The Billionaire's Fake Marriage: A Single Dad Next Door Romance

by Sarah J. Brooks

  I was a fair dealer. I never scammed anyone out of their worth, and I never oversold someone a home. I was an honest salesman. As few and far between as they came, and I prided myself on it.

  “Alright.” She pulled a business card out of her pocket. “If you think of anything, please let me know.” I took it from her and nodded.

  “I will.”

  “Anything. It doesn't matter how small it is.” I nodded, and she gave me a smile. “You're free to go. Thank you for your time.”

  “You're welcome.” I tucked her business card into my pocket and headed towards Ally. She stood, my coat still wrapped around her. I knew the look on her face. I opened my arms and invited her into a hug.

  “Are you done?” she asked against my chest.

  “Yes. We can go home now,” I whispered. She nodded. “I can drop you off at the office if you want to pick up your car and ...”

  She shook her head. “No. No, I can’t drive right now.”

  “Do you want me to take you home?”

  “No. No, I don't want to be alone right now.”

  Ally

  Garth and I left the house together. The second I sat down in the car, I somehow felt better. But I couldn't stop thinking about that cop. She'd asked me if Garth had any enemies that I knew of. She asked if there were anyone I could think of that would want to hurt him.

  The truth is, I didn't know him half as well as I wanted to say I did. I swallowed dryly, staring out the window. I didn't feel safe going home, but I wasn't sure I felt much safer being with Garth.

  “I should call Brent when we get back to the house. Are you okay with that?”

  “What? Yes. Of course.” I wasn't sure why he was asking for my permission. It was his business partner after all. I stared out the window as we made our way along streets I didn't know towards a house I didn't know.

  The entire time, my mind was blank. I'd try to think, but it just wouldn't work. If it did work, all I could think about was that dead body. The skin had dried out and the clothes were sticking to it. The smell, oh, God that was something I would never forget. I bit my lip, trying not to think about it. The more I tried not to, the more I thought about it.

  My life was changed, I knew that much now and knew I would never be able to go back to the way it was. I knew that this would haunt me.

  The Billionaire’s Mystery

  Book Two: Questioning The Boss

  A Billionaire Romance Suspense Series

  Sarah J. Brooks

  Copyright © 2016 by Sarah J. Brooks

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Facebook: Sarah J. Brooks

  Chapter Seven

  I stared out the window, trying to process everything as we came to a stop. I hardly paid any attention to the big condo parking lot. Garth cleared his throat.

  “Are you okay?”

  Of course I wasn’t. I’d just seen a dead body.

  I nodded, unbuckled myself, and we stepped out of the car. I didn’t think much as I followed him to the building, inside, and into an elevator. I couldn’t get that dead body off my mind as hard as I tried.

  “You don’t seem okay,” he said as we stepped off the elevator; he motioned towards the door we were going to.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said. I was sure I would be. I mean, eventually I was going to be fine, right?

  Garth unlocked the door and motioned for me to step in first. My heart skipped a beat, for a fraction of a second I feared I would find another dead body. I knew it was stupid and wouldn’t happen, but I was still scared it would. Relief washed over me as I saw no dead bodies.

  I looked around for a couple seconds before kicking my shoes off.

  Garth’s place was smaller than I would have thought. The living room and kitchen connected, and there were two doors leading off them. I guessed one was a bedroom and the other a bathroom.

  “It’s … small,” I said looking around. The view was nice. It overlooked the city.

  “It’s fine for the weekdays. The weekends I go out to my cottage.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Really? That sounds nice.”

  “It’s out in the country. No one around; no one to bother me.” He laughed softly. “I like being out there.” He sounded lost in space and was quiet for a couple of seconds. “Anyways! Let’s get something to eat. I know I’m not really in the mood for food, but I know it will be good for us.”

  I nodded. He was right, but the thought of food made me want to puke.

  The next morning when I came into the office, everyone was already there. They all stopped to stare at me—a look that told me they had already heard about what happened. Brent stepped out of Garth’s office. He gave me a soft smile that didn’t make its way up to his eyes.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey.” I cleared my throat. “Are you okay?”

  “Me?” He gave a dry laugh. “Are you okay?”

  “Oh … um, yea. You mean what happened yesterday?” He nodded. “Oh yea, fine. I mean not fine, but I will be.” I wasn’t willing to admit how freaked out I was, or that I hadn’t gotten any sleep last night.

  “He wants to see you when you’re ready.”

  I nodded, taking a deep breath. Stepping past Brent, I headed into the office, biting my lip as I closed the door behind me.

  “Brent said you wanted to see me.”

  Garth looked up from his computer. “Hey. How … er, did you sleep at all?”

  “Not really,” I admitted. I’d been awake when he headed out, but I didn’t want to face him yet, so I’d pretended to be asleep.

  “Yea, same.”

  He stood, circling around his desk and closing the distance between us. He pulled me into a hug. I was surprised when I sunk into his embrace. A whimper passed through my lips as my arms rested against his chest. He held me tightly.

  “I just … couldn’t stop seeing it.”

  “Same. I know, it’s hard. I did some double checking, our benefits cover therapy.”

  “No.” I cut him off.

  “If you’re interested, it might help.”

  “No, I’m not going to a shrink.” I pulled away from him before I started crying and gave him a smile, trying to stay brave so he didn’t think I was totally weak—even though I felt it. “I’ll be fine. I just need a couple of days to get my grips on things.”

  “Ally, you just went through a traumatic experience.” He pulled away from me.

  “I’ll be fine,” I repeated.

  Maybe if I kept saying it enough, I would start to believe it. That’s how things like this work—right?

  “Ally,” Garth stared at me with those grey-green eyes. “It’s okay not to be okay. I’m not. I’m freaked the fuck out.”

  “You know,” I said trying to make a joke. “Benefits cover therapy.”

  He smiled softly. “I’ll go if you do.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry, still not going.”

  “Alright, I can’t force you. Just so you know, everyone already knows. If they try to ask you about it, tell them you signed a confidentiality contract or something. If anyone harasses you about it, let me know.” He took my hand. “We’re going to get through this.”

  “Are we still going to show that house?”

  Garth stared at me with a blank stare for a couple of seconds.

  “Um, yes. We will once it gets cleaned.”

  “Would you like me to go clean it?”

  I wasn’t going to sit around and let this control my life. I was going to move on, no matter how hard it might be.

  “Oh no, I’ve hired someone to do it, but thank you for offering. I like seeing that from my assistant.”

  It was just a question of how much longer I would be his assistant, I mean, Alyssa was going to get over her cold soone
r or later. And then my job would go back to the same it had been for the past eight months. Paperwork. No chance of seeing Garth or moving up in the business.

  “I’m going to get back to work.”

  “Alright. Are … will you come over tonight?”

  I took a deep breath and nodded. I might not be good company but would go over and see him. It might be good for me not to be alone. After all, the little sleep I did get, I was having nightmares about someone trying to kill me.

  I turned and headed out of the office, closing the door behind me.

  Everyone stared at me as I closed the door.

  The red haired one jumped to her feet. “You poor thing.” She rushed over to me, flinging her arms around me.

  I stood there completely still, unsure of how to deal with this.

  “Are you okay?” Her concern sounded genuine, but I was hesitant to believe her. “It must have been horrid. You know ...” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Seeing that dead body.”

  My stomach turned. Why? Why did that have to be the first thing people did. Didn’t Garth tell everyone not to talk about it? I took a deep breath and forced a smile. It was probably the hardest thing I’d done all day.

  “You know, I’d love to talk about it and all, but Garth forbid me from it.” I pulled away from her hug, headed over to my desk and dropped down, everyone still staring at me.

  The blonde cleared her throat. I knew I should have known their names but couldn’t be bothered to try and remember them.

  “You know, I’m sure it would be okay if you took a day or two off.”

  “I know.” I started my computer up and stared at the screen. It felt like it took ages for the screen to load my login so I could type my password in. I loaded my email, trying to ignore the women looking at me as I read through junk mail, replied to a couple clients about houses, and tried to keep myself busy.

  Around noon, Garth came out of his office and looked at us.

  “Ladies, I know you’ve all been working so hard with Alyssa out of commission. I wanted to thank you all, so I’m calling it a day. You ladies head home, get some rest and relax.”

  Everyone stared at him.

  “Are you sure?” The blonde asked.

  A smile spread across Garth’s lips. “Of course I am! I can’t have you lovely ladies running yourselves into the ground. I promise I’ll be fine for a day without ya.”

  My heart sank. I hated the idea of going home and being alone. I didn’t want to admit it, but I didn’t want to face that house all by myself. It’s not that I actually thought there would be a dead body in one of my rooms, but I was still scared there might be.

  I forced myself to stand up and gather my things. That seemed to get everyone else going. I tucked a notebook into my purse.

  “Uh, Ally,” Garth said on the other side of my desk. “I was wondering if you could ... go over these?” He handed me a set of files. “I’d love to see what you’d write up about the places.”

  My brow furrowed. Was he testing me? I nodded, taking the folders from him and tucking them into my purse. “Of course, Mr. Adams.”

  “Thank you, I look forward to seeing how you do.” He glanced over at the elevator where everyone was piling in. You could tell they didn’t want to go. They wanted to stick around and see what he would say to me next. He waved them off as the doors closed. “I’ve just got a couple things to finish up then we can head out together. If you’d like.”

  “Yea, I’d like that.”

  I don’t want to be alone. But I wouldn’t bring myself to admit it. Not to anyone but myself.

  I was supposed to be strong, and I wasn’t supposed to let stuff get me down.

  “You know,” Garth cleared his throat. “It’s going to be all over the news tonight. I pulled in a couple of favors with friends and got them to put it off, but I can’t ask them not to run the story. You’ve got to admit, for them it’s a good story. A body found by real estate agents when they’re about to show the house?”

  “It’s got a good ring to it,” I admitted dryly and zipped my purse up. “How long were you thinking of being here?”

  “Just long enough to watch their cars drive out of the parking lot,” Garth admitted.

  I paced around the office. It would be considered hip and modern, with lush blue walls, and black and white photography along them. The couch was sleek but still comfy. The desks were modern, with lots of soft lines.

  I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm as we passed the time. “So, did you decorate the place yourself?”

  “Yup. We figured we had to have something that looked nice if we were going to convince people to buy the houses we wanted them to.”

  I snorted. He made a good point. I nodded. “It was your and Brent?”

  “Yup.”

  “You’ve been doing this for a long time.” I padded over to the window as he returned to the desk and started collecting things. I watched one car pull out of the parking lot. “Don’t you ever wonder if this is what you’ll do the rest of your life? If this is what you’re meant to do?”

  “I haven’t wondered that for a long time.”

  I turned to Garth. He had his back to me. “Why not?”

  “Because I’ve seen too many things that happen with someone fighting every inch of the way not to think fate might be real. I’m not saying everything is fate, but I do believe in it to an extent. If something is meant to happen, it will, and if I’m meant to leave this world, I will. If not, I’ll keep selling houses to the ultra rich.” He turned to face me. I was a little surprised to see the look on his face—a smile. “Do you believe in fate, Ally?”

  “No.”

  I didn’t. I’d decided that a long time ago.

  “Why not?” he asked, motioning for us to head towards the elevator. I crossed over to my desk.

  Because it’s stupid. I didn’t dare say it out loud.

  “Because I think people create their fate. Either with hard work or without it. People’s choices make their fate.”

  “You don’t think that if something is meant to happen, it will? I mean, I’m not talking about becoming super rich, even if you never work for it. I’m talking ... two people meeting each other. Or someone getting the job that will lead them to their passion.”

  As we stepped into the elevator, I turned to Garth. “What makes you think fate is so real?” I couldn’t understand it.

  Garth shrugged. “I’ve seen too many perfect things happen. For example, four years ago, I wanted to deliver some Christmas dinners to low-income areas. I decided this the day before Christmas Eve so it was going to be a hassle.” He hit the down button and the doors shut as we headed towards the ground floor. “Brent thought it was stupid and that we should just do it next year, which would have been much easier. I wasn’t going for that. I called around two dozen places looking for someone who could supply the meals. Every one of those places either refused or didn’t have any turkey left until the last place I called. They said they would be thrilled to help. Not only that, but they had a van we could use—something I’d been emailing and having Brent call about since I started looking for the dinners. They agreed to pick us up around noon. When the car got there, I told them where I wanted to go, and that I just wanted to help people have a good holiday. Well, it turns out, the owner of the shop had guilted their son-in-law into driving the truck for us. He said he’d just been in the area I wanted to go to, to deliver Christmas dinners. At first, I was crushed. I thought I went through all this effort for nothing until he kept talking. He said there had been one area of town they’d wanted to go to but had run out of meals. He asked if it would be okay we go there.”

  Garth paused as we stepped out onto the main floor and headed for the cars.

  “If I hadn’t made contact with that shop, if they hadn’t known that man, we would have taken a second Christmas dinner to someone who already had one. And in the process, there would have been 63 people in another part of the city that d
idn’t get a Christmas dinner. I know to someone who doesn’t believe in fate it seems silly.” Garth shrugged. “But that’s okay.”

  I had to admit, his story made the idea sound nice.

  “I wish I believed in fate,” I admitted for the first time to anyone other than myself. “I just ... don’t. I’ve seen too many crappy people come out on top and too many kind people get trampled on.”

  Garth nodded. “That makes sense.” He circled around to the passenger side of the car and pulled the door open for me. I raised an eyebrow.

  “Thank you.” I slid into the car and dropped down into the seat, watching him circle around the front of the car and climb into the driver’s seat. He gunned the engine.

  The drive back to Garth’s condo took longer than I thought it would. It wasn’t until we were in the car for about half an hour that I started to get worried.

  “Were we making a stop before heading back to your place?” I asked, a little nervous about the answer.

  “Actually, yes.”

  My heart skipped a beat as we pulled into a strip mall.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I figured you could use a little treat, so I booked you an appointment.” He pulled into a parking lot. “My mom swears by the girls here. I hope you don’t mind me doing it without asking you.”

  I looked around, trying to figure out what he meant. Where could he have booked me an appointment? My jaw dropped as I saw the sign. Molly’s Hair Salon.

  They were famous in this area for working wonders—and for being overpriced.

  There was no way he booked me in there, there had to be somewhere else.

  I swallowed dryly, stepping out and meeting him at the front of the car. He held his arm out to me and I took it, letting him lead me to wherever he planned to take me.

  Oh, God. It was Molly’s.

  Garth pulled the door open for me and all but pushed me into the place.

  A girl behind the counter looked up. She gave us a wide smile.