She groaned and let out a breath. Knowing him, he probably wouldn’t leave until she agreed. “Fine.” She turned to Connie. “I’ll be back in ten.”
“Have fun.” Connie smiled at Gus, and he winked in reply.
Merritt groaned. “Come on, Casanova.”
She walked toward the door, and he moved ahead to hold it for her. “Thank you,” she forced.
They walked half a block before he gently gripped her arm and tugged her into the alley beside her building, away from the busy foot traffic on the sidewalk. “Let’s talk here.”
“Here?” She glanced deeper into the alley, where a couple of dumpsters were parked.
“Don’t freak out when I say what I’m about to say.” He had a serious expression on his face.
“Should I be nervous?”
“Just hear me out, so we can have a civilized conversation about this.”
Her brow furrowed. “What’s going on?” She was beginning to regret coming into this dirty alley with him.
Gus gently held her shoulders, took a deep breath in and blew it out as he looked her in the eyes.
“Will you marry me?”
SEVEN
Will you marry me?”
Those were four words Augustus Schultz never thought would come out of his mouth. At least not at the age of thirty-one, in a grubby alley, and especially not to Merritt Christianson. She despised him, after all, and he wasn’t too fond of her either. Nevertheless, those were the very words he had just spoken.
Merritt’s eyes, round like saucers, stared at him in disbelief. Her shocked expression quickly cracked and turned into fits of laughter.
He rolled his eyes, letting go of her shoulders, and exhaled an exasperated breath.
“You’re not serious,” she replied when she was finally past her hilarity. “This is some kind of joke, right?”
He pulled a small box from his back pocket and cracked the lid to show her the gigantic diamond ring he’d picked up at Tiffany & Co. that morning.
The saucer-eyes were back again, this time staring wildly at the diamond as she leaned closer and tucked a section of her brown hair behind her ear. “I don’t understand.” Her eyes met his. “Why would you want to marry me?”
“I heard you talking to Adelia last night. I know about the financial problems with expanding your company.”
She looked at him cluelessly. “What does that have to do with your idiotic proposal?”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“Maybe not, but your proposal certainly is.” She straightened her back, crossing her arms over her chest.
“This could be mutually beneficial for both of us.”
She took a step back. “Are you that hard up, Gus? Because you could find about a dozen skanks at the bar down the street who would be more than willing to have a mutually beneficial arrangement with you.”
“Hear me out.” He was losing patience with her, as usual.
“Do I have to?”
He groaned. “I was going to suggest a solution to your financial problem, but forget it. I don’t have to deal with this crap.” He snapped the ring box closed and shoved it in his pocket as he spun on his heel and walked toward the sidewalk.
“Wait!” Merritt called after him.
He smirked. He knew that would get her attention. Straightening his face, he turned as she approached.
“What kind of solution?”
“Marry me, and I’ll give you the money you need for your business.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Wh—why would you do that?”
“To prove to my family that I’m capable of change. I want to be a part of my family’s company again, and that won’t happen unless they believe I’ve settled down and that I’m serious about my future. That I prefer boardrooms to bars, as my dad once said to me.”
A laugh escaped her. “And a wife will show them that?”
“I think it will.”
She shook her head. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to agree to this.”
“It would only be for a year. I think that’s long enough to seem legitimate so I’ll be welcomed back into the company, and then we can say we’re having problems and part ways when the year’s up.”
“A year? You expect me to spend a year married to you? What if I meet someone?”
Gus snorted.
“Hey, it could happen.”
“Then I guess you can take a lover on the side.”
“You are an idiot.”
“Come on. It’s a win for both of us. I get back in my family’s good graces, and you get the money you need to take your company to the next level.”
She let out the deep breath she had taken and rocked back and forth on her heels, seemingly deep in thought. “Again, why me and not one of those lovely ladies at the bar? I’m sure any one of them would be happy to marry a man for his money.”
“I need someone different, someone that would impress my parents.”
Her eyebrow lifted. “Was that a compliment?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “You’re clearly intelligent enough to have started your own company and made something out of it. That will earn big points with my dad.”
He could see the gears turning in her brain, and he hoped that meant she was seriously considering this.
“What do you say, Merritt?” Gus dropped down to one knee and opened the box again.
Her eyes darted around the alley and toward the sidewalk out front. “Get up, you moron!”
He cracked up laughing as he stood and waved the ring in front of her face. “Plus, you get to wear this huge rock on your finger for a year.”
“Do I get to keep it when we split?” she asked, reaching out to touch it.
He snapped the box closed at the last second. “Are you saying yes?”
“I want a written contract drawn up by a lawyer. I want everything spelled out legally. If I agree—and that’s a big if—I want the money. I don’t want to end up screwed when all of this is over.”
“Nobody will be getting screwed.” Gus lifted his eyebrows flirtatiously, aware of his very obvious double entendre.
She tilted her head and pursed her lips in disapproval. “You’re right about that.”
He shrugged and let out a laugh.
Her gaze went from his eyes to the ring as he took it from the box and stepped closer.
Reaching down, he took her wrist, causing her to flinch. He nodded toward the ring, then lifted her hand and slipped it onto her left ring finger. Her hand was warm in his, her eyes fixed on the diamond, sparkling on her slender finger. He’d never been this close to her before, and he noticed the flecks of gold in her big brown eyes. She was wearing a deep brown shade of eyeshadow on her eyelids with a swipe of shimmery gold under her brows, and her lashes were long and thick with mascara, making those beautiful eyes stand out more.
Beautiful eyes?
He mentally punched himself in the gut for that and let go of her hand.
She extended her arm, admiring the ring on her finger. Her eyes moved to look at Gus warily then back at the ring. She shook her head, twisted the ring until it slid off of her finger, and held it out to him. “No way.”