SWNOVELS Chapter 7
There are so many voices talking at once, all of them speaking legal jargon that I barely understand, and my head is starting to spin. Bryce and our family lawyer talk the loudest, demanding to be heard.
I rub my temples and screw my eyes closed. When I open them again, Nathan’s dark stare greets me from across the expanse of the boardroom table. “Give us the room,” he says, and his low, commanding tone makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
I hear Bryce snort, but I’m unable to tear my gaze from the man directly in front of me. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Bryce says, not bothering to hide the disdain in his tone. I’m not sure if it’s for me or Nathan James—probably both.
Nathan still doesn’t look at my brother when he calmly repeats himself. “Give us the room.”
In my peripheral vision, I see his brother gathering his papers from the table and pat Nathan on the back. “Let’s give them a few moments alone,” Drake says, his tone as commanding as Nathan’s.
With a grunt, Bryce pushes back his chair and stomps out of the room behind Drake and our lawyer, leaving Nathan and me alone. The room is silent, and the tension grows thicker with each passing second. Nathan leans forward and rests his clasped hands on the table. With narrowed eyes, he searches my face, and the heat of his gaze makes my heart rate spike and my insides flutter.
In such close proximity, there’s no mistaking his dominant presence. Also no mistaking that he’s far too handsome to need to find a bride this way. Something must be wrong with him. What if he’s actually gay and all those women he’s been photographed with were an elaborate smokescreen? Maybe I’m supposed to be his beard. That would certainly explain a hell of a lot.
I press my lips together and maintain eye contact even as my legs tremble.
“Why are you doing this, Miss Edison?” he finally asks, his voice thick and dark like rich melted chocolate.
“Because it’s good for our families,” I say, repeating my well-rehearsed mantra. The one I’ve been telling myself every moment since I first entertained the notion of marrying this man to secure my family’s future.
He gives a subtle shake of his head. “No. That’s why your family asked you to do this. But what exactly do you get out of it?”
I blink at him, entirely unprepared for his question. This was supposed to be a contract discussion between lawyers, not an examination of why I’m agreeing to this archaic proposal. “How about you tell me what’s in this for you?” I challenge.
“The respectability of a wife from a good family. An heir or two,” he replies, deadpan.
“I’m pretty sure you could get any woman you want, Mr. James, so why not find someone the old-fashioned way? And marry for … you know, love?”
That earns me a sarcastic snort, and I frown. “You don’t believe in marrying for love?”
“Do you, Miss Edison? Because if you have any romantic notions about marrying for love, perhaps this arrangement isn’t for you, after all.”
I clear my throat. Damn smartass. I can see why he’s such a good lawyer. “Just because I believe that people can marry for love doesn’t mean that’s what I want.”
“So what do you want, Melanie?” That’s the first time he’s called me by my first name, and the sound of it on his lips makes heat bloom across my chest.
“I want my family to continue to prosper and for my father’s legacy to go on. I want my children to have a good life.”
He leans back in his chair, eyes narrowed as he runs a hand over his square jaw. “But what about you?”
I swallow hard. What the hell does it matter what I want? He goes on staring at me, waiting for a reply to the question that I don’t have an answer for. Because it’s never about me, only about what’s best for the family. I shake my head, unexpected tears burning behind my eyes.
“It’s not a difficult question,” he says, his tone clipped now like I’m annoying him.
I feel hot. My pulse races. I want to get out of this room.
“Melanie.” His tone is authoritative and commanding.
“I just want some peace, Nathan. I want to go to work and do the job that I love, then come home and not have to worry about my little sister’s college tuition or whether my mother is going to lose our family home because my brother is an idiot.” The words pour out of me, and my cheeks heat with shame at my outburst. I probably screwed everything up. I press my palm against my flushed face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean … My brother is a very good businessman.”
“Do you think I’d enter into this arrangement without doing my homework on your brother? I’m well aware he’s a weekend in Vegas away from losing what little is left of your family fortune.” He drums his fingers on the table. “And I appreciate your honesty.”
I blink at him. He knows we have barely any money left, but he’s still considering marrying me? Why?
“Is that enough for you to do this? Sign the rest of your life—or at the very least the next ten to twenty years of it—away just to keep your family happy?”
“I’ve spent the last seventeen years trying to keep my family happy, Mr. James, it’s what I do.”
He tilts his head, his eyes softening as they rake over my body. Then he sits forward again. “I need you to know that you still have a choice, Melanie. While I don’t care about marrying for love, we will be sharing a life together. It would be much more tolerable if we could at least be friendly. If you resent me for this, we’re both going to be pretty miserable, and I don’t want my children growing up in a toxic household with parents who can barely stand the sight of each other.”
Relief washes over me in a comforting wave. The fact that he’s thought things through to that extent certainly makes me feel a whole lot better about this bizarre situation. “I don’t want that either.”
He nods like he approves. “Well, this is your opportunity to back out. If you don’t want this, tell me now. You can walk out of here and never have to see me again. I’ll tell Bryce that it was my decision.”
I scoff. “He won’t believe you.”
He arches one eyebrow. “I can be very persuasive, Miss Edison.”
I’m sure I see the corner of his mouth curling into the faintest hint of a grin, and I bite my lip to stop myself from grinning back. Whatever the rumors say about him, and despite what my brother says about the kind of man he is, Nathan James is a decent man in all the ways that count. And that’s a whole lot better than I could have hoped for. “I want to do this.”
He gives me another curt nod, the softness in his features already disappearing to be replaced by his effortlessly cool facade. “Good.”
“But …” I wince when he frowns. “I won’t give up my job. Even when we have kids, I’d like to work part-time when they’re old enough. I figure you might want some trophy wife who spends her days doing nothing but look good for you, but I love my job. I think I’d go insane without it.”
“You work as a veterinary nurse, right?”
“Yeah.” I look down, avoiding his gaze. It’s probably not the sort of job a successful billionaire wants his wife to have. At least that’s what my mother would have me believe.
“I don’t want a trophy wife, Melanie.”
He doesn’t? My heart skips a beat, and I look up at him, meeting his intense gaze once more.
“Just someone who’s honest with me and will be a good mother to my children. Can you do that?”
“Yes.” The answer falls easily from my lips. “Although I’d prefer we wait a while to start trying for a baby. Not a long time, but maybe six months? I assume we’ll have to live together, and this is all moving so quickly already. I’d like to get to know you a little better before we …” My cheeks burn at the thought of having sex with this demigod. “Add a kid into the mix.”
He sucks on his top lip like he’s mulling it over. “I suppose a waiting period would also stop any potential rumors about us marrying so quickly because you’re pregnant. So you can have your six months, and of course you can keep your job.”
I nod my appreciation.
“Then it’s agreed. We’ll work out the finer details of the contract over dinner this evening.”
My brow creases in a frown. “Dinner?”
He rolls his eyes. “Dinner. That meal people eat in the evenings.”
“Can’t we just do it here?”
He stands and fastens his suit jacket. “We could, but I’d rather not. And we need to have a handful of public appearances before we announce our engagement. I’ll ensure there are photographers waiting outside the restaurant to capture our date.”
I swallow the knot of anxiety that instantly balls in my throat. “Oh. I didn’t … I don’t want this to be some kind of media circus, Nathan.”
He licks his bottom lip. “Neither do I. But people will speculate about our engagement, and for appearance’s sake, this needs to look like a real relationship. A few public dates are all that should be necessary. Then we can marry in private and announce our wedded bliss after the event.”
“I guess you have it all worked out.”
He leans forward and splays his huge hands on the boardroom table. “I don’t believe in leaving anything to chance, Melanie.” He stands straight again and nods. “I’ll pick you up at eight. We’re going to Leonardi’s, so wear something appropriate.”
I bite back the retort on the tip of my tongue. Appropriate. I’m well aware that it’s the most exclusive restaurant in Manhattan. Does he think I’m going to rock up in jeans and a T-shirt or a minidress that will show off my ass cheeks? I’ll show him appropriate. “Of course,” I say softly, offering him a demure smile.