“I don’t want the damn money, and I would have never agreed to take a penny from you in installments if you hadn’t threatened to cut my balls off if I didn’t take it,” Zeke answered grumpily. “We agreed that I’d be your silent partner when you refused to just take the money as a gift from a friend, and that you could buy me out at any time. There was no time limit, and I’ve told you about a million times that I’d much rather you reinvest the money you insist on paying me every month back into growing the business. You’d have a second shop by now if you weren’t so damn bullheaded.”
The argument was a familiar one. Zeke had wanted to just give me all the funds I’d needed for my startup as a gift, and I’d adamantly refused. What kind of friend would take advantage of another friend that way? I wasn’t about to agree to something like that when there was no ownership in it for him to guarantee that money. So our silent partnership had gotten drafted and signed. “You didn’t want to be a partner,” I reminded him. “You did it strictly to help me.”
The fact that he’d shared that he was a billionaire before he’d even hit the age of thirty-two didn’t make one iota of difference to me.
“Knowing you don’t need that money doesn’t make me feel any better about the fact that I can’t pay you back in full in a few weeks. I want to know I’ve earned that store, and you’re my best friend, Zeke,” I said remorsefully.
“If you feel that bad, you could just marry me,” he suggested matter-of-factly. “You’d inherit because you’d be married before your birthday, and you wouldn’t feel like you had to hold off on a second store. Problem solved.”
I started to laugh, but then halted abruptly as I looked at him on the couch from my seat in a comfy recliner.
He was staring at me with a familiar look. An expression that had none of his usual humor or teasing.
Holy shit! He’s…serious.
I set my empty wine glass on the side table and folded my arms in front of me. “I’m pretty sure Angelique wouldn’t be happy,” I said in an easy tone. “God, Zeke, I appreciate how willing you are to help me out, but you obviously haven’t thought this whole idea through yet.”
He shrugged his massive shoulders. “We broke up, not that we were ever really a couple in the first place. We just dated for a while. I haven’t seen her in months. Where have you been?”
Where have I been?
I’d been so busy with my business, and preparing for my wedding, that I’d obviously failed to notice that Zeke didn’t have the gorgeous brunette on his arm anymore.
“I’m sorry,” I answered, feeling like a shit because I hadn’t known that Zeke was flying solo. Had she broken it off, or had he done it? Had she hurt him? Was he bummed out because he wasn’t seeing her anymore?
“Don’t be sorry. It was never serious.”
I sighed as I leaned back into the comfortable chair. “Who broke it off?” I asked curiously.
“Mutual agreement,” he replied. “I think she was interested in dating, and eventually marrying, a guy with money more than she was into me, personally. Neither one of us were heartbroken over it. We just weren’t looking for the same thing.”
God, I hated the fact that no woman had ever really looked past Zeke’s eligibility, or the fact that he was a high-powered attorney who owned one of the best defense firms in the country.
Why hadn’t some lucky woman snapped him up just because he was an incredible guy, and one of the kindest, most generous people on Earth?
Sure, women found him physically attractive. I mean, who wouldn’t?
It had certainly never escaped my notice that Zeke was smoking hot. It still didn’t. I’d just tried to ignore it for the good of our friendship after he’d set me straight on my twenty-first birthday.
Strangely, I felt more than one twinge of uneasiness at the thought of Zeke pledging his life to a woman. I’d never really thought about what our relationship would look like if he wasn’t single, maybe because he never seemed to get serious with any woman for any length of time. Not that I blamed Zeke, since he’d never found a woman who really saw…him.
He looked up and pinned my gaze with his. “I think I just offered to marry you. Does that mean you’re refusing?”
The timbre of his voice sent an electric zing down my spine. I wasn’t immune to the dangerous, wickedly low tone of his voice. I just wanted to pretend that it didn’t make every female hormone in my body stand up and take notice. “You weren’t serious.”
“I was completely serious, Lia. You need to get married. I’m available. No offense, but I think I’m a better option than Stuart. I wouldn’t change a hair on your head, much less try to make you into someone you’re not. I happen to think you’re absolutely incredible the way you’ve always been.”
Oh, sweet Jesus, I knew that intense, determined, stubborn expression on his face right now. I just hadn’t seen it in a very long time. “You can’t just marry me,” I protested. “I adore you for offering, but the whole idea is…just crazy.”
Problem was, I knew Ezekiel Conner was far from insane.
He was funny.
He was sweet when he wanted to be.
He oozed a masculine sex appeal that most women couldn’t ignore.
He was wealthy.
He was highly educated, ridiculously intelligent, and extremely successful.
But…he was just my friend.
Women like me did not marry men like Zeke Conner.
He was way too…perfect.
“Think about it, Lia,” Zeke said calmly. “You deserve to open another store, and to get out from under the expenses you acquired from the first one. You don’t want to accept the money I gave you as a gift, so that means you feel like you have to pay it back before you can keep moving forward. If you marry me, you don’t have to commit to forever. There’s nothing in the will that requires you to stay married. You meet the terms, collect your inheritance, and then we can get a divorce if that’s what you really want.”
I gaped at him. “Isn’t that what you’d want, too? I don’t get it. What do you get from this? I know you’d do anything for me as a friend, but don’t you think you’re going a little too far?”
I chewed on a fingernail nervously as my eyes stayed still fixed on his.
“Do you really want to know?” he asked huskily.
I nodded slowly.
“I get the chance to talk you into my bed for as long as it takes to get your inheritance,” he answered with what sounded like a bluntly honest tone.