Page 25 of Our Broken Pieces
His head tilts back and forth. “Maybe. But I think it will be different. Now I’m stressed with meeting the odd demands of an old man. When it’s mine, I’ll be stressed about making it a bettercompany to work for and if my teams and customers are taken care of. Might be the same amount of stress, but easier to carry. Does that make sense?”
“It does.” I took a long sip of my drink this time. “Have you given any more thought to what your dad said? The whole marriage thing?”
He runs a hand down his face. “Yeah. I mean, it’s hard not to.”
“What’s the verdict, then?”
“I have a date Thursday night.”
My eyes go wide. “A date?”
He picks at the label on his beer bottle. “Yeah.”
“With who? Do we know her?”
He shakes his head. “No, I met her at the gym.”
“Did you meet her this morning?” I sit up straight in my chair, turning toward him.
“I did. She approached me, and I asked her out.”
I can’t fight the panic running through me. “That was fast. You really asked her out?”
“It wasn’t the smoothest interaction, but I have to do things that make me uncomfortable right now. I only have a year.”
I hear those voices again. Someone I count on could leave me. I would be left behind after someone I’m close to chooses someone else. Sure, I have Melonie and Audrey; they are my best friends for life. But they have kids and relationships now. Marcus is my safe place. He’s the person that accepts all the crazy parts of me and knows how to talk me down. I can count on him to answer the phone when I have a bad day. Hell, he just saved me from one of the worst situations last night. I don’t want to lose him and all of those parts of our friendship.
How selfish is that of me? I’m not even sure where that feeling is coming from. But the thought of a woman coming in and taking my best friend makes me feel like I’m going to throw up. I know this has to happen. He has to do this to inherit thebusiness. But I’m so scared to lose what we have. Suddenly, the crazy side of my brain takes over, and I say something that sounds completely insane.
“What if we got married?”
Chapter Sixteen
Marcus
My body freezes when she says those words. It takes me a few seconds to fully process what she said. She has to be joking.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Gigi?”
She shifts in her chair. “I know it sounds crazy. But what if I’m your scapegoat.”
“You’re suggesting I marry you? And lie to my father?”
“Hear me out.” I can see the wheels turning at a fast pace behind her eyes. “He’s already met me. We say after I was finally single, you could make your move. We put on a ruse, ‘dating’ for a while, then get married. We stay married long enough for the business to become yours, then poof!” She flings her hands in the air. “We start having issues and we get a divorce.”
“That is the most asinine idea I’ve ever heard.”
“Why?”
I turn to look straight in her eyes. “Do you even hear yourself? You’re talking about marriage, Gigi. That’s a huge deal. You just got out of a hot mess of a relationship. What if my father finds out it’s not real?”
“I know it’s a huge deal. Yes, I just got out of a less than ideal partnership. But it would be perfect timing for something like this, not like I want to go looking for a new relationship right now, so I have some time to kill. And your father never has to find out. I can be a very good actress.”
The bartender places our food in front of us. I don’t even know if I can eat right now.
“You’re not joking, are you?”
“Totally serious. Think about it. Do you really want to date? Do you really want to marry someone under the pressure of an obligation and not true love? Is that really fair to you or to that woman?”
