Chapter Seven Proposal
JAYCE
I expected her to be shocked by my proposal, so I’m not surprised when those honey brown eyes go wide and her jaw drops.
To be fair, this is pretty out of character for me.
Not just this morning, but last night as well.
This isn’t my thing. I don’t do morning afters, and I don’t tuck women into my bed after I’ve fucked them by the pool.
There’s a reason I go to the club. The women there know what I want and how to comply, and there’s no expectation of anything more than mutual satisfaction and pleasure.
Sutton caught me off guard last night when she kissed me, then boldly asked for more. With anyone else, I would’ve said no, but there’s something about her that I couldn’t resist.
I’ll admit, seeing her at the gala was a pleasant surprise.
She was stunning. Partially for her looks—that blue evening gown, with her long brown hair falling in soft curls around her shoulders—but also for the way she held herself.
Her chin was up, her shoulders back. She seemed so confident…
and then after getting dragged around by that Leon jerk, she went to the bar, leaned over the table, and it looked like she was shaking.
I’d followed her over, not entirely sure what I was going to say to her, but something in me just needed to talk to her.
And when talking to her, I realized that all her confidence before was a show.
She is so good at hiding the tidal wave of anxiety that appears to be perpetually crashing inside her that I’m betting nobody even knows it’s there.
Then, when she’d submitted to me so beautifully last night… the way her pale back arched as I drove into her and she moaned so loud. I was pleasantly surprised when I grabbed her hair and found a slash of teal hidden under her long locks, the pop of color as stunning as her natural submissiveness.
She’s a delight to be around, and given the similarities of our predicaments, the idea of marriage just popped into my head while I was making breakfast this morning. It could prove a mutually beneficial arrangement … if we can come to agreeable terms.
My thoughts are interrupted when Sutton bursts out laughing.
“Oh, my God.” She actually wipes at tears that slip out of her eyes. “That’s hilarious.”
I frown, feeling a bristle of annoyance. “What’s so funny?”
She blinks at me, her brow furrowing in confusion. “I mean…you can’t be serious. Marry you? It’s a joke, right?”
Arching a brow, I slowly shake my head. I’m not the joking type, especially when it comes to Parker Global.
“I said engaged, not married. And I can assure you, I’m very serious.” I push away from the island and hold her gaze. “Don’t misunderstand, this would be strictly a business arrangement.”
She’s staring at me like I’ve suddenly sprouted a second head, her eyes wide. “I…I don’t understand.”
“We have similar situations. My family thinks I’m not taking my future seriously enough,” I explain.
“I have no real desire to get married, but putting on the facade that I want to settle down will get my family off my back.” It’ll also squash any more attempts from Ryan to undermine me in front of our grandfather.
“It could get your family off yours as well. If you’re ‘engaged,’ you wouldn’t have to deal with Leon, or any other men your mom tries to throw at you. ”
She appears baffled. “You want to get married… as a business deal?”
I shake my head. “Again, no, engaged. It wouldn’t have to go that far. It doesn’t have to be permanent, just an engagement. We’ll call it quits before the wedding.”
Realization dawns in her expression. “Ahhh, okay. I see what you’re saying now.”
Fuck knows I don’t want to end up like my parents, stuck in a loveless marriage of convenience, slowly growing more and more resentful of each other as the years go by.
An engagement is really all we need, and when things are settled enough among our families, we can go our separate ways as friends.
Sutton looks thoughtful for a minute before she shakes her head. Her gaze is shrewd and her tone becomes more authoritative when she speaks.
“No, it would never work.”
“What?” I’m caught off guard by her calm rejection. “Why not?”
“Well, let's break it down.” She glances around, notices a small pad of paper sitting on my kitchen island, and pulls it over to her. Clicking open a pen, she begins jotting notes in a clean, clear hand. “The pitch is solid, but aside from the fact that we live in different parts of the country, you’re not taking into account the amount of media scrutiny we’d get.
Our families will want to meet and discuss some kind of grand wedding, future plans, and even how the companies could work together.
” She bites the end of the pen for a moment, thinking.
“No, no, we’d have to be expert liars to pull it off.
” She taps the page, which now lists out the problems she brought up in bullet points, and stares at me pensively for a moment. “Which brings up one other problem.”
“What's that?” I ask, impressed but also dreading what she's about to say.
“We'd have to make it look real, and that could get confusing. We wouldn’t want feelings to get involved and bog the whole scheme down.”
Damn. That’s a good point. I hadn’t really thought of that.
To be clear, I don’t have any concerns about my own feelings becoming confused.
I don’t do serious relationships, even though Sutton is awesome.
But I don’t want her to get confused either.
Still, if we’re clear from the outset that this is not a relationship… ?
“Well that’s fine,” I offer. “I never develop those sort of feelings. As long as we agree that it’s just a business deal, it can work.”
Sutton grins and shakes her head with a chuckle. “It’s an intriguing idea, but I’m going to have to say no.”
Before I can reply, her phone buzzes and she checks it with a small frown.
“Oh, that’s my aunt,” she says off-handedly, typing out some quick response.
“I’m supposed to be visiting her after this.
I need to get going.” She hops off her stool and gathers her things up from where they’re resting on the island.
“Thanks for the fun night, and the delicious breakfast. Don’t worry.
I know this was all a one-time thing, so you don’t have to be worried that I’ll get clingy or anything. I’ll see you around!”
With a smile and a wave of her hand, she turns and hurries out of the kitchen.
I watch her go, a little stunned by how easily she turned me down.
Dismissed me like she might do with any potential deal she wasn’t interested in.
She wasn’t walking away from a relationship or a friendship.
She was clearly walking away from a business partnership, and she did so with ease.
Well, shit.
Sighing, I shrug. Guess I can scratch that idea. It was a long shot, anyway, but I really didn’t expect her to shoot me down so succinctly. It’s impressive how confident and commanding she can be when she’s not walking a tight-rope around her parents.
Deciding to get on with my day, I clean up the breakfast dishes then grab my phone to get my flight back to Denver scheduled for a little after noon. I need to get back for practice tonight, and we have a home game tomorrow, so I just need to push Sutton from my thoughts so I can focus.
Once my flight is secured, I flip through some of my unopened emails. Suddenly, a text message pops up and I grimace when I see it’s from Ryan.
Ryan: So I heard you dipped out of the gala early last night with some girl. Way to meet everyone’s expectations, lol. Don’t worry. I already let Grandfather know.
“Motherfucker,” I hiss.
The little shit just won’t get off my ass.
Again I feel tempted to call up Grandfather’s old P.I.
, Harvey, and see what dirt he can scrounge up on Ryan…
but that feels petty. Harvey might even tell me it’s petty, for that matter.
Still, I need to do something about Ryan trying to undermine me, and since I can’t rely on Sutton’s help, I’ll have to come up with a new plan to prove myself to my family and put my shithead brother in his place.