She couldn't stop herself from staring at him and was startled when he handed her another phone out of his pocket. He had…two?
"Go ahead," he urged her. "Google me."
“Why should I do that?”
“Well I could see doubts written all over your face and I want to prove to you that I am who I say I am and that we can help each other.”
"I don't know your full name," she said softly while duking her head in shame since she forgot his last name. How could she spend a day in the presence of the man and forget his last name — who really was the insane one here?
"Michael Christian Harper the third," he offered, his voice sending naughty shivers down her spine. “That's my full name."
Trinity rubbed at the goosebumps before typing the name into the search engine. Multiple search results arrived almost immediately with pictures. He looked way better in person, that was for sure. She scrolled through his bio page, and for the second time in ten minutes, she was stunned into silence. She saw his net worth and her mouth hung open again.
He was talking, something about keeping his birthright, but she couldn't hear what he was saying over the rush of blood in her ears.
This has to be a dream.She put the phone down and pinched herself. She needed to wake up. It wasn’t a dream. This was happening. This man who had rescued her, took care of her daughter while she was unconscious, was now proposing to her.
This beautiful man who was looking intently at her with alluring grey eyes, and whose magnetism she had been consciously denying all this while, wanted to marry her.
This man who had been patient with her little girl, who had proposed to her in the most bizarre twist of fate ever... was a billionaire.
He was the sole heir to a multibillion-dollar empire, which was what the news favored, and favor him they did — the articles featured him continuously in the spotlight and in the company of various influential people. And yet he sat across from her wanting a marriage — what would he gain from that union? He said he needed a wife, but looking at him, she knew that wouldn’t be too hard of a task for him to accomplish. The man was gorgeous.
"Why?"
"Why what?" he chorused in confusion.
"Why are you asking me to marry you? It's not like it would be difficult for you to get some other woman. You’re rich, you’re great with kids, and you’re totally gorgeous with those piercing…" She trailed off noticing that he was amused and realizing she had said too much.
"You think I’m gorgeous?" he asked, one eyebrow arched teasingly.
Trinity flushed and bit her lips. Every time she was snared into that silvery gray gaze, her pulse quickened. Every time she caught his interaction with Miranda, her heart swooned.
He was virile and powerful. From the teasing looks he was leveling her way right now, he knew it.
"I can see now why another woman won’t have you. It’s the ego."
"Must you always fight?" the husky question gathered all her jittery nerves and shredded them in one quick move.
She tried to turn her face away from the danger of it, but he looked at her too coolly, his face a steely challenge... daring her to deny it, to turn away.
She found herself trapped in his gaze, slowly losing her senses and air.
Breathe!
He was suddenly so close, his musky scent seemed to surround her. When she raised her eye, she noticed he was right beside her bed with his hand inches from her face.
She whimpered, a small tortured sound and his hand stalled in midair before retreating, and the charged atmosphere effectively broken.
"My grandfather has threatened to sell the business if I don’t get married. I am not one to normally give into ultimatums, but I really want to get the old man off my back. I’ve contributed too much of my time and life into the business only to have it sold out from under me," he explained easily, too easily for her, of course there had to be more.
"You want to get married so that you can keep the business?" she asked, skeptical.
"Yes, basically. You’ll benefit from this marriage as well. I have unlimited insurance and enough money to burn," he replied.
"Marrying a stranger seems like quite a brazen move. Don’t you have a girlfriend or someone within your circle who can help you?"
He arched his eyebrows and she ducked away from the look “The women in my circle are all the same; pretentious. Plus, they would require more than I’m able to give. I am looking for a business arrangement where each party gets what they want. You need money and I need a wife. We have no other expectations of each other," he murmured. He was right about her needing money.
