One side of Tristan's mouth quirked up. "Oh, you know, show up at the office more than once a week and find a good woman to help me clean up my image." He leaned forward in his seat and gave her a smile she supposed he meant to be charming, but to Eden, looked predatory. "So whatta you say, darlin'?"
Eden's humor evaporated faster than dew on an Arizona summer morning, and her stomach rolled. She pushed away her dinner plate and looked at her dad. "What's going on?"
"I've been trying to explain it to you. Laurent is willing to get his companies to offer us exclusivity rights, if we—I mean you—help Tristan clean up his reputation."
Eden pushed to her feet so fast she nearly tipped her chair over. "What?"
Dad gave Tristan a pointed look and a nod.
"Oh right." Tristan gave a lazy grin as he got to his feet. "I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to get down on one knee." He fished a small box from his pocket as he rounded the end of the table.
She backed away, but she was boxed in by her chair and the one beside her.
Tristan dropped to one knee and flipped open a ring box with the biggest, most pretentious diamond she'd ever seen. It was downright gaudy.
"Eden, darling, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"
He can't be serious!
He didn't sound serious. His words sounded insincere and lazy, even insolent. Nor did he look serious. His face reflected boredom rather than happiness and hope.
She turned wide eyes on her father who held up his cell phone, documenting this mockery of a proposal. Was this all part of his plan? Would photos of Tristan's proposal be in the news and all over the tabloids by morning?
"Wait. Wait. Wait." She held up her hand, palm out. "No. No. No."
Great! I sound illiterate.
She always got that way when she was upset or angry. And she was both right now. She couldn't seem to spit out more than one word at a time, so she kept repeating herself.
She sucked in a deep, steadying breath. "This isn't happening. Of course, I won't marry you. I don't love you. I can barely stand you."
"Love has nothing to do with it." Tristan rolled his eyes. "It's about family obligation and responsibility. You know, duty to the company and carrying on the legacy and all that nonsense."
The words he'd laced with sarcasm sounded familiar. Much like the lectures her father often gave her about her responsibility to uphold the family name and how the company was the legacy he'd created for her, never mind that she didn't want it. Just like she knew Tristan didn't want his father's company.
So why was he doing this? Had Laurent threatened to cut him off if he didn't shape up?
Even though she recognized Tristan's words, it didn't make her empathize or sympathize or any other -ize with him. She didn't want anything to do with him. Definitely not anything that involved an engagement ring.
"Nuh-huh. No way. Absolutely not."
Wow! Those words aren't much more articulate.
Tristan stood and turned to her dad. "I told you she wouldn't go for it."
"Of course, I'm not going togo for it. No way will I marry you."
"Eden, honey, sit down. Let's discuss this." He gave her the look—the one that said she was acting selfish and disappointing him—until she pulled her chair in and dropped onto it.
She remained perched on the edge, however, because no matter what her dad said, she had a feeling she'd be leaving soon.
"No one expects you tomarryTristan, but Laurent thinks if you two get engaged, it will help him clean up his image. Maybe women will stop...throwing themselves at him when they see him out in public with his fiancée."
"Throwing themselves at him? Really?" Sarcasm filled Eden's voice and she shot a scowl Tristan's way. She recalled how not fifteen minutes after she rejected him last year, she saw him propositioning another woman.
"I can't help it if women want a piece of this." Tristan dropped back into his chair and despite the upright back managed to look like he lounged. He always gave off that carefree, blasé attitude. He winked at her and puckered his lips for the briefest of moments.
She shuddered. Tristan may agree to a fake engagement, but he didn't expect it to be platonic.
