Page 322 of The Morally Grey Billionaires Boxset

"I’m an unusual woman."

"I’ll give this back if you hold out your left hand."

"Wh-a-a-t?" I manage to keep my jaw from dropping. "I’m not doing any such thing."

"In which case…" he begins to pocket the bottle and I almost stomp my feet. This man has the power to piss me off like no one else.

"Give me back my perfume," I hiss.

"Hold out your left hand first," he growls.

I hesitate.

His glare deepens. "I could order you to do it and we both know you’ll obey me. So, can we both stop pretending you’re not going to do what I want?"

I stiffen, attempt to hold his gaze for a few seconds more, then huff.

I hold up my left hand, palm outstretched.

He places the bottle back on the dressing table, then slides his hand into his pocket and pulls out a ring.

A ring? What the—? I begin to pull back my hand, but he’s caught it in his.

He turns my palm over and slips the ring onto my finger.

"Oh, my god!" There’s a gasp from the doorway. I turn to find Mira staring.

"It’s not what it seems." I attempt to pull back my hand, but he tugs on my arm. I fall into him.

He wraps his arm about my waist, then turns to face her. "It’s exactly what it seems.”

"Are the two of you engaged?" Mira cries.

"No, we’re not," I protest.

"Yes, we are," he says at the same time.

I scowl up at him. He looks down at me with a bland expression on his features. "The wedding will be five days."

"Five days?" I exclaim in horror.

"Five days?" Mira scoffs. "Who gets married so quickly after the engagement?"

The Bosshole does, apparently. Only, I’m not having it. I try to wriggle away, but his hold around me tightens. I’m hauled against him so I can feel every hard plane of his body dig into my side. "What are you doing?" I hiss.

"Following the plan I devised to gain control of my father’s company—which will soon be mine."

"I want nothing to do with it," I lower my voice, so Mira can’t hear the conversation.

"You’ve been pivotal in executing the plan since you became my employee. And now, you’re the plan, it seems." He looks at me strangely.

"What?"

"If you don’t agree and come home with me, I’ll withdraw the funds I deposited for your mother’s stay in the home."

"You can't do that." I swallow.

"Try me." He holds my gaze, and in his, I see the utter conviction that he’s willing to follow through with his threat.

"I hate you," I saw in a low voice.

"So do I," he agrees.

Wait, did he say he hates himself? "Wha—"

He places a finger over my mouth. "Hush now. I know how excited you are, but perhaps we should head to my place where we can talk more without disturbing your roommate?"

"Oh, no, now—" Mira shakes her head. "I’m in no hurry for you to leave. In fact, I’m finding this entire proceeding rather entertaining—" She coughs. "I mean, it’s enlightening. I mean… uh, it’s so romantic that the two of you only met and now you’re getting married.

And I stopped believing in love at first sight, too. "

"It was more like hate at first sight," I snarl.

"First hate, then love. All that chemistry that swirls between the two of you—" Mira fans herself with the palm of her hand. "I knew I sensed it, but I thought it was all in my head."

"It was." I nod.

"It was all true." He nods.

My eyes shoot daggers at him, and he cups my cheek. Douchebag cups my cheek and stares soulfully into my eyes. "You know what I thought the first time I saw you?"

"What?" I narrow my gaze on him.

"That you were the most striking, most beautiful, most sensuous woman I’d ever met ,and that no one else could ever compare to you."

I hear Mira sigh.

"And when you looked at me, it was the first time—the only time—in my life I felt nervous."

"You felt—nervous?" I blink.

"I knew my life would never be the same again. I knew everything as I knew it was going to change. I knew my future had arrived and that I had to find the courage to reach out and grab it. I knew if I didn’t hold onto you, I’d never forgive myself."

"You did?" I ask, unable to keep the suspicion from my voice.

He snatches up my left hand and brings it to his mouth, then kisses the ring.

Mira makes an "awwww" noise.

I ignore her and focus on the conniving man in front of me.

He doesn’t play fair. He was willing to pay millions to the woman who agree to play the role of his wife and bear him a child, and all to ensure his plan of taking over his father’s company comes to fruition.

He’ll never let anything get in his way.

That’s why he threatened to rescind the funding of my mother's care unless I worked for him. He doesn’t mean anything he says.

He doesn’t. And yet, when I search his features, I only see sincerity in his eyes. Huh?

He twines his fingers through mine, then takes my other hand in his and holds both of my palms between his.

The warmth from his touch seeps into my blood.

My heart skitters, and my stomach flutters.

A shivery feeling coils in my belly. He’s playing a part.

That’s all it is. I may have gone to drama school, but he’s the consummate actor here.

Then he goes down on one knee. "Penelope Mary Easton, will you be my wife?"