“Oh my god, Will. Is Bernadette one of your one-night stands? Is my job going to be even harder than I thought because of this? I told you that you didn’t remember their names. Do I have to go through the list again to make sure you didn’t have sex with any of them?”
He let out a frustrated sigh and got off of the desk, walking around to sit in the chair like a proper businessman.
“No,” I cut in. “Absolutely not. I was the waitress at a wedding he attended. My mother was the caterer.”
“My aunt’s wedding, actually,” William added. “My mother knew the caterer. Ah. Now I remember. My mother gave me a resume. She wanted me to hire you. Yes. Right. I handed the resume to human resources. That’s all I did. Your resume got you the interview. You got the job on your own merits, Ms. Macallister.”
I sat up straighter. I hadn’t known. Of course, I was happy to get the job because it was my dream job, but there was always that question of whether or not I’d needed help to get it. Then, Suzanne’s words caught up with me. “Wait a minute. List? What list? Why am I on a list?” And then I was laughing.
They both stared at me.
“I thought I was being called up here for a commendation for the work I did on the wind turbine farm.”
“Oh, that was you?” he asked. “Good work.”
I ignored him. “Or I thought you finally remembered who I was.”
“To be fair, I did remember you. I knew your name was Birdie, just not your whole name—”
“Or maybe you called me in because you realized that your mother has been dating my mother for the last ten years.”
“What?” He stood then, shocked. “My mother is—”
I had no time for old revelations. There were new ones afoot. “But that’s not why you called me in. You need a woman to be your fake wife so that you can pretend to be an upstanding citizen and family man to get the vote, and for some reason, you think I’ll choose to be your wife. As if I would live a lie like that? What kind of woman do you think I am?”
“Wait,” Suzanne said. “This isn’t meant as an insult. Yes, he is looking for a wife, and yes, I did make a list of highly qualified candidates who might fit the bill. You are his first choice.”
“First choice? Me?” I asked.
“You’re the first person we’ve talked to, and I didn’t mean for you to feel like we didn’t respect you. This wasn’t at all the way I had planned to go about this. Will jumped the gun and called you in. I was going to interview you and feel you out before laying this bomb on you.” Suzanne shot a nasty look at Will. It was a good look, although he shrugged and did not look ashamed. “Clearly, I understand that women today are looking for love when they marry, but—”
“Love?” I had to laugh again. This was all so ridiculous. “I don’t believe in love.”
“You don’t?” Suzanne asked.
“No more than I believe in Santa Claus. Love is a nice fiction that eases life and makes people happy. I’m sure some people have convinced themselves it’s real. Or their partner fills their needs and offers them what they’re looking for, and they think that’s love. Maybe it’s lust. Maybe it’s friendship. Or maybe they’ve been lied to.”
“Lied to?” William asked, his voice deep and resonant.
I turned to him. “Yes. Lied to. Told what they want to hear. Deceived.”
“I see.”
Did he? I wasn’t sure that I did. “I’m not looking for love. I’m not looking for a man, either. And I’m not looking for a marriage. Good day.”
I stood and went to the door, but William got there first. “What are you looking for?”
I stopped only inches from him. He had a powerful presence. He was tall and broad and muscular, but more than that, he had an energy that sent a vibration deep within me. I didn’t know what it was. I swallowed and straightened my back. Never let them see you sweat.
“I’m looking to do some good in the world. I’m looking to be as good at my job as I can be. I’m looking to make changes that last beyond me. I’m looking to make a name for myself—myself. I’m not looking for a rich man to provide for me because I can provide for myself. I’m not looking for a diamond ring because I don’t care about things like that. I’m not looking for status or fame or…love. There’s nothing you can give me that I want that I can’t get on my own.”
He shifted infinitesimally closer to me, and the breath stopped in my throat. He smelled like heat and sun, like will power and desire, and that didn’t make any sense because those things didn’t have a smell, but that’s how he smelled to me.
“I can give you what you want. I’m not looking for love, either. I want to do good. I want to change the world. More, I know I can. I know what needs to be done, and I won’t back down until it is done. I could help you advance in your career. I can open up opportunities for you to make the changes you want to see. Together, we could change the way the world works for the better. I would like you to come with me and help me. And I’ll help you. I’ll listen to you as a partner who is obviously intelligent, wise, and insightful. I have a good instinct about you. I always trust my instincts.”
I looked into his eyes. They were brown with gold flecks and heavily fringed with black lashes. Why did they make me want to trust him? “This is crazy.”
He lifted one shoulder and dropped it in a careless shrug. “If you look at it one way, maybe, but if you look at it another—as a partnership, a mutually beneficial one—it makes all the sense in the world.”
“A fake marriage?”
“An arranged marriage,” Suzanne spoke up from where she was sitting and avidly watching us.
He nodded his head in acknowledgment. “An arranged marriage. Those have been standard procedure for centuries.”
“Millenia,” I said. Why did I say that? Because I was annoyed by imprecision. I tilted my chin.
His smile turned crooked, and his eyes crinkled. “Millenia.” His voice was warm and resonant. “You know that I am worth billions. You work for me, and I don’t feel like you are the kind of woman who works for a company she doesn’t agree with philosophically, so we have a similarity of beliefs.”
I scoffed. “That’s a good basis for a business partnership, not a marriage. A marriage isn’t business. It’s personal.”
“Your personal goals and my personal goals overlap.”
“And they are?” I asked.
“To not be bothered by love. To continue with our goals without any of the nonsense of romance.”
“No, no,” Suzanne interrupted. “No, we’re definitely doing romance. Everyone will be enamored with the two of you. You’re gorgeous, and you have chemistry. I’ve been watching you. The two of you are mesmerizing together. We will use that in marketing your relationship—uh, partnership. You two are a power couple.”
He smiled at her again, although he hadn’t let his eyes stray from Suzanne’s face as she spoke. “We’re a power couple with chemistry. We have family connections…” He choked a little bit. “Our mothers are lovers if I’m to believe you.”