Accidental Proposal (A Year Agreement Book 1) (2 page)

“Here you go,” I said quietly, setting the whiskey down. Being near him, I realized he was even more handsome. Instead of thanking me, he just nodded, his eyes hard. Slightly taken aback, I also nodded and turned away. I frowned as I walked back to the bar.
Why would he ask me to bring him his drink and not say anything? Wait, why do I even care?
Shaking off thoughts of the mysterious man, I got back behind the bar, thankful the creepy guy was gone.

The rest of the night went by quickly, with nothing else weird happening. The mysterious hot man either left or didn’t order anymore drinks, and the creepy guy was gone, but that still didn’t mean I didn’t get hit on. Once the clock hit eleven, I stepped back and Stacey, the girl taking over for me, took my spot and started serving drinks.

“I’m off. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I called over to Candy. She smiled and waved at me over her shoulder. I weaved past drunken men toward the side door for my jacket. When I pushed through the door, I saw Tom. “You’re still here?” I asked, grabbing my jacket and putting it on. I could already feel myself shivering, and I hadn’t even stepped outside yet.

“Yeah, I’m here until closing,” he said, smiling over at me. “Do you want me to call you a cab?” he asked and went to open the door for me.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll walk, but thank you. I hope you have a good night, Tommy,” I said. I shot him a smile at him and slid past him, hearing him shout “Goodbye and be careful” as I walked away from the club. As the cold air blew, I shivered in my thin jacket, picking up my pace. I did not want to be out here longer than I had to. Suddenly, a car pulled up beside me. Like an idiot, I stopped dead in my tracks. A minute later, the door opened and a tall figure stepped out. When a streetlight illuminated the figure’s face, I tried not to gasp. It was the stranger from the bar.

Chapter Two

I stood there, in the middle of the sidewalk, as the stranger walked up to me. I had to tilt my head back so I could see his face. He must be six-foot two or six-foot three, much taller than my five-foot four height. He looked a few years older than me, maybe twenty-four or so. My voice seemed to be stuck in my throat. His blue eyes stared down at me, almost making me cower. Standing this close to him was intimidating, especially after seeing what he was wearing: a clean-cut black suit jacket, a white button-up shirt underneath, with a dark blue tie that made his blue eyes darker, and a pair of black slacks with shiny black dress shoes. His brown hair was styled perfectly, not a strand out of place, and he had a five o’clock shadow covering his chin and cheeks. His lips looked so kissable I nearly jumped on him. Everything about him screamed wealth and power. I could just feel the power radiating off of him as he practically glared at me.

“I need you to come with me,” he said, his voice deep and velvety. Finally, after staring at him for a good couple of minutes, I spoke up.

“W-what?” I stuttered out, confused.
This mysterious, handsome man wants me to get in the car with him? Is he crazy?
I looked him up and down, trying to find any sign of him being crazy, but didn’t find anything except a very expensive Rolex watch. Okay, not crazy, just crazy rich maybe.

“I need you to come with me,” he said again slowly, as if talking to a little kid. Hearing him talk down to me seemed to jerk me awake.

“Excuse me? I am not going anywhere with you. I have no idea who you are. And don’t talk down to me as if I’m stupid or a child,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. I crossed my arms over my chest as I glared up at him. I could see him clenching his jaw, his lips thinning as if he was trying not to yell.

“Jenna, I need you to come with me. I have something to discuss with you.” His voice was hard.
How does he know my name?
He must have seen the look on my face, because he said, “I was at the club, remember?”
Ohhhh.

I stood there in silence, having an internal war with myself. One part of me wanted to go and see what he wanted, while the other was shouting a warning at me, saying, “Don’t go!”
Maybe he wants something from you?
a voice said in the back of my mind. The thought of sleeping with this handsome stranger somehow seemed to turn me on.
Jenna, get your shit together!
“Jenna, I promise you I will not harm you. All I want to do is talk to you for a few minutes. Then I’ll bring you back home,” the stranger said, interrupting my thoughts. The longer we stood out in the cold wind, the weaker my resolve became.

“Are you a rapist?” I asked him.

“No.”

“Are you a killer?”

“No.”

“I will only get in the car if you tell me your name.”

“Liam. Liam Stanford,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me almost expectantly.
What? Did he think I would immediately trust him or know his name?
I thought angrily. He stepped to the side and gestured to the car. Sighing, I walked to the car, no longer able to feel my hands or toes. Liam opened the door for me as I slid inside. Liam slid in next to me and gestured with his hand. I then noticed that there was a driver in the front seat.
Wow, he does have a lot of money.

I stared out the window as we drove down the street, headed to who-knew-where. The car was quiet. I should be scared driving with an unknown man headed to an unknown location, but for some reason, I really wasn’t…Stupid, I know. After about ten minutes of complete silence, we pulled up to Liam’s destination. The moment the car came to a stop, Liam opened the door and stepped out. Now slightly scared, I slowly slipped out and stood beside him. I quickly looked around and almost sighed in relief. We were out front of a coffee place. While I was busy looking around, Liam had already walked to the front door of the coffee shop and was impatiently waiting for me. I was already done with his attitude. I walked past him and instantly smelled the amazing aroma of fresh ground coffee. Not bothering to wonder why this place was still open at 11:30 at night, I walked to the front counter.

“Hi,” I said to the bored-looking barista. She was about my age, maybe a year older. She had platinum-dyed hair and makeup caked on her face, making her look like an Oompa Loompa.

“Hi,” she said boredly.

“I’ll have a hot chocolate…grande,” I said, not wanting coffee so late. I planned on listening to Liam for just a few minutes, then heading home to pass out before waking up at nine for my diner shift.

“Is that all?” the barista asked, punching something in on the computer.

“No. I’ll have a coffee…grande.” I heard Liam’s deep voice come from behind me. The moment he spoke, the girl immediately perked up and plastered a smile on her make-up-caked face.

“Do you want anything else?” she asked, pushing her chest out, obviously hoping to get Liam’s attention. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“No,” came his curt reply. The girl didn’t seem to get the hint but at least rang us up. I reached into my bag and pulled out some money. Before I could hand the money over, a big hand shoved mine away and handed the girl cash. I looked up at Liam, who was now pressed against my side.

“I was going to pay,” I objected.

“I got it,” was all he said before walking toward a table a few feet away. Since we were the only people in the shop, we didn’t have to give the girl our names. I took a seat across from Liam, starting to wonder what he wants to talk to me about.
I don’t even know him. I just found out his name not even fifteen minutes ago. What would he want to talk to me about?
We sat in silence as we waited for our drinks. A few minutes later, the barista came over with them. She practically threw mine at me while handing Liam his, her breasts practically in his face. When she walked away, I saw she had written her number on the side of his cup. It didn’t surprise me, and it still wouldn’t if Liam called her.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” I finally asked, taking a sip of my hot chocolate.

“I want you to be my wife,” Liam said bluntly. I choked on my hot chocolate and sat there coughing, my eyes wide.

“W-What did you just say?” I asked once I finally stopped coughing.

“I want you to be my wife,” he said again, taking a sip from his coffee and staring at me like he had just asked me what my favorite color was, instead of asking for my hand in marriage. I started to laugh.
This is a joke. He’s definitely kidding.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked almost angrily.

“Because you’re joking.” When he didn’t agree with me, I stopped laughing. “Are you being serious? We don’t even know each other! Hell, I just met you twenty minutes ago!” I yelled.

“Keep it down!” he hissed at me, his voice low and dangerous.

“How can you ask me that after you just practically proposed to me?” I hissed back at him. My hands tightened on my cup. “You have to be joking right now, Liam. I am not going to marry you!”

“Yes, you will. I am not asking you to be my wife forever. I am asking you to be my wife for a year. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Why do you want me? You can have any girl you want,” I said.

“Because I need someone who will make my parents think I’ve changed. I need someone that is the opposite of my usual girls,” Liam said, shrugging as he drank from his cup.
“Someone that is the opposite of my usual girls?”
Yeah, that makes me feel so good. Glad to know I’m at the bottom of your pretty list.

“Why do you need someone to make your parents think you’ve changed?” I asked, confused.
Why would his parents care?

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” he asked, switching the subject suddenly.

“No…am I supposed to?”

“Does Stanford Industries ring a bell?” I vaguely remembered hearing that name before, but I didn’t know what it was or what it had to do with Liam. The look I gave him said no.

“I own Stanford Industries, well, my family does. My name is very well known in New York.” He went on when he saw I still didn’t know what he was talking about. “My company owns multiple hotels, apartment buildings…ring any bells?”

“Not really,” I answered truthfully. What? I didn’t get out much. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Anyways, I want you to be my wife so I can show my father I am the right choice to take over the company.”

“You want me to marry you so you can take over your father’s company. And to be only married for a year. Am I right?” I asked, trying to figure out why he wanted me to marry him.

“Yes. You won’t be left without anything after the year. When the year has passed, we will get a divorce and you will get a million dollars.” I almost choked again. He mentioned it as if it were only ten dollars.

“Are you kidding me? A million dollars?” A million dollars was a lot of money.
How can he just hand that kind of money over to someone?

“Money is not an issue for me,” was all he said.

How rich are you?
I wanted to say but bit my tongue.
How stupid could I be to say yes? But a million dollars! You could do things you’ve always wanted to do, and you could quit your awful jobs.
I sat there, arguing internally with myself. Liam sat silently, seemingly letting me think about his offer as he sipped his coffee.

“Can I think about it and let you know?” I finally asked. I wanted to say no, but some part of me wanted me to think about it. Money like that was something I didn’t want to immediately say no to, especially in my situation. I would never be able to save up that much.

“Yes, you may. Here is my number. Let me know when you have decided,” Liam said, handing me a business card. He stood up and waited for me to get up and follow him. Holding onto the card, I grabbed my cup and followed Liam outside to the car. He slid in beside me and looked over at me. “Your address.”

“184 Burton Street,” I said, feeling ashamed about my neighborhood. He repeated the address to the driver, and the car started back to my apartment. Thankfully, Liam didn’t say anything about me living in a pretty bad neighborhood or that I lived close to the club. A few minutes later, we pulled up to the front of my building.

“Thank you for the drink and ride back,” I said, opening the car door.

“You’re welcome. Think about my proposal. I want a reply by the end of the week at the most,” Liam said, turning to me. I frowned at his formal answer and the way he was talking to me. I held back an eye roll and got out of the car. Closing the door, I made my way inside my apartment.

During the entire walk to my place, I kept replaying what Liam told me. How could I marry some stranger I just met, and for money? When I got inside my apartment, I threw away my drink and changed out of my clothes. I crawled into my comfortable bed and stared up at the ceiling. Even though I have been up since six this morning and didn’t go to bed until four, I was now wide awake. When I looked at my clock, I saw it was midnight. I knew I should try and go to sleep because I had to be at work at nine, but everything that had happened tonight ran through my mind. The crazy part about it all was I was really considering taking Liam’s deal.

***

The next day at work, I was almost in a daze. I hadn’t been able to sleep all night, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Liam’s proposal. The idea of marrying someone I didn’t even know wasn’t appealing, but that kind of money was. People would probably think I’m a gold digger, but since I’ve been on my own most of my life, I have never had anything nice or anything that wasn’t a necessity. I could maybe have a life.

All the pros and cons ran through my head as I went from table to table. I was starting to think I was crazy for even considering the deal. What would even happen to me during this year? Would Liam expect me to act like I’m some high-class lady? To act like I was madly in love with him? And what if someone found out this was all a hoax? Plus, what would happen to me at the end of the year marriage? All these questions came to mind throughout the day.
But it’s only for a year.
My shift ended at 5 p.m., and I sat on a stool, thinking. Sophia kept asking what was on my mind, and I wanted to tell her, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want her to make me change my mind or to think I was crazy for considering this deal. After sitting there for five more minutes, I made my decision. I asked Sophia for her phone, and she gladly let me see it. Going into the back room, I dialed Liam’s number.

“Hello?” he answered after three rings.

“Liam? This is Jenna Howard,” I said nervously. I was about to make either the worst decision of my life or the best. “I will marry you.”