Terms and Conditions (Dreamland Billionaires #2) by Lauren Asher

“He’s your boss.”

“I know.”

“He’s much older than you.”

“Is that supposed to be a bad thing because I only see the positives,” Nana asks.

I don’t miss a beat. “We can’t help who we fall in love with.”

Mom sighs. “No. We can’t.”

A twinge of guilt tightens around my heart like a lasso. She is the poster child of falling in love with someone she shouldn’t have, and I was the unexpected result.

She gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “As long as you’re happy, then I’m happy for you.”

I nod my head because I’m afraid of what might come out of my mouth instead. If my mother knew the truth behind my engagement, I’m not sure she would be as supportive. She’s a worrier. I have no doubt she would be concerned about me tying myself to a man who barely likes me and a baby he doesn’t want. She would want more for me than to follow in her footsteps.

My anxious thoughts are intensified as Nana opens her mouth and asks, “So, when do we get to meet him?”





I open my front door to find Cal leaning against the frame.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he says.

“More like I’ve been dealing with the fallout of my actions.” I give Cal some room to enter my apartment. He instantly makes the space feel ten times smaller. While my apartment isn’t much, it’s all mine after years of hard work and people doubting me.

He navigates through the minefield of potted plants before dropping onto my worn leather couch. “Why did you do it?”

I take a seat across from him and tuck my knees against my chest. “Because I’m stupid.”

“How did you go from breaking up with every boyfriend you had before things got ‘too real’ to agreeing to marry my brother?”

“When you put it that way, it does sound a bit out of character.”

He laughs. “What happened to swearing off men forever?”

“Well, forever does seem like a long time when you think about it…”

“Says the woman who thought an ex-boyfriend buying her a spare toothbrush was ‘moving too fast.’”

“This is different.” Sure, my relationship history isn’t the prettiest. I’m always the one to bow out before things get real because fear makes me act first and have regrets later. My patterns aren’t the healthiest, but they’ve prevented me from ever turning into my mother. Because while I love her, growing up witnessing her abusive marriage to my father turned me off from ever putting myself in that position. To love means to lose more than I’m willing to part with.

Cal yanks me out of my head. “Oh, it’s different all right. You’re getting married. And having a baby. As in you are going to make me an uncle.”

My stomach rolls. “I know it sounds crazy—”

“That’s because it is crazy.”

I throw my hands up. “Then why did you encourage it?”

“Because I didn’t think you would actually go through with it!”

My jaw drops open, but no words make it out.

He sighs. “My brother is the last kind of man you should marry.”

A tightness in my chest grows. “Why?”

“Because he will hurt you. It’s second nature for him, and it’s only a matter of time before you get caught up in the crosswinds.”

“It’s sweet of you to worry, except our relationship is nothing but a contractual agreement. There won’t be an opportunity for him to hurt me.”

That’s why I agreed to this whole idea in the first place. If I was worried about risking my heart, I would have never said yes. But with Declan’s lack of interest in relationships and my fear of commitment, we are a perfect fit.

“You could fall in love with him.”

I laugh until tears spring to my eyes. “Declan and I could be the last two people on Earth and I would still choose my vibrator over him.”

Cal’s lip curls with disgust. “TMI.”

“It’s true!”

“Then how do you plan on having a child together?”

“With the help of someone in a white coat.” While I haven’t reviewed the contract Declan developed, I’m familiar with his expectations for in vitro fertilization.

“Having a child together creates a connection between two people that can never be severed.” A dark look passes over his face, and the ache in my chest intensifies.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “I know that.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I don’t. Not in the slightest. But instead of letting the anxiety swallow me whole, I roll my shoulders back and face my reality.

“Marriage might be hard, but I’m willing to give it my all.”

I can only hope that I don’t look back at this moment and regret all my choices.





5





DECLAN





I spent the weekend after our engagement party drafting the paperwork, ensuring there was no way for Iris to back out of our deal.

I throw the freshly printed contract against my wood desk. The pastel pink colored pages seem out of place against the other documents strewn on the surface.

Iris looks up at me. “What’s this?”