“Why would you want that?” I squeaked.
I’d offered myself up to him once, and I’d regretted it ever since.
Zeke had been my friend for fourteen years, and there had never been a single mention of anything more than friendship between the two of us except for my drunken confession on my twenty-first birthday.
“Do you really think that I haven’t noticed that you grew into a beautiful woman? You’ve had the power to get my dick hard for years now, Lia. In fact, it’s hard to believe you never noticed,” he drawled.
“You’ve never wanted to screw me,” I challenged.
“Sure I did,” he said with a smirk. “What red-blooded man wouldn’t?”
“Tons of them,” I said nervously.
All of my ex-boyfriends, at least.
“I did, and still do, want to fuck you,” he said as he folded his muscular arms across his chest. “I’ve just never talked about it. I wasn’t sensing the interest on your side, my timing has always sucked, and I didn’t want my dick to ruin a good friendship. But had you so much as crooked your finger at me, I would have had you in my bed before you could have changed your mind. Marry me, Lia. I’m never going to force you to do anything you don’t want, but at least give me a fucking chance to show you that we’d be just as good at being lovers as we have been at being friends. If you decide that’s not what you want, we’ll get a divorce.”
His expression was stoic, and his beautiful blue eyes were shuttered. For the first time in our very long friendship, I had absolutely no idea what he was thinking.
This man wasn’t the Zeke I knew, but he was still familiar. I felt like I was in some kind of weird dream, and seeing a side of my best friend that I’d never noticed before.
But he’s still my Zeke.
I did start thinking about his offer. Maybe it hadn’t been the most romantic proposal in the world, but just the fact that he’d be willing to sacrifice his freedom, even temporarily, to help me achieve my own goals, made me start to cry.
Not that I was really buying the crap about him lusting after my body. It was obviously his way of pretending he’d get something out of the deal if I said yes.
However, I desperately wanted to pay him back for everything he’d done since I’d opened my successful coffee shop. And the only way I was going to be able to do that was to get my inheritance.
He’d trusted me completely when he’d readily forked over that huge sum of money.
Not only had Zeke given me the money to start Indulgent Brews generously, but he’d been there for me every step of the way while it was growing as well. He called himself a silent partner, but he’d been around when shit had hit the fan, too. I’d shared my knowledge of coffee with him, and he’d taught me everything I knew about being a good businesswoman.
“Okay,” I said softly, my decision made.
He lifted a brow. “Okay…what?”
“I’ll marry you. But don’t think for a single second that I believe that you’ve ever lusted after my body. But I’ll make sure this temporary sacrifice is worth it to you somehow. I know you definitely don’t need the money, but I’ll figure something out.”
“But you’re open to letting me convince you otherwise?” he asked.
I snorted. “Yeah. Okay. I agree.”
I was fine with keeping up the pretense that he wanted me if it made him feel better. But I knew he was simply doing me a favor—again.
He grinned at me, and I smiled back at him through my tears because it was a mischievous smile I hadn’t seen in a long time. I swiped the remaining tears from my face as I said, “I’m not even sure how to thank you this time, Zeke, but I’ll think of something.”
“All I’ve ever really wanted was a chance with you, so don’t thank me. I’m getting exactly what I want,” he replied hoarsely.
My heart tripped, his sexy baritone affecting me in a way I’d never noticed before.
This is all temporary. Don’t start thinking it’s anything more than a friend helping a friend in a very overboard, insane kind of way.
I released a tremulous breath. I definitely wasn’t immune to any of Zeke’s masculine charms and assets, so I could only hope he didn’t push the whole attempted seduction ruse too far.
If he did, I wasn’t so sure I wouldn’t have him naked before he could back off.
Zeke
“She didn’t even believe me when I said I wanted her,” I muttered unhappily to my friend, billionaire tech mogul, Jett Lawson.
Jett’s fiancée, Ruby, had already left Jett’s penthouse with Lia. The moment Lia had told Ruby that she needed to plan a second wedding in a hurry, the two of them had hightailed it out of the building to go find a dress.
“Then you’ll just have to convince her it’s true,” Jett answered. “Where is the honeymoon?”
“I haven’t really thought about that,” I said, annoyed with myself that the honeymoon hadn’t even entered my mind yet. Then again, she’d just agree to marry me yesterday.
I’d been too damn focused on the fact that Lia was going to be mine. To hell with the “temporary” shit. I had to find a way to convince her that we belonged together.
Jett raised a brow. “Since this wedding is going to occur in record time, I suggest you figure it out. Both of you could use the break, and Seattle in the winter isn’t exactly romantic. Lia trained up a manager for the store, and Ruby is there almost every day to deliver her baked goods to the store. We can watch the shop.”
I grimaced as I informed him, “Stuart was taking her to Dubai.”
“On their honeymoon?” Jett questioned, his face incredulous. “That’s even more depressing than Seattle in the winter. I’m not saying it isn’t an interesting place to visit, but I doubt the UAE is on the top of most women’s romantic honeymoon wish list destinations.”
“He apparently has some business interests there, and wanted to drum up a few more,” I grumbled.
“Asshole,” Jett said irritably.
I nodded. “Definitely.”
“You should take her someplace warm and tropical. Hell, I’m no expert on women, but there are a lot more romantic places to go in the world than Dubai,” Jett rumbled.
“Bora Bora?” I considered.
Jett shook his head. “You’ll hit the rainy season this time of year.”
I shrugged. “So we’ll end up shacked up together in an overwater bungalow.”