The Convenient Wife (A BWWM Steamy Marriage of Convenience Romance) (5 page)

“I’m old, not crippled, girl. Just
come inside. Come and get yourself something to drink before you head on home.”

“Better be nothing stronger than a
Coca-Cola,” I warned, narrowing my eyes.

I saw my father visibly jump at my
expression, the same way he used to whenever my mother would give him “the
look.”

“Ain’t got no more booze left after
last night, girl. Best I’ve got is some ginger ale,” he called, undoing the
locks on his door before going inside, muttering loudly. “Damn girl looks just
like her mother…”

I sighed, looking at my father’s
house, knowing that in a few weeks it wouldn’t even be his anymore. Just
another in a long line of family disasters… There was no use crying. Life
wasn’t going to take me by the hand and give me the things that I deserved—I’d
have to go get them myself.

Twenty minutes later I was alone
with my ginger ale, watching my father sleep in his favorite armchair.
Something told me he’d been up all night, and seeing him like this brought back
memories both good and bad. I was about to show myself out when the quiet ping
of a text message interrupted my peaceful reflection. A few simple words lit
the screen.

-Dorian-

I have a proposal for you.

A proposal? What in the hell did
Dorian Lambert want with me now? He’d
clearly
shown how little he was interested. He didn’t even try to contact me after his
father’s funeral, and it wasn’t like I could help him flub up the terms of the
will now that it was public record. Whatever his proposal was, I knew somewhere
he could shove it…

I glanced back down at my cellphone,
re-reading the message again. I have a proposal for you…

A proposal.

Oh
hell
no.

It couldn’t be that. I just stared
at the phone as a second message came through.

-Dorian-

My office, two hours. Be there.

Just seeing her again was enough to
send a jolt of desire burning through my mind. As she sat and listened to my
plan, that feeling never went away.

“This is insane,” Gigi said, shaking
her head as she turned her gaze back up to meet my own. “This is absolutely
insane.”

“Is the
idea
insane, or is the fact that you’re
considering it
insane?” I asked, a grin spreading across my face as
I began to bounce—
actually bounce!—
in
my seat. I felt like a schoolboy who’d found a way to never do homework again.

“All
of it!”
she replied,
running a hand through her dark curls. “You can’t just—I mean, this isn’t
right!”

“Why not? It’s not illegal—it isn’t
illegal, right?”

“Not technically,” she said, her
eyes narrowed. “But—”
She
stopped and shook her head violently.
“No! We can’t do this! We’ve never even… You know…”

“Held hands? Kissed under the Eiffel
Tower? Played footsies in a crowded theatre?”

“Be serious Dorian,” Gigi said
sternly.

“I am serious. I felt more for you
in a few days than I’ve felt for anyone in years,” I replied. “Look. I’m not
saying it has to be perfect. It just has to be believable. If things don’t work
out there’s always in vitro. We can treat the whole thing as a business
arrangement.”

“The whole thing? You’re talking
about a baby!” Gigi protested.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you
didn’t feel it. We had a few days together while my grandfather prepped his
will. What would have happened that night if he didn’t,” Dorian began, but I
stopped him mid-sentence.

“Maybe I
would
have went home with you,” she replied, adding an extra
“maybe” for effect. “But not for money. Never for money. I liked you Dorian…
I’m not some gold digging bitch.”

The past-tense
liked
cut me deeper than she knew. I liked her too, but that
feeling wasn’t fading. Just being this close to her was enough to make me want
to bend her over my desk.

 
“The money isn’t for sex. It’s to provide
you a stable life for our child, no matter what happens. You can’t do that with
student loans hanging over you,” I replied. “If this doesn’t work out, I still
have a responsibility to you…”

“If this doesn’t work out you won’t
have a fortune to give,” Gigi said, laughing.

“And I walk away penniless, but you
still
walk away debt free. I might not
have access to the bulk of my future fortune, but I have a calendar year
allotment from my trust that will easily cover your student debt.”

“You never even called me Dorian. I
liked you and you didn’t even call! The tabloids say you’re dating three
different supermodels and two of them are carrying your baby. Now you’re asking
me to marry you just so you can get your inheritance?” she hissed through her
teeth. “Seriously?!”

“The tabloids also say Elvis is
alive and living in Ohio. Do you believe everything you hear? I’ve been trapped
in this damn office since the funeral. I haven’t been
seeing
anyone. I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I’m not the only one
who didn’t pick up the phone,” I replied, spinning away in my chair and staring
out the window at the streets below.

“I’m sorry Dorian… It’s just… I was
busy.”

“It’s ok. I should have called. I’m
not used to being
traditional
,” I
said, turning back to face her.

“This isn’t how I pictured this sort
of thing happening,” Gigi said, hesitating.

“I can fix that. You want this done
the old fashioned way, I can do it the old fashioned way. Gigi Deveraux,” I
said, grinning from ear to ear and letting my voice fall once more, this time
to a husky whisper. She stared at me as I dropped down out of my chair and took
a knee. “Will you do me the tremendous honor of being my wife?”

I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d
broken her as she stared, her mouth open and pretty eyes bulging out of her
skull. Eventually her look turned into something less pleasant—a downward turn
of the mouth that reminded me a little of one of the mean old teachers at my
boarding school.

 
“This isn’t funny,” she said, shying away
from me.

“I’m not trying to be funny. You’re
perfect. I have no expectations and no preconceptions. Besides, you’re a
Harvard graduate with a law degree. You can easily handle the legal aspect of
this…
Transition
period.”

“You make it sound so simple. I
don’t even
know
you!” Gigi said, still
whispering, though I could tell her discretion would only last so long. “You
can’t just get married to someone out of nowhere. I don’t even know what flavor
of ice cream you like,” she said, trying to shrug off the whole conversation.

“It’s mint chocolate chip, and I
never said that either of us needed to spend the rest of our lives with the
other. We just have to get married and have a baby. Whatever else happens,
happens…”

“God help me,” Gigi said, looking
down at her beautifully delicate hands. I enjoyed toying with her like this.

“We have a baby, and if we can’t
make this work we barely have to speak to one another after that, save for
birthday parties and recitals. No hearts get broken. We can share custody. I
won’t fight you on anything. You’ll have my word and any legally binding
documents you’d like to prove it.”

Gigi was silent, her head in her
hands. I could understand her disbelief.

“Plus,” I added, “no one would blame
me for choosing you to marry. My family will lose their minds over it, which I
see as an added little bonus… And our children would be absolutely gorgeous.”

Gigi’s eyes blinked hard.
“Children?”

“I’m hoping for the best,” I
replied, shrugging as she turned her sights downward again. “I’ll let you write
up the pre-nuptual agreements, to plan for the worst.”

“This isn’t going to work,” she
said, her voice quiet. All the fire that it had possessed before had drained
away.

I raised a brow. “Give me one good
reason.”

“Your family will do everything they
can to stop this. I mean… Look at me!”

I blinked, taken off-guard. “What
about you?” I asked. “You’re absolutely beautiful.”

“Stop.”

“It’s true!”

“I said stop, Dorian.”

“But you’re—”

“
Stop
!”

My knee was starting to ache against
the hard marble floor, but I stayed there at Gigi’s feet, holding her
unwavering eyes.

“Can you possibly be more out of
touch with reality Dorian?”

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said
softly. “Really, Gigi. I didn’t. I just wanted…”

Her scowl stopped me in my tracks. “I
need something before I do this.”

“Anything. You name it and its
yours. I’ll buy you the damn moon.”

“Look me in the eyes. You look me in
the eyes and you tell me that you think you can
love
me.”

I reached out for her shoulder and
immediately regretted my decision. Without any warning I felt the sensation of
a knock-off Louie Vuitton handbag smashing into my face.

“Not like that. Tell me.”

“I can love you Gigi… I already…”

“Not another word,” Gigi said,
cutting me off, her dark eyes shimmering. “I’m in.”

She didn’t give me a chance to
respond. Gigi snatched the ring box from my hand, turned heel, and walked
straight out of my office. A moment later, Miss Chambers came barging in,
surveying the scene.

 
“Sir, are you all right?” she asked, a
sound of anger in her voice. I was still rooted one knee onto the floor, trying
to cool my nerves. “Who was that woman?”

“I’m all right,” I said, reaching up
to touch the spot where Gigi had hit me with her purse. “If I’m lucky, she’s my
future wife.”

I knew how Miss Chambers was looking
at me, but I didn’t care. Gigi Deveraux wasn’t like Miss Chambers or most of
the other women who’d come and gone in my life. She wasn’t some fawning,
swooning college girls who attended my parties—no, Gigi was an actual person, a
woman with convictions and morals and a life that didn’t revolve around me. My
money hadn’t been enough. She wanted more. She wanted my heart.

I hoped I wouldn’t disappoint her.