Let’s Pretend

by Laurent, River

  "My sister and I are willing to give you our shares in the company," she replies. "All of them. It’s forty-nine percent and it would give you complete control over the company."

  Damn. Okay, now this did seem like a pretty tempting deal. That company is old-school, but it would look good on my roster if I could get it there. I don’t betray any emotions. My eyes keep straying to her cheek. I can already guess where she got that injury from. "And what do I need to do for that?" I ask. "Sign over the rights to the deal to you? I’m not sure exactly how it would work. I’d have to get my solicitor to—"

  "You would need to marry me."

  Chapter 7

  Zane

  My jaw drops. There’s no way I heard her correctly. Because never, in a million years, would this woman walk in here and look me in the eyes and act like what she just said could be even remotely close to logical. "Can you repeat that? I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

  "Look, I don’t want this any more than you do," she says, grimacing slightly. “It’ll just be a marriage in name only.”

  I should be insulted but I’m not. There are too many women in this city who wouldn’t exactly be grimacing at the thought of me as their husband. But that isn’t what I am, and I’m not sure it’s who I’ll ever be. Still, the thought of getting to play house with a woman who looked like this...my eyes trail down her body, the slim legs exposed beneath her skirt. Yeah, I could live with it.

  "The only way to stop my stepmother from selling the house is if we team up and become the majority shareholder and veto her sale. My sister and I don’t have enough shares, but we will if we team up with you. However, your shares are not transferable and cannot be bought or sold or given away," she continues. "In order for me to get the rights to it, I have to marry you."

  I stare at her for a long moment. I’ve heard plenty of crazy business pitches in my time, but this has to be one of the wildest. The way she’s looking at me, I can tell that she’s willing to do anything to get what she wants from me. And man, there is some part of me that’s tempted to exploit that. I would love to just lean across the desk right now and slip my hands between her milky thighs, cup that soft...

  "Will you do it?" she asks, cutting off my lustful train of thought.

  Maybe if she hadn’t cut off that train of thought. I shake my head. “The house is not worth as much as the shares.”

  “I don’t care,” she says. “That house has been in my mother’s family for six hundred years. I must have it.”

  "I can’t," I replied. "I’m sorry. It’s not—"

  "You have to listen to me!" she pleads. "This is the only chance I have of keeping my home. You understand that, right? You see how important this is to me?”

  "Look, I have no doubt that you’ll find another way to keep hold of your house," I tell her. "This isn’t—"

  "I’ll do anything you want me to," she says suddenly. Her eyes are pinned to mine.

  Suddenly, I feel something wild and fiery run through my system. God, I want her. Maybe it’s all the time I’ve spent thinking she’s off limits. That I could never have her, but the thought of her doing anything, anything at all to please me gives me an instant hard-on. My dick starts to beg for her.

  Meeting her gaze steadily, I get to my feet. This is a deal with plenty in it for me, so it’s not the wildest thought in the world for me to go through with it, but I’d be lying if I said this had anything at all to do with my business acumen anymore.

  As I get closer, I can see the outline of her breasts through the thin fabric of her shirt. She must be wearing one of those lacy bras because her nipples are pressing against the fabric. I can almost feel them between my lips, taste the bright cherry freshness under my tongue...

  "Anything?” I ask softly as I reach out and touch her cheek. I can almost feel the heat burning off her.

  She catches her breath and drops her gaze. She knows exactly what I’m saying to her, even if she tries to play dumb. A woman like her should be fucked every day.

  "Anything," she agrees at last, her voice low as she turns those deep brown eyes back up to me.

  They are flecked with speckles of gold, something I hadn’t noticed until now.

  She moves an inch closer to me, and her chest is rising and falling swiftly. Her breath is a little ragged.

  I take a step away from her, then walk back to my seat. I lean back and look up at her. Her skirt has ridden up by an inch or two, and I wonder, idly, if she is wearing any panties under there or if she prefers to go bare. I bet the flavor of her would bring a man to his knees. “Pull your skirt up and show me your pussy,” I surprise myself by saying.

  Her eyes become as wide as saucers. “What? Now? Here?” she splutters, almost incoherent with shock.

  I shrug. “You said… anything.”

  She bites her plump bottom lip and looks like a scared rabbit. “What if someone comes in?”

  I smile. “No one will.”

  “Does this mean you’ll marry me?”

  “Sure,” I drawl. When I came to work this morning it never crossed my mind, my day would turn out like this.

  She grabs the material of her skirt around her thighs, then pauses.

  I see her face turn red. Aww… sweet. She is shy. I raise an eyebrow.

  Then with an icy glare at me, she pulls the material up to her hips. Her panties are white silk with white lace. All very pure and virginal.

  I hear my own breath come out of me hard.

  Then she dips her fingers into the waistband and quickly pulls her panties down her legs.

  My eyes are riveted at her bare pussy.

  Oh, fuck!

  She is clean shaven.

  My mouth waters and my cock is so hard it fucking hurts. I have to fight not to go up to her and bury my head between those sweet thighs. In my head, I can already hear her screaming my name. It is while she is pulling her panties up again when I notice the wet spot on them. Heck, she is as turned on as I am.

  "I’ll draw up a pre-nuptial agreement as soon as I get the chance.” My voice sounds hoarse and thick. I know what is running through her mind. I have been with enough women to know when they want me, and this one wants me. I can tell that she’s not going to have any problem carrying out her wifely duties when the time comes. Her father has kept her locked away from men like me her entire life and yet… he has driven her right into my arms.

  "And you can take a look over it and make sure everything is to your liking," I continue.

  She smooths her hands over her skirt. Her cheeks are red.

  I can tell that I have shaken her and I am glad to see it. "You can move in with me at once," I order.

  Her eyes widen. "What?”

  "Surely, you don’t want to give your stepmother cause to question the validity of our marriage," I explain. "She and her lawyers are going to be looking at this very hard, Scarlett..."

  She nods, still avoiding my eyes. "Yes, I suppose so..."

  "Besides, you will have to live to your side of the bargain," I remind, raising my eyebrows at her pointedly.

  She flushes bright red.

  Damn, she looks so cute when she does that. It’s hard to keep from reaching over and kissing that ripe mouth, feeling its softness against mine. I wonder if she’s had much experience, or if she’s still fresh to this game. She certainly doesn’t have a boyfriend, because there’s no way in hell any guy in his right mind would allow a woman like that out of his sight for an instant.

  Especially, not around someone like me.

  "Of course," she agrees breathlessly.

  I lean back in my seat and grin. In terms of a business meeting, this has to be one of the most successful. Absolutely, one of the best deals that I look forward to putting to bed. Literally.

  Chapter 8

  Scarlett

  I arrive outside his house and gaze up at the place that’s going to be my home for the next...well, I don’t know how long. I guess, until the house issue is sorted out. I f
eel a twist of excitement and dread wash around my system. Because I don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep whatever I felt back there when it had just been the two of us in the office under wraps for too long.

  Everything happened so fast I’d hardly had time to keep on top of it. I had turned up at his office, and within a few minutes, he’d agreed to take my shares of the company off my hands if he would help me make the claim on the house and the land. Which was what I wanted, of course, but then...

  I can’t shake the memory of what I did. Pulling down my panties and showing my bits like that. I’ve never done that in my life and yet—it hadn’t disgusted, or shocked me. No, it had turned me on.

  And the way he looked at me. God, the hunger in his eyes. Sure, other men have looked at me with desire, even lust, but nobody, and I mean, nobody has ever looked at me the way he did. Like he was starving. Like he could hardly hold himself back from streaking across the room and taking me right there and then on his office floor.

  Funny thing is… I wanted him to do it. I really did. And it wasn’t because I wanted the house either. If he’d asked me to get down on my knees and take his cock in my mouth, I would have done it. I wanted him and I knew he wanted me too.

  But what he doesn’t know is…that...well, I’m a virgin.

  Yeah, shocking at my age, but I’ve never had sex. In fact, I’ve never gone past second base in my life. I’ve never even really had a boyfriend. I was focused on my studies when I was in school, then after Mom became sick I decided not to leave her side. Even though I had my heart set on becoming a fashion designer, the little time she had left was too precious to waste going to class.

  Not even Dad ranting and raving could change my mind so he pulled strings at the London School of Fashion and got permission for me receive recorded lessons. Long story short, I got left on the shelf.

  Poor Zachary. What a nasty surprise he’s going to get when he gets me into his bed and realizes I don’t have a clue how to satisfy a man.

  With that in mind, I made sure to read through the pre-nup carefully, making sure there is nothing there that is going to catch me out down the line, especially if he becomes dissatisfied with my performance. I showed Ernest the document too and he said it all seemed pretty standard. An agreement that we are going to stay together for as long as it takes for me to get the house and the land and for him to get the stocks transferred over to him. No more, no less.

  Which is just fine by me. I’m just unbelievably grateful he agreed to help me at all. Especially, considering how being married might affect his ability to pull in women. I’ve never seen him with the same woman twice. Each one more beautiful than the one before. A worm of worry digs into my brain that I will not compare to them, but I push the thoughts aside impatiently.

  It’s not a relationship, Scarlett. It’s a mutually advantageous arrangement.

  In fact, I have no idea if he’s planning to keep up his usual affairs while we’re married. I suppose he will. There is nothing in the contract to stop him. Something feels off, but I tell myself it doesn’t matter either way, as long as he is discreet. I just need to borrow his name on paper so I can keep Victoria from selling the house long enough for her to realize that…she either sells to me or she sells to no one.

  "Miss Johnson?”

  A voice draws my attention as I climb out of the cab. I look up to an impeccably-dressed older man with the ghost of a smile on his face.

  "Yes, that’s me," I say, clutching my overnight bag close to my body.

  "I’m Arnold," he introduces himself. "I help keep things running smoothly around here. May I take your bag and show you to your room?”

  "The bag isn’t heavy so I’m all right,” I say with a smile, thinking of all the bags my sister had when I helped her move into the London apartment Dad left for both of us. “But yes, please show me to my room.”

  I follow him up the stone steps to the house. Wotton Hall is an impressive old house, but nothing compared to Avebury Court. It’s the kind of place that wouldn’t look amiss in a fairytale movie. Thick stone walls, sixteen-foot tall ceilings, tall windows, Greek and Roman themed friezes on the walls, ashen pink, tans, pale blues and white detailing. There’s also antique furniture everywhere I turn. Massive gilded paintings adorn the walls, and modern sculptures are scattered through the reception area.

  It is an awe-inspiring house with the kind of decadence that my best friend, Molly would have rolled her eyes at. I should bring her here sometime. She’ll find the whole thing pretty funny.

  Chapter 9

  Scarlett

  "There you are," Zach announces, coming down the stairs and catching me off-guard. "Arnold, could you take her bag to her room?”

  "Of course, sir," he replies. He takes my bag from me and heads for the stairs.

  This is the first time I’ve seen Zach out of a suit. He's wearing a pair of black jeans and a pale blue tee. It makes his grey eyes even more piercing than normal and it increases that animal grace about him.

  “Hi,” I greet softly. I pull out a smile for him, even though I feel like I am about to keel over with nervousness.

  "Good to see you," Zach drawls.

  I can swear there is a hint of real warmth to his voice. But I must be imagining that. It’s hardly on-brand for him to be anything but the cold ruthless businessman. Though, maybe there’s more to him in his off-hours than I’ve given him credit for.

  "You too," I reply as he arrives in front of me.

  He smiles slowly and sexily at me.

  Butterflies start flapping around inside my belly. It’s so very strange to think I’m going to be married to this man; the wedding is planned for as soon as his team of people can manage it. This isn’t at all how I imagined I would be getting married for the first time, but desperate times, desperate measures, and all that.

  "Let me show you around," he says suavely, and he reaches for my hand casually.

  I feel a jolt of electricity run up from my fingers where they connect with his. He must know what he’s doing to me. When he touched my cheek in his office, I felt as though I was going to combust on the spot. All this time, I thought he just saw me as an irritating little girl, but the way he was looking at me then told me I’d been wrong. Dead wrong. About as wrong as it was possible to be.

  "So, this is where I’m going to be living, huh?" I croak.

  He grins at me and nods. "Can’t think you’ll have much reason to venture out. I have everything you could possibly want in here."

  "Oh, yeah?" I reply, cocking an eyebrow. "Like what?”

  "I spend a lot of time in here," he replies, as he pushes open a door that leads us straight into an enormous pool room.

  "No way." I laugh, incredulous and slightly relieved that he let go of my hand. It was hard to think when our skin is touching. I look around me curiously. I’ve only seen things like this in music videos. Yeah, I come from a family with money, but we are old money. We don’t spend it on putting in outrageous stuff like full-size pools and marble Corinthian columns everywhere you look.

  “Too much?” he asks.

  I shrug. “Not if you’re living inside a rapper’s music video.”

  He throws his head back and laughs. The sound echoes in the hot, damp air.

  I watch the muscles in his strong, tanned throat work with fascination. God, this man is so beautiful.

  When he stops laughing, he looks down at me, his eyes twinkling still with amusement. “I agree with you, but I inherited all this, and never took the time to change anything. To be honest I’m usually so involved in my work I hardly even notice my surroundings.”

  I frown at the confession. Suddenly, he seems too human and that is not a good thing. I don’t want to start liking him. “I guess it does the job,” I mutter, my gaze sliding away from his.

  "There’s a gym on the other side. I have a personal trainer who comes by a few times a week, if you feel like checking it out."

  "I’m not really a gym bunny,
" I admit, eyeing the pool with interest, then I turn away. I should have brought a bikini or something. Silly of me, but I didn’t imagine I would be moving into any place as absurdly luxurious as this.

  "Well, plenty of time to become one,” he replies evenly. He pulls the door shut and heads off down the corridor next to it.

  He doesn’t take my hand again, and I can’t help but feel a little pouty over it, which I know is crazy.

  "The library is just down here," he explains, as he opens another door.

  I smile when I see the enormous room filled with enough books to fuel a whole college class for at least a couple of semesters. I used to love reading, but since Mom passed, I haven’t made as much time for it as I would have liked. Maybe now that I’m here I can get back into it again. It’s not like there’s going to be a lot for me to stress out about, with the butler and everything.

  "Do you like to read?" I ask, stepping inside and brushing past him on the way. He smells so good, like clean skin, sandalwood and something mysterious.

  "Well, I didn’t just have this put in for show," he mocks.

  I quickly move away from his tantalizing scent and trail my fingers over the first shelf, the one nearest the door. In the middle of the room, there are a couple of massive armchairs that I can already imagine myself settling into with a good book. In fact, it sounds just heavenly. "Oh hey, I love this one!” I exclaim as I pluck a book from the shelves. Spectacles By Night, by Anton Raider. The copy is even the same one I had when I was growing up.

  "Really?" he asks, sounding surprised.

  I nod. "I read it for the first time when I was fifteen or so. It was the first adult book I was allowed to read, and I just thought it was the greatest thing ever.” I glance up then, and notice he is giving me a funny look. "What?" I ask, nonplussed. "What is it?”

  "Spectacles By Night is one of my favorites, too," he replies, taking the book from me and thumbing through the pages, almost fondly. "I’ve never actually met anyone else who’s read it." He looks up and our gazes collide.