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“That sounds easy. For how long? A month?”
“That’scute. At a minimum, a year.”
Her mouth falls open.
“And after three hundred sixty-five days, I’ll present divorce papers and write you a check for a million dollars. Afterward, we can go our separate ways.”
“You want me to put my entire life on pause for a million dollars? I’m worth more than that, Easton.” She laughs, but she’s not joking.
“You’re negotiating?” I grin, but it wasn’t unexpected, considering she got the keys to one of my prized possessions.
“You’re a billionaire, and you’relowballing.”
I rub my finger across the scruff on my chin, utterly impressed by her honesty.
“Oh, I almost forgot. You’ll also have to live here with me, and I’ll give you a hefty allowance to buy whatever you’d like. You’ll be wined, dined, and treated like royalty as your social life grows exponentially. Knowing that, name your price,darling.”
“So, I’ll have to act like you’re my everything in front of people, be presentable on your level of prestige, put my acting career on hold for another year because of you, and potentially hang out with a bunch of snobs at boring social events, where there’ll be too many leaders and not enough followers, right? And I’m sure that means celibacy because there is no way a man like you will let his wife fuck around. Not to mention the spotlight on me anytime I’m in a public space. Did I get that right?”
“Yeah. And you can’t fall in love with me. That’s the most important one because it will make things awkward.”
“Don’t worry about that,” she says.
“Oh, and about the spotlight …” I hesitate. “I think that’s already a thing.”
“Shit,” she whispers. “You’re right.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have approached you at th?—”
“Don’t you dare apologize for talking to me—unless you regret it?”
“I don’teverregret anything with you. I’m apologizing because it wasn’t a moment kept between us only. Just promise me when you leave here tonight, you’ll research me. Naïvety is cute, but you need to learn what you can about me first before you commit to this.”
“One second.”
She lifts upward, taking her phone from her back pocket. After she types my name into the search bar, the articles of us immediately load. When she sees the photos, she gasps and zooms in.
“Well, no wonder you came up with this idea. Look at this.” She quickly scrolls through the pictures and reads a few gossip articles. “They’re convincingmethat I’m in love, and I know I’m not.”
“The story is writing itself.” I repeat what Weston said. He was right.
“Are you sure you won’t feel guilty about this and regret it later? You can only get married once.”
I think about her question. “I’ll consider it a practice run with mytemporary wife. A lot of people are depending on me right now. What about you?”
“I’m always up for an adventure, Easton.” I can tell she’s lost in her thoughts. “My price is fifteen million.”
“Eight,” I counter, holding out my hand, ready to close the deal.
“Twelve. Million.” She keeps her focus on me. “But I need to think about it.”
“I’ll give you three days.” I look down at my watch, thinking about those stupid chain letters that used to spread around when I was in boarding school. This does somewhat feel like a curse.
“Okay,” she whispers. “Also, you were right. This is amoment.”
We both bring our attention to the city lights. Her breathing slows beside me, and I’m lost in my thoughts. I don’t remember the last time Italkedto someone.
“I think that scotch is starting to kick in, or maybe it’s the excitement from the day,” she mutters with a yawn.