Chapter 3
Nelly
I hate it when he’s right. Ethan’s smug smile plays in my head that evening as I stay cuddled up in my apartment, glancing through every profile of wealthy businessmen I could approach with a deal for Sunny Aerospace.
They all have advantages and disadvantages, and one thing I’m sure of is that I wouldn’t get a fair deal from them. Because we have too much debt and we’re a liability.
My temples ache like they never have before, and I massage two fingers over them, gently moving my hands to my forehead. My apartment’s chilly air prompts me to turn down the air conditioning, and I slip into a sweatshirt to keep me warm.
I had chamomile tea earlier before getting to work, but now my nerves are all pumped up again.
Marry him?
That is an absurd plan. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like to spend hours with Ethan shacked up in a house, forced to enjoy his company because we’re newlyweds.
Okay, scratch that.
I sigh as I rub a hand over the back of my neck. I can imagine it. Ethan’s not the dull type. Every moment with him is a whirlwind and the fun never ends. If I give into this sham marriage, it might be just like old times.
Ethan and my brother became friends in their freshman year, and I was still in high school at the time. They bonded quickly, and Tom used to bring Ethan over to our house here in L.A. for the holidays.
The duo had an absolute blast, going from yacht parties to attending sporting events across the country. When I finally got into college, they were in their senior year. Ethan had access to his grandfather’s private jet and we would travel together on the weekends to some beach resort, exploring different cities and cultures.
I recall loving every moment of the time I spent with them that year. Tom and I were always close, so it felt natural to explore with him. The duo somehow made sure I got back to school in time for lectures the next Monday morning, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t always exhausted.
I chuckle as the fond memories come to mind. Ethan, Tom, and I were at Stanford together for a year before they graduated. After they did, we hung out only on major holidays.
And my crush on Ethan grew with time.
Five years ago, I finally worked up the courage to confess to him, but that ended with me heartbroken before I even confessed, and Ethan left the country shortly after that.
Things are different now. Tommy’s a prosecutor and dedicated to his job. I’m the CEO of Sunny Aerospace, trying to keep the company from a shameful demise, and Ethan’s about to be CEO and a major shareholder of a conglomerate, even though he seems to still be the same fun-loving guy.
Ethan had his path carved out for him from the start. As the grandson of Robert Everhart, the business enigma, Ethan had gone to Harvard Business School, just like me, and worked in his grandfather’s company, just like how I worked at my parents’ company.
The only difference was Hart Holdings would never find themselves in the pile of lawsuits Sunny Aerospace is buried in. Even though Ethan was more of what we called a trust-fund baby, he was still smart and dangerous in the business world. He never walked out of a room without a deal, and he worked hard to keep his grandfather’s company thriving.
My doorbell rings while I’m shuffling through my thoughts, and I jump out of my couch. “Coming,” I announced when it dings repeatedly.
I open the door to find Ethan leaning against the doorframe, a smile on his lips as he stares deep into my eyes and steals my breath away.
Yes, it’s that easy.
Whenever he smiled at me like this in the past, I felt my heart beat a little too fast.
Guess some things never change.
“Great, it’s you?”
I tilt my head to one side, push away from the entrance to let him in, and lock my smart door. “What do you want? How did you figure out where I live?”
“Tom,” he said with a grin, then twirled around like he was taking in my apartment. “I begged him to tell me. You’ve got a nice place, by the way. We’ll have to move into mine once we get married. It’s bigger.”
“Hey,” I snap two fingers at him to get his attention. “I haven’t agreed to marry you yet, remember?”
Ethan smiles. “Of course. The ball is always in your court, ma Cherie,” he whispers before shrugging out of his leather jacket. I take in his full looks then. The stylish cut of his black hair and the wideness of his broad shoulders in his black t-shirt.
He’s wearing a pair of Air Jordans that matches his shirt, and his jeans are ripped a bit at the knees. Ethan’s classic bad-boy look isn’t as appealing to me as his corporate outfits.
The man makes me melt in a suit.
He has a tall frame for it, and those muscles ripple whenever he takes off his jacket.
I swallow hard. “Why are you here?”
“To convince you to help me,” he answers with ease. “It’s a win-win situation, Nelly. Scratch my back and I scratch yours.”
I groan and roll my eyes. “Do you ever take anything seriously?”
He walks over to me, slides a hand over my arm, pulls me to him, and nearly presses me into his chest.
I gasp at the unexpected move. My wide eyes fly to his, and my lips part in a gasp. His scent fills my nostrils. It’s a rich, earthy scent, and it reminds me of oak.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I manage, ignoring the rush of adrenaline pumping through me. I don’t bother to hide my sarcasm. “Think you can charm me into being your wife?”
Ethan’s laugh toys with my senses, and he surprises me when he turns serious a moment later. “No, Nelly. I’m here to help.”
He takes his hands off my arm and moves away. I can finally draw in a deep, easy breath, but I can’t let him notice the effect he has on me, so I turn away quickly and march toward my living room.
My television is off, and I can’t remember the last time I watched anything on it. I spend most of my time cuddled up under a blanket with work files, documents, and a glass of my favorite smoothie.
I like to stay in charge, and I need to work to know what goes down in every aspect of the company. Right now, it feels like I’m losing my grip. If I don’t do something, then it’s not just what my parents have worked for that’s at stake.
It’s jobs and families that depend on those jobs to survive. I don’t think I can handle the layoffs and the heartbreak it’ll cause to all those people.
Ethan’s quiet as he lowers himself to the couch and crosses his legs in front of him. “You got anything to drink? A can of cola or lemonade?”
I snatch the pillow cushioned under his arm and smack him in the face with it. “I’m not running a grocery store.”
“Relax,” he says with a laugh, and I notice the gleam in his eyes as his chuckle sends a tickle right through me. I haven’t heard that sound in years, and I didn’t realize I missed it until now.
I lower myself to the couch beside him and stare at the array of papers scattered across the table. There’s an empty box of pizza on the ground from my dinner last night, and the empty tea cup from my chamomile sits next to it.
The dull ache in the side of my head reminds me that I haven’t taken a break all morning. Ethan’s scent now tantalizes my senses, reminding me of why I enjoyed leaning close to him in the past.
A mixture of vanilla and oak. The blend is intoxicating, and it makes me dizzy for a bit.
“Any luck?” Ethan asks, and I turn to him, shocked that he cares about me finding another means to save my company. “With finding a bank willing to loan you enough money? Or any other solution?”
“Do you really care?” I question, gauging his expression as I try to figure out what he’s thinking. Ethan’s eyes are on mine, and he doesn’t avert his gaze even as the tension in the air around us rises.
“Of course I care, Nelly,” he finally answers, and the ease with which his words fill the room makes me gasp. “Your parents were like family to me, too. I care about what happens to their legacy.”
My throat tightens as the hint of emotions in his eyes brews over. “I know you don’t want to be indebted to me, but we can help each other, Nelly. I won’t have to lose my place in my company, and you get to save yours with ease.”
I lean into him even though my brain screams for me to put enough distance between us. “I can’t just marry you, Ethan. I can’t just marry someone I don’t love.” The whisper of my words makes him withdraw.
A shadow falls across Ethan’s face. His jaw hardens, and he pulls away from me and gets on his feet.
“So, you’d pass off an opportunity to save your parent’s company because you’re waiting for what? Love?”
“Ethan, come on. Don’t make it sound ridiculous.” I stand and tuck some strands of my hair behind my ears, then cross my arms over my chest. “Everyone wants to fall in love at some point, right?”
Ethan arches a brow, but he doesn’t answer my question as he turns away. With his back to me, I notice the tense stance he has on and wonder what’s going through his mind.
“Not everyone,” he whispers. His expression softens when he faces me.
“Love isn’t such a bad thing.” I raise both hands in the air to prove my point.
Why is he so against it?
“You’ve been in love before, haven’t you? Wasn’t it wonderful? The best thing there is? I want that too.”
“Love makes things messy, Nelly,” Ethan replies. “If you want that, I won’t take it away from you. We can do this for a year and then get a divorce. That’s enough time to settle everything, and without love, it’s easy. No messiness or feelings attached … You’d have your life and I’ll have mine. None of that has to change.”
Sighing, I close my eyes for a moment and map out this idea in my head. “With no feelings involved, we would need a story.”
“Yes, and we have one. We’ve known each other and have been friends for a long time, Nelly. It’ll be easy to sell that I’ve fallen in love with a girl I’ve known for a long time more than a stranger.”
He forges on. “We’ll meet my grandfather first, tell him about you and how we want to have a quiet, civil ceremony for the wedding, then we take a week off for our honeymoon after signing a contract and getting married legally. We’ll live in one of my houses here in L.A. when we get back because this is where both our companies’ headquarters are located and …”
“Wait, what? Why do we have to live together?” I interrupt, a slice of panic cutting through me at the thought of existing under one roof with Ethan.
“We’ll be married, Nelly,” he says with a soft smile. “We don’t have to sleep in the same bed, just stay in one house. We’d have our separate rooms, of course, separate lives too.”
His explanation doesn’t completely soothe the uncomfortable feeling I have. Pretending to be in love with Ethan is one thing, and spending so much time around him is another.
It’ll be harder to shove aside these feelings he revives back in me.
I’ve vowed not to let him charm me ever again, and for five years I’ve easily kept that promise because he’s been out of the country.
Ethan doesn’t seem to notice my dilemma as he continues telling me his plans. “I’ll leak news of our marriage to the press and a few pictures we’ll take during our time away. We make it look as if we’ve been together for years, but in secret. It won’t be hard to pull off because we’ve known each other a while and we’ve gone around a lot … Remember those times? You, Tom, and I exploring the world one city at a time?”
“We can spin a story and let the world think we fell in love with each other during those years, but it took us a while to realize it. Everyone loves a sweet romantic story, don’t they?”
“Yes, but this is our lives, Ethan. It’s not just some story. What happens if we can’t fool your grandpops? What then? We just get divorced and act like nothing happened? How long do we even need to pretend for?”
“After I become CEO, we can stay together for a year, then call it quits. People get divorced all the time. My parents did, even though my grandpops claimed that they were so much in love when they got married.”
“When we get back from our fake honeymoon, our companies will merge and yours will become a subsidiary of mine. Your company will keep the name as well as remain mostly autonomous. This is a win-win situation, Nelly. You know it is.”
He brushes a hand over my cheeks, and his touch sends an electric current through me. The contact is short-lived as he heads for the door, but he pauses halfway to turn back to look at me. “I’ll see you around, love.”
“Wait,” I call before he gets to the door. Ethan turns to look at me, and the look in his eyes makes my pulse jump. “If I do this, then you need to promise me one thing. No unnecessary tender touches, or flirting … Not even a little, harmless wink. Got it?”
“You can’t disrespect me by going around publicly with all of your flings, either. Whatever you do, I don’t care, but it has to stay a secret, and most importantly, no feelings ever. I don’t want you falling in love with me.”
Ethan turns around and laughs.
“I think it might be you who falls for me first, love.” He grins before he slowly strides towards me.
“That’s never going to happen, I assure you.” I take a moment to arrange my train of thought before adding. “I get to decide how we end things after one year. We’ll say it was a mutual decision and no one’s fault.”
“Are you sure about that?” There’s a lightness to his tone as he smirks and moves closer to me. “I have a reputation, love … If we say I cheated on you, the world will bite on that. It’s not so unexpected that a man regularly termed as Casanova will betray his wife. You said it yourself …. I’m not capable of loving anyone.”
“I don’t want you to take the blame. Our divorce has to be civil and easy.”
Ethan reaches me, his smile growing wider as he gently brushes some strands of my hair away. “Sweet Nelly,” he whispers. “Divorces are rarely ever simple.”
His husky tone hints at more, but he only shakes his head while keeping one hand lightly over my cheeks. “But ours will be because there are no feelings involved.”
“Right,” I mutter, ignoring my breathlessness. “So, we have a deal?”
My heart pounds while waiting for his answer. His eyes drift over my body slowly, and my body heats up under his gaze.
“Fine, deal. I’ll do whatever you want, Nelly,” Ethan answers in a voice that sounds almost like a growl, and he steps away from me. The tone sends a shiver up my spine, and I swallow hard.
I can’t tell if it’s the gleam in his eyes or the smirk on his lips, but for reasons I don’t understand, those words sound like a big, fat lie.