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&quot;...It sounds crazy. But will you marry me? I need a beautiful wife to travel with me on business. I need everybody that I&#039;m meeting to see what the board needs to see—that I am a stable, married man devoted to his wife, and she&#039;s devoted to me.&quot;<br /> &quot;There&#039;s no way we can pull that off. Who&#039;s going to believe that after knowing me for less than two weeks, we&#039;re deeply in love and want to get married?&quot;<br /> &quot;I will pay for your education as well as give you an allowance of five thousand dollars per month, and when all is said and done, another two million dollars.&quot;<br /> &quot;So how come it makes me feel like I would be a gold digger?&quot;<br /> ————————<br /> Reyna<br /> My boss was a jerk. The question was, was he a jerk just to me or was he like that toward everybody? Maybe he didn&#039;t like that I didn&#039;t know who he was when he came into the office. But how could I know somebody I had never met before? The manual from HR hadn&#039;t included pictures of the CEO. <br /> If he was upset that I didn&#039;t know him, then he wasn&#039;t just a jerk, he was also a conceited jerk. Then again, wasn&#039;t self-importance and entitlement a part of being the head of a company? I know my father acted that way a lot. And Dean, even though he wasn&#039;t in charge of his family&#039;s company, often came across like he was the center of the world.<br /> I shook my head because whenever I thought of Dean, the picture of him and Caryn flashed in my brain. He had no business taking up space there. He was out of my life. I&#039;d blocked him after a flood of texts and messages had come through in the days following my calling off the engagement.<br /> I hadn&#039;t blocked my mother yet, but I was getting close. Each time she texted or left a voice message, I had a glimmer of hope that she would see things my way. That she wouldn&#039;t ask me to sacrifice my dignity and my happiness just so my dad could salvage a business deal. But every text and message doused that bit of hope. <br /> My last message back to her was reminding her that she&#039;d given me a choice—I could come home and hand my life over to my dad&#039;s business, or I could never come home and lead my own life. I had chosen the latter. Not that I hadn&#039;t had moments in the last couple of weeks wondering whether I was making the right choice. <br /> I clung to the good fortune of having been hired to be Mr. Dunsmore&#039;s assistant. The pay was enough that if I continued to live on ramen, I could rent a small studio apartment. Of course, that wouldn&#039;t happen if I got fired, which I suspected was a possibility based on the way Mr. Dunsmore was treating me.<br /> I did what he asked, leaving him alone and letting Mrs. Curtis know he wanted to see her and get the messages when she returned. When I told her that, she pursed her lips and looked at me in a way that I couldn&#039;t decide whether she felt like I wasn&#039;t being forceful enough with my new grumpy boss or if she was annoyed at him for not being more adaptable to working with me.<br /> She went into his office, closing the door behind her. I wanted to tiptoe over and put my ear to the door so I could hear what they were talking about. But I was hanging onto my independence and my confidence by a thread. I didn&#039;t need to hear that he didn&#039;t think I would make a good assistant. He didn&#039;t even know me. How could he know whether I was going to be good or bad?<br /> I hadn&#039;t missed the way his gaze had scanned my body, and for a moment, I worried I was going to work for one of those clichéd bosses whose boundaries of work and personal life were blurred. <br /> But while he may have looked, he didn&#039;t make any comments, nor did he give any indication that he planned to act on what he saw. In fact, I think he was annoyed by what he saw. The flash of heat in his eyes had told me he liked my appearance, but I don&#039;t think he wanted to like it.<br /> In my mind, that was a good thing. He was attractive, but he was my boss, so that meant he was off-limits. Not that I was interested in him because I wasn&#039;t. <br /> I was still smarting from what Dean and Caryn had done, and I wasn&#039;t going to jump into the deep end of a relationship again anytime soon. <br /> There was a petty part of me that would&#039;ve liked to have made Dean eat his heart out by hooking up with somebody to prove that I didn&#039;t need him. But I wasn&#039;t a hooking up type of girl. <br /> ...<br /> I don&#039;t know why I was nervous about attending the Christmas Eve office party. While James was still grumpy and prone to snarky outbursts, for the most part over the last week, we got along. Or at least we had an understanding. <br /> Something had shifted over dinner last week that made me feel more secure in my job. He seemed impressed by what I had discovered about his father and the board, and therefore, he didn&#039;t treat me like I was incompetent anymore.<br /> Still, it was one thing to be in an office and working with people and a whole other thing to be in the office socializing. I didn&#039;t mind making friends. In fact, I wanted to, but I didn&#039;t want to have to reveal all the circumstances around my moving to Las Vegas. <br /> I don&#039;t know why I felt shame or embarrassment since it was Dean and my parents who had betrayed me. I suppose it was a blow to the ego that I wasn&#039;t important enough to any of them for them to be loyal to me.<br /> I looked around the room, recognizing many of the staff mingled with people I had no clue about. James&#039;s gaze caught mine, and he excused himself from whoever he was talking to and started toward me.<br /> I felt partly relieved because it was embarrassing to stand by myself, and yet it was nerve-wracking to think about small talk with my boss. I noted his gaze taking me in again, like he had the first time we met. The first time, I was wary. This time, I sort of liked it.<br /> &quot;How are you this evening, Ms. Pearson?&quot;<br /> I smiled, hoping I looked like I was having fun. &quot;Mr. Dunsmore. Very well, thank you. Everyone has been very welcoming to me.&quot; I hadn&#039;t actually chatted to anyone, but I didn&#039;t want him to feel sorry for or responsible for me.<br /> &quot;I&#039;m glad to hear it. Can I get you a drink?&quot;<br /> &quot;Okay. I suppose one won&#039;t hurt. I don&#039;t want to embarrass myself in front of the boss.&quot;<br /> He smiled. It was strained, but I understood he was under a lot of pressure. &quot;What&#039;s your poison?&quot;<br /> &quot;White liquor.&quot;<br /> &quot;I&#039;ll be right back.&quot;<br /> James went off, leaving me alone. As nervous as I was about mingling socially with the staff of the company, once again, I felt self-conscious about being a wallflower. I really needed to work on my self-esteem.<br /> The woman he had been talking to just before he came over to me made eye contact and started toward me. I&#039;d never seen her before, but whoever she was, James respected her. When he was talking to her and the man with her, he still looked grumpy, yet more relaxed than when he was talking to anybody else.<br /> When she reached me, she held out her hand. &quot;Hi. I&#039;m Amelia Clarke. I&#039;m James&#039;s sister.&quot;<br /> I shook her hand. &quot;I&#039;m Reyna Pearson, Mr. Dunsmore&#039;s new assistant.&quot;<br /> Amelia smirked. &quot;I hope he&#039;s not giving you a hard time.&quot;<br /> &quot;Nothing I can&#039;t handle.&quot; As soon as the words left my mouth, I second-guessed the wisdom of them. Mrs. Curtis had told me James and his sister were close, and my remark could be construed as forgetting my place.<br /> She smiled. &quot;Good. James needs a strong woman in his corner.&quot;<br /> It was the same thing Mrs. Curtis had told me.<br /> James returned, handing me the glass of liquor. He carried a glass with clear liquid and ice, but I suspected it was more potent than water. &quot;You&#039;re not telling stories on me, are you, Amelia?&quot;<br /> Amelia cocked a brow in surprise, as if she thought his question was odd. &quot;No. Why would I be telling your new assistant stories about you?&quot;<br /> He glanced at me with an expression I couldn&#039;t quite decipher. It was almost as if there were something more between us, which was ridiculous because there wasn&#039;t. The fact that I kept thinking that, though, was disturbing. It was almost as if I wanted him to look at me in a way other than just being his secretary.<br /> He shrugged and took a sip of his drink. &quot;No reason.&quot;<br /> Amelia looked from him to me and then back to him again. Her eyes narrowed as if she was trying to ferret something out. I wasn&#039;t sure if she found what she was looking for, but eventually, her features relaxed. &quot;Are you new to Las Vegas?&quot; she asked me.<br /> I nodded. &quot;Yes. I&#039;ve only lived here for a couple of weeks.&quot;<br /> &quot;Are you glad for the move?&quot;<br /> I glanced up at James, wondering if he was going to reveal what he knew about my recent move. I hadn&#039;t given him details, but whatever I hadn&#039;t told him, Mrs. Curtis surely had. Even without the details, there was enough there to know that this move hadn&#039;t been planned.<br /> &quot;So far, I love it. I feel fortunate to have gotten a great job, and I look forward to moving into a new place soon.&quot;<br /> &quot;Moving? You don&#039;t have a place to live?&quot; Amelia looked at James as if she was asking him why he wasn&#039;t looking out for me better.<br /> &quot;Ms. Pearson&#039;s living arrangements will be settled shortly.&quot;<br /> It was my turn to look at him with a questioning expression. What was he talking about? Maybe it was that bonus he said the company offered that I knew it didn&#039;t. Perhaps it was dumb not to latch on to what he was offering, but I was desperate to earn my way on my own, not out of pity. I needed to prove that I was a strong woman who could make it on her own.<br /> Amelia had the same expression, but finally, she turned to me. &quot;What are you doing for Christmas? Do you have family here?&quot;<br /> &quot;I don&#039;t have family here.&quot; I left it at that because it felt pathetic to say I had nowhere to go on Christmas.<br /> Amelia looked at her brother and then at me again. &quot;If you have nowhere to go on Christmas, you have to come over to my and Max&#039;s place tomorrow.&quot;<br /> I waved my hand. &quot;That&#039;s very kind of you, but—&quot;<br /> &quot;You should come.&quot; James brought his drink back up to his lips as if he was being nonchalant, but there was a tension in his eyes. If I saw it, surely, his sister did too.<br /> But if Amelia did see it, she didn&#039;t acknowledge it. &quot;It&#039;s settled. You&#039;re coming. James, will you give her my address?&quot;<br /> I shook my head. &quot;You&#039;re very kind, but I couldn&#039;t intrude. &quot;<br /> Amelia reached out, putting her hand on my arm. &quot;James and I have grown up without a real family, without a real Christmas, our entire lives. This year is going to be our very first Christmas with a family, my husband and my son, and my husband&#039;s family, and James, of course. And now you.&quot;<br /> I glanced at James, hoping he might get me out of this. He took another sip of his drink, clearly not planning to intervene. Did he want me to go? Was this a test of some sort?<br /> &quot;I think it&#039;s wonderful that you&#039;re having a traditional Christmas. I know it&#039;s going to be joyful and happy, but I&#039;m not family—&quot;<br /> &quot;It doesn&#039;t matter. Friends, family. We can&#039;t have too many people to care for in our lives, don&#039;t you think? I hope you will reconsider. I can understand that it might be awkward for you, but it would please me to no end if you would come.&quot;<br /> &quot;I&#039;ll think about it,&quot; I said, mostly to stop her from asking. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Not because I didn&#039;t want to go but because somewhere deep inside me, yearning burned. <br /> I wanted to have the sort of Christmas she was talking about. Growing up, my Christmases were fairly traditional. But as I saw the enthusiasm, joy, and love in her eyes, I wasn&#039;t so sure those elements had been a part of my family Christmas. <br /> The realization brought pain. I thought I&#039;d been raised in this perfect, loving household, with parents who were strict and controlling, yes, but I believed it was because they loved me and wanted the best for me. Now I knew better. <br /> Everything they&#039;d done, they did for themselves. I felt a little bit guilty about feeling angry considering I had everything I needed, a home, a family, clothes, and food. But I realized I didn&#039;t have the love from them that exuded from Amelia toward her family.<br /> James finished his drink and nodded to Amelia. &quot;You need to drag Max over to talk to George Keyes. He&#039;s up to something with Dad.&quot;<br /> Amelia&#039;s gaze whipped to him. &quot;What? I thought he was just wanting you to get—&quot;<br /> &quot;Yes, he wants me out as CEO, but Ms. Pearson discovered that he&#039;s visiting Dad in prison.&quot;<br /> Amelia&#039;s gaze turned to me. &quot;What? Why?&quot;<br /> I shrugged. &quot;I don&#039;t know why, but it could be suspicious. Then again, maybe they&#039;re just old friends.&quot;<br /> James laughed derisively. &quot;Partners in crime, more like. I&#039;ll get to the bottom of it eventually. Hopefully, before they poll me out as CEO.&quot; He glanced at me, and again, there was something in his eyes that told me there was something going on.<br /> He turned back to Amelia. &quot;I hate to be like Dad and use your husband, but maybe the two of you will consider it for a good cause.&quot;<br /> Amelia patted him on the shoulder. &quot;That&#039;s why we&#039;re here, big brother. I show off my shiny husband and flaunt his powerful New York family.&quot; She looked at me. &quot;It was nice to meet you, Ms. Pearson.&quot;<br /> &quot;You too.&quot;<br /> She turned and walked off toward the tall blonde man she&#039;d been with when she&#039;d been talking with James. She threaded her arm through his, giving him a slight tug. He leaned down to listen to her. He turned back to look at me and James, and then his eyes scanned over to Mr. Keyes and he gave a nod. Together, they walked over to George.<br /> &quot;Don&#039;t you like your liquor?&quot; James asked.<br /> I looked down at the glass that I hadn&#039;t taken a sip from. I lifted it to my lips and sipped. &quot;It&#039;s very good.&quot; To be honest, I didn&#039;t know that much about liquor.<br /> &quot;I got that from my private stash in my office. Amelia&#039;s company does the social media for the liquorry, so every now and then, they ship her a case. She&#039;s not able to drink it because she&#039;s still nursing, so she gives me some.&quot;<br /> I studied him, noting that while his words seemed very matter of fact, I could hear pride in his voice. I could see it in his eyes. At the same time, I saw sadness, or maybe guilt as well. I wanted to ask about it, but it was none of my business.<br /> &quot;I need to talk to you privately, Ms. Pearson. If you finish that liquor, we have an excuse to go to my office without it looking suspicious.&quot;<br /> My stomach fluttered, but I couldn&#039;t be sure whether it was anxiety about his intentions or hope that he had intentions. Good golly, I was a mess.<br /> As if he knew my concern, he said, &quot;This is strictly a business talk.&quot; He shook his head. &quot;Admittedly, it&#039;s going to be unconventional, but I swear to God, I&#039;m not trying to make a pass or anything.&quot;<br /> It was really stupid how much those words hurt. Didn&#039;t he think I was worth making a pass at?<br /> Fortunately, he hadn&#039;t put very much liquor in the glass, which told me he&#039;d been planning to get me alone when he&#039;d gotten it for me. I took a couple of sips and then gulped the rest down.<br /> He nodded toward the hall that went to his office, and I preceded him. He walked behind me, and I hoped no one could see us. I didn&#039;t want to have a reputation with my new coworkers for sleeping with my boss. <br /> If he were asking Mrs. Curtis to do this, I&#039;m sure no one would think twice. She was old enough to be his mother. Then again, she was a fairly good-looking woman, so maybe they&#039;d think he wanted a cougar. I shook my head to rid it of all the thoughts careening through it.<br /> When we got to his office, he shut the door behind us. &quot;Go ahead and take a seat on the couch. This is business, but it doesn&#039;t have to be formal.&quot;<br /> I did as he asked, sitting on the couch.<br /> He went to the bar in the corner of his office and poured himself another drink. &quot;Would you like another glass of liquor?&quot; He held up a bottle.<br /> I really did, but I shook my head. &quot;I like to keep a clear mind at an office party. I don&#039;t want to become a part of office gossip.&quot;<br /> He ran his hand through his hair. &quot;I didn&#039;t think of that.&quot; He looked toward the closed door as if he was wondering whether partygoers were assuming the worst. Finally, he sighed and brought his drink to the couch. He sat next to me, though not too close, and turned his body to face me. &quot;I&#039;m just going to come out with it, okay?&quot;<br /> I nodded, wishing I had the glass of liquor if only to have something for my hands to fidget over. What was going on? Was he going to fire me?<br /> &quot;I have a very inappropriate proposition to make to you.&quot;<br /> My eyebrow arched and my entire body went rigid. He said inappropriate, not indecent, but that didn&#039;t mean they didn&#039;t refer to the same thing.<br /> He waved his hand. &quot;It doesn&#039;t involve intercourse. I promise that&#039;s not what this is all about.&quot;<br /> For some reason, that didn&#039;t completely reassure me.<br /> &quot;As you know, we had a board meeting today, and I let some of the members know that I was suspicious of them. They, in turn, let me know that they felt I was a liability to this company because I was a rich, single male who could ruin the company with scandalous affairs.&quot; He laughed derisively. <br /> &quot;Hypocrites. It&#039;s okay for my father to bully, intimidate, and bribe people, skirting the boundaries of legality in business, but heaven forbid I bang anyone.&quot;<br /> I blinked, wondering why he was telling me all this. Sure, I was his assistant, but it still felt like TMI.<br /> He gave his head a quick shake. &quot;Sorry. I&#039;m just still really pissed off. The point is, they told me that because I wasn&#039;t married I wasn&#039;t settled, I wasn&#039;t stable. They indicated that potential new clients and customers would see that as a liability. Apparently, being a single young man means I&#039;m helpless to the whims of my shaft.&quot;<br /> Once again, I wished I had liquor because right about now, I could&#039;ve used it, partly from the shock of his language but also to cool the heat flashing through my body at the mention of his shaft. How crazy was that?<br /> I swallowed as I ignored the heat and focused on his words. &quot;Are you tasking me with finding you a wife?&quot; That was another thing not on my job duties. How did even one go about doing that?<br /> &quot;Not exactly.&quot;<br /> So, what the heck did he want?<br /> He took another drink, his eyes staring at me intently, and a strange feeling grew deep in my gut.<br /> &quot;What I&#039;m asking is if you&#039;ll marry me.&quot;

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