I shook my head. I had no idea where to even begin, but at the same time, I felt trapped. I didn’t have a choice in the matter, and they were right, I could find someone if I really tried. The city was full of women, and a lot of them threw themselves at me. If I approached it as a business transaction, I was sure I could come up with something.
I couldn’t lose the investors’ money. Not with the idea Liz had had about rebranding, or my plans to go global. I wanted to expand to Asia, Europe, and that was just the beginning.
If they were to pull their money from me, then I was going to lose all that. My company would go down the drain. I had worked far too hard and done too much to lose it now. But I never thought marriage would be a requirement.
“Fine,” I said. “Fine, I’ll do it. But I’m going to be the one to pick the girl, and even if she’s not what you would choose, you’re still going to be bound to your half of this bargain.”
“That’s all we ask,” Mr. Maxwell replied.
I almost laughed in his face. He wasn’t married, but he was telling me that I had a month to come up with a bride.
“I think that’s all for today then,” I said. “I’m going to work on the rebranding, and I’ll present my ideas to you when I’ve got something more tangible to show.”
“Great,” Mason said. “And we’ll be checking up on you. We want this done sooner rather than later, so I recommend you don’t put this off until the last second.”
“I told you I’d make it happen,” I said, fighting to keep my cool. “And I will. Trust me, gentlemen, you are going to be satisfied with my decision.”
“Excellent,” Mr. Maxwell rose from his seat, and I followed suit. I shook hands with each of them as they walked out of the room, trying to wrap up the meeting on a better note than the meeting we’d ended on Friday. I forced a smile and bid them all a good day, once more promising I was going to turn things around in the media.
But, as soon as they were gone, I sank back into my chair and buried my face in my hands. I tried not to think about how much trouble this was going to be, or what would happen if I didn’t find a bride in time. It felt impossible, putting that on someone out of the blue and expecting them to make it happen.
I pulled open my laptop and started browsing different dating websites. So many of them were full of women who didn’t want anything serious, and that was all I was looking for. Not only that, but I wanted someone who was going to be willing to get married to me by the end of the month.
Sure, there were plenty of women who would be happy to get their hands on the money, but I knew I also had to be careful of the woman I selected for that very reason. I didn’t mind doting on my new bride or letting her spend money on what she wanted, but that didn’t mean I was willing to hand over my hard-earned money for her to throw away frivolously.
At the same time, I was the sort of man who went for one-night stands. I didn’t like commitment, and I didn’t know how to even begin with that sort of relationship with someone. This woman was going to have to understand that I was looking for something fake and nothing more.
She would be compensated with the lifestyle that I lived and the fact that she would be living in my apartment and sharing a portion of my money, but that didn’t mean I was going to treat it as a true marriage.
I would even tell her that it was only going to last until I had the money – or at least enough investors – that I could keep the company going on its own, and I could get rid of the investors who were pushing this on me. The only problem was, I didn’t know if that was going to be months or years.
I was going to have to find someone who was going to benefit from the arrangement in some way, too. Someone who was going to understand that it was all fake, and it would come to an end at one point.
I sighed, trying to think of someone I might know who would need a helping hand. Somewhere to stay, money, something like that but not wanting to make a lifelong commitment.
Thoughts of my childhood and my parents started to creep into my mind. I thought about how much I used to fight with them – how my father had injured his back at work, and how he had become addicted to pain pills. I never understood why my mother started taking them, too, but by the time I was thirteen years old, they were both drug addicts.
I fought with them to get help. I told them many times how much their addiction made me suffer, but it was no use. By the time I was fifteen I had left the house, moving in with Liz and David.
Eventually, my mother committed suicide. I had told her I didn’t want to speak to her again. Of course, I didn’t mean it, and I was angry when I said it, but I still couldn’t help but blame myself for the fact she had ended her own life.
Now, I didn’t want to have a serious relationship with anyone. I just wanted to cling to my loner lifestyle as much as possible. And I was being forced to abandon it now.
I had a lot of connections through my work, but I couldn’t think of anyone who I could just spring this idea on and know that it would go well. If word got out about it, the tabloids would be all over that story too, and good luck finding anyone willing to marry me for real or otherwise.
Those bastards might have even planned it that way. Maybe they wanted to see if I could pull it off without ending up on the cover of a magazine. Well, the joke’s on them, because I could.
I wasn’t going to find just any bride. No, I was going to show them that I could marry an incredibly upstanding individual, and she was going to be right there by my side making me look like man of the fucking year. I still didn’t know where I was going to find her, but I’d show Maxwell and Mason both.
I’d show all of them that I could find someone without getting tangled up in any more messes.
The more I thought about it, the more determined I was to prove a point. I couldn’t get just any woman; I was going to have to find someone who was really going to get their attention. I could prove them wrong, and I had every intention of doing so. I wasn’t going to let them get the best of me or find a way to weasel their way out of the company.
It was a bargain that was meant to go both ways, and shit was it ever. I sat back in my chair and ran my hands over my face, trying to think of anyone I could stomach spending my time with day in and day out. There were a few names who came to mind; women I knew would at least catch Maxwell off guard.
But I would have to find a way to bring the idea up to them without them thinking I was insane, or that it had anything to do with them as potential love matches. But I knew they all had an eye for business, and if I could just convince one of them to say yes, my problems would be solved.
I was about to pull up my email and ask one of the women I’d met a couple of months prior out to dinner when suddenly, the thought struck me. There was one woman I knew right here who would be perfect for the position, and who wouldn’t think I was crazy for asking. She’d be fucking perfect if I could convince her to do it.
I’d done crazier things in my life that Liz had witnessed, but she and I were still close. Of course, she was the only woman I’d want to enter this agreement with. My pants tightened at the thought of it, but I knew I was going to have to be careful.
The last thing I wanted to do was make things difficult with David, and I knew how fiercely protective he was of his little sister. No, I was going to have to go to her first, find out what she thought, then the two of us would have to go to her brother together.
They were my best friends, and I had no doubt they would be willing to give me a hand with this problem. And I would have Liz. Sure, it might be fake, and I might not get to touch her, but if there were even a chance, I would take it in a heartbeat. Suddenly, the whole idea didn’t seem so bad.
Chapter 7
Liz
“Aren’t you tired of pizza? It’s what we always order,” I said with a groan.
“What else is there?” David asked with a laugh. “You love pizza; I love pizza; why not?”
“Because it’s all we ever ge
t! Let’s order sandwiches or something!” I said with a shake of my head.
“Who orders sandwiches when they’re having a movie night?” he asked with wide eyes.
“People who eat pizza all the time,” I rolled my eyes at him and pulled out my phone, flipping through the options for delivery. Neither one of us wanted to go out and get food, and we didn’t have much in the apartment since we were overdue for a trip to the grocery store. David wanted to order pizza, but I wasn’t in the mood.
The Chinese food that we’d had at Nick’s place was awesome, but he refused ever to tell us whether he had made it himself, or if he had ordered. David was convinced of the latter, but I was inclined to believe he really had made it himself. We had discussed it several times since then, though we both knew we weren’t going to get any definitive answer out of our friend.
“There’s a sandwich place nearby,” I commented. “Why don’t we get something from them? We won’t have to wait very long for it to show up that way. It’ll be faster than pizza.”
“But we’ll spend more money on sandwiches. If we get pizza, at least there’s going to be leftovers,” he argued. I was about to make another comment about how that was all we ate when there was a knock at the door, and I rose to answer it.
“I swear if you went ahead and ordered pizza without telling me,” I started, but as I opened the door, I was surprised to see Nick standing there.
“Hey, what’re you doing here?” I asked. “Call first much?”
He laughed. “I know you guys have no social lives, so why bother? You were bound to be here.”
“And if we weren’t, you would have wasted all that time coming over for nothing,” I said, feigning mock annoyance.
“I was pretty sure my hunch was going to be correct,” he laughed. “May I come in?”
“Sure, we were just going to order some food and have a movie night, care to join?” I asked. “Clearly, you don’t have much for a social life, either, if you thought you’d just show up here.”
“I’m starving,” he admitted. “What’re you ordering?”
“Pizza,” David called out from the other room.
“Sandwiches,” I replied with a smirk. “I’m so sick of pizza.”
“I haven’t had pizza in ages,” Nick said.
“No fair!” I punched him lightly on the arm. It was impossible for me to keep my hands off him.
“Thank God,” David walked out into the living room. “I’ll order.”
“Fine, you can order the pizza, but then I’m picking the movie,” I rolled my eyes.
“I thought we were watching that horror one?” he asked.
“We’ll just have to see, now won’t we?” I said as I headed over to the tv. I flipped through the movies, already knowing which one I was going to pick. I loved horror, and it had been my idea to watch that particular one tonight. I invited David to watch with me, though I was surprised when he actually agreed.
“I love horror, and I love pizza,” Nick said as he sat down on the couch. “So, I’m down for both.”
“Good,” David said.
I shook my head, but I honestly didn’t mind having pizza with Nick there. I loved spending time with him. It didn’t really matter to me what we were doing with that time. And if he wanted pizza, then I was okay with that. It was different bending for Nick than it was for David.
“Pizza’s on the way!” David announced triumphantly. I crossed my arms, and Nick laughed.
“So, you guys got beer or what?” he asked.
“Always,” David headed to the kitchen and returned with three bottles. He passed them around and cracked mine open. I’d returned to the couch and now sat next to Nick, though there was some space between us.
It was hard for me not to be right next to him, but I knew David was going to sit in the chair he always chose. He preferred it to the couch, and it would be too obvious for me to sit right next to him without David also with us.
There were times when I wondered what it would be like if the three of us lived together as roommates. It would sure be nice to be able to do this more often.
But then, I didn’t know if I could handle living with Nick and not touching him. It had been impossible when we were kids. As much time as we spent together, it was inevitable for something to happen between us at some point. Nick was everything I ever wanted in a sexual partner, and though there were times my heart would disagree with me, I refused to let my mind go there.
It was hard enough wanting to fuck him again; I knew it would be even worse if I were to crush on him on top of it.
As I suspected, David sat on the chair next to the couch, also popping the cap off his beer and taking a swig.
“So, what brought you over?” he asked Nick. “I doubt you were really just that bored and looking for something to do.
“Really,” Nick said. “There are times I genuinely start to feel claustrophobic in that apartment and want to get out. I’m not supposed to be drinking anymore, so I couldn’t go to the bar, either.”
“You’re not? Why?” David asked.
“I made a deal with the investors. They don’t like the image that the company has when the CEO is getting plastered on the front of tabloids,” Nick said as he took a swig of his beer.
“That’s not your fault,” I jumped in defensively. “As if you can control the things the media says about you.”
“That’s what I was saying, but I don’t have any control over what the investors do, and I’m concerned they’re going to pull their funding from the company if I don’t comply with their demands,” he said with a shake of his head. “They told me I need to stay out of trouble, as they put it, and part of that is no more drinking in public.”
“Or it might be enough to get their curiosity going,” David said. “They might wonder why you’re not boozing anymore and follow you around because of that. Like they could come up with a theory that you’re in rehab or something,” he pointed out.
“Let them. It’s not like they haven’t made shit up about me to sell papers before. But the point is, I’m not going to actively give them a reason to follow me,” Nick shrugged.
I knew he had been featured more than once, but I had to stop looking. There were different times over the past few years that I’d seen him lip-locked with some scantily clad woman, and I knew he had to be having sex with her.
I couldn’t bring myself to keep looking at the fact he was clearly hooking up with others. I knew he had to have been. And to be fair, I had slept with others too since we’d had our tryst some years ago. But I still didn’t like the idea of watching him with another woman.
I had tried to keep an eye on the things he was doing with his life, but I eventually learned that it was better just to follow him on social media and stay in touch directly rather than see what life he was living in the city.
David’s phone interrupted us as it started ringing, and he headed to the kitchen to take the call. I turned my attention to Nick.
“Well, if there’s anything I can do that’ll help keep them off your back, don’t be afraid to ask,” I told him.
“Thanks,” he said with a smile. He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but at that moment, David returned. He looked sheepish with his phone in his hand.
“Candice wants to go out to dinner and a movie,” he said.
“Candice from work, Candice?” Nick asked.
“Yeah,” David seemed rather embarrassed.
“Are you going to go?” I asked. “I think you should.”
“I think so, and I’m not sure I’m going to be back tonight,” he said.
“Wow, who would have thought I run a dating service on top of everything else,” Nick said with a shake of his head.
“Candice and David sitting in a tree,” I chimed in, using a sing-song voice.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough you two,” David said. “I hope I won’t be back now.”
“Have fun and think about the fact that I�
��m going to be stuck with pizza because of you,” I laughed.
He grabbed his things and headed out the door quickly, and I giggled. “I’m glad he’s got someone in his life.”
“Me too. David’s a good guy; he should have someone,” Nick said. He took another drink of his beer, and there was a pause before he spoke again. “Speaking of having someone, I was going to ask you something.”
“What?” I asked. My heart leaped to my throat, and for a moment I worried he was going to tell me he had met someone, too. But I was even more shocked at what did come out of his mouth.
“Do you want to fake a marriage with me?” he blurted out.
“What?” I looked at him, letting my confusion shine through.
“My investors. Part of the deal was that I need to get married. They think if I have someone to keep an eye on me, then I’m going to be less inclined to get in trouble. I wanted to ask you before bringing it up to David, so I’m glad we got the chance to talk. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather do this with if I have to,” he said.
I thought for a second. I was shocked. Never did I think he would say something like that to me, and now that he did, I wasn’t sure what to say. But my heart was racing, and I knew that there was no way I could turn him down.
“Sure,” I said with a grin. “Why not?”
“Really?” he seemed surprised, and I laughed.
“Why not?” I said again.
“You’re the best!” Nick stood up so fast he nearly dropped his beer. He turned to me and pulled me up off the couch and into him. It was a tight hug, and I was sure he could feel me trembling. I was excited, in shock, but thrilled. I couldn’t believe this was happening, and on a whim, I looked up into his eyes before rising toward his lips.
I wasn’t sure how he would react. He did say that he wanted the marriage to be fake, but then, he pulled me into him. I closed my eyes as he leaned down, clearly needing me, too.
Then, after too many years, our lips met.
Boss Man Page 4
