It took me a few minutes of watching him to realize he was in no hurry at all, that piercing gaze drinking in every inch of my bedroom like he was learning from it. Eventually, I sat down on the stool at my vanity, content to let him look at whatever he wanted to.
We were going to be married soon, and even if it wouldn’t be arealmarriage, we would have to get used to being in each other’s personal space. He finally turned to me once he’dreached my nightstand, his eyes dropping to the drawer for just a fraction of a second, like he knew what was in there, and I fought the heat that threatened to rise to my cheeks.
“You likely know why I’m here,” he said slowly, his voice still gentler and a little rougher than I remembered it. “Do you want me to explain the offer before I present the arrangement the way I see it?”
For whatever reason, the fact he’d come here and hadn’t just assumed I was in the dark about this made me feel better. Better aboutallof this.
In return, I did him the courtesy of looking right into his eyes and responding genuinely instead of with some snarky, snide remark. “I’m aware of what your family offered mine, yes.”
He gritted his teeth for a moment and then shook his head. “Not my family. Not your family, either. This, at its essence, would be between me and you. A marriage.”
“On paper.” I turned to the vanity, glancing at him in the reflection of the mirror. Technically, I was still looking into his eyes. I’d just needed to do it some other way than directly. “I assume you have boundaries you’d like to set.”
“Then you’re considering it?”
“I’ve already decided.” I drummed my fingers on the antique wood. “I’ll marry you as long as you give me your word that when the time comes to oust my uncle as CEO and vote in my favor, you’ll do it. Otherwise, I won’t sign a thing.”
“Of course, I’ll be on your side.”
I felt my eyebrows arch as I stared at him, my head tilting slightly. I didn’t really want to grill him, but I had to. Suddenly, I was ready to dive in. At its core, this was a negotiation and I was good at those. Great even.
“The only reason either of us is considering this is because we both have something to gain.”
“Correct.”
Relieved that he’d admitted it so readily and so easily, I drew in a deep breath, encouraged to keep being direct with him. “I want my family’s company and so do you. At least being married, we can have both, but if you think for a second I’d ever let you take this from me?” My voice was suddenly shaking as I beat down the emotions I was usually a master at keeping under wraps. “I’ll end you, Alex. Brutally. Don’t underestimate me.”
“I never have.”
He looked at me so intently that it felt like his gaze was peeling back the layers of armor I’d built around myself. God, I’d spent years doing everything I could to never end up in this situation—dependent on a man.
Men had let me down all my life, but I’d raised my brothers to be different. At least, I hoped I had. They were good men and I didn’t want them to think I was suddenly giving up or that a situation like this was okay. Normal.
Tears pressed at the backs of my eyes, burning like hellfire as I thought of them. My brothers. Of what they might think, but I refused to cry even though I suddenlyreallywanted to.
Alex must have seen the crinkle of my eyes as I blinked, because he spoke again, even gentler this time. “I know we don’t know each other at all. Honestly, it even seems unfair, accepting this arrangement with you and moving forward with a marriage. I’ll be completely honest with you here, Jane. I’m not the kind of man you deserve.”
Silently shocked by this admission, my head cocked again, confusion racing through me, but he gave me a slightly self-deprecating smile and kept going. “You’re going to make me look like a better man on paper,Dr. Thayer. Meanwhile, I barely finished my MBA, only making it by the skin of my teeth, and I hardly remember a thing from college.”
I leaned forward a little, too curious and stunned that he was speaking to me like this to even try to hide how interested I was in hearing this story. “You don’t remember?”
“Not much.” He shrugged, slowly moving back and sitting down on the very foot of my bed. Those eyes became a little unfocused. “Let’s just say that I wasn’t the best or the most dedicated scholar. I was too busy getting drunk and, uh, full disclosure, I may also have had a bit of a reputation for sleeping with anything that showed interest.”
My insides revolted at that, but I forced myself to swallow the irrational stab of jealousy when he blinked himself back to the present. “I was handed everything I have because I was born a Westwood.”
He said it so matter-of-factly that I nearly fell off the stool, but then he rose from my bed and pulled a thin file from inside his coat. “This is our prenup. I’ve already signed it. If there’s anything you don’t agree to, all you have to do is tell me and I’ll change it.”
“You’ve already signed it?” I asked lamely. I flipped it open, motioning for him to wait as I started reading through it.
It was pretty basic. Mostly what I expected, but then I turned another page and my jaw practically detached itself from my body. If we stayed married for a year, I would get five million dollars and ten percent of his shares in Westwood and Sons, which was a lot of money.
If we divorced before year end, I was entitled to nothing of his, but after the first year, it would be a fifty/fifty split. That, in itself, was more than just generous. It was insane.
I looked up at him, finding his gaze already pinned on mine. “Do you have a pen?”
He slid one out of his inside pocket, deftly handing it over and then watching me as I scribbled my signature where it needed to go. I didn’t bother signing with any kind of flourish,and I simply snapped the folder shut when I was done and handed it, as well as the stupidly expensive branded pen, back to him.
He took it, sliding it all back into his coat. I turned back to the mirror, needing to make myself look busy. I didn’t want to crumple into a puddle of dread in front of him and I felt it coming, the meltdown of epic proportions. He walked up behind me, waiting until I met his gaze in the reflection again.
