Her mouth snapped shut and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, what?"
I could pretend I said something else and take it all back. But I'd come this far. And Reyna was my best hope to save the company.
"I know it sounds crazy. But will you marry me?"
She jerked, leaping off the couch and walking across the room. I hoped to hell that she wasn't afraid.
She turned around, her hands going to her hips as she looked at me like I'd gone insane. I tried not to be offended that she thought I wasn't marriage material. I was young, rich, single, and not bad-looking. There were plenty of other women who would leap to have this assignment. The problem was, I was certain they wouldn't want the marriage to end per the parameters I was outlining. In this case, I suppose it was good that Reyna thought I wasn't marriage material. It was partly why I chose her. She was smart, insightful, and but most importantly, she didn't look at me with dollar signs in her eyes.
"I can't marry you, Mr. Dunsmore."
I wanted to go over to her, be close so I could convince her to take my offer. But I felt certain that would only distance her from this crazy idea more.
So I stayed on the couch. "Like I said, it's crazy. I'm not asking for real marriage. I know we’re not in love, and I have no expectations of performing marital duties." I hope she understood that I was talking about sex. My dick deflated, clearly hoping that sex would be one of the perks of this arrangement. I needed to be clear that this proposition was strictly business. "I need a smart, beautiful wife who can help me convince the board that I'm a good bet for remaining CEO. In return, I can offer you financing so you can finish law school. You could start that right away or save it till the end of the year when our deal is over."
"Year!"
I didn't think she could look any more surprised, but right now, she did.
"Getting married in and of itself isn't going to convince them. They're going to accuse me of doing exactly what I'm doing right now. This marriage will be one of convenience, but it will have to look like it's one of true love. One that will last a lifetime."
Her expression told me she didn't believe in true love. I believed in it, but not for me. I saw it with my sister and Max, but I knew I didn't have the temperament or the energy to give a woman the attention she'd need.
"I know this is going to sound sexist, but I need a beautiful wife to travel with me on business. I need everybody that I'm meeting to see what the board needs to see—that I am a stable, married man devoted to his wife, and she's devoted to me."
The shock in her expression was gone. Now she just looked skeptical. "There's no way we can pull that off."
For some reason, that objection gave me hope. If I could prove that it could work, would she say yes?
"I believe it can." I scanned my brain to find reasons we could make it work.
She held up her left index finger and with her right index finger ticked it off. "Number one, I read the HR manual, and it's against policy for people of different levels in the company to date. If you’re worried about scandal, you and I being together creates one because that opens the company up to sexual harassment."
Okay, so maybe I hadn’t thought the whole thing through.
"And two, who's going to believe that after knowing me for less than two weeks, we’re deeply in love and want to get married?"
Dammit. Good point again. I took a sip of my drink and thought. "We knew each other before. We were in love before, but we broke up. You came back to town, hoping to reconcile."
She scoffed. "Of course, I have to be one begging for my rich, handsome ex to take me back."
I wanted to ask if she really thought I was handsome but thought better of it. "Fine, then. I lured you back with the promise of a good job, but my ulterior motive was to win you back and I was willing to break company rules to do it. My willingness to go against office policy proves my devotion to you. I was willing to risk it all for the woman I loved."
She rolled her eyes. "It will never work."
"It could. Is your only objection that you don't think we can pull it off?" I remembered I didn't give her my full offer. "As I said, I will pay for your education as well as give you an allowance of five thousand dollars per month, and when all is said and done, another two million dollars."
She gaped again. But just as quickly, her mouth shut. "I just left a situation in which my marriage was a business deal. I walked away from that determined that I would make it on my own."
Marriage? “Are you married?”
“No, because it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with my father getting a business deal.” She turned away like she didn’t like revealing that about herself.
"This is different. Our marriage will be a deal that you’re in control of.Youbenefit, not your father. This isyourdecision."
She continued to face away from me. "So how come it makes me feel like I would be a gold digger?"
Fuck. I didn't know how to overcome that.