Page 16 of Single Dad’s Fake Bride (Billionaire Baby Daddies #7)

HARRISON

T he gym already smelled like sweat by six in the morning, but I ignored the stench to focus on the release of energy. It was empty except for Juan, who'd already claimed the court and was bouncing a racquetball off the back wall with a relaxed rhythm that meant he'd been warming up for a while.

"You look like hell," he said without turning around.

I rolled my shoulder, testing the knot that had settled there overnight. "Good morning to you too." This stress was eating me alive.

"When's the last time you slept?" Juan caught the ball and finally looked at me. His dark eyes took in the details I thought I'd hidden well enough—the wrinkled shirt I'd grabbed from yesterday's laundry, the tension I carried in my jaw.

"I slept," I said defensively.

"For how long?"

I pulled my racquet from its case and checked the strings. "Long enough."

Juan shook his head and tossed me the ball. "Right. Let's see if you can work some of that stress out before you snap in half."

The first serve came fast and low, designed to make me stretch. My shoulder protested as I returned it, sending the ball wide. Juan didn't comment. He just retrieved it and set up for the next point.

We played in relative silence for twenty minutes with only the bounce of the ball, the thwack of the racquets and the squeak of our sneakers. Juan kept the pace easy, letting me find my rhythm without pushing too hard. He knew me well enough to recognize when I needed to move before I could talk.

When I finally called for water, he was ready.

"So," Juan said, toweling off his face. "Eloise settled at school?"

"She's fine." I uncapped my bottle and took a long drink.

"Sitter picked her up early and took her for pancakes before school.

" I didn't tell him I'd requested the sitter to do this after feeling so out of place with how things went between Sadie and me.

She would give me her answer today, but I felt like I'd been too pushy.

"And how's the prospect?" Juan's careful use of the word "prospect" made me feel edgy. I hated thinking of Sadie as an asset instead of a human. It made me feel sleazy and dirty.

I stared at the wall, watching condensation drip from the overhead vent. "That's complicated."

"Most good things are." Juan leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "You want to tell me what happened, or should I keep guessing?"

I set down the water bottle and faced him.

Juan Morales had been my closest friend since college, the only person who knew the full story of why I'd walked away from the Vale name.

He'd stood by me when Eloise's mother disappeared, helped me navigate single parenthood, and never once suggested I should have handled things differently.

If anyone deserved the truth, it was him.

"Her mother's in the hospital," I said. "She's recovering from another bender and Sadie is worried about her.”

Juan's expression shifted. "I'm sorry to hear that."

I ran a hand through my hair. "Sadie's been trying to manage it all—the job, the medical appointments for her mom, keeping the woman stable. She's drowning."

"And you want to help?" His eyebrow quirked up and I sighed.

"I offered her a solution." The words came out sounding a little defensive.

He knew the terms of the arrangement, but I spelled it out for him, or maybe more for my sake to remind myself that it wasn't a horrible situation.

"She gets health insurance for her mother, job security, a stable income.

I get to meet the will's requirements and keep the school. "

Juan was quiet for a long moment. "What did she say?"

"She hasn't answered yet." I picked up my racquet, testing the grip. "I gave her time to think about it."

"How much time?"

"Until today. Honestly…" My shoulders dropped and I winced at the pinch in my left arm.

"Harrison." Juan's voice carried a warning I recognized. "Please tell me you didn't corner her in the hospital and propose a business arrangement."

"It wasn't like that… She set the deadline." But even as I said it, I could hear how it sounded. "She's practical. She understands the benefits for both parties."

"The benefits." Juan straightened, shaking his head. "Do you hear yourself right now?"

"It makes sense for everyone involved."

"Everyone except Sadie, maybe."

I turned to face him fully. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're talking about this woman like she's a problem to be solved instead of a person making a life-changing decision.

" Juan's tone stayed level, but I caught the edge beneath it.

"You've been circling around your feelings for her for weeks.

Now you're offering her a contract marriage and calling it practical. "

"My feelings don't factor into this."

"Bullshit."

Juan rarely swore, and when he did, it meant I'd pushed him past his patience.

"This isn't about the school," he continued. "This is about your wanting to take care of her and not knowing how to admit it." He scowled and continued, "You're doing that thing—where you collect lost, broken things and try to fix them. Except she's not going to like being handled, H."

I gripped the racquet tighter, ignoring his comment. "The will requires?—"

"The will requires a wife. Any wife. There are probably a dozen women in this city who would marry you tomorrow for the right price." Juan stepped closer. "But you didn't ask any of them. You asked Sadie."

"Because she's already part of Eloise's life. Because she's trustworthy?—"

"Because you're in love with her."

The words hit me squarely in the chest. I opened my mouth to deny it, then closed it again. Juan waited, watching my face with the patience of someone who'd known me for fifteen years.

"It doesn't matter," I said finally.

"It's the only thing that does matter." Juan picked up his water bottle, taking a slow sip before continuing. "Hope isn't a strategy, Harrison. And this isn't the kind of situation you can bluff your way through."

"I'm not bluffing."

"Then what are you doing?"

I looked down at the racquet in my hands, noting a small fray in the strings I hadn't noticed before.

"I'm trying to keep my daughter in the school she loves.

I'm trying to prevent the board from turning Hawthorne into something my father never intended it to be.

I'm trying to help someone who needs help. "

"And?"

"And I'm scared as hell that she's going to say no." The admission felt like a confession. Juan nodded slowly, as if he'd been waiting for exactly those words.

"There it is," he said. "Now we're getting somewhere."

I set the racquet down and leaned against the wall. "I haven't felt this conflicted about anything in years. Every logical part of my brain knows this is the right solution. But every other part…"

"Every other part is terrified you're going to mess up the best thing that's happened to you since Eloise was born?

" It was like he could read my mind. And he was right.

This was moving so fast, I knew it would end in disaster, and it made me angry and terrified.

I wanted to take things slow and do it right, but I didn't have time for that.

I closed my eyes. "She deserves better than a marriage of convenience."

"Maybe she does. Maybe she doesn't. That's her choice to make." Juan moved to stand beside me, shoulder to shoulder against the wall. "But you need to be all in or back off entirely. You don't have time to mess around."

"The will specifies?—"

"Forget the will for a second. Forget the board. Forget everything except this. Do you want to marry Sadie Quinn?"

I thought about her laugh when Eloise showed her something funny.

The way she'd handled the crisis at the hospital without falling apart.

The quiet strength she carried, the way she made everyone around her feel safer.

I didn't know her well enough to make this judgment call but for some insane reason my answer was, "Yes, I want to marry her. "

"Then get it done before someone else takes the choice out of your hands."

I checked my watch. Seven forty-five. The board meeting was scheduled for nine, giving me just enough time to shower and change into the suit that would make me look like the responsible headmaster they expected.

Juan clapped me on the shoulder as we gathered our gear. "For what it's worth, I think she'll say yes."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because she looks at you the same way you look at her." Juan grinned. "Like you're both trying not to hope too hard."

The boardroom at Hawthorne Academy hadn't changed since my father's time except that I occupied his place.

I took my seat near the head of the table, noting that my sisters had positioned themselves strategically across from me.

Caroline wore her navy suit like armor, her blonde hair pulled into a perfect chignon.

Margot had chosen black, her expression already set in the disapproving line she'd perfected as a teenager.

Dr. Robert Caldwell called the meeting to order. He'd been an effective board chairman for the past twelve years but recently, I felt he was failing. Theodore Blackwood sat to his right, a stack of legal documents at his elbow.

The atmosphere was hostile from the first word.

"We're here today to discuss the unsuitable transition of leadership at Hawthorne Academy," Dr. Caldwell began, his tone making clear where his loyalties lay. "Edmund Vale's will contains provisions that this board believes may have been unduly influenced."

Caroline leaned forward. "Harrison manipulated our father during his final months. The marriage requirement is proof of that manipulation."

Her attorney, a sharp-faced man named Peterson, nodded agreement. "My clients have compelling evidence that Mr. Vale exploited his father's deteriorating mental state to secure favorable terms."

"That's completely false," I said, but Theodore Blackwood cut me off with a hand in the air.