I tossed the clipboard on the couch next to me and shook my head. “I don’t know what you guys are up to, but I’m not buying it. I’ve always lived by my own rules, and I’ll keep doing it.”
Serena and Tanya exchanged a knowing glance. Jason looked away. Pete smirked worse than ever.
Tanya lowered her voice to that confidential murmur I knew so well. That voice meant I better do what she said, or I would be sorry. “You better take a look at those applications. We have ten interviews lined up for next Monday. Your brother vetted them himself. You’ll need to familiarize yourself with the applicants’ backgrounds so you can ask relevant questions.”
“Interviews?” I asked. “What for?”
She leveled me with her crisp green eyes. “Your wife.”
2
Gabriela
I sat at my favorite cafe. I crossed one leg under me on the couch and pulled out my phone. I logged onto the internet and went to the job search website I bookmarked last week.
Just then, the waitress set my macchiato on the table in front of me. “Hey, Gabi. How ya doing?”
I mustered all my courage to give the girl a bright smile. I wasn't really in the mood to chat with anyone right then. “I’m great, Sasha. How are you?”
“Busy. But you let me know if you need anything!” Sasha hurried away.
I didn’t try to call her back. I needed solitude right now. I took a sip of my drink and went back to my phone. I scrolled down page after page. My heart sank into my shoes the farther I scrolled. I’d seen every listing on this site. I already applied for most of them, even the ones I wasn’t qualified for. Some I would never qualify for. I applied for them, too, and I never heard back from any of them.
I clicked on a different site. Same thing. I hated myself at times like these. It wasn’t my fault my boss at the last accounting firm where I worked laundered money. It wasn’t my fault a hundred-people got thrown out on their asses when the firm closed down.
No one cared about my sob story. They took one look at my resume, and my application took a one-way trip to the trash can. The name J P Johnson at the top made absolutely no one want to hire me. But I had no choice but to leave it on there. It was my only experience out of college. I had no idea the boss laundered money, but everyone suspected me anyway. I was part of the firm, wasn’t I? If I didn’t know, I must be incompetent. Right?
That’s what everybody thought, anyway. What if they were right? What if I was too incompetent to work in this field? What would happen then? I was totally unemployable.
I wasn’t even thinking about jobs right then. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to notice the postings scrolling up my screen when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a new one. My eye zeroed in on it. Wife, Wanted.
Now, who in their right mind would post a job like that on a corporate employment website? It must be a joke. Just out of curiosity, I read the description. Marriage of convenience, must be college educated, attractive, with a clean record. Help a wayward billionaire reform and become a model citizen for the press.
Strange. That made no sense at all. If he was a billionaire, he should be able to get any woman he wanted. Maybe he was old and ugly. Maybe he was an alcoholic and a lecher, or maybe, I just drank too much coffee that morning. I really ought to cut down on my caffeine intake if I was starting to actually read a post like that.
I took another sip of my drink. How many times did I check these websites every day in the desperate hope of finding a job—any job? The nest egg I built up dwindled to nothing over the months of beating the streets in search of work. Now I had almost nothing left. I couldn’t even pay my basic expenses.
Well, I certainly wasn’t going to become anybody’s wife. That was for sure. He could pick up whoever else found this posting. He wasn’t looking for an accountant, anyway. I was too brainy to be any guy’s wife for hire.
Just then, my phone buzzed. A text popped up on the screen. The contact line read, Addison, my roommate. Hey, babe. Don’t forget the rent is due today. See ya when you get home.
Shit. I forgot about the rent. I was going to have to ask for an extension. Ugh, that hurt the ego.
I flicked back to the job post. Maybe, just maybe. My thumb hovered over the Apply Now button. I hesitated. Should I? What other option did I have?
A clatter of crockery from the kitchen startled me out of my thoughts. I glanced up to see Sasha come barreling around the corner. Before I could do or say anything, she sailed across the room and flung herself down on the couch next to me. She covered her face with both hands and burst into tears.
My phone fell out of my hand. I put out her arms to the girl. “Oh, my gosh, Sasha! Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Sasha sobbed into her hands. Her shoulders shook, and she sucked air through her teeth between heaves. “I...I can’t do this anymore. I wasn’t supposed to do this. I trained as an actress. I came to New York to work on Broadway, and now here I am serving coffee to a bunch of washed-up nobodies. I can’t handle this.”
I pursed my lips. Another broken heart? I could relate. “It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.”
Sasha threw her hands in her lap. “I’m outta here. I’m going home to my family in Minnesota. I don’t need this crap anymore.”
I gasped. “You can’t just walk out on the job. What would your boss say?”
“I just told him.” Sasha waved toward the kitchen. “All he ever does is complain about how I serve the customers. Well, I don’t hear any of them complaining. He’s a prick.”
“Don’t walk out,” I told her. “A lot of people would be happy for any kind of job they could get. Can’t you just stick it out a little longer? You know what they say. Don’t quit your old job until you have the new one lined up.”
She brushed my hands away. “You want that job? You can have it. I’m sure Paulo is looking for a new waitress right now.”
In a flash, she jumped to her feet and stormed out of the cafe. The door slammed behind her. I stared at the place where Sasha used to be. Work as a waitress in a coffee shop? Serve hot drinks to a bunch of washed-up nobodies? Why the hell not? I was a washed-up nobody myself. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse unless I failed to pay the rent and wound up on the streets. I would do anything to stop that from happening.
I stuck my phone in my pocket and inched toward the kitchen. I didn’t know Paulo. I never had anything to do with anybody in this place except the wait staff. I looked around the cash register for a minute until I heard cursing coming from the direction of the dishwasher.
I almost turned tail and ran, but the sheer desperate terror of my situation drove me forward. I crept around the front counter and stuck my head into the kitchen. A sweaty guy in a wife-beater shirt sprayed clouds of mist into the dishwasher sink. He glanced up when my head appeared. “What do you want?”
“I’m looking for Paulo.”
He jerked his chin at me. “I’m Paulo. Say what you want and get out of here.”
I waved over my shoulder at the counter. “Sasha just quit. I was wondering if I could apply for the job. I’m really good with numbers, and I have references.”
He looked me up and down. “You’re the girl from JP Johnson, aren’t you?”
I stared at him in horror. “How do you know about that?”
“JP Johnson was my accountants before they closed down. I know all about it, and there’s no way in hell I would ever give someone from there a job. I wouldn’t give you a job scrubbing the toilets, much less handling any money. Now get out.”
He went back to what he was doing. I stared at him one minute more before I staggered back out to the cafe. I slumped onto my usual couch, but I had to remind myself to blink. I couldn’t sink any lower than this. I couldn’t even get a job when someone just quit. My past dogged my every step. Now what was I going to do?
I took out my phone and stared at it for a long time. The same text notification flashed on the screen, and searching those websites wasn
’t getting me anywhere except closer to the bread line. I swiped my thumb over the screen and it blinked back to the same job post.
Wife Wanted.
What in the world did I possibly have to lose? No matter how old and ugly and rude he was, he was rich, and he wanted a wife. I had all the other qualifications, so why not? I let my thumb dangle over the Apply Now button, but I already knew the answer. He couldn’t possibly say anything to me worse than what Paulo just said. I didn’t need any accounting qualifications to be some trophy wife.
I let my thumb fall. The button lit up, and the screen flashed to the application page.
3
Gray
I tossed the clipboard of application forms onto the table in front of me. “This is ridiculous. I am NOT marrying any of these girls.”
Serena sighed for probably the twentieth time today. “It really doesn't matter what you think.”
“Of course, it does,” I growled. “You don’t have to marry her. I do.”
Tanya uncrossed her legs on a chair next to me and recrossed them going the other way. She didn’t participate in these interviews. She didn’t have to say anything. She just came along to make me behave.
I didn’t have to say anything, either. I listened to Serena and Jason question the girls. They paraded into the office, sat down for a while, answered a bunch of standard job interview questions, and left. They never knew I was there. They batted their eyelashes at Jason. They expected him to be the lucky groom. Lucky him.
“Just put up with it for a little while longer,” Serena told me. “We’ve got three more girls to interview and then we’re done. Once we get the girl picked out, we can move forward. What’s good for your reputation is good for your bottom line, and more importantly your brother. Just remember that when you look at them.”
I muttered something profane under my breath when the next girl walked in. She was a copy of every other girl that walked into the office. Nothing was special about her. Nothing attracted me to her. This was insane. No more clubs. No more girls for a year—at least, not the kind of girls I liked. How could they do this to me?
I wouldn’t allow it. I would fight them. I would.... Then I remembered Tanya’s threat. If I didn’t go along with it, the investors would leave. My brother would take control of the company from his pretty desk in the White House. And he didn't I had a feeling Tanya would make him, just to teach me a lesson.
In the last week, Tanya showed me her claws for the first time. I always knew she was a tiger under her professional exterior. She always used her claws in the courtroom and the boardroom for my benefit—until now. Now she turned them on me. The whole team claimed to be doing this for my own good.
I couldn’t settle down. I just couldn’t. Even if I married the most gorgeous supermodel in the world, I couldn’t stay home and watch TV with her. I would have to go out. Monogamy just wasn’t my thing, and I had come to terms with that. I didn’t understand why my team couldn’t as well.
I tried not to listen to Serena interviewing the next girl. “You said you left your last job to take a new position. Where are you working now?”
Same old boring questions. I wasn’t marrying her. No way. At last, she got to her feet and walked out of the room. My stomach growled. Four long hours of this, and I was starting to get hungry. I could use a gin and tonic about now, too.
Serena flipped the page on her clipboard and the second to last girl walked in. Her heels clipped along the floor and attracted my attention. Without really meaning to, my eyes gravitated to her. I caught sight of a nice, shapely curve where her thigh met her ass. Her tight skirt showed off her assets in crisp, neat lines.
She settled herself on the chair and crossed her legs. Those legs made a perfect inverted V joined at the knee. Her ass bent against the chair, and her curvy chest plunged into her neckline. Her dark blue blazer buttoned across the stomach.
I couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her dark chocolate hair curled around her shoulders. She moved a stray curl out of her eyes with one finger. She wore just enough makeup to set off her bright green eyes and kept it light over the rest of her pretty skin. That beautiful glow shone out of her inner self like no one I had ever seen before in my life.
She scanned the team with one quick glance. Her pupils dilated when she saw me, but she moved on in an instant. She gave the same appraising glance to each person in turn.
Serena turned her page. “Gabriela Landon?”
Gabriela. Beautiful. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect name for a more perfect girl. She was just the kind of girl I liked to pick up in bars and hammer in the back of my limo before dropping her off at her place for the night.
I scanned her up and down one more time. I surprised myself by thinking that I could get on board with this. I could look forward to her waiting for me every night. Hell, I could peel off that tight suit and find all the treasures hidden underneath.
Even sitting there watching her made the blood rush to my cock. I spread my legs just a fraction of an inch to give it room. She couldn’t see under the table separating us. She had no idea what she was doing to me.
She burst into a brilliant smile when Serena said her name. “Yes.”
“Your application states you live on the Southeast side on Mulberry Street,” Serena said. “That’s in the heart of Little Italy, isn’t it?”
Gabriela blushed like you wouldn’t believe. A stab of desire ripped through my guts. Holy mother-loving hell, she was hot! How could I sit still for this? My cock twitched between my legs.
Her accent changed when she answered. She kept it hidden until now. “Yeah, it’s Little Italy, all right. I was born and raised there. I never lived anywhere else.”
Italian. Fiery. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her.
Serena didn’t notice that blush. “I see you have an accounting degree.”
Gabriela stiffened. “Yes. I do.”
“You stated on your application that you worked for five years at your last job, but you didn’t mention why you left it.”
Now she really froze. “I didn’t want to say why I left it because the firm got investigated by the FBI. The senior partner got convicted of money laundering, and now everybody thinks all of us who worked for him were a part of it as well. I haven’t been able to get a job since.”
Serena lowered her voice. “Oh. I see.”
Serena looked over at Tanya. Gabriela noticed that look and waved both hands. She got to her feet. “You know what? Just forget it. I never should have come here. Just forget all about it. Thanks for considering me. I’ll see you later.”
She headed for the door. Her ass swayed under her skirt in the most enticing possible way. I couldn’t let her walk out that door. I couldn’t take the chance on my team giving this job to anybody else. My hand shot out. “Wait!”
She turned around at the door. Her eyes widened when she looked at me, but the next minute, she squared her shoulders. She moved her chin sideways. “Forget it. I’m not marrying anybody for money. I might be desperate to pay my rent this month, but I’m not some kind of whore. You can get somebody else.”
I climbed to my feet. I towered over the rest of the team. “Don’t leave yet, Gabriela. Sit down and let’s talk about this.”
She arched one eyebrow. I didn’t have to explain. She saw at one glance I was the groom in question. “You can call me Gabi. That’s what everybody calls me.”
I colored in spite of myself. How many dreary, weary years passed since any woman made me blush like that? I waved toward the chair. “Sit down, Gabi...please. These guys can leave. I want to talk to you alone.”
“No, you don’t,” Tanya snapped.
Serena started to say, “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” but I chopped my hand through the air. “I think I can talk to her, just one on one. If we’re gonna go through with this, that’s the least I deserve.”
The team exchanged glances until Jason got up. He adjusted his jacket around his waist and
buttoned the button. “All right, Gray. Just remember what we told you. Keep it on the straight and narrow. The last thing we need is you trying something at the interview.”
I stood still while they filed out of the room. Gabi eyed them sidelong until the door clicked shut behind Pete. She turned her flashing eyes on me. “Well?”
I waved toward the chair. “Sit down. Please.”
4
Gabriela
So, this was the famous groom. He wasn’t old and ugly. I couldn’t have dreamed a hotter guy if I tried. Go figure. I studied him from across he room, but I wasn’t going to sit down in that chair just because he said please.
His dark hair cropped close around his ears, but it tussled on top. It shone with some kind of hair product, but it grew lush and thick to cover his whole scalp. Not one bald patch anywhere. I caught his brown eyes scoping me out. Any woman with eyes in her head knew exactly what he was thinking.
His shoulders filled out his jacket to the tailored seams. He spent a lot of time and energy on that body. His muscled thighs stretched his pants tight around his...oh, my God. He did NOT have a hard-on right now.
He strolled around the table and sat down on the edge. He jerked his head toward the chair. “Come on, Gabi. Sit down and talk to me.”
I set my hands on my hips. “As long as you’re certain we’re just talking.”
He laughed, and the cutest little dimples pocked his cheeks. A squirrelly twist of a thrill quivered through my insides. Man, he was hot! He bent forward to grin at me. “I’m not going to hold you down and marry you right here and now, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
That laugh disarmed my defenses. We were just talking. I wasn’t whoring around. I came all the way here for a job. I might as well see what it was all about.
I marched across the room and sat down in the chair. I crossed my legs the way I did before. That should keep him off me for a few minutes, anyway.
Triplets Make Five Page 26
