Page 5 of Marrying a Billionaire

He shook his head.

Her lip quivered as she dropped his gaze.

Whoops. He didn’t mean to make her more upset. “Hey, but maybe that’s a good thing. You’ve seen how crazy my family is. Most women run in the opposite direction of me.”

She let out a laugh. “Yeah. I’ve heard that’s a common plight among the wealthy.”

If she only knew. Sure, woman threw themselves at him, but he always struggled to know if they were there for him or for his money. And the last person he thought was genuine ended up in bed with his half-brother. So his track record was terrible.

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

She sniffled and stuffed the tissue into her purse. “It’s a lot better than what I’ve got going on.” She took a deep breath and then whispered something that sound like, “I needed this.”

When he leaned in, hoping to catch what she was muttering under her breath, she just smiled and shouldered her purse. “Well, Mr. Williamson, I’ll get out of your hair. I’ve got to dust off my job searching skills and find one.” She stood and started toward the door.

An idea formed in his mind as he watched her leave. How bad would it be if they continued with this ridiculous matchmaking debacle? It would save him from his mom attempting this again and, it seemed as if the woman could use this too.

“What did they offer you?” he asked as she reached out to turn the handle.

Her shoulders tightened and then she slowly turned around. “$100,000 a year with a bonus at the end.”

He let out a whistle. His mom definitely wasn’t stingy with his money. “That’s all?”

She wringed her hands. “And full benefits, a place to live, and a clothing stipend,” she whispered.

He leaned back in his chair. “That’s a pretty nice deal.”

She nodded but then raised her hand as if to stop him. “Yes, but that’s a crazy thing your mom is asking us to do. You don’t want to be married to a complete stranger. After all, I could be a serial killer or something.”

He stood and strolled over to her. He couldn’t deny that she was cute. The way she kept tucking strands of her hair behind her ear or the way her cheeks hinted pink every time he looked at her. She was intriguing.

When he was a foot away from her, he bent down to catch her gaze. “Are you a serial killer?”

Her eyes widened as she chewed her lower lip. “No.” Then she leaned in. “But that’s what a serial killer would say when asked if they were a serial killer.”

She was quirky and sweet and he couldn’t help but like her. There was something about her that drew him in. She wasn’t like any of the women he’d met at galas or stuffy parties.

He extended his hand. Her gaze dropped to it and then made its way back up to meet his.

“Reed Williamson.” He wiggled his fingers, hoping that she wouldn’t just leave him hanging.

She hesitated and then met his gesture. “Lillian Brunette.”

He shook her hand. “Well, Lillian, what do you say? Fake a marriage with me?”

Her eyes widened as she hesitated and then wiggled her hand from his grasp. “I can’t,” she whispered and then reached behind her back and grabbed the door handle. “You don’t want to get involved in my mess.” She opened the door and moved to step out.

She yelped as she ran into Orson who was standing just outside of the door with a stack of papers in his hands. He straightened his glasses as his gaze moved from Lillian and then over to Reed.

“We need to talk,” he said.

Reed nodded and stepped out of the way so that Orson and Lillian could enter his office. A panicked look raced across Lillian’s face as she glanced toward the hallway and then back to Orson.

“I should just go,” she said. “You can probably shred the documents without me.”

“Actually, Ms. Brunette, we can’t. You’ll need to hear this.”

Her face paled as her gaze flicked over to Reed. “What does that mean?”

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