Page 12 of Bad Boy Husband

SADIE

F or a solid seven seconds, I genuinely wondered if I’d heard him wrong. There was no way he’d just said what I’d thought he’d just said, right? Yet, the words were reverberating through my mind and there was no mistaking them.

Marry me instead.

My ears buzzed. My heartbeat did something strange in my chest, climbing into my throat like it didn’t quite know where it belonged anymore.

I should’ve laughed in his face. I should’ve rolled my eyes.

I should’ve done anything other than what I was actually doing.

Because what I was actually doing was considering it.

I couldn’t even deny that I’d thought about it. In a pie in the sky, daydreaming, it’s never going to happen kind of way, but still.

Jameson and I both had to get married. We knew each other well, and for that brief moment in time when things had been good, they’d been really, really good.

And yet ? —

Before I could say a word, two waiters rounded the corner into the kitchen, balancing trays of dirty plates and glasses. I managed to give them both a tight smile. “I’m so sorry. We didn’t mean to get in your way. We’re leaving now.”

I grabbed Jameson by the wrist and pulled him toward Trent’s office, doing my best to ignore the way his skin was so warm and familiar under my own. He moved willingly with me, though I couldn’t tell if it was voluntary or if he was just in shock and following commands as a result.

When the heavy door clicked shut behind us, I dropped his arm like a hot potato and spun around to face him. The lights were off in there, but the ambient glow of the twinkle lights outside filtered in, enough that I could make out the grim but determined set of Jameson’s features.

“Are you insane?” I blurted out, loud enough to be heard above the muffled, low hum of conversation and laughter from the garden, but quiet enough that no one would overhear me if they happened to walk down the hall outside.

Jameson didn’t even flinch. He just looked at me with one brow lifted, like he was waiting for me to get it together. “Why do you think I’m insane? It could work and you know it.”

“I’d be your wife, Jameson.” My voice pitched slightly higher, suddenly sharp enough to cut glass. “Your wife .”

“Sure, and I’d be your husband,” he retorted, lifting a shoulder in an infuriatingly casual way. “What exactly is so confusing about the arrangement?”

My laugh came out brittle and thin. “Let me think. Oh, wait, hang on. How about everything? It really is completely insane. That plan, in its entirety, is nuts.”

He stepped closer, and even though I should’ve backed away, my stupid feet refused to move. “You and I are in the same position.”

His voice was low and steady, his gaze level and firm on mine. “I’m sure Laney has told you about this, but my dad is retiring soon. To get my full inheritance and to keep my seat on the board at Westwood and Sons, I need to be married by the time he steps down.”

I opened my mouth, but he wasn’t done yet. “Sterling will be taking over as CEO next year and I’m next in line as CFO, but Harlan expects stability. Tradition. Simply put, he wants me to have a wife.”

His words settled heavily in the space between us. Of course, I’d known that we were in the same boat ever since that night I’d inadvertently crashed his date—interview. Whatever.

What I hadn’t realized was that he was on a timeline and that his future rested upon his compliance just as much as my own.

I didn’t know why, but I’d kind of just assumed that there was less pressure on him to actually get it done.

I’d thought his dad was just introducing him to women because they wanted him to get married eventually and were trying to give him a push in the right direction.

“And you,” he said, his voice softer now.

“You desperately need the money. Five million dollars the minute you get married. It doesn’t matter who you marry or what your parents think.

If you marry me , all that money would be yours alone to pour back into your foundation, or the shelters, or whatever the hell you want.

You wouldn’t have to give me a penny. We need each other, Sadie. ”

I swallowed hard, throat suddenly bone dry. “So that’s it? We just solve each other’s problems?”

He didn’t smile. For once, he didn’t even smirk. He just looked at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Yes.”

As I stared back at him, I had to admit that I understood it. It made sense. Perfect sense, actually. I really did understand where he was coming from, but there was something in our way. Something big. Something messy and impossible to get around.

My chest tightened and I forced myself to meet his eyes. “Trent would kill us both. It would ruin your friendship with him.”

“I would hope our friendship is stronger than that, especially with him knowing your situation.” He shrugged.

“Ultimately, you’re your own person and we’re not kids anymore.

I haven’t told him much about my dad’s expectations, but I will, and once he finds out, he might see the sense in this arrangement himself. ”

I sniffed, my head shaking. “He won’t, Jamie. You know better than to fool yourself into thinking that he’d give us his blessing. He’s always been so protective of me around you guys. There’s no way he’s suddenly going to be okay with me marrying one of his oldest, best friends.”

“He’s pushing you on Carson. That should prove to you that he’s capable of understanding. Don’t underestimate him, Sadie.”

I sighed and turned toward the window, raking both my hands through my hair and squeezing the strands between my fingers. Outside, my brother was holding court at the table, all his guests in stitches at whatever story he was telling.

Maybe Jameson was getting in my head, but looking at Trent now, I wondered if eventually, maybe he would understand if I agreed to this. It was telling that he was letting me get close to Carson, but not in the way Jameson seemed to be thinking.

What it meant was that Carson was who Trent wanted me to be with, not that he understood that I was growing up and had a right to make choices of my own.

The only reason Jameson was sharing the pool house with me was because Trent didn’t see him as a threat. He didn’t consider him an option for me and he sure as hell obviously didn’t think Jameson would make a move, or he never would have allowed it.

I inhaled a deep breath, watching Collins scan the garden like a predator searching for her prey. She was pretending to be listening to Carson, who’d stolen Jameson’s seat beside her, but even from here, I could tell she wasn’t paying much attention.

Her eyes were slightly narrowed, her head on a swivel. I replayed that moment she’d spotted Jameson walking into the club earlier, and another wave of nausea swirled around in my stomach.

I had no right to feel that way, but I could. If we were married, I would have every right to want to scratch the eyes out of every woman who looked at him. If I accepted his proposal, Jameson Westwood would be mine.

Temporarily but still. For however long we agreed to be married, he would be my husband. I would get to share a house with him. A life.

The mere thought made my heart beat faster.

If there was anyone on the face of this earth that I wouldn’t mind coming home to every day, it was him.

For years, I’d been telling myself it wasn’t true and I’d hated him for hurting me the way he had way back when, but he’d been right when he’d said we weren’t teenagers anymore.

We were all grown up now and I could finally, really have him.

Plus, the bottom line was that the guy had to get married. If I didn’t take him up on this, he would find someone else for sure and she would definitely say yes. Only an idiot would turn him down.

And when that happened, I would have to watch him parade around with some other girl on his arm. I would have to see his ring on her finger and, God forbid, I might even have to attend the wedding.

After taking a moment to swallow the bile rising in the back of my throat when I envisioned all that, I figured I had collected my thoughts enough to make him a counteroffer. “Before we announce any kind of engagement, I want to live together for a month.”

My voice came out quiet but firm. I finally turned to face him then. Surprise flickered in his eyes as he nodded but came up with a counter of his own. “That’s fine. I’m all for a trial period, but I won’t live in your disgusting apartment.”

“That’s not a problem. I can’t pay rent on it anymore anyway,” I said. “I do have a dog to consider, though. Wherever I go, Hooch goes.”

He sighed. “I don’t have any issues with that. No matter what, I’d be more comfortable knowing you’re living in the safer part of the city. So if we do this trial month, you can move into my townhouse downtown.”

“I thought you lived on the Estate,” I said, wracking my brain to try and figure out if I’d ever heard him or any of the others talk about a townhouse. “Don’t you live in that mansion on the lake?”

“I do, but I also have the townhouse. I bought it a while ago to cut down on my commute times when we’re in the middle of a big project or I have a late meeting. It gives me someplace to sleep and shower that isn’t the office when I can’t get home.”

“Right. Of course you’ve got a whole townhouse just for a shower and a bed.

” I sighed, but it was what it was. I couldn’t expect everyone to sacrifice some of their luxuries—no matter how extravagant—in favor of donating that money to charity.

“Fine. As long as Hooch can stay there with me and it’s not a pet-free building, I’ll move in. ”

“I do have one condition,” he said, surprising me a little, but I nodded at him and nearly fell over when he came out with what it was. “You actually have to try to be a partner to me.”

As he said it, I noticed an odd look in his eyes that made it seem, shockingly, like he was lonely. Surely, I had to be wrong, though.

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant by that, but the door swung open before I could say anything and my brother walked into the room. He laughed nervously, glancing between the two of us with a healthy dose of confusion in his eyes.

“Hey, there you are,” he said. “What are you guys doing in here?”

I was still grappling for an answer when Jameson stepped toward the door, as casual and relaxed as anything, and gave Trent an easy smile.

“I got lost on my way to the kitchen and I figured I might as well take that tour while I was wandering around anyway. Sadie just found me snooping around in here.”

“Yeah, I was actually trying to find a waiter to ask if they had something else for me to eat,” I managed to lie without immediately breaking down and telling him about our whole conversation. “I think I’m just going to go to bed, though. Thanks again for letting me hang out with you today.”

I left quickly after that, giving my brother a quick hug on my way out. My heart was hammering against my ribs, my mind spinning.

Maybe I had a touch of heatstroke or something because Jameson Westwood, my brother’s best friend, had asked me to marry him. And me? Well, as much as I’d spent the last ten years hating the guy, I hadn’t said no.