by Avery James
Ethan looked down and then met Amy’s glance, he had a sheepish smile on his face, like he was purposely leaving out some important detail. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Tell me you didn’t get her pregnant. It doesn’t do much for your image if you’re off knocking up Ms. Venezuela. What is she, seventeen or something?”
“No,” Ethan replied, “She’s about my age.”
“You’re using protection, right?”
“We’re not even having sex yet.”
“Really?” Amy replied. “She must be worth the wait.”
“I think so,” Ethan replied, he couldn’t help but smile. He felt like he was in the eye of the storm, watching the calm before all hell broke loose. Of course, hell breaking loose was the whole point of this meeting.
Amy watched his grin grow even wider. “What am I missing here?” she asked. “What is so funny? Do I know her?”
“Better than I do, believe it or not,” Ethan replied. “Though I’m guessing you don’t know her as well as you’d think. She’s in her thirties, a colleague of mine actually, a bit of a departure from the women I’ve been dating. Truth be told, a bit of a departure from pretty much everyone I know.”
“I know her, and she’s not a bimbo? Interesting. And you like her?”
“Yeah, I do,” he replied. “She’s honest and smart, and she calls me on my bullshit. Very few people do that.”
“I do that,” Amy replied. She felt a twinge of jealousy as she said it.
“I know.”
“How long have the two of you been together? I mean, the media is going to have a field day with this. You know that right? The playboy billionaire settling down. It will be the marriage of the century.”
“We’ve had a thing for years, and the media will never catch wind. It’s all going to be quiet. I think she’ll like it better that way.”
“Think?” Amy replied. “You mean you haven’t discussed it with her?” Amy picked up her glass of wine and took a deep sip. “So you’re going to propose to someone I know, and you haven’t even dropped a hint that you might be interested in marriage?” She leaned back in her chair a bit and waited to hear Ethan’s explanation of this one.
“Oh, I’ve been dropping hints all night,” Ethan replied. “And we’re talking about it right now.”
“What do you mean?” Amy asked.
“Amy, I’m asking you to marry me.”
As she listened to the words, Amy forgot all about her glass of wine and let it fall from her hand. She watched as it cracked off of the bar and shattered, spraying wine forward. As the sound rang through the bar, everyone else fell silent. Amy felt like her heart had stopped, and then everything flew into motion as she realized what was going on. “You’re joking, right? Is this a joke? Did my sister put you up to this on the phone this afternoon?”
Ethan smiled. “I didn’t know that Callie was your sister. I thought she was your secretary. That makes a lot of sense now. No, I’m completely serious. I need you to marry me, and I’m ready to make you the offer of a lifetime.”
Amy looked at Ethan again. He wasn’t smiling anymore. Was he insane? Amy raised her hand and signaled to the bartender. I’m going to need something stronger than wine, she thought. Then she turned to Ethan. “Explain. Now.”
“Have you ever been to Wyoming?” Ethan asked as the bartender came back with a new glass of wine.
***
“This better not be a repeat of Chicago.” Amy crossed her arms and stared at Ethan. “I am not in the mood for a repeat of Chicago. Are you being serious right now? I have an aunt’s birthday party to get to. I have a company to run. I’m not in the mood for a practical joke by the world-famous Ethan Cole. I suppose you think I should be flattered that you want me to marry you for some reason.
“First off, you and I remember that night in Chicago very differently,” Ethan replied.
“You make it sound like something happened between us.”
“Like I said,” Ethan repeated, “you and I remember that night very differently.”
Ethan reached down into his briefcase and pulled out a manila envelope. He placed it on the bar and slid it over to Amy. “It’s all right there in the prenup. All you have to do is sign, and the marriage contract is legally binding.”
Amy placed her hand over the envelope. “If you think for one second that I’m going to let you buy me.”
“Amy, you know that isn’t this at all. People have marriages of convenience all the time. You and I just happen to have the added bonus of being able to see opportunities and seize them. I need a wife.”
“So go and get one. Who is the latest model you were dating? Miss Russia or Brazil or?”
“Argentina,” Ethan replied. “And I called things off. She wasn’t really interested in me anyway, and, well, supermodel wife doesn’t exactly fit my needs at the moment.”
“What you need at the moment is someone to knock you in the side of the head,” Amy replied. “This is definitely Chicago all over again.”
“Like I said, I think you and I remember that night very differently, and you brought it up, not me. This is nothing like that. That was a moment, and this is a unique opportunity. I think you should consider my offer. A multibillion dollar deal that will help ensure the future of my company and the jobs of tens of thousands of people all depend on you helping me become a family man.”
“I need you to be my wife. Not for long, just long enough to convince Hank Harris that I’m a good man, a family man, and someone worthy of taking the reins of Harris Energy.”
“You run a tech company,” Amy replied. “Why in the world would you want to buy a business you know nothing about?”
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Harris is retiring, and he is looking to sell the company. Almost no one knows, but I do, and I’ve been in talks with him for months. He likes me, but he doesn’t know if he can trust me.”
“So you want to lie to him and tell him that I’m your wife?”
“No, I want you to marry me and help me make my case to him. Harris Energy is a relatively minor player in the energy sector. They are a regional supplier of oil and gas, but they also control rights to over half of the neodymium reserves in the western hemisphere.”
“Neodymium?” Amy asked. “You want me to pretend to be your wife so you can buy magnets?”
Ethan laughed. “Now you get it. It’s an essential component of modern electronics, and a major weakness in my supply chain. My company uses it in everything from cellphones to missiles, and Hilson’s other assets would help us deploy new technology in fields we’ve been trying to break into for years.”
“Again, I don’t see how or why this involves me in any way,” Amy replied.
“Hank Harris is a family man,” Ethan replied. “And he wants to find someone who shares his values to take over his company. I tried to convince him to sell me just the mineral rights, but he won’t break up his company. I told him I understood and assembled a proposal to buy Harris outright. He asked me if I was married, and I told him I was engaged to you.”
“You what?”
“I told him we were getting married in a small ceremony in DC, and that I wanted to keep the whole thing very quiet.” Ethan placed his hands on his head and ran his fingers through his hair as he took a deep breath. “He thinks we got married last weekend.”
“He WHAT?”
Ethan leaned back as he looked over at Amy‘s expression changing as the disbelief and confusion gave way to indignation. He could see it in her eyes and in the way she scrunched up her nose as she scowled at him. He tried to hide his smile as he watched her sitting there, the blush coming into her cheeks as she got madder at him and formulated her rebuke. This was the thing that he liked best about Amy, the way she didn’t take bullshit from anyone, especially from him. That was a rare thing. Almost everyone else he knew, women especially, fell over themselves to appease him. Amy just looked like she wanted to take his head off, especiall
y after they started talking about what had happened in Chicago.
She would have killed him if he said it out loud, but Ethan wanted to tell her how beautiful she was when she was mad like that, not truly angry, but just pissed off. It had been far too long since he had gotten a rise out of her like this, and he tried to enjoy it before she started yelling at him. It was also one of the reasons he had chosen a public place for the meeting. The last thing Amy would have wanted was to end up in a tabloid herself for a fight with the Ethan Cole. Ethan knew he only had a moment or two to make his next move or the whole thing would be ruined.
He reached forward and placed his hand on hers. “Before you say anything,” he said, “I want to tell you exactly what I’m prepared to offer.” This was the moment of truth. He needed to turn this from an argument into a negotiation, because if it were a negotiation, two things would happen. First, Amy would decide that she needed to win. Second, Amy would win by negotiating the best possible terms for herself. After all, this whole thing was in her best interest, and Ethan knew that deep down part of Amy wanted to see what it would be like to be with him. He was prepared to let her win. All he needed was for her to say yes.
“What’s your starting bid?”
“Five.”
“Million?”
“Yes, for three to four months of being my wife, a few trips to meet with the potential business partner. I could arrange a honeymoon as well. I know of a few places I think you’d like.”
Amy had stopped listening after five. Five million dollars. Amy was successful. She was very successful. She ran her own company. She owned a house in Georgetown. Five million was more than she made over the course of years of hard work, never mind with months of on and off vacationing. She looked at Ethan and stayed silent. What was five million dollars to him anyway? He was one of the richest men in the world.
“I wouldn’t even consider it for less than ten,” she replied.
“Atta girl,” Ethan replied. “Aggressive, I like that. How about we split the difference, seven point five mil?”
Amy laughed. “I think you misheard me. I said I wouldn’t consider less than ten. You could just marry me and let me sue for half your net worth. I happen to know the best divorce lawyer in the country.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Ten. That’s my final offer. If you need this that badly, ten million is a tiny fraction of what you stand to make. It’s a bargain and you know it. That and you need to tell me every last detail of what’s going on.”
Ethan held out his hand. “I’ll take that as a yes. You have a deal.”
Amy felt a chill run through her body. Ten million dollars. All she had to do was go through with this, and she’d make more in a summer than she would in her entire career. “You’re kidding, right? You’re not actually considering paying me that kind of money to pretend to be your wife. What’s the catch?”
“The catch is that you won’t be pretending.”
“How is that not illegal?”
“Again, it’s called a prenup,” Ethan replied. “It would entitle you to a certain amount of my net worth in the event of a divorce. As soon as the ink dries on the corporate deal, we can get a quickie divorce. I’ll go my way. You go yours.”
“You’re just going to let me walk away with ten million dollars?”
“Yeah. That’s the plan.”
“I have money of my own. I have a career and employees who rely on me.”
“They’ll be there waiting for you. And you can give each of them a hell of a bonus.”
“I need time to think about this, Ethan. You don’t just drop something like this out of thin air. I need some time. Look, I have to go.”
“There’s something I want to give you before you leave,” Ethan said. He reached down into his briefcase, and wrapped his hand around the ring box and began to pull it out.
“I really can’t handle another surprise,” Amy said.
Ethan stopped and dropped the box back down to the bottom of the briefcase. “Of course,” he replied. “I just want you to have a copy of the prenup as you think things through.” He grabbed the thick manila envelope out of the briefcase and pulled it out. “Here you go.”
Amy grabbed the envelope. “What happens if I actually say yes?”
Ethan grinned. It had cost him significantly more than he had anticipated, but he had just gotten exactly what he wanted. “Like I asked you before, have you ever been to Wyoming?”
***
Chapter 3
Even though she had gotten back from the meeting relatively quickly, Amy couldn’t bring herself to go inside her house. Callie and Violet would be there, and she couldn’t see them like this. She was too worked up. She walked around the block and then came back to her front door, but she couldn’t go in. She didn’t want to ruin Violet’s night. She pulled out her phone and texted Callie: running late. Start without me. A moment after she sent the text, she got a reply: already did. Tell your secret boyfriend we say hi.
Amy looked at the front of her house. She had to admit to herself that the house was impressive. It had been a stretch for her to afford it, and she had needed to pull strings with a few bankers to arrange the mortgage, but it was an absolute asset when it came to wooing clients and participating in the inner circles of the city's high society.
Amy sat on the stoop and looked back up at the façade for her house. The elaborate molding she had had expertly restored by a team of craftsmen. The paint she had finally settled on after over a dozen attempts. The antique, single pane windows that gave the house a certain charm but added to the already astronomical heating bills. Inside, she had spared no expense. Everything had to be perfect. From the kitchen, which was filled with Carrera marble, stainless steel appliances and imported fixtures to the living room with its hand carved table and supple leather couches made from the artisanal leather of god-knows-where, it was all perfect. The house was perfect. It was absolutely everything she had set out for it to be, and yet it brought her none of the satisfaction that she had hoped for.
But it served its purpose. Whenever she hosted parties or dinners, her colleagues and clients raved about her tastefully appointed decor. It let her clients know that she was one of them, one of the elite. This also, somehow, led them to believe that she, Amy Hayes, was a woman they could trust with their secrets. This house, she all but told them, was built on secrets hidden and reputations protected. If she wasn't the best at what she did, how could she afford such splendor?
The answer, of course, was that she could afford it only working herself and her employees to the bone. The higher her star rose, the more powerful and demanding her clients became, which meant she had to spent more and more time curating her image. She was always keeping up appearances. Always showing up in the right place at the right time. The charity galas, the opera and ballet. Amy sat on the board of directors of four different charities in the district, and all of them required an enormous amount of time and money.
This was the path she had chosen for herself. This is what she had wanted from life. She had access and influence, but it all came with a price. When she got back to her house in Georgetown on most nights, she barely had enough energy to crawl into bed. She couldn't remember the last time she had done something just for herself.
Since Vi had moved in, she had felt that pressure even more. Vi was family, one of only two people in the world who shared that tie to Amy, and Amy would do anything for her, but it was hard for Amy to set aside time to see her. She'd have to schedule out a lunch or a dinner. She imagined Callie and Vi inside the house, ignoring the dining room and eating cake right at the kitchen counter. Amy smiled and shook her head. She turned around to circle the block again. It was a mild spring night, and she thought maybe the air and a little time would help her clear her head.
By her fourth time around the block, Amy could feel the sweat beginning to form on her palms. She could feel her hair beginning to stick to her forehead as she got warmer and w
armer. She knew that she had to give up at some point and go inside. She walked back up to her house and sat down on the front steps trying to collect herself. Just because Ethan had made the offer didn’t mean she had to accept it, she thought. She could feel herself beginning to calm down. She was still in control, she repeated to herself. He was the one who needed her help. He was the one who came to her, and maybe, just maybe, he had come to her for a reason. Maybe there was more there. It was a stupid thought, and as soon as she thought it, she got mad at herself for thinking that attraction or emotion could have played any role in Ethan’s decision to proposition her like that.
Almost an hour later, Amy finally decided she’d tortured herself enough for one night. Maybe she could catch the tail end of the birthday dinner. She could really go for some vanilla ice cream and a piece of cake. By the time she opened the front door, she was actually excited to join her sister and her aunt.
“Is that a stranger at the door?” Amy heard Violet yell from the kitchen.
“It’s only me.”
“Mon dieu!” Violet yelled. “It’s a stranger indeed. Come back here and join in before I die of old age.”
Even from the other end of the house, Amy could see that Callie and Violet had done quite a number on the cake. Amy had always envied that about Callie. She ate whatever she wanted and never seemed to gain a pound. When she reached the kitchen, Amy realized that Callie wasn’t even there.
“Where’s Callie?” Amy asked.
“She left about fifteen minutes ago,” Violet replied. “Don’t tell me the two of you are taking shifts watching me now. I might be old, but I’m not that old.”
“Seventy is a good age,” Amy replied. “I have your gift upstairs somewhere. I’ll go get it.”
“You mean this sweater?” Violet replied. Amy looked to see that Violet had not only already opened her present, but she was wearing it.
Amy placed her hands over her mouth. “Where did you get that?”