Xavier
Sleep wouldn't come.
Two months and twenty-eight days.
That was all I had left. Two months and twenty-eight days before my grandmother's deadline passed.
I'd never fancied myself the marrying type. I'd spent my twenties avoiding exactly that. Keeping things casual. Moving on before anyone got too close, before anyone expected more than I could give. It had worked. I'd been happy, or something close to it.
But now the topic had come up, forced upon me by a grandmother who refused to accept that her youngest grandson might never settle down, and I didn't even know where to start.
At this point, I'd marry just about anyone to keep my inheritance. It wasn't about the money, not really. It was about security. The Dubois family was warm and accepting, don’t get me wrong, but my unique circumstances made me wary.
I didn’t like to talk about it much, neither did my family, but sometimes I feared that they’d look at me and see exactly what I was: a product of infidelity.
My mother had left me with nothing, so the Dubois name became my everything. At first, I’d wanted to live up to the name, but with a brother like Sebastian, why try? I’d rather be the natural screw-up than the one who tried but still failed.
I turned onto my side, punched my pillow into a different shape, and tried to think about something else.
Kim.
Her face surfaced in my mind unbidden. Dark eyes that missed nothing. Hair pulled back in that practical ponytail.
I didn't know much about her life. I’d been surprised to learn she had a daughter. But it made sense. She was pretty efficient. Almost reminded me of my mother, the real one, not the one who left me in front of the Dubois doorstep and disappeared.
Kim would make an amazing partner. She’d be kind and supportive, everything that every woman in my life wasn’t.
She didn't seem to like me much, though. Or maybe I made her uncomfortable. I wasn't sure which. That first day, when I'd turned up the charm without realizing she was my secretary, I could see in her eyes that I'd just confirmed every assumption she'd already made about me.
She was beautiful, though. One of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen, and I'd seen a lot. Not the polished, manufactured beauty of the women I usually spent time with. Realer. She didn't need expensive clothes or perfect makeup to shine through.
But that was a line even I wouldn't cross. She worked for me. Whatever attraction I felt, whatever curiosity, it didn't matter. Some boundaries existed for a reason.
My grandmother was right, though. Kim was the perfect person for me. She sure as hell would keep me in line. There was a fire in her eyes. It didn’t need taming. It needed to be ignited. Was I the man for the job? Maybe. That remained to be seen.
If I enlisted her in this thing with my grandmother, it might actually work. Kim was smart enough to play the role convincingly. My grandmother already liked her. And Zoe... Zoe made me look like exactly the family man my grandmother wanted me to become.
But.
There was always a but.
If I spent three months pretending to be in a relationship with Kim Young, I might find myself wanting it to be real. And my heart definitely wasn't up for that. I'd kept it carefully guarded for years. I wasn't ready to let anyone past those walls.
Especially not someone who looked at me like she could see right through them.
Kim occupied my mind throughout the night, slipping into my dreams. I was still thinking of her when I woke up.
I dressed mechanically and drove to the office. But my mind was on a certain dark-haired secretary. That secretary was already at her desk when I arrived. She was typing something with that focused efficiency that made me feel like a slacker just watching her.
She glanced up when I approached. "Good morning, Mr. Dubois."
"Xavier."
"Good morning, Xavier." She said it like she was humoring me. Which I was sure she was. "Your nine o'clock was pushed to ten. I've updated your calendar."
"Thanks."
I walked past her into my office, closing the door behind me. I glanced at her through the glass
I couldn't ask her. It was insane. But I couldn't not ask her either. She was my best option. My only option, really, if I was honest with myself. And I was also running out of time.
I kept glancing through the glass wall at Kim's desk, watching her work, trying to figure out how to approach this conversation without sounding like a complete lunatic.
Hey, Kim, want to pretend to be my girlfriend for three months so my grandmother doesn't disinherit me? Great, thanks, I'll have my people call your people.
Yeah. That would go over well.
Around eleven, the elevator dinged. I looked up from my laptop and felt my stomach drop.
My grandmother swept onto the floor. Her eyes were already scanning the space with that particular intensity that meant she was looking for something. Or someone. She spotted me through the glass wall and smiled. It was not a comforting smile.
I stood as she pushed open my office door, not bothering to knock. "Grandmother. What a surprise."
"Is it?" She settled into the chair across from my desk, arranging her skirt. "I was in the neighborhood."
"You're always in the neighborhood."
"One of the benefits of owning half of it." She fixed me with that sharp gaze. "How is your search progressing?"
"My search?"
"Don't play coy, Xavier. It doesn't suit you."
I opened my mouth to deliver some deflection, some charming non-answer that would buy me more time. But through the glass wall, I saw Kim walking past, a stack of files in her arms, and the words that came out were completely different.
"Actually," I heard myself say, "I was trying to keep things quiet. But Kim and I have been getting to know each other."
My grandmother's eyes widened. Then narrowed. Then lit up. "Kim?" She turned to look through the glass wall at my secretary, who was now settling back at her desk, completely unaware that she'd just been drafted into my personal disaster. "Your secretary, Kim?"
"Yes."
My grandmother's face transformed. The skepticism, the doubt, the perpetual disappointment—all of it melted away, replaced by genuine pleasure. She clasped her hands together like a child who'd just been told Christmas was coming early.
"Oh, Xavier. This is wonderful news." She was already rising from her chair, moving toward the door. "I must speak with her. Welcome her to the family properly."
"No." I stepped around my desk, blocking her path. "Not yet. She's... shy. Private. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone until she was ready."
"Shy?" My grandmother's eyebrow arched. "She didn't seem shy when we chatted the other day."
"That's different. That was just a conversation. This is..." I scrambled for something believable. "She's been hurt before. She's cautious about letting people in. I'm trying to respect her pace."
My grandmother studied me for a long moment. I couldn't tell if she believed me or if she was cataloging the lie for later use.
Finally, she nodded. "Very well. I'll respect her boundaries." She patted my cheek, her rings cool against my skin. "But don't keep me waiting too long, darling. I'm an old woman. I'd like to see my grandson happy before I die."
"You're going to outlive us all, and you know it."
She laughed. "Probably. But still."
I walked her to the elevator, my heart hammering against my ribs the entire way. As we passed Kim's desk, my grandmother paused.
Kim looked up, her expression professionally pleasant. "Mrs. Dubois. Lovely to see you again."
My grandmother didn't say anything. She just stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Kim, and pulled her into a hug.
Kim froze. Her eyes found mine over my grandmother's shoulder, wide with confusion. I tried to communicate something—reassurance, apology, an explanation I didn't actually have—but I'm not sure anything translated.
After a moment, my grandmother released her. She cupped Kim's face in her hands briefly, smiled at her with genuine warmth, and then turned and walked to the elevator without another word.
The doors closed. She was gone.
Kim stared at me. "What was that about?"
"I'll explain." My voice came out rougher than I intended. "My office. Five minutes."
I walked away before she could ask any more questions.
The five minutes felt like five hours.
I stood at my window, staring at the city, running through the conversation in my head. There was no good way to do this. No script that would make it sound reasonable. I was about to ask my secretary to pretend to be my girlfriend, and no amount of careful phrasing would make that less insane.
The knock came at exactly five minutes.
"Come in."
Kim appeared in my doorway. Her spine was straight, her shoulders squared, her expression carefully neutral. But I could see the tension in the way she held herself, the slight tightness around her eyes. She was nervous. Bracing for something.
She had good instincts.
"Close the door," I said. "Please."
She did. Then she crossed to the chair I'd gestured toward and sat, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes fixed on my face.
I took a breath. "I have a proposition."
Her expression didn't change, but something flickered in her eyes. Wariness. Suspicion. The look of someone who'd learned to expect the worst from situations like this.
"Go on," she said.
I moved around my desk and sat on the edge of it, closer to her than I would normally be, trying to make this feel like a conversation rather than a corporate presentation.
"My grandmother has given me an ultimatum. You might think it sounds ridiculous; I certainly do.” I laughed nervously. She just stared back at me. Seems I’ll just have to jump right in. "I have three months to get married. If I don't, I lose my inheritance. All of it."
Kim's eyebrows drew together. "That seems... extreme."
"She's an extreme woman." I ran a hand through my hair. "The thing is, time isn’t on my side. I was hoping I’d find someone willing to play the part, for a fee, of course. We’d stage a breakup, and I’d pretend to be so heartbroken that my grandmother would forget her ridiculous ultimatum."
The confusion was settling into something else now. Her eyes were narrowing. Her jaw was tightening. She was starting to understand where this was going.
"And?" The word was clipped.
"And I haven't found anyone." I held her gaze. "Until now."
The silence stretched between us. I watched understanding dawn across her face, followed by disbelief, followed by something that looked a lot like anger.
"You can't be serious."
"I know how it sounds."
"Do you?" She stood abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor. "You're asking me to lie to your family. To pretend to be something I'm not. To…" She stopped, shaking her head. "This is insane."
"My grandmother is too perceptive to be fooled by someone I hired off a website.
She'd see through an actress in five minutes.
" I stood too, keeping my voice calm. "But you're different.
You're not impressed by money. You don't play games.
She already likes you. She already thinks you're exactly what I need. "
"So I'm convincing because I'm too naive to lie properly? That's your pitch?"
"You're convincing because you're real." I stepped closer. "And because of Zoe."
Kim went still. Her whole body tensed, like a wire pulled too tight.
"Leave my daughter out of this."
"I'm not trying to…"
"I mean it." Her voice had gone cold. Hard. "Zoe is not a prop for your family drama. She's not a tool to make you look like a better person. She's a child. My child. And if you think I would ever…"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
I took a breath. This was going badly. Worse than I'd imagined, and I'd imagined it going pretty badly.
"I'm not asking you to use Zoe. I'm saying the foundation is already there. We just have to build on it."
Kim stared at me. Her eyes were blazing, dark and furious, and I realized I'd never seen her like this. She was always so poised.
"Absolutely not." She turned toward the door. "Find someone else for your scheme, Mr. Dubois. I won't be part of it."
"Wait." I moved to block her path, holding up my hands to show I wasn't trying to trap her. "Just hear me out. Please."
She stopped. Didn't turn around. But she didn't keep walking either.
"I'm offering compensation," I said to her back. "Significant compensation. Any figure you want, just name it."
"I don't take handouts." She still wasn't looking at me.
"It's not a handout." I took a careful step closer. "It's a job."
Finally, she turned. Her expression was unreadable, but she was listening. That was something.
"You'd be providing a service. Three months of attending family events, having dinners with my grandmother, and occasional public outings.
Nothing inappropriate. Nothing that crosses any lines.
" I held her gaze. "After the deadline passes, we stage an amicable breakup.
I pretend to be heartbroken. My grandmother feels sorry for me and stops pushing.
And you walk away with enough money to change your life. "
Silence filled the office. Kim was staring at me with an expression I couldn't read—anger, still, but something else too. Something calculating.
"Take the night," I said. "Think about it. Give me an answer tomorrow."
She didn't respond. Just stood there, looking at me with those dark eyes that seemed to see everything I was trying to hide.
Then she turned and walked out of my office.
I watched her return to her desk, watched her sit down and pull something up on her computer, her face perfectly neutral, giving nothing away.
This was either the solution to all my problems or the match that would set my entire life on fire.
I honestly couldn't tell which.