But maybe. Just maybe things could work out between us and I could have both. It’s a foolish, reckless hope, but it’s too hard to ignore, and I worry that it’s gaining more and more control over me by the minute.
“What is it,” he demands into the phone. It’s not even a question. It’s a statement, a command. Tell me. “Okay,” he says.
I watch his fist gripping the steering wheel, fingers squeezing hard until his knuckles turn white. “Okay. Yeah. Got it. Loud and clear,” he drops the phone into a cupholder and I can see his jaw muscles flexing and relaxing.
“Everything okay?” I ask hesitantly.
“Depends how you look at it,” he says. “If you’re the glass is half full type, you could say things are just great, because it sounds like I pretty much have a month to find a good, wholesome wife to convince a judge I’m not a billionaire playboy who shouldn’t be raising a daughter by himself. If you’re the glass if half empty type, well, you could say things are shit. Because I only have a month to find a woman who will agree to marry me.”
“Wait, who is trying to get Sophie taken away from you?” I ask.
“My ex-wife,” he says.
I wait for him to say more, but he’s apparently not in a sharing mood. “Well,” I say, thoughts churning. “What if you pretended? You know? Just get some woman to agree to pretend to marry you. I’m sure you could sign a contract and protect yourself. Then once the judge is off your back, you and the woman could go your separate ways.”
He half turns to me, cocking an eyebrow. “You volunteering?”
I laugh too loud and too suddenly. “God. No. I mean, it would make sense and everything since I’m already staying at the house, but,” I laugh again, shaking my head. “Yeah. You’re right. It’s a terrible idea.”
“No,” he says, squinting out over the road. “No, I don’t think it is.” He looks at me and a smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. “I think it’s a fantastic fucking idea.”
“Oh,” I say, suddenly seeing where his thoughts are going. “No way. I wasn’t talking about me.”
“You said it yourself. It’s just temporary. You play along, I’ll make sure you’re compensated for your effort. Nothing complicated. As soon as the judge gets off my back, you’re free to go. Simple as that.”
“I really think this was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have said anything,” I say. My heart pounds in my chest and it feels like the car is spinning around me. “I hardly…”
“Fine. Let me make it simple for you. Pretend to marry me or you’re fired.”
“You can’t,” I blurt.
“Oh?” he asks. “Why can’t I? Because you can sue me for wrongful termination? Go right ahead. I’ll forward your information to the team of fucking lawyers I have. I’m sure they could work your case in.”
I cross my arms, looking at him like I’m seeing him for the first time, maybe the way other people in his business do. He’s ruthless. He can be charming and sweet, but when it comes down to it, Liam King gets what he wants, no matter the cost. I don’t think men rise to the heights he has on pure charm alone. It takes a man with bite behind the smile to conquer corporations, and now the full weight of his will is focused on me.
“Pretend to marry me,” he repeats.
I shake my head, looking out the window, clenching my jaw to hold back from saying the dozens of suddenly nasty things that are popping into my mind.
“I know how this sounds, but you’ll be taken care of.” He smirks, somehow managing to turn the charm back on like he didn’t just blackmail me. “Besides, Aubrey King has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? There’s no woman I’d rather have be the fake mother of my daughter.”
Even though he’s joking with me, and even though I’m furious, a small part of me is tempted by the idea. God knows I could use the money, but this could also be a chance to get in something resembling a relationship with him where there is an end date, and that end date doesn’t involve the kind of hard feelings that would lose me my job. It could also send a really clear message to Jake that I’m taken and there’s no point in still trying to win me back.
Agreeing might also be my only chance to make him pay for forcing my hand like this. If he fires me, it all ends. I walk away from Roxanne and the last link I have to my mother. I leave behind Sophie who has become like a daughter to me. And of course, I leave Mr. King behind, and all the fantasy filled dreams he has already fueled in my mind. It may not be my proudest decision, but I close my eyes and mutter the words. “Fine. I’ll pretend to marry you.”
5
Liam
I lean on the kitchen island, watching Aubrey and my mother sitting by the pool. My mother has her toes in the water and Aubrey is sitting on the diving board, casually kicking her long legs. Sophie snaps her fingers at me.
“Daddy, you’re staring.”
“Hm?” I ask, looking down at the glaring face of my daughter.
Sophie sighs and gives me a look like she’s about to explain something very simple to someone very stupid. “I see what’s going on here, daddy. I’m not a child anymore.”
I raise my eyebrows, considering she’s still in elementary school, but I figure it’s wiser not to interrupt right now.
“And,” she continues, “I think you should leave her alone. I love you, but I like Miss Aubrey. And when you like a girl, she’s always gone in a week.”
I take my time digesting her words. They sting, especially coming from my own daughter. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let an elementary schooler talk me out of what I’ve already set my mind on. “Honey, this is an adult thing. Miss Aubrey and I are going to be spending some time together over the next month, but you don’t have to worry about it. I’m not going to send her away.”
Sophie crosses her arms and sighs. “How do I know that’s true?”
I glare. “Soph, just because I was gone for a few weeks, it doesn’t mean you get to start disrespecting me.”
She says nothing, but the look in her eyes says she just might murder me in my sleep unless I find a way to make this right.
“Look,” I say, softening my tone and kneeling to take her by the shoulders. “I like Miss Aubrey, too, okay? I like her more than those women you are talking about from the past. But if you tell her a word of what I just said, in the words of your grandmother, ‘I will end you’.”
Sophie gives me the faintest smirk for my efforts and nods her head before walking outside to join Aubrey and my mother.
I shake my head after her, wondering how I ended up with such a unique daughter. I can’t help feeling like the stakes just got higher. Not only do I risk losing custody of my daughter if this crap Julianne has been trying to pull plays out, but now I risk pissing off my daughter if I don’t find a way to make things stay clean between Aubrey and I. I may lose everything if I try, and I could lose everything if I don’t. At least it makes my choice simple.
I step outside and Aubrey looks at me before looking away guiltily.
“Aubrey, can I have a word?” I say, motioning for her to follow me inside.
My mother and Sophie watch suspiciously as Aubrey gets up to follow me into the house. She’s wearing a bikini top and I’m struggling not to stare at her perfectly full tits. She looks up at me with a hint of mischief in her eyes when she catches me looking. The little minx… Fuck.
I have to be careful though. Sophie’s words still linger with me and the threat of losing my daughter looms over everything. For this to work, I have to make sure we plant some evidence of our courtship.
“We have work to do,” I say quietly.
The mischievous glint in her eye immediately turns to horror. Her gaze shifts to my obviously hard cock and her eyebrows shoot up. “Mr. King. You said this was just--”
I laugh, holding my hands up in defense. “Not that kind of work.” Not yet, at least. “No, I mean we need to be seen together in public. If this is going to look even remotely real, we can’t just show up and suddenly be marrie
d.”
“So you’re saying I need to be your fake girlfriend before I can be your fake wife?”
I shrug, tilting my head. “Yeah, and you’ll need to be my fake fiancée somewhere in between there too.”
She rubs her palms against her eyes. “What did I get myself into?”
“It’ll be fun. I want to take you to one of my favorite places. You’ll love it. I already arranged to have a sitter come by and watch Sophie. I’ve got two caretakers who will be keeping an eye on mom. Everything is handled. All you need to do is wear the dress I left in your room and be ready by seven. Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier, but you can wear that same style of panties you wore last night. You looked sexy as hell in them.”
I give her a firm slap on the ass to emphasize my point, leaving her standing open mouthed at the patio doors. Goddamn. Just the brief contact with her round ass has my cock stiff and throbbing for release. This fucking woman… She’s doing dangerous things to me, and I know it’s only a matter of time before I do something stupid.
6
Aubrey
Liam leads me inside a building that looks like it could be a courthouse. Everywhere I look, there are men and women in formal wear. The women all wear dresses of a similar style to the elegant black dress Liam left on my bed. He even laid out what must be thousands of dollars worth of jewelry. I decided to wear my hair down, but seeing some of the meticulously done hairstyles of the other women makes me feel immediately self conscious.
All my anxiety doubles when Liam pulls me aside just outside the building. He looks absolutely dashing in his black suit and white undershirt. He wears a few buttons undone, leaving little doubt about the sculpted body beneath the clothes, as if the way his pants hug his lean, powerful legs didn’t already send that message clearly enough.
“I almost forgot,” he says, reaching in his pocket and holding up an engagement ring. “We should probably have gone on a couple dates before I had you wear this, but I couldn’t wait to see how it looked on you.”
He takes me gently by the wrist and slides the most gorgeous engagement ring I’ve ever seen onto my finger. I look down at it, feeling suddenly light-headed. “How does it look?” I ask faintly.
He looks me up and down, barely glancing at the ring. “Like a dream.”
I clear my throat, trying to break the spell he seems to be casting over me. No matter how many times I tell myself this is just a game, I can’t shake how real it feels or how badly part of me wants it to be real. He’s using me. That’s all. And maybe part of me is using him too. He needs me to keep his daughter and I need him to convince Jake things are really over. But somehow I don’t think that’s the only reason I agreed to this.
All the romantic movies and books I watched growing up always made it seem like the right guy would just come storming into a girl’s life when she needed him most. I don’t know if I ever really believed the real world worked like that, but I guess I hoped it did. Year after year, that hope died a little more. And now? Now the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen could be offering me that exact opportunity.
In the movies it never seems this hard. The girls usually know the guy wants them more than anything in the world, and all they have to do is let themselves be taken. But with Liam, I don’t know if he wants any of this to be real. Sure, he has flirted with me and I’ve felt some sort of spark between us, but I’ve never really seen him with other women. Some guys are just flirts, and I’d challenge any woman not to feel a spark around a guy like him. I’d challenge them not to feel a full-blown fire, for that matter.
Liam leads me inside the building, guiding me with a strong hand splayed across my back. It feels surprisingly good to have him touch me like this, even if it’s just for show. I feel claimed--owned even, and when it’s a guy like Liam doing the claiming, I’m having trouble finding reason to complain. Liam waves to a beautiful woman with jet black hair and blue eyes. I notice the man holding her arm second. He’s handsome enough, but the woman doesn’t look like the right fit for him. She’s much younger, for starters, and she’s the type of woman that could charm any man. Maybe she’s after his money?
I mentally scold myself for the thought. Look at me. A couple days around Liam and suddenly I think I’m the expert on gold-diggers?
“Liam King!” declares the man in a booming voice. He claps Liam on the shoulder with a wide smile and twinkling eyes. “I can never remember. Have you met Veronica? Former Miss Universe,” he adds, quirking a meaningful eyebrow for emphasis.
Liam nods and raises his eyebrows in what I take to be feigned surprise. “Good for you, Tucker. Quite a catch.” My guess is this man has told Liam that fact more than a few times. Liam shakes Veronica’s hand carefully, and I feel silly for the stab of jealousy his touching her ignites in my chest.
“I’m Aubrey,” I blurt, drawing the eyes of the other couple. “Former and current Miss Nobody,” I say, losing my confidence halfway through the short sentence. I clear my throat and look down at the ground, eyes slightly wide with horror at how big a fool I’m making of myself.
“Don’t let her fool you,” says Liam smoothly. “This little somebody is my bride to be.”
The man’s eyebrows shoot up. Veronica claps her hands together in a careful way that protects her nails.
“My, my, my,” says Tucker. “How did you two meet?”
Liam looks to me expectantly and I realize he’s expecting me to answer. Oh God.
“Well,” I say. “We, um, I was actually his yoga instructor.”
Liam’s lips purse together slightly as he tries to hold in a laugh.
Yoga? I think frantically. What the hell am I doing? Roxanne is probably more flexible than me.
“You don’t say!” booms Tucker. “You know, my Veronica is quite the yoga expert. Show them, sweetheart.”
Veronica smiles, and I hate the way she directs her eyes to Liam as she shakes her head. “Honeydew,” she purrs. “If I tried to do yoga in this dress, I would bust right out of it. And I doubt,” she hesitates, clearly trying to remember my name and giving up. “I doubt Mr. King’s fiancée would appreciate me flashing her future husband. This dress was so tight I didn’t even dare wear panties or a bra. I wouldn’t have fit!” she says, never taking her eyes from Liam.
The fire of jealousy grows into a hot, boiling pit in my stomach and I suddenly want to punch straight through Veronica’s stupid, perfect teeth. I’ve never punched anyone before, but I think she could be a great place to start.
Tucker smiles nervously, putting the back of his hand to Veronica’s shoulder in a way that says he’s used to her making open advances on other men in front of him. “Come now, dear. Let’s play nice.”
I look to Liam, expecting to see him transfixed by this beautiful woman’s open flirtation, but instead his face is a mask of rage. He scoffs, shaking his head. “You might want to keep a tighter leash on her, Tucker,” he says stiffly, turning to leave and motioning for me to follow.
I turn to follow behind Liam, but I curl my hand behind my back and shoot Veronica the middle finger. I glance over my shoulder to make sure she saw, and sure enough, she’s glaring daggers into my back. Good. Let her glare.
“I can’t believe her,” I say once we’ve gained some distance.
“I’m sorry about that,” says Liam. “Some of the men in my field are complete idiots when it comes to women. They grab the prettiest thing they can find and don’t give a shit if she’s toxic. They tie themselves down to women who want nothing more than their money and wonder why they are miserable. Let them, as far as I’m concerned, it leaves the good women for me.” The way he glances over at me as he says the last makes a warm flutter run through me.
Is he talking about me? I shouldn’t be stupid. I have to keep reminding myself this is pretend. I’m not really his fiancée. And it’s a good thing, too. Why is that already so hard to remember? I’ve known Liam for three days. It’s one thing to fantasize about marrying a guy, but it’s a
completely different level of crazy to actually start wishing I was legitimately engaged to him.
“What is this, anyway?” I ask. I see men and women mulling around, sipping champagne and sampling appetizers from waiters and waitresses who circulate through the crowd. Intricately patterned red carpets run beneath our feet and the walls are beautifully polished stone, complete with masonry and decorative balconies overlooking the large gathering area. My first guess would be some kind of movie premiere, but I didn’t see any paparazzi outside so I doubt that’s the case.
“It’s a celebratory dinner party, I guess,” says Liam. His eyes search the room for something or someone as he speaks. He tugs at the collar of his shirt and winces a little. “I hate these things, to be honest with you.”
“Really?” I ask. “You said it was your favorite place.”
“We’ve got to be seen, remember? I was just trying to make sure you wanted to come. I figured you’d like it though. Most women like these things.” he says. “Either way, people need to see how in love we are,” he says, voice growing huskier as he takes me by the waist and pulls me to face him. “How deeply, madly, in fucking love we are,” he whispers, eyes locked on mine.
My lips part and my eyes close as I tilt my chin up to him. My heart pounds in my chest and somewhere distantly my brain is scrambling to figure out what’s happening. He lays his hand on the side of my neck, brushing my jaw with his thumb and leaning close enough that I feel his breath on my lips.
Someone clears their throat loudly to our side. I don’t hear it at first, like an alarm clock interrupting a dream, but when my eyes finally flutter open and I see the woman standing next to us, fists planted on her hips, I’m broken from the moment as surely as if I had woken from a dream.
Bad for the Billionaires: A Bad Boy Billionaire Bundle Page 52