Ryan Gordon needed a wife asap. not a real wife, just a temperary, efficient and discreet. a wife for the next six months.
"Mr Gordon?" his PA, Claire Smith knocked once on the door before stepping into his office which overlooked a rainwashed Lambord street in london city. "I have the files you asked for."
Ryan watched his PA walking towards him, her raven hair neatly pulled back, her face set in calm lines. She wore a black pencil skirt, low heels and a simple white silk blouse. He had never bothered with her before, but, even he had to admit she was gorgeous. Only a blind man wouldn't notice those bodacious curves, long slim legs which world probably look good in shorts, very short shorts.
He had hired Claire two years ago. she had been determined plus she had had the right qualifications. She had been pretty then but he was married that time so she was off limits.
She placed the files in front of him and took a step back, but not before he caught a waft of her understated floral perfume; lillies to be exact.
"Will that be all, Mr Gordon?" she asked when he had reached for the last file.
"Yes." Claire turned towards the door, her skirt whispering against her legs as she walked. Ryan watched her, eyes narrowed, uncertainty settling in his gut. "Wait."
Well, too late now.
Caire pivoted back to face him, her pale eyebrows raised expectantly. She'd been a good PA these last three years, working hard and not making a fuss about it. He saw ambition and willpower beneath her'aiming to please' persona and thats exactly what he would need these next six months. As long as she agreed to his insane proposition. Which he would make sure she would.
"Mr Gordon?"
Ryan lounged back into his chair as he drummed his fingers on his desk. Shit. he hadn't realized how hard this was. "Take a sit."
Claire's eyebrows went a fraction higher, but her face remained calm as she took the opposite chair. She crossed her legs and his gaze shamelessly followed that action, settling on little skin just above her knees. he really had to get a grip on himself.
He cleared his throat. "I have a proposition for you." her face was indifferent. "In fact I need your help with something. Marry me."
***
Claire's mind raced as she tried to figure out how to handle this strange request from her boss. Did she hear him right?
"My grandmother is turning eighty next week. the whole family is gonna be there, so is Vanessa. My mother is definitely going to try and get me back together with her. So I need a wife. yesterday."
Ryan Gordon was a compelling, charismatic ,driven man, not to mention he was incredibly handsome. Like a greek God. Every man in the world was jealous of Ryan Gordon. Broad shouldered, standing at six three and those brown-black eyes to die for. Had she ever fantasied about him? Yes. Of cause yes.
Ryan Gordon could turn on the charm, but it was only to get what he wanted. She'd observed him from the sidelines for three years and learned how to be the most efficient PA possible, and to be invisible when necessary. She liked her job; she liked Ryan's force of personality.
"Before you say no, please read this through." He took a flat fike from under his desk and handed it to her. "Just think about it. get back to me in forty eight hours."
Two minutes passed without a single word. Claire took that as her cue to leave. She took the file and headed for the door. She let out a deep breath she had been holding only after the door behind her was shut.
***
"You have to slow down." Claire was on her forth shot by now. She had immediately called her best friend, Ava, as soon as she clocked off from work. She needed a distraction from Ryan and Ava was the right person for that. "Bad day at work?"
Claire gulped down another shot. "No, not really. just... strange. My boss asked me to marry him." She heard Ava giggle before bursting into a hearty laugh. She joined in, not because it was funny, but it was absurd.
" Oh, you're serious. yikes." Ava took the last shot for herself. "What're you gonna do?"
"I dont know." she took out the file. "He gave me this. I have been too scared to open it."
"You will read this tomorrow, when you're sober. right now, drink away. I'm your designated driver just this once." Ava said cheerfully.
***
Coffee. Claire needed coffee asap otherwise the headache was going to be the death of her. Another painful reminder why she shouldnt drink. she was never much of a drinker but yesterday... well, yesterday was something, wasn't it?
She took a sip of the black coffee whilst staring on the counter at the file like it was some kind of bomb waiting to explode.
Oh what the heck?
"Contract between Ryan Gordon and Claire Smith" she read. It was really thick, just two pages. she set her coffee aside and began to read.
"We'll be living together for the next six months." Absolutely not. He expected them to sleep together.
"We will sleep in different rooms." Oh.
"No intimacy, except in public. Must appear to in love especially in front of the family; my mother in particular." She imagined those long, lean fingers wrapped around...
No.
She shouldn't allow herself to think about it. It's not like she was actually planning on... Was she? No.
She was just reading this for fun. Yeah, definitely for fun.
"In this period of six months, neither of us will entertain other people." Like she would dream of it.
"An amount of five million will be deposited after the marriage and another five after six months." She swallowed hard. He was paying her ten million to be his wife. Jesus.
"Hi mom." Her favourite voice said behind her. she quickly scrambled the papers back into the file.
"Hi, baby", she turned around to come face to face with her curled black haired son.
He rolled his eyes at her. "Don't you think I have graduated from that name now? I'm eight."
"You will forever be my baby, Marcus." She gave him a wet kiss on the cheek which, of cause, he wiped disgustedly off. "Plus eight is still baby- ish." She smiled. Marcus ignored her and proceeded to pour himself a glass of orange juice. This was their little ritual. She would annoy him amd he would ignore her.
Claire couldn't believe her baby had grown. It's been eight years since she had had him, Eight years since her twin sister, Clara, passed away. It had been really hard raising a child but her mother had always been there to help her. Having raised claire and clara on her own, the woman was a pro when it came to children. Her father had died when they were a month old.
It was hard growing up without a father especially those days in elementary school when it was 'bring your father to school' day. But they had managed. Despite being a single mother, Mary had worked hard to provide for her and Clara. Eight years later, they welcomed both happiness and tragety into their home. It was painful but Claire knew she had to be strong for the baby, who was now hers.
"What is this?" Marcus asked, reaching for the file which claire snatched a little too harshly.
"Nothing."
"Yeah, clearly", he replied sarcastically. " We keeping secrets from each other now, are we?" He stared at her with those ocean blue eyes which happened to be the same as hers. She loved her son. she just wished sometimes he would act like a child.
Marcus started making full coversations at the age of three. She found him reading her work sheet one time when she had come back from her part time job this one time.
"There are many mispelled words here." he had said behing the paper.
"What?"
"Your paper, mommy. you spelled some words wrong." She stared at him.
"You can read that?"
"Uh-huh. You missed another 'i' in Einstein." She googled the word and he was right. That was when she knew her little baby was gifted. She gave him different tests and he excelled in all of them. By the time he reached six, he was already finishing elementary school.
He skipped a year at middle school so now, at the age of eight, he would be graduating middle school. Claire always appreciated Marcus 's gifts but she made sure to remember that he was still a child. She just wished he would too.
"Well?" Claire sighed. He was right. There were no secrets between them. She handed him the file. She saw his eyes open wide like they were going to pop up. "Your boss asked to marry you!"
She slapped him lightly on the head. "You gonna tell the whole world?" Her eyes darted to the entrance, waiting to see if her mother heard anything.
"Sorry", he didnt sound sorry, "I'm just surprised." She watched him as he continued reading the file.
"I gotta say, mom, ten million is a lot of money that could help us in lot of ways." marcus said after two minutes.
"I know." she groaned frustratingly. Ten million would be a huge help considering that her mother was diagnosed with pancreas cancer last year and in another three or four years, Marcus would go to university and her current pay wasn't going to do shit. They will finally be able to move away from this neighbourhood, this small house which was barely comfortable for all of them.
"No pressure mom, I know what you are thinking.Do what's best for you."
"You don't mind?"
"Of cause not. It's ten million dollars." They laughed together at his attempt to sell her for ten million. "But if you are gonna do it, I will help you with your contract. There are some gray areas here."
Claire took a bite of toast. "Like what?"