"But what if they had you followed, and they know it isn’t true?"
"Then they’re fuckers for accusing me of it." He cocked his head to the side. His hand reached out, pushing a strand of my hair out of my face. Then he jerked his hand back as if he realized the intimacy of the gesture. "I think you're overthinking this. Of course, we need to have a story that we can both agree to and recite when needed. But if they truly think I'm sneaking around with women, why not make it with you? The one woman I'd never been able to get over. And now that you're back in my life, I'm going to make sure you never get away again."
His words made my heart do flip-flops in my chest. I wasn't sure why. Unless it was the fact that he wasn't talking hypotheticals. He was saying them like they were fact. I'd been the one who got away, and he wasn't going to let that happen again. It was a total lie, and yet the romantic in me was swooning. It made me wonder if this little farce was going to be harder than I thought. It was one thing to fool other people, but what if I ended up having to fool myself? What if I started to fall for this guy when our marriage was supposed to be fake?
Or worse... "What happens if you meet a woman over the course of the year who really is your soulmate?"
"That won't happen.” There was no hesitation in his statement. “Here's another little tidbit that I hope you keep to yourself, and that is that I haven't been dating or meeting women for a long time. My sole focus has been on the company. This plan I have is part of that. Does this mean you're going to help me?"
I smiled sheepishly. "You make it difficult to say no."
"What can I do to make it easier for you to say yes?"
Already, he was giving me way more than I could ever ask for. "Assurances that we won't be revealed as frauds?"
He smiled. "Do you think you can pretend to love me?" He held his hands out to the side as if to say, look at me, am I acceptable?
Of course, he was more than acceptable. He was the total package. Even the fact that he could be grumpy had a certain appeal to it.
But I found it hard to articulate that, so I nodded.
He held out his hand. "So, we have a deal?"
I shook his hand. "Deal." The minute our hands separated, panic slid down my spine.What did I just agree to?
"I'll make all the arrangements. Just so you know, there will have to be a prenup, but that's where I will spell out everything that you are getting in this deal, okay?"
I nodded. I wasn't at all offended or surprised. He was smart to have a prenup. I'm sure his board would make sure there was one as well.
"The next thing is that you need to come to my sister's house with me for Christmas. When it gets out that you and I spent Christmas together, especially at my sister's house, people won't have any choice but to believe that what we’re doing is real."
I shifted. "I’ll feel like an interloper."
He shook his head. "No, you won't. My sister's right. We didn't have anything close to the types of Christmases you see on TV. She's creating her own traditions, and that includes friends. And again, this will be a great way to set up when we announce our engagement."
I nodded again. It seemed when it came to agreeing to his suggestions, I was unable to formulate words.
"Finally, we need to get married ASAP. We’ll say that I proposed on Christmas, and then the day after, we’ll go to the County Clerk to get the license and then get married. Do you want any input on that? Perhaps you want to pick the chapel?"
I scrunched up my nose. "Aren't those just for people who are getting married on an impulse or who are drunk?"
He laughed. "Or people like us, needing a quick fake marriage." He shook his head. "There's definitely a lot of that, but there are plenty of people who elope here as well."
Oh, yeah. I'd been one of them. Funny how Dean and Caryn were so far out of my mind now.
"And of course, real people in love take a honeymoon."
My heart stuttered in my chest. I couldn't be sure that it was panic or excitement. The way my girly parts flared to life told me it might be the latter.
"Don't worry," he said quickly, which made me think that my expression told him that I was feeling the opposite of what I was.
"This is just to keep up the image. If you like, we can go back to your home in California. If there's anything there that you need to pick up for the year, I can arrange to have it shipped back."
I shook my head so hard it was shocking it didn’t fly off my neck. "There's nothing there that I want or need."
His eyes shone at me in sympathy. He reached out his hand, rubbing my arm. "I'm sorry for whatever your family did to hurt you. You're a sweet woman, and it shocks me that your parents don't appreciate that."
I finally understood what it meant for my heart to melt. It was so strange that those words could have such an effect on me. It wasn't just that they were kind and sweet, but looking into his eyes, I could see they were sincere.