Page 11 of Her Billion Dollar Groom

“Yeah, dummy, this was fun. Didn’t you think this was fun?”

“Yes!” He smiles.

Then he comprehends what I’m saying to him and the smile widens. “Yeah, this was fun. It was great fun. I would love to do itagain. That is if that’s okay with your… I don’t know if you have to okay it with your…”

“Who cares about anyone else?” I scoff. “I love to do what I want anyway. What’s the harm in meeting up with a friend? Since when was that illegal?”

“No, I suppose it’s not.”

It’s a true smile, the kind he does when he lets his guard down a little. He’s an overthinking sort, that much is obvious. But when he lets go of everything in his head and smiles like he means it, he’s hard to look away from.

He looks me up and down like he has another thought simmering beneath the surface, and then he says, “Let me propose a scheme, something crazy.”

“Okay.” I grin.

“Marry me.”

If I had been taking a drink, I would have spit it all out. My mouth drops open. “What?”

He shakes his head like I’ve totally misunderstood what he was trying to say to me. “A mutually beneficial arrangement. That’s all.”

“That’s all?”

“You need some quick cash. And I need some good press. I don’t remember the last time I got on with someone so easily. In reality, I’m not asking for more than friendship - please don’t mistake my intentions. I would love to be your friend, but… think of the PR boost we would get from doing it.”

“You want me to have a fake arranged marriage with you. For a PR stunt?”

“Why not?” he asks.

“If I hadn’t been watching what you were drinking, I would say you’ve drunk way too much and you’re out of your mind.”

“I’ve had one cocktail,” he says almost proudly.

And so have I. In my head, the plan was to come here and drink away my problems, but we kind of got distracted from that once we got talking. My head could not be clearer right now, even if it is suddenly spinning.

“Just a year,” he says. “If it’s not working after that, we’ll break up quietly or dissolve the marriage or whatever. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

“You think the press will just let that go as no big deal? Just like that?”

“We can navigate that later.”

“Imagine what they’ll say when they discover that you’ve paid me to marry you! They’ll go crazy with rumors.”

“We don’t have to tell anyone about that. We can tell people that we met at these awards, or a few months ago at something like this, and we quickly fell in love. I’ll set us up a joint account so it doesn’t look suspicious that I’m transferring money to you, but it can be yours. My mansion is big enough that you can have all your own space.”

“I could pay off my parents’ debts,” I say quietly. “I could settle all their debts and make sure they’ll never have to worry again.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have some positive press coverage too?” he says, his smile dazzling. How he’s failing to get a partnership is beyond me, because I’m enchanted. “To have them report on our marriage rather than your breakup?”

I nod slowly.

The more he speaks, the more sense it’s making, which is insane because it doesn’t make any sense at all. “Why marriage?” I ask. “Why not just give me money?”

I wince, my whole face squeezing like I’ve sucked on a lemon. That sounded way worse than I meant it to.

“I need your PR boost,” he says. “I can’t grow my company without it. You’re a superstar. With my name and your name together, Handshake will go through the roof. I’m going to need you just as much as you need me. If you agree to this.”

“If I agree to it,” I echo.

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