9. I Don’t Have Cooties
9
I DON’T HAVE COOTIES
CHARLES
Daisy leaves my office and I immediately loosen the tie squeezing my windpipe. Collapsing onto the leather couch, I scroll through the messages from the stakeholders. Every fucking one of them has replied about how they’re eagerly looking forward to the next Hawthorne wedding and hinted how they support me taking over as the CEO of Hawthorne Holdings.
Is it really that simple?
A fabricated media story about me and a mystery woman, and suddenly everything I’ve strived for in the past four years falls into place.
This doesn’t even make any sense.
I throw my head back against the headrest, the news video replaying in my mind like a relentless loop. Daisy’s honey-dipped voice, confessing she loves me, echoes in my ears. In the quiet of the room, my pulse quickens in a foreign beat. My fists clench as I struggle to maintain clarity and push aside the memory of her voice—a little out of breath and a whole lot excited.
Fuck!
The media won’t stay quiet for long. I’ve got to give them something before their imagination spirals out of control and they start hunting for my imaginary girl.
But there’s no one other than her I can trust with this. She’s safe, familiar, and even though she’s a whole lot of crazy, she’s my only hope. Over the years, she’s proved her loyalty and discretion. My family likes her, and even Jimmy believed in the story of our secret romance.
But will she agree?
Making people agree to your terms is the one thing you’re best at, Charles. Work your Hawthorne magic and make her an offer she can’t refuse.
This might be the biggest fucking deal of my life.
A knock startles me, and for the first time, my heartbeat accelerates in uncertainty and something weird like heartburn, at the anticipation of seeing my assistant.
But instead, Raymond enters holding two boxes of pizza, followed by Rowan and Archer with root beer. Alex saunters in empty-handed behind them.
“I knew you were going to be the first one among us to get hitched, brother.” Ray slaps my back before plopping down on the leather chair beside me.
“Fuck off.”
“Can we please start at: who’s the lucky girl?” Archer raises an eyebrow.
“You mean the one who loves Charlie the most?” Rowan signs, his mischievous eyes and smile speaking his emotions.
“Feel free to throw in whatever punch line you’ve been saving.” I motion toward Alex. “But when you’re ready to hear the truth, I’d like your opinion on something.”
“Go ahead. I’ll survive without mocking you for today. I have a feeling there’ll be plenty of chances in the future.” Alex grins and all the Teager boys chuckle.
“Very funny. But if my plan works, I might be able to put an end to the nonsense of today and turn things in my favor.” It’s probably the gravity of my words or my tone that draws their attention, as they all sit straight.
“We’re listening.” Rowan passes me a can of root beer.
“The woman on the TV is Daisy. She was expecting her friend at the door.”
“Fuck!”
“Jesus!”
“Holy shit!”
“That makes so much fucking sense!”
I give them all a minute.
“Here’s the catch,” I say, placing my phone onto the table and showing them the flood of texts. Congratulations, dinner invites for me and my lovely fiancée, and even speculation on how cute the next generation of Hawthornes is going to be.
“They want to vote in your favor.” Alex says what they’re probably all thinking. His usual calm voice has a touch of surprise.
I nod.
“But you know the media is not going to stay quiet. I’m sure they’re already snooping around.” Archer throws a glance at me before tearing off a slice of pizza.
“Exactly. It won’t take long before they piece it together.” Ray takes a swig of his beer.
“I know, and that’s why I have a plan.”
Rowan tips his head to the side. “It must be something, because I’ve never seen you smile so big, Charlie.”
“This is what I want to know from you all. What if this wasn’t fake?”
“What do you mean?” Alex asks, leaning forward.
“What if Daisy is what the media says she is.” My throat dries and I take a sip of my drink. “The next Mrs. Hawthorne. Jimmy buys it, by the way.”
“If there’s any woman you spend time with, it’s her.” Ray leans back. His eyes are intense and laser-focused, as they get when he’s working on the ins and outs of a deal in his mind. “You don’t even need to make up a story about how you met or fell in love. She’s been with you for four years. That’s more than enough time to fall in love with someone.”
Rowan lightly knocks on the table to get our attention. “But isn’t she seeing someone?”
Of course, my sweet cousin would know that detail.
“She broke up with that asshole.”
“And you swooped right in to take advantage of the breakup?” Archer, being his usual self, doesn’t mince any words.
“I’m not taking any advantage,” I seethe before turning to Alex. “I suppose you think the same way?”
“It doesn’t matter what we think, Charlie. Have you spoken to her?” Alex’s voice is calm and collected, not giving away anything.
“Not yet.” Suddenly, I feel like an asshole. Should I have talked to her first? Archer’s jab rings in my ear. My cousin sure knows how to get inside someone’s head.
“If you plan to find a fake bride, there’s no one more perfect than her,” Rowan signs, giving oxygen to my dying hope.
Ray nods. “That’s true.”
“So should I ask her?”
“Can I please be there?” Archer raises an eyebrow. “I’ve never seen a man proposing for someone to be their fake bride.”
They all chuckle, but my heartbeat races to the highest degree.
Proposing? Fuck.
My cousins are eating pizza, coming up with ideas for my fake proposal, and each of their suggestions sound horrible. I’m about to tell them to stop when the door to my office opens and Daisy storms in, fuming with anger.
“Can I talk to you, Charles? It’s urgent.”
My cousins couldn’t spring from their seats any faster, snapping the pizza boxes shut and snagging the drink cans from the table.
“Best of luck.” Alex gives my shoulder a reassuring pat.
“You still want to stay?” Ray snickers at Archer.
“No, thanks.” Archer winces and mouths a “Good luck” before they all file out.
“They knew.”
My gaze returns to her fuming face as she walks closer.
“They knew it was me?”
I nod carefully.
“You consulted with them before you told me?” Daisy’s cheeks flush.
I realize I’ve never seen my assistant pissed. She’s never been so incensed, not even when I made her work overtime or redo tasks because they weren’t up to my crazy standards.
“I know they’re your cousins and you trust them much more, but this is about me, Charles.” Her throat chokes, and it makes me feel worse than before.
“I told them only because I was in an ethical dilemma.”
“Of course you did! Why would you talk to me about ethics? Since I don’t have any.”
She’s about to turn around and storm out of the room, when I tug on her forearm, pulling her back. I didn’t anticipate the move, and she smacks right against my chest.
A puff of her breath lands on my neck, and it sends a pulse shooting down to my cock. I immediately pull back, dropping my arms from her body as if touched by fire, and for a second it feels like so.
She feels like fire, igniting all the unfamiliar emotions within me. But I realize my mistake the moment I look at her wide eyes.
“I don’t have cooties that you can’t be near me.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t care what you mean.” She stomps.
“Daisy, wait.” This time, I carefully hold her hand, keeping a safe distance between us. “You’re misunderstanding me.” She’s about to say something, when I add, “Sorry. I mean, I’m not explaining it right. Just hear me out for a second. Please.”
“Are we in one of my dreams where you behave like a gentleman, since you’re apologizing and saying sorry and please all in the same sentence?”
My lips twitch. I stow the information that she dreams about me for later, even if it’s not the real me in her imaginations.
“Unfortunately, it’s all real.”
“Why hasn’t Jimmy released a press statement, then?” She perches on the edge of the couch.
I hate that my palms turn clammy. This is the first time I’ve been in a meeting without preparation. In this moment, I miss the pink Post-it notes that she attaches to meeting files, scribbling details about clients in her flowy handwriting. They always come in handy when I want to turn a meeting going south in my favor.
“Why do you leave me Post-its with personal notes about the clients? I don’t remember asking for that.” The question escapes my lips before I can fully process it.
“What?” Her dark brows pull together.
When I don’t say anything and simply wait, she shrugs.
“When I joined the company, I noticed you get tense on the first meeting with a new client, so I started researching them online and making notes for you. They seemed to make you calmer, and since you never objected, I assumed you found them helpful.”
My head hangs low before I look back at her. “I…I can’t believe I never said this until now. Thanks.”
Her eyes widen to a concerning degree before she says, “Can you just stop being this polite? You’re weirding me out!” Her gaze flies to the blank TV screen. “Plus, what does that have to do with all that?”
I shake my head and take a deep breath. This is Daisy. The person I’ve spent most of my time with in the last four years. I don’t need notes on her. I should fucking know her already.
“Is your mental monologue over?” She tips her head to the side, and I can’t keep my lips from twitching.
“I didn’t know you know me so well.”
“Unfortunately, more than I want to, boss.”
“Okay, here it goes. You’ve already seen how the media believes you’re either my secret love interest or fiancée?”
“But I am neither.”
I’m hoping you’ll be much more.
“But everyone else, including the board members of Hawthorne Holdings, thinks otherwise. In the next board meeting, they all want to vote in my favor for the next CEO position. It seems my committed status has much more value to them than my capabilities as a businessman.”
Daisy leans back in her seat. If anyone outside my family understands the significance of this for me, it’s her. She’s worked with me all these years, making sure all the business deals have been successful, inching me a step closer to take over the family business. And now it seems everything is within my grasp, but only when I’m reaching out to get it with her by my side.
“Wow. I…I can’t believe this. This is huge, Charles. This is what we’ve been wanting for…forever.”
Warmth courses through me at her use of we instead of you .
“It couldn’t have been without you.”
“Now isn’t the time to be freaking modest, boss. You need to think about how we can fix this.” She rises from her seat and paces back and forth.
“I do have a plan. But I need your help.”
“What is it?”
“Marry me.”