even a need for that clause.

  “Kenzie… I hope you know that I would never, ever intentionally hurt you. I am not him; I am nothing like that asshole, I swear to you—“

  “I know you’re not, Nicholas. You need to understand: when I met my ex, I thought he was the nicest guy I had ever met. He charmed me completely; looking back there were tons of red flags that I should have seen but I didn’t. By the time I finally realized what was going on, it was too late; he had already taken complete control over my life. He made me quit my job, which meant I had no money of my own; I couldn’t leave him even if I had wanted to. When I was finally able to leave, I swore I would never allow myself to be put in situation like that again. I never want to have to choose between my safety and having a roof over my head. I need… I need this in there for me. I need to know that I’m not trapped if things suddenly turn and everything I thought I knew about you ends up not being true.”

  “I understand, Kenzie. I’ll have your out clause added to the prenup. I don’t want you to ever feel trapped with me, especially if we move forward with this new arrangement.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that.”

  “What other questions do you have?”

  “How would this look? I mean… who would know that this wasn’t a real marriage?”

  “No one; just you and me. Well, I suppose Carter and Julie would piece it together eventually, but it is not something that should be disclosed to anyone. Just like our current arrangement with Bridget, the less people who know the better.”

  “Speaking of Bridget, how exactly would that work? I mean, surely she would be upset with this? We’re essentially taking her money away, right?”

  “I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing the contract we have and there are several termination clauses in there. One such clause allows for us to engage in a romantic relationship outside of the contract with her. I would meet with her, explain that you and I have fallen in love while spending time together under her contract and will be moving forward with our relationship.”

  “That’s it? She would just let us break the contract?”

  “Not exactly… as with most business contracts, there’s a penalty that would be paid to break the contract with this clause.”

  “A penalty?”

  “More of a fine I guess you could say. I would make a final payment to her in exchange for the termination of both of our contracts.”

  “Oh…”

  “I don’t expect any problems to come from terminating the contract; the clause is in there for a reason, so I’m sure this is not the first time that clients are requesting to terminate the contract to engage in a personal relationship.”

  “That makes sense. I remember her saying that some clients have fallen in love, even if that wasn’t the intention of the arrangement.”

  “Don’t worry about Bridget, if you agree to this new arrangement I will take care of her.”

  “Your family… they wouldn’t know about… this?”

  “No, they would believe, like everyone else, that we are getting married for love. Does that bother you?”

  “I… I kind of feel like we’re deceiving them.”

  “We are… but they won’t get hurt from it.”

  “I like your family; I’ve enjoyed spending time with them. I don’t want them to hate me when this ends.”

  “They won’t, Kenzie, I promise. We will present the dissolve of our marriage as an amicable one—we’ll come up with something so neither of us are at fault for the ending. I won’t let your name get dragged through the mud by anyone
, including my family.”

  “I just don’t want to hurt them.”

  “You won’t. My family would be thrilled if we were to get married; they adore you as it is. You won my mother over when you stayed the weekend with me. Even my mother said, what you did that weekend was something my ex never would have done.”

  “She wouldn’t have taken care of you if you were sick?”

  “She wouldn’t have cancelled her plans and given up her entire weekend to take care of me. That just wasn’t the type of person she was. If there wasn’t something in it for her, she didn’t want to be involved. My family knows you’re not like that, which is one of the reasons why they like you so much. When the time comes, we will find a way to explain the end of our marriage to everyone so that neither of us is to blame.”

  “When we do end this arrangement, what happens to us? I mean…”

  “I would hope we could remain friends, Kenzie. I’ve enjoyed spending time with you, and I don’t expect that to change just because we are no longer in an arrangement together. I’d like to remain friends with you after this is over; maybe go to dinner or something to catch up.”

  “I’d like that too.”

  Noting her glass is empty, I refill it without asking. I’m determined to slowly undo all of the things that the asshole did to her, especially the rules he put in place, which she still subconsciously follows. I have no intention of getting her drunk, especially when we need to have a serious discussion, but I want her to eventually become comfortable enough to have more than one drink with me. Although, part of me can’t help but wonder what she’s like when she has a little too much to drink. Does she get silly? Flirty? Does she speak her mind?

  “So, there’s one other thing…”

  “What is it, Kenzie?” She suddenly looks nervous again.

  I thought she had finally relaxed but her voice is shaky again which makes me a little concerned about what she’s going to say next. I don’t think she realizes that she has all the power in this negotiation; that whatever she asks for I will give her if it means she will agree to this new arrangement with me.

  “Kenzie?” I encourage her by squeezing her hand.

  “The extramarital affair clause… I want it removed.”

  Okay… not at all what I was expecting. I was prepared for her to ask for a monetary settlement, some type of a weekly paycheck or something. I was not prepared for her to ask me to remove the clause I specifically put in the prenup.

  “I’m not sure you understand the clause—“

  “I do. The clause states that either of us can have an affair as long as it is done discretely and that the both of us have agreed that there is no chance of the press learning about the affair.”

  “Yes…” Okay, she understands the clause and still wants it removed? That doesn’t make sense. I thought she would be grateful that the clause would be in there; it wouldn’t mean she had to put her love life on hold because of this arrangement.

  “I’d like the clause removed,” her voice has become more confident and unlike earlier, she is now looking at me. I think now that she has gotten the words out there, she is no longer nervous. I, on the other hand, have no idea what to think. If I remove this clause, I am essentially committing myself to at least eighteen months of celibacy, possibly even longer. I may have just gone the last six months without fucking someone, but the thought of almost two years without is ridiculous.

  “Kenzie… I put the clause in there specifically to benefit both of us. I’m asking you to give up a lot; I can’t ask you to give up your love life—“

  “My what?” she nearly chokes on her wine.

  “Your love life—I don’t expect you to give that up for this arrangement.”

  “I… I don’t have a love life, Nicholas. I told you before I never thought I would get married, so you’re not taking some dream from me.”

  “If not your love life then, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your sex life for this arrangement,” perhaps if I say it bluntly she will understand the purpose of this clause.

  “Before the weekend you were sick, I hadn’t been alone with a man since the night I left him. And sex… that stopped a long time before that night. You’re not asking me to give up anything in that sense. However, I understand what I’m asking you to give up by removing this clause.”

  “I…”

  I’m speechless. I have no idea what else she said; but if I heard her correctly she hasn’t had sex in a long time. How could that fucker not want to sleep with her? I haven’t been able to not picture fucking her since the day we first met; the only thing that stops me is knowing that she could never want what I have to offer. Well… and that it would complicate things too much between us.

  “I know what I’m asking of you is a lot. Unfortunately, though, I cannot sign the prenup and agree to this arrangement if you are going to have an affair. This may not be a real marriage by any definition but I still want and expect you to be faithful to me. I understand to some guys sex is just sex, that there’s no emotional connection to the woman they are with at the time. But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with sitting here in an apartment that we will be sharing while you’re out with another woman.”

  “Kenzie, if you’re worried about the press, I can assure you—“

  “It’s not that,” she takes a deep breath and her eyes once again find the floor; a habit I’ve noticed she does when she is nervous, scared or embarrassed about something. “My mother… she was never faithful to men and in turn, they were never faithful to her. I can remember some guy’s girlfriend showing up on our doorstep cursing out my mother because he was with her last night. Or my mother bringing home men and then having their wives call our house the next day looking for them. My childhood was a fucking mess, Nicholas—there are somethings I just can’t go back to. I know things wouldn’t be like that, but I… I just don’t think I can ever be okay with sitting here while you’re out sleeping with someone.”

  “Kenzie… I….”

  Fuck, I don’t know what to say. She has never spoken about her childhood to me; all I know is even before she met that dickhead, someone made her believe that she didn’t deserve to be loved. Now, she’s sitting in front of me asking me for one thing, while giving me the smallest glimpse into what her childhood was like.

  “I know it’s a lot to ask, and it’s okay if you can’t agree to it. I know eighteen months or longer is a long time to ask you to go without… a woman. If you would rather just continue with our current arrangement—“

  “No,” I quickly interrupt before she can finish her suggestion. Our current arrangement won’t work—that’s why I need her to agree to this new one. While I don’t like the idea of going that long without fucking a woman, I realize if this is the one contingency that Kenzie is giving me, I need to concede. Contract negotiations are about giving and taking… I usually come out taking far more than I’m giving, but perhaps this is one time I need to give more. “If I agree to remove the extramarital affair clause, you… you would agree to this marriage?”

  “I will, yes.”

  I take a deep breath, mentally making a note to contact the club first thing in the morning to cancel my membership, and cross out the section of the prenup that allows for both of us to have affairs.

  “I will make these changes and then send you the revised version to sign. You and I will be the only ones with copies of this document; normally I would file the contract with my legal department, but given the sensitive nature of this contract I have decided against it. I will keep my copy in the safe here in my office; I would prefer you to keep your contract in here or in a safety deposit box in a bank so that no one can gain access to it.”

  “Of course… Nicholas, I appreciate you removing the clause. I know—”

  “Kenzie, it’s nothing. What I’m asking of you is so much more than what you are asking me to give up.”

  Chapter 4

  Nicholas

  As we walk to the di
ning room, I’m still in complete disbelief. Disbelief that she agreed to this new arrangement and disbelief that I’m about to give up fucking for the foreseeable future. I see many long nights and cold showers in my future, but it will all be worth it when this saves PFS. I’ll sacrifice anything to not lose everything that I have worked this hard to gain.

  “So… how exactly is this going to work?” Kenzie pulls me from my thoughts after Julie sets are plates in front of us.

  “Before we can do anything, I need to speak with Bridget to inform her that we are terminating our contract with her. I don’t know if she will want to verify this with you first—“

  “That’s fine, if she does.”

  “Once our contract is terminated with her, we can move forward with our marriage. I would like to move quickly with the wedding itself; I don’t want to prolong the engagement and give the press more time to print non-sense about us.”

  “Sure, that makes sense.”

  “We’ll tell my family of the engagement of course, but I think otherwise I would rather just have PFS’s public relations department announce our marriage. If we announce an engagement, the press will hound us more than they do already to find out where the wedding will be and I’m afraid it will be a security nightmare.”

  “Where will the wedding be?”

  “I don’t know…” I admit I haven’t thought that far yet. “What type of wedding do you want?”

  “Something small if possible. I obviously don’t know very many people in New York, so the wedding will mostly be your friends and family.”

  “I know you said you never thought you would get married after… what happened. But when you were little, I’m sure you dreamed of a wedding. I know Cara has since she was little and played Barbies.”

  “I think every girl had their dream wedding planned out when they were little.”

  “What was yours?”

  “I wanted to get married on a beach somewhere, barefoot with my feet in the sand. Just a few guests with us, and the ocean waves crashing in the background.”