Chapter 5
Chapter Five
In the face of a ridiculous proposal, I did what any other woman would.
I laughed my ass off.
There was no way he was serious. Men didn’t just propose to women out of nowhere. Marriages of convenience were only in books, and I was definitely not living in a book.
Between wiping the tears from my eyes, I said, “Good one.”
“I’m serious.”
“No, you’re not. First of all, you wouldn’t be getting anything out of this deal other than being married to me , and I assure you that while I’m a hilarious and entertaining companion—that’s not enough.”
“I have a reason.”
“Oh, really?” I shook my head to clear any remaining mirth. “I can only think of one , and it’s not one I’m interested in marrying you for.”
“And what’s my reason?”
“Calvin. You two have a weird dick-measuring contest going on, and he just got promoted.”
His lips pursed. “It’s been years.”
“Has it? You started a healthcare company when you could have done anything else. And you’re climbing to the top of the food chain in the industry faster than anyone has ever seen before. If it were anyone else, I would think it was ambition, but this is how you two have always been. Enemies vying for the position at the top.”
“Is there anything I can say to change your mind?” He leaned forward, his eyes on me. I could have said yes, but I was not getting played by the man again.
Gram would roll over in her grave.
“There is literally nothing.”
“Fine.” The words were low, hard. “You caught me.”
“Thank you for admitting the truth.”
A shadow crossed his face, one that cleared the second I saw it. As much as he wanted to pretend he had other reasons, one mention of Calvin took him to a dark place.
“So he is still a pain in your ass.”
“Always,” he muttered. “He never lets go of anything, does he?”
“He absolutely does not. My lack of employment is the perfect example.”
“And aren’t you mad about that?”
“Of course I’m mad?—”
“And what better way to piss him off than to marry someone he hates?” He waved his hand as if it were that simple, and yet I could see his shoulders were still tense.
“I—why is this your first option?”
“Go big or go home. If I’m going to piss off Calvin, I want to make him mad .”
“Has he done something to you? Other than just being annoying.”
“He did something to you .”
“That’s not a good enough reason for all of this. I’m not stupid.”
Levi let out a long breath. “Fine. If you must know ... He’s poaching customers.”
“How?”
“Expensive and slanderous ads about mental health care.”
“From a hospital?”
“Last year, the company bought an inpatient facility. He’s trying to say that therapy doesn’t work, so people should go straight to more expensive care.”
“The policy his own company offers doesn’t cover inpatient stays,” I said. “And he’s pushing for that?”
“He’s not a good man, Amy. And he’s trying to get doctors my company employs on his side. I was going to handle it by letting him burn himself out, but now I have another idea.” His eyes landed on me.
“You both are doing all of this because of your little high school thing?”
“After college, I was content to never think about it again, but he keeps pushing.”
“Really?”
“Would you put it past him?”
No. I wouldn’t. “So I’m your ploy to make him madder? He’s not going to stop.”
“He missteps when he’s angry, and if he takes an ad too far, it backfires on him. It’s in both of our interests to make him as miserable as possible.”
“With marriage? I don’t think that’s a normal thing people do.”
“I wasn’t under the impression that you were normal .”
That shut me up. He was right about that one. “So we get married, and I get a job?”
“We get married, and you get more than enough to live off of. No job needed.”
“And what about when you have your revenge and you’re done with me? I still need income at the end of the day.”
“We’ll sign a prenup that makes sure you don’t have to work for a long time.”
“I thought prenups kept me from taking all of your money.”
“They’re really agreements on how to split assets after divorce. We can do what we want to.” He shrugged nonchalantly.
“And how long are we doing this for?”
“Do we have to put an expiration date on it?”
“Don’t you want to?”
“I’m not worried about it. We can do this however long we need to.”
I shouldn’t have been shocked that he would be willing to do this for a long time. While he said he was content to let go of his rivalry with Calvin, he’d also spent years still in it. Even if it wasn’t by choice, he was a patient man.
“Fine. If we’re throwing all logic out the door, why not time too? No limit on how long this charade can go on for.”
My heart raced. Marriage, really ? God, Lily would kill me. I couldn’t get married to a guy for money. Didn’t that go against a rule of love somewhere?
Since when do you follow rules?
Levi’s words played through my mind and they hit me hard. When I’d met Lily and she told me she’d gotten married for the same reasons, I told her I would do it too. Of course, she was offered a million dollars and I had a feeling Levi would not give me that much, but still.
This would solve my problems, at least temporarily. I was on the cusp of something I desperately wanted.
He leaned forward. “You want to say yes. I can see it.”
“It’s still a huge decision. It’s marriage . Don’t you have a girlfriend or something that would be against this?”
“I don’t date, so no.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Just like I find it hard to believe you’re still single. It’s like we were waiting for this moment.”
“For revenge on Calvin.”
He blinked as if he’d forgotten the whole reason we were doing this. “Yes, of course.”
I pressed my lips together. My appetite was gone, a true testament to how frazzled I was. “Can I think about it?” I asked. “Or is this a one-time offer?”
“You can think about it,” he replied. “I have nothing but time.”
“Good. I need to get the best friend’s seal of approval. You know, normal girl things.” I grabbed my purse. “We should get back to the office.”
“I’ll give you a ride, but I need you to promise me one thing first.”
“Please don’t be weird and ask for a kiss.”
He laughed again. “No, it’s not that. I need to know that you are thinking of this. You’re not going home to simply figure out how to say no.”
“Are you kidding? You’re offering me money in exchange for my hand in marriage. I am thinking about it, but this is just ... It’s a lot . And I need to be sure you’re not weird.”
“They do say interviews go two ways. You still have yours later.”
“You’re inviting me to snoop?”
“I have nothing to hide.”
“Everyone has something to hide,” I replied, raising an eyebrow.
A shadow flickered over his face, giving me confirmation that there was something else. We weren’t close enough for me to ask, but it was the reminder that I needed that he wasn’t as open as he said he was.
And I had digging to do.
I faked my way through the interview. Half of my answers were lies and the other half were embellishments. Since I wasn’t sure about what I would do with Levi, I knew I couldn’t bomb this, but I was also so distracted that I couldn’t think straight.
While I never had a plan for my life, getting proposed to as revenge on my brother had never come up. I could understand why Levi would want to piss off Calvin. After all, I wasn’t his biggest fan either, but this was off the deep end in a way even I couldn’t comprehend.
I didn’t have a lot of expectations for my love life, but this certainly wasn’t it. Gram had drilled her past into me, and I would have been happy to have temporary happiness with someone. But as time went on and my options dwindled, even that seemed impossible.
Sally asked her last question and finally opened up the floor for me to talk. My chest loosened as I could finally unleash the burning thing on my mind.
“So, what do you think of Levi?”
Sally slowly blinked. “Our CEO?”
“Yes. He seems ... interesting. But the company is as good as its leadership, right?”
“I suppose that’s true. In a leadership sense, he’s good. He’s present when he needs to be and opens the door up for us to talk to him about anything. I quite like working here, and the benefits make it even better.”
Benefits. I needed to ask Levi about that if I decided to go through with this.
“And what about personally?”
Now, her eyebrows raised. I silently prayed that she would give in and give me the gossip. I, for one, loved to spill the beans about everything in my life. But some people didn’t.
But then her lips curved into a smile and she leaned in—the universal gossiping pose.
“I mean, we all would like to know him personally , if you know what I mean.”
My eyebrows raised. “Really?”
“He’s so cute, and he’s got that sweet personality that everyone dreams of marrying. That being said, his nights are never free. Either he has a girlfriend or he’s got a very active nightlife.”
“Oh,” I said, my shoulders slumping.
“Don’t get your hopes up with that one. He’s good to look at, but he’s far too much of a playboy, and he never dates his employees.”
Which meant I probably wasn’t getting this job if I went forward with the marriage.
“So he’s a good person, just ... busy.”
“Exactly.”
I nodded. Hearing that he wasn’t a total dick helped, but it didn’t make my decision easier.
I thanked Sally for her time before leaving the office. I let out a long breath once I was in the lobby.
“How did it go?” Sebastian asked.
“How long were you waiting?”
“Only a few minutes. I was keeping track of you loosely. And considering you were supposed to leave hours ago, I’m curious.”
I glanced around, taking in the massive open floor plan filled with offices and cubicles to be sure Levi wasn’t lurking somewhere. I didn’t find him, but that didn’t mean I was in the clear.
“This is not the conversation we should have here,” I said.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “That bad?”
“No. That wild. When you get off work, I’ll tell you everything. But if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find your wife and panic for a bit.”
“I’m about to leave now, actually. Can I join in on the panic?”
“Of course.” I rubbed my brow. “You better be ready for the weirdest shit that you’ve ever heard. Well, maybe it’s not the weirdest. But it’s close .”