The Arrangement: Book one in the Seattle Billionaires Series

by Nora Ford

  “I want another chance.” She said and started to remind me how good and happy we were together.

  I sat there looking at her. She was beautiful, but everything about her was fake. Although I let her talk, I wasn't really listening. I was wondering, how could I have once loved her.

  I found myself comparing my time with her to the life I had with Talia. Only then I realized that I never really loved Sharon. Talia was my first, and she is going to be my last love.

  I stood up and smiled at Sharon, who looked hopefully at me. “Thanks a lot for coming to see me today. You made me realize what I really miss.”

  She smiled triumphally and straightened her back to highlight her fake breasts. Then whispered, “And what do you miss?”

  “My wife, I miss my wife, and I am going to get her back.” I grinned.

  “Adam, you can’t be serious, this girl is nothing compared to me.”

  “You’re right, Talia is nothing like you. Have a good life, Sharon.” I went to the door and opened it for her. She stomped out of my office. Her face was purple with rage. Sharon wasn’t used to being rejected.

  After she left, I had one thing in mind. How am I going to win Talia back?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Talia

  It has been a week, seven long days since I left Adam. He called several times every day, but I didn't answer his calls. I was still staying at my parents'. I didn't go to the office either; I wasn't ready to face him yet. I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid him for long; he was my baby's father. Unlike Timo's father, Adam was going to be there for the baby. We wouldn't be married any longer, but this baby was going to connect us for a lifetime, and I had to come to terms with that.

  One of the advantages of staying with my parents was that my mom took care of Timo, while I was busy licking my wounds. The first three days were the worst; I did nothing but cry, sleep, and brood. I thought about Adam a lot, our time together and our arrangement. I asked myself over and over was the money worth the pain. The answer was every time the same, a big NO.

  After I cried my eyes out, I concluded that my time with Adam was worth the pain. I wouldn't take any moment back. He gave me a lot more than money; he brought the old Talia back to life.

  When I married Jeff, I was young, joyful and full of life. However, shortly after our marriage, all this had changed. I wasn't the same person after the divorce. During our short marriage, Jeff managed to squash my confidence and my self-esteem.

  He made me feel so small that I questioned myself and abilities. But he didn't break my heart; I realized that now, what I suffered after my divorce wasn't a broken heart, it was a wounded spirit. Although my parents, Timo's birth and my work helped me, I wasn't completely healed.

  Adam did that. He managed to heal me. With him I felt wanted, cherished and loved. Although he didn’t love me the way I wanted, I knew Adam loved me in his own way. I realized that I couldn’t blame him for my broken heart; falling in love wasn’t part of our deal. It wasn’t his fault that I loved him so much.

  I felt better when I reached this conclusion; I wasn’t upset with Adam anymore. But the deep pain inside me didn’t lessen.

  However, after the first three days, I realized that I had to live with the pain. I had to be strong for Timo and the coming baby.

  I called a real-estate company and started looking for houses. From the six properties that I saw in the past four days, there was only one I liked. I was disappointed when I learned about the price. It was far more than I could afford.

  I couldn’t believe it when Kate, the real-estate agent called earlier and said that the owner was willing to give me a better deal. I said yes right away when she suggested a meeting the next morning.

  Excited, I went to find Timo to share the news with him. I found him in my old room; he was busy drawing something, he quickly hid it when he saw me coming, "Hi honey, aren't you going to show me what you're drawing?" I went to him and kissed him.

  He shook his head and said, “It’s a surprise.”

  “Fine, my surprise will have to wait too.” I teased.

  "Are we going back to live with dad?" He asked promptly; his eyes were full of hope. Timo loved Adam; he called him dad, that was new for me. I didn't realize how much our separation had an impact on him. It broke my heart that I had to disappoint him.

  “No baby, but I am going to sign the contract to buy our new house tomorrow. You’re going to love it there.” I said and patted his shoulder.

  “Is dad going to live with us there?” He asked again.

  "No, but he'll come to see you, and you can go visit him."

  "But it's not the same; I miss him, mom."

  I reached for him, took him in my arms, and planted a kiss on his head. “Adam can’t live with us, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t love you anymore. You know that, don’t you?”

  "Yeah, I know." He said shortly, and I could see he was upset.

  "Everything is going to be fine baby, I promise," I said and rushed out of the room.

  That night I cried myself to sleep, I didn’t know that Timo was going to get hurt. I never thought he would get so attached to Adam. Now my son was hurt, and it was all my fault.

  In the morning I felt a bit better, I was hoping that the new house would cheer Timo up. I quickly got dressed and went to meet Kate in the house.

  When I arrived there, I didn't find Kate's car. Instead, I found a brand-new SUV in the driveway. It was full of baby stuff. Oh my God, the house, someone had beaten me to it. I rushed inside to see what was going on.

  The front door was opened, I stepped inside, and I found Adam standing there smiling at me. “Adam, what are you doing here? Where is Kate? Whose car is parked outside?”

  "Kate had to go; she asked me to give you this. As for the car, it's a present." He gave me the car keys and the contract to the house; the house was paid in full, and it belonged to me.

  I shook my head and said, "You can't just buy me a house and a car and think it would fix everything. I won't take them; you know that."

  "I know the house won't fix everything, but I was hoping this would." He took out prenup contract that I'd signed from his briefcase and tore it in two.

  I looked at him confused, and I didn’t know what to say. When I said nothing, he took out another paper and gave it to me, “I have few cards up my sleeve.”

  I looked at the paper; it was a picture of the four of us; Adam, me, Timo and the baby. I recognized Timo's handwriting; Please say YES mom. I looked at the picture and back at Adam and murmured, “But how? When? He must have drawn this yesterday.”

  Adam took another step to close the distance between us. “He finished it yesterday and threw it out the window. I was there to catch it.”

  “You were at my parents’ house last night! And Timo knew.”

  “It was our little secret.” He grinned.

  "What are you trying to say, Adam, because I am not sure I can follow." I was confused.

  "You were right when you said that I didn't want to change anything in our arrangement." He looked at me and continued, "I thought it was the only way to keep my heart safe, but when you left last week, I realized it was too late for that, I am already so deep in," You've got me by the gut, by the balls, by the heart."

  "You said the heart." I whispered, and he nodded, "I love you although I tried so hard not to fall for you. But you made it impossible just by being you." "I guess I knew it the first time we slept together; that was why I panicked and tried to keep my distance. I wanted it to be just sex."

  As I heard him my eyes were filled of happy tears.

  "But it was never just sex; it was a hell more than that. You worked your way into my heart, and I enjoyed every moment of it."

  “The baby is…” Adam didn’t let me finish. He placed a finger over my lips.

  “Shhh…I know it's mine, but this is not about the baby. You are my real prize; the baby is a nice bonus." Adam smiled and placed a tender kiss on my lip
s.

  "I want to marry you. I want to be a father to Timo and the baby. This house is a symbol of a new beginning." He took a little box out of his pocket and gave it to me. My breath caught as I saw the ring. "I chose this one myself. It is not as big as the first one, but it's simple, beautiful and pure just like you." He placed the ring on my finger and lifted my hands to his lips and kissed it tenderly.

  “Say yes, say you’ll marry me.”

  “God, Adam we’re already married.”

  He smiled and cupped my face in his hands. “Is that a yes?”

  God, I loved him so much. It was me, who closed the distance between us this time; I placed my lips on his and kissed him softly. “I Love you too.”

  “Say yes.”

  “I thought I already did.”

  Adam pulled me into his arms and deepened our promising kiss. When I pulled back to catch my breath, he said with a grin, "You know this house has only one master bedroom. Now you have to live with my snoring."

  “I thought you don’t snore.”

  “I lied, I snore, kick and wake up with this every morning.” He took my hand and placed it on the bulge between his legs so that I could feel the extent of his desire.

  “I think I like the last part the most.” I gave him a cocky smile.

  “Good because there is no going back now.”

  "No there is no going back," I said and melted into Adam's arms. My only thought was that Adam was mine forever.

  The End

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you so much for reading my book. If you enjoyed Adam and Talia’s story, please wait for Aron and Tessa’s story in The Agreement

  Thank you to the following people for their help and contributions in the making of

  The Seattle Billionaires series 1

  The Arrangement:

  Beta Readers: Dalia & Hoda

  Copyediting: Laila

  Cover design: Matt stone