The Fiancé by Stefanie London

CHAPTER FOUR

Daniel

FUCK.THISIS the last thing I need.

I rake a hand through my hair, trying to formulate a plan. My mind whirrs like a broken machine, unable to get a grip on any one thought. It was bad enough having everyone think I’m screwing my brother’s wife, and now they think they’re catching me in flagrante with a catering waitress.

Ava looks at me with wide eyes. I’m guessing she’s mid-to late twenties, and in spite of the dull uniform, she’s gorgeous—unusual copper-flecked eyes, full lips, a body made for sin. Her fair skin is pink around her cheeks and neck...dammit. Even I would think we’ve been up to no good.

Why can’t I be stuck in here with a woman who looks like my grandmother?

“Do they think we’re...?” She glances at the door. “Surely not.”

I let out a bark of a laugh. In my life, there is always someone looking to take advantage. I can’t help but appreciate that she seems shocked by this. Intrusiveness is something I’ve come to accept as my norm, and it’s refreshing to be around people who bring me back to reality.

“If there wasn’t a whiff of something sordid, nobody would be standing outside that door,” I drawl. “What better way to get clicks than to catch someone like me undressing a woman in a closet?”

I should really keep my mouth shut. Because now I’m wondering what it would be like to push her against the shelves and plunder that sweet little mouth. To hear what her voice sounds like when she croons into my ear. To feel her curves beneath my palms.

You’re in enough trouble already.

She blinks. “But we’re only talking. I mean, granted I did have my top off, but it wasn’t for pleasure and you didn’t really see that much.”

I saw enough.

If this whole situation hadn’t come at the worst possible moment, I would be laughing. The universe has turned my life into a circus. Unfortunately, as much as I would prefer to laugh it all off, this whole mess could have serious bottom-line consequences.

Why would anyone trust a CEO to manage a company when he can’t even manage his own image?

As it is, there are already old dinosaurs on the board who are waiting for me to trip up so they can prove I’m not up to task. They’ll try to devour me whole, given a fleeting chance.

“My boss will freak out if he thinks I’ve been...well, you know.” Ava cringes. “It’s against policy to even talk with the clients. I can’t afford to lose this job.”

“And I can’t have people thinking I’m screwing every woman in Australia.” I let out a growl and move my head from side to side, trying to work out the tension. “Who led them here?”

It’s a rhetorical question. My mother had been charging across the observatory like a storm barrelling along the coast. No doubt the press we invited—under duress from my head of communications—were right on her heels. They’re supposed to be covering the launch of the Cielo, not adding fuel to the fire about my love life.

What a joke. I’ve been working so hard I haven’t brought a woman into my bed for over a year, and yet I’m fighting off a playboy reputation at every turn.

“Can’t we tell them the truth?” Ava asks, keeping her voice low. She wrings her hands, twisting and turning them as if trying to strangle her worry.

“And you think they’ll believe it?” I shake my head. “Don’t be naive.”

“Then what? It’s not like they could really think we’re together.” She laughs, and the sound has a slightly maniacal edge. But then her eyes light up. “Hey, you’re rich, right? Can’t you pay the press to leave you alone?”

“That’s not how it works. They make more from advertisers, and me paying them off would simply make for an even better story.” This is getting out whether I want it to or not. That’s if it hasn’t already. “We need to control the narrative another way.”

“And how, exactly, do we do that?”

If this story is going to get out, then maybe I can use it to my advantage. After all, I need Marc to believe that I’m not sleeping with Lily. That’s going to take some deflection and a more compelling explanation than a simple ‘I didn’t do it.’

But maybe the perfect solution has landed in my lap.

I look Ava up and down—she’s gorgeous. Maybe not the kind of woman people would expect, because we don’t appear to run in the same circles. But we can get around that. More important, there’s a spark to her. And a spark between us. I felt it the second I walked in here, like our energy was charging the air with a sexual current. With a ring on her finger and a fabricated backstory... Well, why wouldn’t people believe it?

“How much do you make a year, Ava?” I ask, still leaning back against the door. I keep my voice low, ignoring the buzzing and pounding on the other side. Ignoring the flick of the handle and the sound of my name being called.

“None of your business,” she replies, tilting her chin up. The pride tells me everything I need to know. Maybe I can make this beneficial for us both.

“You’re right, and I don’t actually care.” I fold my arms across my chest. “Name your price.”

She blinks. “Why?”

“Because you’re going to lose your job the second I open this door.”

She swallows, panic swirling in those warm, fiery eyes. “But I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“It never matters what you’ve done,” I say darkly. “Only what people think you’ve done.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“That we’re getting engaged.” This is the only route that makes sense. It gives this whole situation a more romantic edge. Two people in love unable to keep away from one another, as opposed to a quick-and-dirty screw in a cupboard. The noise outside increases and the door rattles again. “We wanted to keep it a secret because neither of our families knew about the relationship and because of all the current media attention.”

“What?” Ava squeaks. “Have you lost your mind?”

“I wanted to spare you the circus, but now we’ve been caught,” I continue, the plan starting to unfold in my mind. “You’ll pretend to be my fiancée for a few weeks. We’ll be seen together, perhaps have a vacation somewhere beautiful. It will be a whirlwind romance and then we’ll ‘break up’ and go our separate ways, reputations intact.”

For some reason, the thought of having Ava on my arm, acting like she’s mine and I’m hers, strikes something primal inside me. We’ll have to pretend to be lovers, to be in love. Well, obviously that’s going to be an act, because I vowed long ago to never let myself feel something as destructive as love.

But being attracted to Avawon’t take much effort at all.

“Then what...? We act like it never happened?” Ava looks at me as though I’ve started talking gibberish.

“Exactly. I’ll help you find a job. I know plenty of people looking for good workers and I’ll compensate you for your time, of course.” I shoot her a confident smile. “Plus, you’ll be living it up while we’re together. Money is no object.”

For a moment she’s utterly silent. Her eyes flick back and forth as if she’s weighing the pros and cons. “You’re serious? You’d be happy to have a fake relationship to appease the press?”

“If it serves my needs, yes.”

“And it’s pretend, right?” She nails me with a stare. “Because I don’t know what you’re used to, but paying me doesn’t entitle you to anything physical.”

“I don’t pay for sex.” That’s another thing my father did that I despised, and the memory of finding out he’d cheated on my mother with multiple sex workers burns through me hot and furious like a house fire. “I can meet my sexual needs very easily without opening my wallet.”

Ava nods, chewing on her bottom lip. In my world, learning to read people is critical. Politicking is part of our DNA, as much as I loathe it. But right now I’m grateful for that skill, because it tells me that for whatever reason, Ava needs this arrangement as much as I do.

“I don’t expect anything other than for you to uphold the story while we’re in public,” I say quietly. Not that I wouldn’t enjoy the pleasure of Ava’s body. But on the rare occasion I allow a woman into my bed, it’s only ever for mutual pleasure.

No business, no money. And certainly no feelings.

“Well, that would be quite a good way to shut my mother up.” She rolls her bottom lip between her teeth and my curiosity is piqued, but right now the only thing I care about is getting her agreement.

“See, mutually beneficial.”

“But we’re lying.” She frowns.

“Think of it like this—a lie is going to come out of this situation no matter what we do. This lie will at least allow us to move forward with a positive story—I keep my reputation, and you can get yourself a better job and set yourself up financially. Or you can gamble that you won’t get fired. It’s up to you.”

She sighed. “That’s not much of a choice, is it?”

“There’s always a choice.”

My uncle, the man who acted as the mentor I’d always hoped my father would be, had taught me that one special life lesson: never think you’re without choice, because even a boxer in a corner has control over what he does next. It’s the motto I live by. The ruling words behind every move I make, always taking the driver’s seat and never letting anyone force me to back down.

“I’ll make it worth your while, Ava. Whatever you need in your life right now, I can make it happen.”

Outside, chants of Daniel! Daniel! gather steam. This is going to be a nightmare regardless of what happens next. But if Ava agrees to my proposal—no pun intended—then at least I can see my way out of it. I’ll introduce her to the family, make Marc see I’m not interested in Lily, and then I can get right back to what matters: building my empire.

She nods, her eyes glancing warily at the door. “Okay. I’ll be your fake girlfriend.”

“Fiancée,” I correct. “Congratulations. We’re about to get engaged.”