“Enjoy.”
I give him a grateful, but nervous smile and start to tuck in. When I take a bite, I groan in pleasure.
“Oh, my God. That’s delicious.”
He chuckles and leans against the end of the island.
He lets me eat in peace for a bit before saying, “Sutton, I’ve been thinking, and I have a proposition for you.”
“Okay,” I reply around a mouthful of French toast. “What is it?”
He looks me straight in the eye and without a second of hesitation states, “I think we should get engaged.”
I choke on my toast.
CHAPTER SEVEN: PROPOSAL
JAYCE
I expectedher 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 sayto 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 anymore 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.”
