by Lauren Wood
Up until that afternoon, he had always treated me with respect, which was rare to find with men in business, even friends or associates. I would have never risked losing that, but it seemed Lucas could afford to be a lot more flippant with both me and my respect for him than I was.
I was feeling the wave of my anger all over again when a knock came at my door. I flew to answer it, not bothering to throw a robe on over my revealing silk spaghetti-strapped pajama top and matching lace-trimmed shorts. My hair was twisted up in a messy bun around the high pony I’d worn earlier that morning, though it was ragged now after I raked my hands through it all day. And I had a whole bottle of wine in my hand, not bothering with a glass. It was probably just my neighbor knocking to tell me something she had read in the news that day, as she often did in the evenings when she was lonely.
“I can’t talk right now, Martina,” I huffed as I flung the door open.
But it wasn’t sweet old Martina standing there at all. It was Lucas. The last person I wanted to see, and yet the moment I saw his distraught expression, I felt myself soften up. Maybe he had been right and I did need to stop only looking at this in terms of my career. He was my oldest friend after all.
I opened the door wider and stepped aside. “Come in,” I sighed in defeat.
He looked briefly relieved, but then his expression changed as he took in my appearance. I looked myself over just like he was and remembered what I was wearing.
“Shit. Be right back.” I raced into the bedroom to throw on a big fuzzy robe—anything to cover all that bare skin and my nipples, which were plainly visible through the thin pink silk of my top.
When I walked back into the open-concept living room and kitchen area, he was surveying the scene—one empty bottle of wine on the counter and my uneaten food, all topped by a sprinkling of the chocolate wrappers I had littered about throughout the day. I wished I could throw a robe after them, too.
“You look like you’ve had about as great of a day as I have,” he stated dryly.
“I hope you’ve had a shitty day after what you pulled. You deserve it.” I sucked in a deep breath. When I’d let him in, I had decided to try and be nice. More understanding. This was the opposite of that. “I’m sorry,” I sighed. “That was harsh. Why did you come by?”
“It’s okay. I deserve it.”
“Drink?” I waved my bottle in the air.
“Yes, but...maybe in a glass?”
He laughed a little, but I didn’t. I stormed over to the cabinet and pulled down two glasses, emptying the rest of bottle number two between them.
“I was hoping we could talk,” he explained as I handed his over.
We sat on opposite sides of the kitchen table after I tossed my plate, food and all, into the sink. “I’m listening.”
“I know you’re angry with me about earlier, and I’m sorry. It was a stupid move and I’ve been kicking myself for it almost all day.”
I raised a brow. “Almost?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Until...I had an idea.”
I waited expectantly, but he let his words hang in the air—building suspense. “And!?” I snapped, annoyed.
“And...I was thinking...we keep the lie going. We pretend to be engaged.”
I slammed my glass down on the table with an exasperated growl. “Oh, sure. Great. That’s some idea alright. For you, anyway. It saves your ass, and then what about me?”
“You get a sperm donor, like you were planning to pay for. Only you get him for free and he’s someone you know and trust. And I get a fake wife...like I was planning to pay for. Only this way it will also be someone I know and trust.”
It took me a moment to piece together what he was suggesting, and once I did—I erupted into howling laughter. This time, he was the one not laughing along.
“I don’t see what’s so funny about it,” he shot back, trying not to smirk. “Free sperm donor in exchange for helping me with my image. You did suggest I pay someone to fulfill that role after all, and you were already planning to throw money at your own dilemma. Consider it a well-timed bargain.”
I laughed even harder. It felt like forever before I could catch my breath enough to speak. “There are so many holes in your proposition, I don’t even know where to start.”
I wiped a tear from my eye and saw that Lucas was adamant—still stone-cold and apparently waiting to hear all about said holes.
“For one, you said someone I trust. Which I don’t anymore...not after today.”
“Surely one little lapse in judgment doesn’t override fifteen years of friendship...and all the trust you did hold for me during that time,” he argued.
“Wanna bet? In fact, I think that’s exactly how trust works. One small thing can ruin it, and your thing wasn’t even small.” I almost started rambling again about why what he did was so wrong, but I was tired of trying to make him understand. “Anyway, the whole idea is crazy and absurd. Surely you didn’t think I’d go along with it that easily.”
He reached out across the table and covered my hand with his. His eyes filled with an earnest sincerity I wasn’t used to seeing in them—not since he’d told me about his father passing away, and then again when he admitted to all the money troubles that came along with that.
“I don’t expect anything about this to be easy,” he said, squeezing my hand. I hated the way his touch and voice reverberated straight to my core. “It will be hard work. Just like any other marriage or family. Being parents isn’t easy. But I think we could do it. I think...we’d make a great team.”
I swallowed down a huge lump in my throat and pulled my hand away, tucking it back into the safety of my lap. “You’re serious. And...parents? Plural? As in, you’d want to raise the kid with me?”
“I don’t want either of us giving up our careers, but you were preparing to juggle both. Surely two heads are better than one.”
My lips parted for a defense, but somehow I didn't have one. Not a concrete one that he couldn’t just sweet talk his way through. He was a skilled negotiator and I was too tipsy and exhausted to debate something so huge with him.
“I would have to think about it,” I said finally, amazed that I could even agree to that much.
“Please do.”
We both stood and I was desperate to show him out. I needed the time alone now more than ever. Just as I reached for the door, I was blindsided by him moving in close. Too close. Just as quickly as he had pulled me to his side at the press conference, he cupped my face in his hands and leaned in to kiss me. His lips were soft, but pressed to mine with the perfect amount of firm pressure. He tasted like cinnamon and wine—a horrible sounding combination, but somehow it tasted divine on him. My mouth melted to his, and suddenly everything seemed to stop—even the traffic and distant noises outside. My chest clenched from the lack of air and I still couldn’t breathe by the time he pulled away.
I pressed two fingers to my lips, where his had just been so unexpectedly. “What the hell was that?”
“Just needed to make sure the spark was there. It’d have to be for us to make this work.” He smiled, winked, and walked out the door.
I stood there for a long time. Long after he had disappeared around the end of the hallway and I heard the ding of the elevator, followed by its doors closing shut. I kept my fingers pressed to my lips the entire time.
Oddly enough, the only thought resounding through my mind was—Well!? What was the verdict!? Did he think we had the spark!? Because in my opinion...that would be enough to convince anyone. Even his sisters and brother and my closest friends...Hell, it was almost enough to convince me.
I finally shut the door and tried to shake it off. Why did I even care what he thought? There was no way I could go through with this.
...Or could I?
6
Lucas
I walked through a shit show of murmurs, whispers, and sideway glances at the office just trying to make it to my own private little corner-view without any trouble. I
had only been safely secured behind my desk for a full minute before all three of my siblings came barging in, locking the door behind them.
Camille, Joshua, and Jada all stood in a wall in front of me, their arms crossed, their eyes glaring.
“Do you want to tell us what the hell is going on!?” Camille spoke first.
“I take it everyone has caught wind of the press conference.”
The three of them erupted into exaggerated chatter about what they had heard, read, and seen. I held up one hand and they all stopped. At least I knew I still had some command over my family. It helped that we were at work, where technically I was their boss first and their brother second.
“I didn’t get secretly engaged without telling you,” I assured them, which, from what I gathered by all of their upheaval, seemed to be their primary concern. “What I said at the press conference...it’s just an arrangement. Well, a proposed arrangement. Between Victoria and me. We’ve been friends for a long time. We’re comfortable with each other. She’s ready to have kids, but is single and busy with work. And I need to have a family for appearances. So...we’re joining forces.”
“Joining forces!?” Camille shrieked. “Jeez, Lucas! This isn’t some business transaction. You’re talking about having children! Getting married! And you committed to all of this via a very public press conference without so much as breathing a word of it to us!”
“I’m well aware by now that the way I handled this was not ideal,” I said defensively. “And Victoria may not even agree. But we’re discussing it.”
“She hasn’t even agreed?” she scoffed. “Great. And if she doesn’t? Then what?”
She immediately spiraled into a rant about how it’s all anyone on the internet was talking about all of a sudden. My scandal had been reborn as a romantic tale that everyone was swooning over. Which meant if Victoria didn’t agree—we were screwed. I was screwed.
“I actually don’t think it’s such a bad idea.” Joshua shrugged, preemptively recoiling from our sisters. They were the only women we would ever cower from. Well, in my case, maybe them and Victoria.
They both turned on him with all the fury that had been directed towards me moments ago. “Think about it,” he protested. “We all know Victoria and have since high school. There are no skeletons in her closet threatening to burst out and bring us all down...which is more than I can say for any new woman he might meet. And it solves the issue of Lucas’s bad press. What could go wrong?”
The question sounded ominous and my sisters were all too aware of that. They both fired off in simultaneous protests of all the exact ways it could go wrong, all of which I had already considered.
“Everyone just calm down, okay?” I stood and walked over to the bar, pulling out four glasses and filling each one. “Drink something to calm your nerves, and we’ll talk about this more once we know exactly what Victoria decides to do.”
It took another hour of convincing to get them complacent enough to leave my office and get back to work. But no one was particularly happy. Including me. I didn’t like so many unknowns hanging in the air..
Things only got worse when I went to the breakroom for coffee later that day. My assistant was out to lunch and I didn’t feel like calling in an order or going out. The coffee in there wasn’t great, but it would do.
Then Trent came in. He was scowling at me from the moment he walked over. I continued stirring in my creamer and stood my ground, but he leaned against the counter and crossed his arms—making it clear he wasn’t going near the damn pot until I was at least a few feet away.
“How’s your intro to Heartstring going?” I asked finally.
“Fascinating.” He smirked in an arrogant sort of way. “Especially after that press conference.”
“Oh, you caught wind of that? Good thing you’re in the finance department and it’s not really your department or concern.”
“It’s a little bit my concern,” he insisted with tension in his voice. “You see...Victoria is my friend. I feel like I would have known if she was engaged or thought it was possible she would get engaged any time soon. I was under the impression...no, I was certain my interview was the first time you two had seen each other in quite some time. So, you can imagine my surprise when you two were suddenly engaged less than a week later.”
I leaned one arm against the counter and faced him, taking my time to sip my coffee. “Not so sure I like your tone, Maddox. You sound a little...miffed. Not exactly the way you want to talk to your new boss.”
“I’m off the clock right now, as it so happens. On break.” He stepped a few feet forward. “So I’ll speak candidly: I don’t like the idea of you using Victoria to fix your press scandals.”
“She’s using me to fix a few problems of her own. But I guess you’d know about that if you really were such great friends. She and I go way back. Definitely further than you. So, I certainly don’t need you lecturing me with all your protective bull shit. And while you may be off the clock, I’m not. In fact, I never am as far as you’re concerned. I refuse to entertain this with you now or at any other time.”
He threw his hands up in mock surrender and walked out. I shook my head as I watched him leave. The balls on that guy...
I went back to my office, thinking about Trent the whole way. What was that guy’s deal? Victoria swore they were just friends, but I could spot a territorial guy from a mile away. I had been practicing it with her my whole life.
So, why was this guy giving me all these jealous vibes? It only made me more anxious about Victoria’s answer. I needed this whole thing to go through so I wouldn’t have to worry about guys like him. If I couldn’t have her, no one would. There would be me and at least one kid standing in their way.
The rest of the day crept by painfully slowly. I’d managed to get my head into my work for a while, but then I’d check my phone and feel even more anxious about not having heard from her. Now it was more than just our friendship riding on the line. It was her, Trent, my siblings, my business...all dangling in her hands. It was exactly why I’d never told her how I felt to begin with. I didn’t like giving up that much control.
By a quarter to seven, I was starving. And had no real reason to be working as late as I was. My office was mostly dark, lit by just one lamp on my desk and the blue glow of my computer screen. A cup of cold coffee sat on a coaster by the keyboard and an equally-cold box of takeout sat not far from that. It had been there since lunch.
I chewed my lip for a moment and finally jumped up, preparing to leave for the evening. Everyone else was already gone. Camille and Jada were too pissed to say goodbye at the end of the day, and Joshua had just swung by for a minute to offer a sheepish, pitying wave. They all knew I was waiting. They were waiting, too.
As I slid into my coat, my phone dinged with a text.
Victoria: Call me.
I immediately dialed her number. “What’s up?”
“I thought about everything.”
“And?”
“And...I’ll do it. If you’re sure. We have a lot to discuss, but...yes. Let’s try to make this work.”
I blew out a huge breath of relief and happiness. I couldn’t let on all the reasons it filled me with joy, but I could at least show how relieved I was.
“You won’t regret it, Victoria. I promise you.”
“We’ll talk more tomorrow, okay?”
“You got it.”
She hung up, and I felt much better about leaving the office. It was harder to wait for things at home, and now I didn’t have to worry about it. I was already on the elevator when a small hand shot out between the sliding doors, stopping them from closing. They parted again to reveal Camille standing there, looking even more pissed than she had earlier.
“I thought you were long gone.”
“I worked late. I see you did, too,” she answered tightly, stepping in next to me and pressing the button for the lobby. “I happened to overhear your conversation with Victoria.”
She turned to me in dead seriousness—even more so than usual. “Be careful, Lucas. Okay? I know this all looks good on paper, but people can get hurt when it comes to this kind of thing. I’d hate to see that happen to either of you. Especially if you get far enough into this that kids are involved.”
“There’s no ‘if’ about it. That’s what we’re doing. But everything will be fine. There’s a lot you don’t understand.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” I smiled tightly.
“I’d hate to see everything we’ve worked towards these past five years go down the drain over one small, poorly thought out misstep. There are other ways to fix your little press conference slip up. Just think about it, will you?”
Before I could answer, the doors opened. Camille walked out and was already halfway towards the doors before I could gather myself up enough to step out. I hated for her to put a damper on my good mood—what did she know anyway?
7
Victoria
Over the years, Lucas and I had hung out a million times. Watching movies in pajamas, grabbing a quick, casual dinner out on the town, or commiserating over drinks at the end of a long, hard work week. The hangouts had become more sparse in recent years, but that still didn’t explain why I was suddenly pacing my apartment, chewing my nails down to nothing and checking my reflection in the mirror over and over again.
For the hundredth time that night, I stopped in front of the mirror in my living room, smoothed back loose strands of hair, and perked up my breasts in their tight-fitting push-up bra.
Shaking my head, I laughed at myself. Victoria...what the hell are you doing? It’s Lucas. Why do you care what your boobs look like to him!? He’s willing to sleep with you to make a baby...probably in the same way a man will sleep with just about any woman who isn’t a total fright to look at.