Page 37 of Who Needs a Billionaire

“Do you?” He eyed her.

“I mean, I don’t know your family or you, really, so I can’t speak to this situation.”

“But you’re thinking something. I can tell.”

“I just wonder … if you hadn’t walked away, would you be closer to proving yourself to your family? I mean, what if this plan of yours doesn’t work? What if they wish us well and that’s it and you don’t get what you want out of this?”

He frowned.

“What do you want from this, Gus?”

“I guess I want to at least share the leadership role with Skylar. And I want …”

She watched him as he trailed off and went somewhere deep inside his head. Without a thought, her hand moved atop his.

His eyes met hers. “Sorry. I just want to be respected, that’s all.”

“I’m sure your family respects you.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Merritt removed her hand as the flight attendant passed, and Gus asked for water. She was surprised he wasn’t drinking the free champagne or other drinks available. In fact, she hadn’t seen him drink at all. Not at Adelia’s Christmas party or New Year’s Eve or after their wedding.

“You don’t have to answer this if it’s too personal, but do you not drink alcohol?” she asked.

“Not anymore. It’s gotten me into trouble too many times.”

She nodded. “I see. Good for you.”

“It has been good.”

“Honestly, that day you came to see me at my office, I thought you must have been drunk to come up with such a ridiculous plan.”

He laughed loudly, which made her laugh too.

“I assure you, I was completely sober.”

When their laughter died down, he changed the subject again. “So, what’s your favorite truffle flavor? My family might ask that.”

She smiled. “The chocolate kind you taught me to make the other night.”

“Granny’s original recipe,” he replied. “I like the dark chocolate best, and we also make a chocolate mint that’s a close runner up.”

“Dark chocolate and chocolate mint. Got it.”

“I’ll take you on a tour of the factory if you want.”

“Do I get free samples?”

“Babe, you’re a member of the family now. You can have truffles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you want.”

Merritt laughed at that. And it also surprised her how much she liked the thought of being a part of the Schultz family. From everything she’d heard about them from Gus and Adelia, they were the kind of family anyone would dream of being part of.

FIFTEEN

As they pulled up to his parents’ house, a nervous sensation grew in the pit of Gus’s stomach. He hadn’t been home in three months, and he hadn’t exactly left on the best of terms. But being here now, he realized how much he had missed them, and he was excited to be home.

He glanced over at the lovely woman by his side. It was still so crazy to wrap his head around the fact that he had a wife. Not that it was a real marriage. But it meant something to him that she was giving him a year of her life to help him get what he wanted in his family’s company.

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