Arranged: A Clean Billionaire Romance (Mixing Love and Business)

by Trisha Grace

  Hayley quickly leaned in for an embrace so his watchful gaze couldn’t see her reaction.

  Paula, dressed in the same ensemble of T-shirt, blue jeans, and a black cap, bent forward and gave her a peck on the cheek. She usually pulled Hayley into a lung-constricting hug with her strong arms, but her hands were still busy with the food. “You look beautiful.” She glanced over, then paused.

  Frowning, Paula dropped batter-coated chicken into hot oil. “What’s wrong, darling?” She peeled off her gloves and turned to her, giving Hayley her full attention.

  Such a simple gesture, but it had always been small gestures like this that made Hayley love the Casas. It didn’t matter what Frank and Paula were busy with. They always had time for Hayley and Leanne.

  Hayley’s parents had never bothered to put down their papers or phones to talk to her. When they asked about her day, they clearly weren’t interested in the answer. She’d come to realize that the only reply her parents wanted to hear from her was ‘It was good,’ or anything along those lines as long as it was kept to a five-word limit.

  But it didn’t matter to Frank and Paula that a long line of hungry, and probably impatient, people were waiting for their food.

  Staring at Paula, all Hayley wanted to do was lay her head on the older woman’s shoulder and sob. She wanted to tell them what she’d walked into and how heartbroken she was. She wanted to tell them she’d been so stupid, that she should have listened to them instead of holding onto some silly fantasy.

  But Frank and Paula loved her. They loved her so much they would drive the food truck into the office building and hunt Julian down for making her cry, and she couldn’t have that. “Nothing,” she said, and Paula frowned at her.

  “Have you eaten?”

  Hayley shook her head.

  “I’ll whip something up for you. Have some fries first,” Paula said and grabbed a box of fries that was clearly meant for someone else. “Here.”

  Despite their bestseller being the gourmet fries and the menu peppered with deep fried food, Frank and Paula managed to retain their slim figures. The exercise we get from prepping, cooking, and cleaning is all we ever need, Paula had said when Leanne and Hayley wanted to get the two of them gym memberships. As it turned out, they were absolutely right.

  Hayley took the box of fries, and her gaze fell on the photo pinned on the wall. A photo of the four of them—Frank, Paula, Leanne, and her—on their first road trip together.

  Though her skin was fairer than the Casas’, who ran a little on the tanned side, and her hair color lighter, the photo spoke of one word: family. Unlike all the photos at her place that were posed at a studio, the smiles in all her photos with the Casas were genuine. They weren’t taken in a fancy studio by an expensive professional photographer, but she loved that photograph more than any she’d ever taken with her own family.

  So what if her marriage was falling apart? She had a lot more than other people. She had a roof over her head. She didn’t have to worry about money. While her biological parents were too busy for her, God had blessed her with the Casas. Hayley gave Paula a small smile. “Thanks.”

  Paula winked. “You’ll always have priority over the customers.” Her hand went to Hayley’s back, and she tugged her forward to plant another kiss on her cheek. “You know we love you.”

  Do not cry. Hayley forced another smile and nodded.

  “Why don’t you and Leanne go grab a coffee?” Frank said. “Don’t get the grease smell on your clothes. Paula will have something for you when you girls come back.”

  Leanne took another order, stuffed the money into the cash register, then pulled off her apron. “I could use a coffee. Come on.”

  Frank took over Leanne’s position, and Hayley mumbled a quick goodbye while getting dragged out by Leanne.

  “Don’t worry. They can handle it without me.” Leanne didn’t usually work at the food truck. Her pale turquoise chiffon blouse, black pants and shoes were enough to give that away.

  Leanne didn’t go to her office often, but she did today. She’d forgotten that Hayley was going to meet Julian for lunch, so she decided to drop by the food truck to see if her parents needed any help during the lunchtime rush. “One to ten. How bad is it?” She pulled off the hair tie holding her hair up in a high bun and ruffled it to loosen the natural waves. “Did he get angry at you for showing up unannounced?”

  If it were anyone else, Hayley would have laughed it off and asked what the person was talking about. But this was Leanne.

  Hayley had known her since they were eleven. Leanne had saved her life once, and she’d always had Hayley’s back since then.

  As they turned the corner, Leanne glanced over her shoulder at Hayley. “Are you there?”

  “A hundred. A thousand. A hundred thousand.”

  “What happened?” Leanne slowed her pace and pointed to the café ahead.

  “I walked in on him having sex with his secretary.” Hayley knocked into the back of a stunned Leanne. “He was still fully clothed, but they were on their way there.”

  Leanne turned to stare at her for a moment, as if she was gauging if Hayley was joking. Then she cursed and continued walking. “I knew you shouldn’t …” She huffed. “Gosh, I’m sorry, Hayley.” She spun around again and gave her a hug. “I know you were so sure you guys would work out. And despite what I’ve been saying, I really did hope it would turn out for the best.”

  “It makes me want to go out and find someone to hook up with.” She wanted to hurt him as much as he’d hurt her.

  Leanne stepped back. “That would only hurt you.”

  Hayley blinked away her tears. Leanne was right, of course. Who was she kidding? Julian didn’t care about her. She could jump off a building and he wouldn’t care.

  “You’ve been saving yourself for marriage because that’s what you believe in. Don’t throw away who you are for someone who doesn’t care.” Though Leanne was the same age as her, she’d always behaved like the protective elder sister.

  Someone who doesn’t care. Those words bounced around in Hayley’s head, worsening the ache in her chest.

  “Divorce him.” Leanne opened the door and nudged Hayley through the doorway. “No, get an annulment. You can do better. You’ll find someone who really loves you.”

  Hayley sighed softly. “It isn’t that simple.”

  Leanne gestured for Hayley to take a seat while she grabbed them coffee.

  Hayley tapped on her phone, then turned and set it screen-down on the table. She’d chosen a photo the photographer had captured at their wedding as her lock screen. She’d loved the photo of her smiling up at Julian while he looked away into the distance.

  Now, she realized the photo wasn’t a sweet moment captured. It was a moment that should have given her clarity, a moment that showed how uninterested Julian was in her.

  Hayley closed her eyes and rubbed her fingers against the throbbing pain gaining strength in her temple.

  This wasn’t the first time Leanne had told Hayley to leave the marriage. Hayley hadn’t kept her struggles with Julian from her best friend. She probably should have done so, but she needed someone to talk to and she trusted Leanne with her life.

  Still, despite Leanne’s urging, Hayley hadn’t once thought about leaving.

  She and Julian were meant to be together. She had been certain they could make things work.

  How naive she’d been.

  Meant to be? Hayley wasn’t sure if she should go throw her fancy wedding stiletto heels at her mother for making her believe in a fantasy or laugh at herself for being so stupid. Why did she buy into what her parents had said? Why did she trust her mother when she’d never spent a day mothering her?

  Everyone who cared anything about her had told her not to marry Julian. Did Hayley listen?

  No.

  “What’s so difficult about getting an annulment?” Leanne asked as she came back with two mugs of coffee. “Find a lawyer and file the papers. That’s it.” She
pulled her phone out of her back pocket of her black pants. “I’ll google for a lawyer now.”

  “My parents would never allow it.”

  “You don’t need your parents.”

  Hayley licked her lips. Her whole life, she’d prepared herself for only one thing—marrying Julian. She hated to admit it, but she didn’t have anything to her name.

  Everything she owned was given to her by her parents. She’d never earned a single cent in her life. She’d never had to do anything besides do well in school and get ready to marry Julian. “I don’t know how to survive, Leanne.”

  “I can teach you.”

  “And money? What would I do for money? What could I work as? I don’t have any experience.”

  “You do have a business degree from Harvard.”

  Hayley pursed her lips. She did. She never thought she would have any use for it, but maybe … just maybe …

  “Besides, you don’t need a job. You have a company.”

  Hayley frowned. “Espel and Nicholson Holdings? I’m only a director in name. Everyone knows I’m only there because my father wants me there. My presence gives him two votes instead of one.”

  “Forget Espel and Nicholson Holdings.” Leanne leaned forward and rested her arms on the table. “Remember the project you helped me get off the ground?”

  “Hydrate?” Hayley had invested and helped Leanne design and launch a series of glass water bottles.

  Grinning, Leanne nodded. “Yes.”

  “That’s your company.”

  “And it’s done very well, all thanks to you.”

  “I didn’t do much.”

  Leanne rolled her eyes. “It was your capital. You helped me with the design. You were right there with me as we sourced for a manufacturer. We came up with the business plan together.”

  Hydrate had been nothing but a side project she’d worked on with Leanne while they were in college. Unlike most, Leanne hadn’t gone out in search of a job. Instead, her best friend had convinced her to invest in her idea and helped her with it. The initial investment was only twenty thousand, which wasn’t much for Hayley.

  “The company is in my name only because you were afraid your parents would find out if your name was added to it.” Leanne’s lips curled again and something sparkled in her eyes. “I’ve been keeping this a secret from you for a long, long time.”

  Hayley waited while Leanne tapped away on her phone, then looked down at the screen when her best friend slid the device over. It was logged into a PayPal account. In the account was over half a million dollars.

  “What’s this?” she asked when she noticed her own name in the email address. But that wasn’t her email address.

  “I created the email address and PayPal account under your name. I’ve been splitting the profits over the last few years and paying into this account.”

  “Leanne.”

  “It’s only fair. Actually, it really isn’t because if you hadn’t given me the seed money in the first place, this wouldn’t have been possible. So fifty-fifty isn’t fair to you at all.”

  “Leanne, you didn’t have to do that. I told you I didn’t need you to return the money to me.”

  “This is my gift to you: your rainy day fund. This is your leave-your-family fund. You’ve always gone along with whatever your family wanted, though they don’t even treat you like their daughter. I hate what they do to you.” Leanne’s eyes grew red, and Hayley had to look away before she burst out crying.

  “Anyway,” Leanne blinked away the tears, “I wanted to make sure that if you ever want to leave your family, you have the ability to do so.” She tapped on the screen. “This gives you a choice.”

  Hayley embraced Leanne as her tears fell. “Thank you, Leanne. Not for the money, but for being so thoughtful.”

  “You know you’re like a sister to me.” Leanne leaned back.

  Hayley nodded. And it wasn’t just because of this. If it wasn’t for Leanne, Hayley wouldn’t be here today. It was something her parents had acknowledged, so it had been easy for Hayley to convince her parents to pay for Leanne’s education all the way through Harvard.

  “So think about it. Get an annulment. Kick that jerk to the curb. You don’t need him. You can find someone who loves you. I want you to be happy. I’m sure there’s someone out there for us.”

  Taking another sip of her coffee, Hayley leaned back in her seat. Is there? She’d never thought about being with anyone else besides Julian. She’d never thought of a future without him. She glanced over at Leanne’s phone. Perhaps it was time for her to build her own life and a real future.

  Chapter Three

  HAYLEY PLODDED OUT of the bathroom in her lacy royal blue lingerie. She wasn’t someone who spent money on chasing the latest bags or piling up gems and diamonds, but she did love spending money on lingerie.

  No one ever saw her in them, except maybe her maid, but a beautiful set of lingerie always made her feel more confident in herself.

  And today, Hayley needed to feel better about herself.

  She’d stood in front of the mirror for several minutes, her hands pressed against the black granite countertop while she stared at her reflection. Her fair skin and the slight shimmer from the silk portion of her lingerie stood out nicely from the walls overlaid with black tiles.

  While she didn’t have curves like Julian’s secretary, she wasn’t lacking.

  Hayley sighed as thoughts of Charlene and Julian flooded her mind.

  Last night, Julian had come home late. She was still reading, as she always did while waiting for him, and he’d walked in and gone about doing his own thing without a glance at her.

  Since getting married, he’d treated her like the invisible woman. But she’d thought he would at least try to play nice with her to make sure she wasn’t angry.

  Another of her foolish thoughts.

  Her feet left the cool, rough stone flooring, and she stepped onto the natural dark hardwood floor of the bedroom.

  The dark gray walls in the room did nothing to improve her mood. She sighed again when she looked over at her bed on top of the black leather bed frame that came up to her hips. Where was her dress? Her maid was supposed to bring it in for her. “Doreen,” she called out.

  She glanced over at the door when it swung open, expecting Doreen to come in with her dress.

  Instead, it was Julian.

  Why did he have to look so good all the time? She got that the magazine covers had probably been edited and all, but every single one of his suits clung to his broad frame, and his shirt was tailored to hint at the chest muscles and slim, flat abdomen.

  He’d been at work all day. Shouldn’t he at least look a little tired?

  “What the hell are you wearing?” Julian’s harsh tone snapped her attention back to reality. He had stopped at the threshold to stare at her, and Hayley instinctively wanted to cover herself. But before she could, she noticed the muscles along his jaws twitch.

  What was she wearing? Hayley looked down at her lingerie. Isn’t it obvious? Whatever embarrassment she’d felt dissipated and was replaced by an overwhelming bout of anger.

  She lifted her chin and stared back at him without a word while willing her arms to remain by her sides.

  “And why are you calling for someone while you’re dressed like that?”

  “I need my dress. Doreen was supposed to br—”

  “You can’t even handle getting your own dress?”

  He couldn’t stand the sight of her in lingerie, and now he was angry with her for the maid not having brought her dress in? She hadn’t asked Doreen to steam her dress. Doreen had noticed a slight crease and insisted she would only need a couple of minutes to straighten it out.

  Besides, Julian wasn’t even supposed to be here. Weren’t they supposed to meet at the company?

  Hayley took a deep breath, then marched toward him.

  Throughout the last month, he’d been nothing but mean to her. Hayley had swallowed all her anger an
d disappointment. She’d told herself that Julian was simply having a tough time adjusting to married life, to her presence in his home.

  But she was done.

  Why was she allowing a man who didn’t care about her to step all over her self-esteem? She deserved better than that.

  “What are you doing?” Julian glowered at her as she got closer.

  “Going to find my dress.”

  “Wearing that?”

  “What’s wrong with my lingerie? Not to your taste? Would you like me to ask Charlene for tips on where I should shop?”

  Julian stiffened visibly.

  She brushed past him, and he grabbed her arm.

  “You’re not walking around wearing just that. It’s … inappropriate.”

  She pulled her arm from his grasp. “I can’t handle getting my own dress, have pathetic taste in lingerie, and can’t even figure out what is appropriate.” She reached up and cupped his face. “You’ve really gotten the worst deal in the history of arranged marriage, haven’t you?”

  “Mrs. Nicholson.”

  “Ah, Doreen. What would I do without you? I’m absolutely hopeless.” She took the royal-blue boat-neck dress from the maid and swallowed her sigh when Doreen immediately dropped her gaze to the floor.

  It wasn’t fair of her to drag Doreen into her tantrum. “Thank you, Doreen.” Hayley gave Doreen’s shoulder a squeeze before turning back into her room.

  Julian, on the other hand … Well, he could go to hell for all she cared.

  Hayley slammed the door shut, not caring if it hit her husband in the face.

  She hoped it did.

  She threw the dress on the bed and moved into the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. This was her favorite set of lingerie, but now all she wanted to do was tear it up.

  Every moment spent with Julian chipped away at her confidence. She’d never thought of herself as unattractive until she married him and had him ignore her every night. She’d never thought she was lacking until she walked in and saw Julian’s secretary straddling him. She’d never thought her taste was bad until seeing Julian’s reaction to her choice of lingerie.