by Amy Brent
“Yes, it is,” I deadpanned, and his smile widened a bit. “No matter how beautiful I am, you still look like someone who only dates girls who are half your age. So, either you’re an undercover agent for the company, and I’m in trouble for breaking protocol and engaging in a personal conversation with a passenger, or you have an agenda. Which one is it, Mr. Walker?”
The two of us stood in silence for a few moments. The firm way he stared at me made my gut hurt with fear that he really was a company agent about to crush my first-class international dreams. But just as I was about to give in to my freak out and apologize for being rude and unprofessional, he started laughing, and I relaxed just a smidge.
“My offer to hire you as an adviser still stands,” he said in between chuckles. “You’re smart and direct, two things I really like. And please, call me Ben.”
I blinked a few times before asking, “Fine. Is that what you want, Ben? To offer me a job?”
“Not exactly, but I do have a business proposition for you,” he replied. “So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take you out for a nice meal and talk. Would that be okay?”
Because I was tired, smelling like airplane and didn’t know him, my first instinct was to say no to his invitation. However, just like it had happened that day on the plane, there was something in me that made me feel like I was supposed to talk to him. It was hard to explain, but the feeling was so intense I simply couldn’t say no.
With a sigh, I replied, “Fine, but considering I didn’t even give you my name and you managed to find the exact time I arrived back in LA, we better eat something here at the airport because I’m not getting into a car with you.”
Ben nodded and agreed to my terms. I sent a quick text to Jessica telling her to order a pizza because I would be late and followed Ben out of the lounge. He guided me to one of the nicer restaurants in our terminal. As we walked, we made small talk about the places I had visited this week and how his business had been in NYC the previous week.
Once we finally arrived at the restaurant, Ben requested a table and pulled my chair for me to sit. My past experiences with men had been quite tragic, so his chivalry made me smile. He then told me to order anything I wanted from the menu and, taking him on his offer, I requested a plate of lobster tail with wild rice and greens. Ben ordered a steak and pasta for himself and a bottle of an expensive sounding wine.
With a nod, the waiter turned around and left. As soon as we were alone, I pulled in a deep breath and said, “Okay, Ben. Before we get into whatever it is you want to talk about, I gotta know something.”
“How I found you?” he asked, hitting the nail on the head.
I nodded. “Yeah, how and why.”
“The how is easy. I play golf with the chairman of the airline and called in a favor. He thinks we slept together and didn’t waste the chance to tease me about it, but you’re here, so I don’t care.”
The explanation raised more questions in my mind than it solved. However, before I could ask any of them, the waiter came back with our wine. Ben tasted and approved the bottle, and once the waiter was gone, he cleared his throat and poised himself to reply the second half of my request. Knowing that whatever he said next would determine how the rest of this dinner would go, I stayed quiet and paid a lot of attention.
“As for the why, that’s a bit more complicated, but please keep an open mind. That’s all I ask.” Despite the unease I felt, I nodded, and he continued, “Well, I spent a lot of time this past week thinking about what you said. About how I can honor my dad and remain true to who I am, and I think I finally came to a solution.”
Although I didn’t know for sure, I had an inkling about where he was going with this, and I wasn’t entirely sure I liked it. I picked up my glass and took a sizable gulp of my wine before asking, “And is that solution the business proposition you want to make?”
“Yes,” Ben agreed with a nod that made my heart start beating a little faster. Holding my eyes in his intense blue gaze, he reached inside his jacket and removed a small black box which he placed on top of the table, right between us. Then, in a business-like tone, he said, “I would like you to marry me.”
My eyes widened and almost popped out of their sockets. “What?”
The outrage was evident not only in my expression but also in my voice. Still, Ben didn’t seem the least bit affected by it. In fact, I could swear he even rolled his eyes at my reaction.
“Don’t be so shocked, Pam,” he blurted out casually. “I’m not asking you to be my wife in the emotional, let’s-grow-old together sense. What I’m offering you is a business deal that will benefit us both.”
“How will marrying a stranger benefit me?” I asked with a line forming between my brows and a growing resolve to tell him to go fuck himself.
A slow, cocky smirk formed on his lips. “We’re not strangers, we’re friends. And this deal will benefit you because aside from helping a friend fulfill his dead father’s wish and achieve his lifelong dream, you and your daughter will get to live comfortably in my home for a year with all of the perks that my lifestyle entails. Then, once we get divorced next year, you’ll receive a five-million-dollar settlement and get to keep everything my money bought you during our marriage. It’ll allow you to live the rest of your life enjoying your job even though the pay is shit.”
The visceral resolve to say no to his offer suddenly disappeared. As sad as it was to admit that the lure of money was getting to me, after twenty-two years of struggling to get by and working myself to the bone so Jessica could have the life she deserved, that was the truth. The idea of finally living comfortably and enjoying my life instead of just existing in it felt too good to pass without at least considering it.
Hoping to make an informed decision, I asked, “And you won’t expect me to fulfill my wifely duties?”
Ben tilted his head and narrowed his eyes in an expression that was amused but not disrespectful. “The only wifely duties I expect you to fulfill are business related—functions, events, dinner parties and such—in all other areas we can be friends and housemates. You don’t have to sleep with me, and I won’t be faithful to you.”
“Okay,” I said completely overwhelmed by the situation, but heavily leaning toward the yes. His face brightened at my reply urging me to explain myself. “That was just an ‘okay, I’ll consider it.’ This won’t just affect me my life, it’ll affect Jessica’s as well, and I have to make sure she’s on board.”
Despite a heavy sigh, Ben nodded. “I understand that, but I’m in a hurry. The board will meet next Tuesday to vote on my father’s successor, and I’d really like to be married by then.”
The idea of being married to someone I barely knew in less than a week made my stomach turn and my heart skip a few beats, but I still assured him that I would talk to Jess as soon as I arrived home and have a reply to him the next day. That answer seemed to please him and, with that part of the dinner behind us, we spent the rest of night getting to know each other.
In light of his proposal, I fished for as much information as I could and realized that as fake husband prospects went, I could do a lot worse.
Chapter 6 – Jessica
“And that’s a wrap, folks,” I said to myself as I closed the book that had been propped over my thighs for the last hour and placed it on top of the scattered papers on the coffee table.
Knotting my knuckles together, I stretched my back and felt every single vertebra from C7 to L2 pop. After five hours of seating on the ground and hunching over books, it was no surprise that my muscles and articulations were stiff as a board.
Done for the night, I arranged all of my books and papers into a neat pile before picking up the half empty box of pizza from the ground and carrying to the kitchen along with my empty coffee thermos. Leaning against the counter, I grabbed another slice of the cold, cheesy goodness and stared out at our empty apartment.
There was no denying that I was happy when my mom texted me to say she’d be l
ate coming home. I was preparing for a very challenging biochemical exam and appreciated the peace and quiet. However, now that my studying was done and the subject was engraved into my brain, not having anyone around talk and relax with made me feel incredibly lonely.
Unlike most of my classmates, I was determined to make it to med school as fast as possible and had inflated my schedule to the point where it prohibited me to have any social life at all. Usually, I didn’t really care about my lack of friends and weekend plans—to be honest, I was actually used to it after cramming what should be a four-year undergrad education into three. Besides, my mom was the best friend a girl could wish for and, after the headache my breakup with Trey had been, I was in no rush to welcome another man into my life. Still, there were some moments, like this one, when I found myself in need of human interaction and resented putting so much pressure on myself that I forgot to actually live my life like a normal twenty-two-year-old.
“Things are what they are, Jess,” I whispered as I pushed myself away from the counter. “In ten years, you’ll be running a department at some fancy ass hospital and these lonely nights will have been worth it.”
Ignoring how pathetic I felt at voicing a pep-talk to myself, I shoved the last bit of pizza into my mouth and started making my way down the small corridor that connected the living space of our apartment to the shared bathroom and both our bedrooms. I took a quick pit stop at the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, and then finally dragged my ass to my room and closed the door behind me.
Too exhausted to even think, I pulled my clothes off and didn’t even bother to put on pajamas before throwing myself onto the bed. A long, pleasurable sigh passed through my mouth as I wiggled my body against the mattress until I found just the right position. With a smile on my lips, I reached for the remote and turned the TV on hoping that seeing and hearing other people would make me feel a little less alone.
As most late nights, the programming was lacking. The only available options were either talk shows, reruns or movies I really didn’t feel like watching, so I kept clicking and clicking the remote hoping something interesting would appear on the screen. For about a hundred clicks nothing did, then I reached one of my mother’s “special” channels, and my screen was filled with the naked body of a muscled man. Instantly, I stopped clicking.
Though I had seen plenty images of naked men in my biology classes, none was as impressive as this guy. Aside from his ripped muscles and tattoos, his penis was longer and thicker than any I had seen and had veins that pulsated as he pushed it in and out of a blonde’s mouth. My cheeks flushed at the sight, but I couldn’t bring myself to change the channel or stop watching.
During our year long relationship, Trey had tried to fuck me many times, but I always refused him. Although I liked him a lot, having him as my first never felt right. It was hard to explain why, but as I watched the hungry need in which the girl welcomed that guy’s cock into her mouth, I realized that was the reason I was still a virgin. I had never been hungry for Trey or any other man.
But for some reason, I was hungry now.
I had no idea if it was due to frustration or loneliness, but I wanted to feel something as intense as what the girl on TV was feeling. I wanted to forget, if only for a moment, about my fast track plan and my perfect GPA and just focus on feeling something other than pressured, tired and lonely.
So, as the man continued to fuck the blonde’s mouth, my hands wandered to my breasts. My touch was timid and unsure, just light massage and soft pinches to my nipples, and thought the sensation was good it wasn’t what I expected it would be. Growing more frustrated by the second, I thought about giving up and writing sex as one of the few things I wasn’t good at. However, before I could reach for the remote, the man’s pleasure reached its peak and poured out of him, covering the girl’s chin, neck and chest as he groaned like an animal.
I have no idea why, but the sight of a girl who even looked like me covered in some guy’s sperm was so hot and forbidden it liberated me from thoughts of what I should do or feel at that moment and allowed me to relax and simply enjoy what was happening. With a deep breath, I leaned against the pillows and cleared my mind.
In that sweet emptiness of desire, my hands came alive and started working my sensitive nipples with a liberated energy. As the couple on my screen kissed and made their way to bed, I pinched, rolled, flickered and massaged my rosy peaks until my heart started to race, and my center became warm and wet with arousal. The delicious and strange sensation propelled me forward and urged me to explore other parts of my body.
As he picked the girl up from the floor and tossed her onto a bed, my right hand left my breast and traveled on a downward path that connected my tits to my pussy. My knees widened to welcome my fingers into my wet center just as the man on the screen flipped his lover onto all fours and started to push himself inside of her.
The scene playing out in front of me was so fucking arousing it breathed new life into my hands and, out of their own accord, my fingers started moving and circling around my clit. My movements were slow and tentative at first, but as my body began to get used to the sensation, my fingers moved faster and faster until I was pleasuring myself with the same voracity as that man was fucking his partner. Still, it didn’t feel like enough.
Never moving my eyes from the TV, I continued to rub my clit and pinch my nipples until my lips parted to pull in breaths that never fully filled my chest. Before I knew what was happening, my heart started to pound, my limbs began to tingle, and the world disappeared. Everything that existed was the growing pleasure inside of me and my need for release.
Although I didn’t really know what to expect, I could tell I was close, and I treasured every second of the delicious sensation. Then, as my toes curled and my eyes finally closed to enjoy my very first orgasm, I heard noise coming from the other side of the door. I could tell someone was calling me, but I refused to acknowledge and just kept circling my fingers until I felt myself dangling from the edge of a precipice and then falling into a sea of pleasure.
“Jess,” I heard mom’s voice calling from the other side of the door as I relaxed into the incredible sensation that followed my orgasm. “You awake? I have something important to talk to you.”
I turned off the TV and pulled in a deep breath through my mouth. Doing my best to steady my voice, I replied, “Yeah, I’m just changing. Give me five, okay?”
“Okay, baby,” mom replied, and I heard her heels walking away.
A smile curled up on my lips as the after effects of my new favorite pastime started to wear off. Decided to do this again and often, I got up from the bed and went to put some clothes on, feeling better and more relaxed than I had in ages.
Dressed in a comfortable pajama set, I exited my room with that silly grin still on my face and went over to the kitchen where my mother was waiting. Barefoot but still in her uniform dress and with her hair tied in a neat bun, Mom was perched on top of the counter and munching on the rest of my pizza with a worried line creasing her furrowed brow.
“Didn’t you just go out for dinner?” I asked as I approached her.
With a roll of her hazel eyes, she replied, “Yeah, but the whole thing was so crazy I barely ate.”
Despite my curiosity, I stepped away from the subject for a second to hug my mom. My display of affection broke through her anxious eating and made her face relax a little. We had a brief conversation about what she had seen in her travels and of how much we had missed each other while she was away, and once those subjects were exhausted, I stepped away and leaned against the counter opposite to her.
Pulling my brows together, I asked, “Why was your dinner crazy?”
The worry returned to my mother’s face, and instead of replying, she simply reached into her purse and removed a small black box which she tossed over to me. With my frown deepening, I opened it and gasped at the gorgeous—and huge—diamond ring inside.
“What the actual hell?�
�� I asked as my gaze bounced back to her.
A small smirk curled up on her lips as she nodded. “I was proposed to by a man I’ve only seen twice in my life. He plans to be unfaithful and divorce me in a year, but if I say yes and marry him, you and I will be multimillionaires.”
Thoroughly confused, I shook my head and asked for more information so I could understand the situation better. Although she was clearly overwhelmed as well, mom did her best to explain everything and fill me in on all the details of her bizarre proposal.
From the information she was able to give me about Ben Walker, he seemed like a nice enough man, and though the whole proposition was a little too crazy for my taste, the more mom explained it, the better it sounded. Since starting college, I had blamed myself for the strain my career choice had put on my mother. As a single mother, she had always worked a lot to provide for us, but with the added expense of my tuition and student loans, I knew she was working herself to an early grave.
Because I loved her and wanted her to live a long and happy life, I couldn’t help but think that maybe this marriage deal wasn’t such a crazy idea after all. Perhaps, it was the answer to our prayers.
“And you wouldn’t have to sleep with him or do anything weird?” I asked once she was done explaining.
A frown formed on my mom’s face. “Of course, not. I’m not a whore, Jessica. To the world, we would be husband and wife, but inside our home, we would be just friends. I would have my own room and everything.”
