The Billionaire's Marriage Contract

by Avery James

  After a pause, she cleared her throat. “Darling,” she said, “we’re in public.” She motioned to her office. If this was going to work, they would have to come up with ground rules. They would have to come up with them fast.

  Amy could hear Rich and Callie clapping as she closed her office door behind her. “Ethan, what are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to surprise you,” Ethan replied.

  “I think you have fulfilled your surprise quota for the century. How about sticking to the script and letting me get everything in order.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ethan said. “I just wanted to see you.”

  Amy raised an eyebrow. “What’s the catch?” she asked as Ethan began to grin again. Amy knew that look too well already.

  “No catch.” He placed the flowers down on Amy’s desk. “I just wanted to make this thing official.”

  “Ah, you’re so romantic.” Amy rolled her eyes.

  “And I wanted to give you this,” Ethan said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. Before Amy processed what was happening, he had slid the ring onto her finger. “I know last night wasn’t the proposal you deserve, and this isn’t either, but I figured I’d give it a second chance. Will you marry me?”

  Amy looked down at the giant diamond on her hand. “Is this real?” she asked.

  “I picked it out this morning.”

  “I didn’t even know jewelry stores were open this early in the morning.”

  “They aren’t. A friend owed me a favor, and well, it made his day.”

  Amy looked down at the ring and the enormous rock again. “I’d guess that it made his month,” she said.

  Ethan smiled. “Yeah, it probably did.”

  “So what do I do now?” Amy asked.

  “Say yes.”

  “Yes, Ethan, I will marry you. Now come back over here and kiss me again. You know, so we can look convincing when we have to do it in the future.”

  “That I can do.” Ethan stepped over to Amy and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body firmly against his as he leaned down to kiss her. As soon as she felt his lips on hers, warmth ran through her body again. She liked how firm his body felt against her, and she loved the thrill of leaning into him as she felt the endorphin rush of their first real kiss.

  Ethan slid his tongue against hers and tilted his head to the side. Each motion of his mouth against hers drove Amy wild. It had been so long since a man had made her feel like this. She pressed tighter against him, her hips pressed against his hips, her breasts pressed against his chest. She felt so sexy in his arms, so wanted. She felt the world fall away as Ethan ran his hands over her back and kissed her. After a mind-bending few minutes, Ethan leaned back and smiled at Amy. “You can open your eyes you know.”

  Amy pulled back and tapped him on the arm. “I was pretending to enjoy myself,” she said.

  “Oh, is that what that was?” Ethan asked. “I think I know a moan when I hear one.”

  “Obviously you can’t tell when a woman is faking enjoyment.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been in doubt,” Ethan replied.

  “Hey, just because we’re getting married doesn’t mean you get to sass me,” Amy said.

  “No? I’m going to have it written into the contract.” Ethan laughed as he looked at Amy. “We would have made a good pair in real life.”

  Amy felt a bit of that warmth fade away. “Yeah, we would have.” She looked down at her watch. “Maybe we should get going. I’m sure you have a schedule to keep to.”

  “I have a car waiting outside,” Ethan replied. His smile disappeared as he wondered what he had done to upset Amy.

  “I’ll meet you down there,” she said. “I just need to finish that meeting.”

  “Of course,” Ethan said. “I’ll see myself down.”

  Amy watched him make his way to the door and disappear around the corner. What the hell was she doing? she wondered. She looked at the flowers and then at the trash bin next to her desk. She walked over, picked up the flowers and headed back to the conference room and placed them down on the table. “I’ll be gone for the next two weeks. You have my number. Keep me in the loop. Callie, you’ll take my clients until I return. If anything happens, it’s your fault.”

  Then she turned and walked back out.

  Callie, Laura and Rich sat there stunned. After a long silence, Rich reached forward for a third donut. “Did that really just happen?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I think it did,” Callie replied. “Let’s get to work, I guess.” She grabbed the flowers off the table and headed off to find water and a vase. She returned a few minutes later and placed the arrangement on the table. She looked at Laura and Rich, who were still seated. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Callie, in the past decade, your older sister hasn’t gone more than an hour without breathing down our necks. Now she’s leaving to get married, and she left a bouquet and a box of donuts in her place?”

  Callie thought for a moment. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

  “Ok,” Rich replied. “Just want to make sure we’re all on the same page. Hell, right now, I’d settle for everyone being in the same book. Well, welcome to the big leagues, kid. What the hell do we do now?”

  “We do whatever Amy needs us to do,” Callie said.

  Rich nodded in agreement and ate his donut in silence.

  Chapter 5

  Amy looked up from the piece of paper as she finished signing her name. “So is that it?” she asked. She was standing next to Ethan in the middle of a room deep inside a district court. She looked up at the leather-bound law books on the shelves as she waited for some kind of response.

  “It’s a relatively painless procedure,” the magistrate responded with a chuckle. He gave Amy a wink. “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

  “I do,” Amy replied.

  The magistrate turned his gaze to Ethan. “And do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

  “I do,” Ethan said.

  “Then, by the power vested in me by the District of Columbia, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  Ethan turned his back to Amy for a moment and motioned to his lawyer, who walked over with a small box. Ethan reached in and grabbed a small platinum band. He slid it onto Amy’s finger. She didn’t realize it was on until the lawyer cleared his throat and held the box up for Amy. She reached in and pulled out Ethan’s wedding band, sliding it onto his finger as he smiled back at her.

  The magistrate cleared his throat and repeated, “You may kiss the bride.”

  Ethan held Amy’s hand for a moment and then reached out and pulled her against himself. Before kissing her he whispered, “Convince me.” He pressed his lips against hers. His kiss felt softer than it had in her office, somehow more tender, and she felt calm and safe as he held her against himself.

  Ethan kept his lips locked against hers for a while longer. Soon the comfort gave way to excitement as Ethan ran his tongue against her lips. She half wanted to slap him, but instead she kissed him back, sliding her tongue against his. She wanted to see how he’d react. She wasn’t just going to swoon and fall apart every time he kissed her. Amy let her lips linger against his for just a moment before pulling back.

  Ethan wrapped his arm around Amy and walked with her to the exit. He kissed her cheek as they walked down the hall and whispered to her as they walked out of the building. The first step of their marriage was almost complete. After they were safely inside the limo, he said, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you liked that.”

  “Is that a problem?” Amy asked.

  “Not for me,” Ethan said. “Even the magistrate seemed to think it was real. Imagine what he’d say if he knew our arrangement.” Ethan leaned in closer to Amy, brushing her hair to the side as he said, “You were great. For a second there, you even had me wondering if you had feelings for me.”

  As their limo pulled away from th
e courthouse, Ethan slid over to the bar and pulled out a bottle of champagne from a bucket of ice. Amy watched him pour two glasses. What was he thinking? she wondered. Was this all a game or was some part of that real? She could tell that Ethan was enjoying the ambiguity.

  She had made a schedule for the day, and he had broken it, and now he wanted to celebrate. He was practically gloating as he smiled and handed her a glass. Amy sunk down in her seat and let out a deep sigh of frustration. She didn’t know if she was angry or sad, but she sure hadn’t imagined feeling this way so quickly. Amy waved off Ethan’s offer of champagne. She didn’t feel like they had anything worth celebrating.

  Ethan placed the champagne flutes down and turned to Amy. “What’s wrong? That’s a four hundred dollar glass of champagne you’re ignoring.”

  Amy shook her head. She looked again to make sure the divider between them and the driver was up before she spoke. “I don’t know. You showed up at my office and hauled me down to the courthouse. I get that you needed things to happen quickly, but this is an equal partnership. I need you to run things by me. No more surprises. I have enough of that at work. I don’t need this drama in my personal life.” Amy paused for a second as she realized that things had become a lot more personal than she had intended. This wasn’t just a business deal; this was something more.

  In truth, she hadn’t completely minded the surprises. They had kept her off-balance in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time. When Ethan showed up at her office and kissed her, she had felt a thrill. Deep down, she knew there was something between her and Ethan, something more than just a marriage of convenience. She just wasn’t sure if she was ready to find out what exactly that something was.

  Amy watched as the scenery changed outside her window. The stately buildings of the capitol had given way to townhouses and then suburbs. “Where are we going anyway? I’m all for enjoying ourselves, but don’t you think you should at least let me know where we’re heading before we get there?”

  Ethan grabbed the glasses of champagne again and handed one to Amy. “Ok, I’ll run things by you. Let’s toast to an equal partnership.” He clanked his glass against Amy’s and took a sip. “Promise me that you’ll let me know when I’m asking too much of you,” he added. “You know, it hadn’t even occurred to me to ask what kind of wedding you’d want. I just wanted to get everything in line before we have to head out to meet Hank.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Amy replied. “I’m just not used to other people making decisions for me. I’ve spent a long time building a life for myself, and it’s just hard to see how easy it was for you to upend everything without even thinking about it. The funny thing is I never wanted a big wedding. I always pictured myself getting married somewhere quiet, with my closest friends and family there. So, I guess you weren’t far off.”

  Ethan looked at Amy for a while before responding. She wondered if he was sizing her up. So much had happened between them in the past few days, and she really didn’t know where they stood or what he thought of her. Were they business partners? Were they lovers? Were they husband and wife? As she looked into his deep blue eyes, she found no answers, only more questions. Ethan’s response didn’t make things any clearer. “Amy, you’ll have the wedding you deserve. Some day, you’ll get to stand across from the love of your life and say ‘I do.’ I’m sure of it. Don’t think for a moment that today was the last chance you’ll get at it.”

  Amy laughed. “The ink isn’t even dry on that marriage license, and you’re already talking about my next marriage? How about we try to make it through this trip before we make any statements about the future. By the way, what did you mean when you said we have to head out to meet Hank?”

  “We’re going skiing with him.”

  “What do you mean we’re going skiing? It’s sixty five degrees outside, and I don’t know how to ski.”

  “It’s thirty five in Wyoming. It’s spring skiing at its best.”

  “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “We’re visiting Hank Harris this weekend. We’re on our way to the airport now.”

  Amy shook her head and took a deep sip of champagne. “Did you not just agree to include me in your plans?”

  “I did include you. I’m telling you now.”

  “We have to work on your definition of inclusion,” Amy replied. “Besides, I have to stop by my house, or do you expect me to wear this all weekend?”

  Ethan laughed. “Of course I don’t. I already packed a bag for you.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I am. You’ll have to trust me on this one. As much as you need me to trust you, I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

  “Sure,” Amy said, “but I’m very particular about what I wear.”

  “I saw to every detail. Don’t worry. You’ll have everything you need for spring in the mountains and a few other things as well.”

  “Do I even want to know?”

  Ethan gave her another wry smile. Perhaps some things were best left to the imagination.

  What are you up to? Amy wondered as she looked back at Ethan. There was something he wasn’t telling her. She could tell. She always knew when men were lying and when they were being completely honest. It was something deep inside her, an instinct that had served her well over the years. Well, she almost always knew, but with Ethan, it was hard to know what was going on.

  As they rode the rest of the way to the airport, Amy couldn’t shake the feeling of being off-balance, like the world had shifted beneath her. It was the way she used to feel back when she had started working in crisis communications, back before she had seen it all, back before she knew with certainty the outcome of every situation. For the first time in years, Amy didn’t know what to expect from the man sitting across from her, and, for the first time, she liked the uncertainty.

  Amy looked out the window and watched as they sped past the airport. “Ethan, where are we going?” she asked.

  “Private airfield. You didn’t think we were going to fly commercial, did you? Don’t tell me that’s an unpleasant surprise.”

  Amy couldn’t help but laugh. So far, the surprises hadn’t been unpleasant at all.

  ***

  “You know, Amy, I think this trip will be good for both of us.” Ethan poured himself a glass of mineral water and looked out the window of his Gulfstream. From 30,000 feet, the farmlands of Iowa looked like one long, unbroken blanket of white, and as the sun began to set in the west, Ethan watched the pink and purple hues of dusk spread across the sky. He didn’t want to admit it to her, but he had enjoyed the hell out of the past few hours with Amy. There was just something about her.

  “I can’t wait to hear you explain this one to me,” Amy said. She and Ethan had been flirting back and forth since they had settled into their seats in the lushly appointed cabin of Ethan’s jet.

  “I thought explaining things away was your job,” Ethan replied.

  “I thought my job was to look wifely.”

  “You’ve got that one down.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Amy asked as she sat up in her seat. She wasn’t sure if she should be offended by Ethan’s comment.

  “Easy there, I just meant you’re very convincing as my wife. I meant it as a compliment.”

  “We’ll have to see if you can live up to being my husband.”

  “I wonder if you’ll talk like that in bed.”

  “What? We’re sleeping in the same bed?”

  “Of course we are. We’re husband and wife. I thought I was pretty clear about that.”

  “I haven’t shared a bed with a man in… well, I can’t believe I’m talking to you about this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean you probably can’t even remember how many women you’ve shared a bed with in the past year.”

  “In my defense, I was never good at math,” Ethan replied.

  “Charming.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who
brought it up. Besides, that’s what makes me such a great client: a new scandal every few months.”

  “It makes you something, alright,” Amy said with a laugh. “It’s not exactly what I had in mind when I told you to raise your profile.”

  Ethan straightened up in his chair and turned to the side. “It is a nice profile, isn’t it?”

  “Is this how you charm your women?”

  “No,” Ethan said, “that was just for me. I thought it was amusing.”

  “At least someone did.”

  Ethan turned back toward Amy and crossed his arms. “I had forgotten what it was like to be with a woman with such…” He trailed off before finishing his sentence.

  “Intelligence?” Amy asked.

  “I was going to go with disdain.”

  Amy laughed and rolled her eyes. Ethan really was incorrigible. “That’s because you never keep a woman around long enough for her to know you.”

  Ethan leaned in close. He placed his hand over Amy’s. “We don’t have to share a bed if you don’t want to. You could always lie on the floor.”

  Amy pulled her hand back. “That might be preferable to sleeping next to you.”

  “Who said anything about sleeping?” Ethan asked as he took another sip of water.

  Amy started to blush. She couldn’t tell whether Ethan was serious or not, but she could tell how pleased he was with himself. She shook her head and asked, “What else do I need to know before we land?”

  “You’ve already read the brief on Hank. He has two sons; one of them will be picking us up from the airfield. Hank insisted upon it. This back and forth that we have going between us will work when we’re there, just, you know, act like you like me.”

  “I’ll try. I’m not sure how convincing it will be.”

  “Trust me,” Ethan said, “it’s good. Hell, I half believed you had a thing for me.”

  “Keep dreaming,” Amy said. She let herself sink a little lower in her chair and exhaled a long sigh. What was she doing?

  “Like I was trying to say. I think this trip will give us both a chance to step back and breathe for a little while. You seem like you could use a break.”