* * *
"Morning," he said with a smile that reached his eyes and caught her off guard.
* * *
“Morning Mr Dunne,” she attempted with her professional voice.
* * *
“Did you have time to think about my proposal?”
* * *
He said it as if he had asked her to marry him, if only it was that, but it was nothing but a business deal, and she felt as if she was on auction.
* * *
"I did," she said. Looking at him from under her lashes, "But I didn’t expect you to arrive at my apartment, it could have waited till I was at work.”
* * *
He chuckled and tapped on the front seat for the driver to get going.
* * *
"Perhaps, but I figured the sooner I know your answer, the better," he said and sunk back into the comfort of the seat, not once taking his eyes off her.
* * *
"Did you ever once consider that I may be unavailable on account of having a partner?" she said blankly as she stared out the window at the passing scenery.
* * *
"If you were, which you’re not, I would have made alternative arrangements,” he said.
* * *
She whipped her head around to look at him, "How would you know I am not involved?” she said, crossing her arms. "Have you been spying on me?”
* * *
"I wouldn’t call it spying, but truly, you work till late every day, and you’re always the first one at the office, you have picture of your cat on your desk, if you were involved, I would love to meet the lucky man willing to put up with a workaholic. It’s called being observant.”
* * *
What an arrogant ass, she thought and rolled her eyes.
* * *
"This is a terrible idea," she said, diverting her gaze to the outside world again.
* * *
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
* * *
She didn’t respond; for a moment, she contemplated here options and weighed the pros and cons. Doing this will change the dynamic of their working relationship completely.
* * *
"Look I'm sorry," he started, "I'm sorry about the way I've gone about this thus far. I should have been more considerate as to how this will impact your life, but I need your help Jennifer. I'm a desperate man with a lot at stake."
* * *
"At any given time, there are tons of interns working in various departments at your company. You could have picked any one of them,” she rubbed her hand down over her face.
* * *
"No," he shook his head, "I wanted you, you are smart, you can think on your feet and I’m confident that you are the only one who would be able to deliver a believable performance. I'm not going to trust any old wet-behind-the-ears intern with my future.”
* * *
Many people were rich. Jennifer knew this. Justin Dunne was not rich. He was wealthy. His riches had levels. From liquid cash, to assets, property, companies, the list went on. Whereas some were born with silver spoons in their mouths, Justin's spoon had been solid gold and diamond encrusted. Having a man that rich and powerful at her mercy should have given her more perverse pleasure but it didn't. She felt almost sorry for him. He was reduced to desperate measures.
* * *
"There have to be rules," she said, leaning back into her seat.
* * *
"Of course there will be, I have an agreement drawn up, which we both will sign once we agree on the terms.”
He left no rocks unturned, she realized, but if she was going to do this, she was going to make sure her terms were also met.
* * *
"Firstly, I don't want your money, I’m not a prostitute. I’m already on your payroll, that’s enough as is," she started.
* * *
"Fair enough, but extra money will come in handy."
* * *
She ignored that statement and continued, "I won't have sex with you," she said. "We need to look like a couple in public but behind closed doors nothing happens.”
* * *
Justin laughed at that and she scowled, “I’m serious, I’m not a whore."
* * *
“I had no intentions of getting physical with you, so trust me, your virtue will remain intact.” That stung a bit, he didn’t have to act like she had the plague. Maybe he didn’t find her attractive?
* * *
"I don't want this to get in the way of our working relationship…”
* * *
"I am going to be having someone else do your duties while this is going on," he interrupted and held up his hand.
* * *
“Excuse me? Then what happens when this is all over?”
* * *
“You’ll pick up where you left off; I’ll get a temp to take over from you for the time being. I can’t have my fiancée working like a normal employee.”
* * *
"And when it's over I get my job back? If this arrangement is going to cost me my bread and butter, I refuse to accept."
* * *
"Like I said, your job is safe. You can start again as soon as this is over."
* * *
How would she ever face the other staff when she returned? Everyone would be under the impression that they were an item, and if she just waltzed in and took over again, it will raise a few brows. Or worse, they would think Justin dumped her and that’s why she was back at work. She mentally groaned at the potential pitying looks that would be coming her way. But that was a bridge she would cross when she got there. There was always the slightest chance that she could find another job and eventually leave for good.
* * *
"Do you have any rules?" she asked.
* * *
Justin shifted in his seat and turned to look at her. She was paler than usual, and his gut twisted slightly, but in the long run he knew it will all work out.
* * *
"A few, firstly we have to stay in the same house. Same house... not the same bed," he said, seeing her eyes widen. "It gives more credibility to the relationship."
* * *
"Makes sense, what else?"
* * *
"You can't be involved with anyone else romantically during the time that we are together, I'm sure you can imagine why," he said.
* * *
She nodded, “Obviously.”
* * *
"One more thing, you have to wear a ring."
* * *
She raised her brows and rolled her eyes, “Seriously I don’t think wearing a ring or not would make any difference.”
* * *
“Of course it would, what man in his right mind would have a fiancée who doesn’t wear a ring? It’s like a promise of commitment or whatever you want to call it. The first thing anyone looks at is the ring when you tell them you’re engaged.”
* * *
She was modest, and he liked that about her. In all the time he got to know her, working with her, she was never one for flashy outfits and daily trips to a hair salon or a spa. Unlike the women he had dated in the past, all of which were always out to wear the most expensive outfits, drive the flashiest cars and owned shoes that would make Prada look like an outback retail store.
* * *
"Well in that case I have no problem switching fingers,” she said as she pried her birthstone ring from her right ring finger and put it on her left. It was a cute little piece of jewelry, with a small stone stacked on a band that looked like twined silver, the stone could pass as a diamond to the naked eye, but it was not what he had in mind.
* * *
“No sweetheart, that won’t do,” he leaned over and instructed his driver to take a detour to Harry Winston’s. If he was going to make this work, it was going to have to include all the bells and whistles.
Chapter Three
Jennifer had never had any reason before to venture into Harry Winston. She knew that
it was a jewelry shop but that was about it. And now she was standing, hand-in-hand with her boss looking at rings. He had looked over four, five, six karat stones asking her opinion on all of them. Only the commitment of her highest level acting skills had kept her from exclaiming loudly that he would be out of his mind to purchase one of those. It was a complete waste of money considering the fact that she’ll only wear it for a few months.
* * *
She tried her hardest to remain the calm and serene fiancée as they looked over rings that were more expensive than several years of her salary. She pulled out her best loving gazes and delighted faces in the shop, disguising her real feelings of utter shock.
* * *
After finally deciding on a ring that he wanted, and she simply agreeing with, they made their way out of the store. She felt fake, used and excited all at the same time. The kaleidoscope of emotions that flooded her was almost too much.
* * *
"Could you not have taken one of the less extravagant rings? Trying to impress people with material things is just a show boat.”
* * *
"Jennifer, please. The ring is nothing. I want to buy one. I’ll send for it to be collected as soon as it’s been resized and then we can make it official,” he said as he opened the door for her.
* * *
Jennifer slumped back in her seat and sighed. The words ‘make it official’ rang like loud church bells in her mind and she felt a headache slowly creeping up on her. When this is all over she’ll probably be tainted beyond repair, and if she does eventually meet someone, the lie will roll over and over and over. She would always be known as the one who was once engaged. She rubbed the back of her neck and forced herself to calm down. She can do this, she told herself and from somewhere deep down she found the courage to raise her chin and take on the challenge.
"Just by the way… not to rain on your parade or anything, the ring is beautiful and you have great taste but I think a family heirloom engagement ring would impress your future wife a lot more, just saying."
* * *
"Oh really?" he asked, amused.
* * *
"It’s much more sentimental, so if you ever do decide to propose for real, consider that as a winner.”
* * *
"My mother would sooner eat herself than part with Gran’s old jewelry," he said lightly.
* * *
"Your parents are still happily married?" she asked curiously. She knew Justin well enough but he had never made any mention of his parents.
* * *
"Yes, they will want to talk to you by the way. My mother would never forgive me if she heard about this in the news before we told her."
Great! She thought as she mentally constructed a list of things to conclude to make this work.
* * *
Tell the parents
Tell the news
Tell the employees
Pretend ALL the time
Sign the deal
Break off the engagement
* * *
She was sure that the list was going to grow sooner or later, but for now, those were the points she collected.
* * *
"Are they going to get the public or private version of the story?" Jennifer asked.
* * *
"I don't know yet," he admitted. "Your parents will probably want to know as well. Do they live in the city?"
* * *
"No. I moved here on my own. My mother and step father live in North Carolina."
* * *
"I didn't know you were from the South."
* * *
Jennifer burst out laughing and shook her head, what they knew about each other was minimal, she knew how he liked his coffee, what color ties he preferred, how he liked his eggs and steak. But those were minor details anyone could pick up on in one day. There was a lot more they had to learn about each other in order to look like the ideal couple.
* * *
"If you want people to believe we are about to get married there's a number of questions about me you have to be able to answer. I can type them up and send them to you to read at your leisure," she said and shrugged.
* * *
Justin chuckled, "That won't be necessary. We have today and tomorrow to get to know each other better. I'm not completely clueless."
* * *
"Yeah?" Jennifer sat up. "What's my middle name?"
* * *
"Mae. What's mine?" he laughed.
* * *
"Franklin. When is my birthday?"
* * *
"November 18th. When is mine?"
* * *
"Close, it’s November 16th. Yours is December 31st.”
* * *
Surprised that he was one step ahead of her, she laughed, "Okay then, so how did we fall in love?"
* * *
He looked at her, and smirked, “In my office, you dropped a pencil and bent to pick it up, and I liked what I saw.”
This time Jennifer couldn’t help herself, the mental image of her bent over and him staring at her backside was almost too funny to even consider.
* * *
"God no, we’ll have to come up with something random and corny. I suppose while working together, we were simply on the same wavelength and it was only a matter of time before you realized you couldn’t live without me,” she said and smirked.
* * *
"Or…” he started, “Your coffee was too good to resist, and you won me over with a cup and a donut?”
“Lame,” she giggled. "Okay, we can come up with something later. Why is this first that anybody is going to hear of me?"
* * *
He looked thoughtful at that. "So how did you end up here in the city?" he asked.
* * *
"I needed a break from home life. I was taking care of my father and going through the process of moving him into assisted living, and after that I figured it was time to start afresh."
* * *
"I’m sorry to hear that, it must have been hard to put him in a home,” he said and rested his hand on hers.
* * *
She didn’t pull away; his touch was gentle and he showed genuine sympathy. She looked down at their hands for a second then smiled softly.
* * *
"He has dementia. I go and see him every weekend I can, but most of the time he hardly knows who I am," she said.
* * *
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine how difficult that is for you," he said again.
* * *
"Don't worry about it," she said dismissively. "Where are we going?"
* * *
"I’m taking you home, so that you can settle in.”
* * *
“But I have work to finish and hand over to the temp,” she said nervously.
* * *
It was all happening too fast, first a yes, then a ring, now she’s moving in, all in one day.
* * *
“That’s all taken care of, we need to get the ball rolling, the dinner is Friday evening, and by then we need it all set up.”
* * *
"I don't have any of my things," she protested.
Her Fake Fiancé Billionaire Boss Page 2
