Chapter 6

As soon as I got home, I called Dylan. He was my best friend, my advisor, and the person who got me out of all the sticky situations I had a knack for putting myself in. We had been friends since childhood, and I knew I could trust him with anything. And this whole situation was definitely one of those things I could trust him with.

I told him to come over without telling him why exactly I needed him. I knew that was going to spark his slightly curious nature and make him want to know more. And I was right. About twenty minutes later, he was home. And right off the bat, he asked me what was wrong. But I needed to take my time and explain carefully. I didn’t need him to make hasty judgments and jump to stupid conclusions.

I led him to my home office, and we sat opposite each other. Dylan had this expression I called his business face on. I laughed when people called me a hard ass with no sense of humor. They had clearly not met Dylan. He could be extremely serious. Too fucking serious even. I couldn’t count the number of times I had told him to take the stick out of his ass and the number of times he had looked at me like I was a five year old.

But he kept me in check a lot of the time and I had to say I appreciated him a lot and everything that he did.

“So, what happened?” Dylan asked after I had pulled out a bottle of whiskey and served it.

I looked up at him and resided my brow. “What if I just want to spend some time with you?”

There was a deadpan look on Dylan’s face, and I had to let out a chuckle. This was exactly why I said he was a hard ass. This man couldn’t joke about anything he considered “serious”. According to him, it was in bad taste.

“You never fall unless it’s urgent. Cut the bullshit out.” He was blunt. But there was never a time that it had offended me. I appreciated him, and I appreciated the fact that he told me the truth. Not that I would ever say it to his face.

I sighed, took a sip of my drink then started talking. “I got myself into… a little situation.” I didn’t know how to describe it. I wasn’t certain little was the apt word though.

“A little situation? Against the law?”

I chuckled. Dylan always assumed the worst. According to him, it was better that way, so he never got surprised or disappointed.

“We aren’t in college anymore. I don’t even have time to do anything illegal. You know that,” I responded.

“Force of habit,” he replied with a shrug.

I shook my head at him then I continued talking. “You remember the meeting with the board that was supposed to take place today? It happened. And just like we thought, the old men placed an ultimatum on me. It’s either I get engaged or married—the more serious the better. If not, they will not vote me as CEO when my trial period ends.”

“That’s bullshit. Is that even legal?” His tone was dry. But I knew that he was just as outraged, maybe even more than me.

“According to Ben, they need to know I won’t wake and do same as Dad did. Apparently, Dad left because there was nothing or no one to ground him. And we all know how ridiculous that is because dad would have left either way.”

Dylan nodded in understanding. “So, what do you need me to do?”

I sighed a little then I shifted in my chair. I already knew Dylan was going to give me a speech or maybe look at me with that judgmental look on his face as soon as I told him what I had done.

“I need you to draft up an NDA,” I said.

Dylan raised a brow. “What for?” Then realization dawned on him. “Don’t tell me…”

“I had no choice. I asked someone to be my pretend fiancée,” I confirmed his suspicions.

“Jax, out of all the dumbass things you’ve done in your life, this one tops the list,” he said, shaking his head.

I just smiled. That wasn’t even the worst part and he was already acting like this. He was going to flip when I told him the rest of it.

“Now Dylan, don’t judge me. We both know that those old men would never budge, and it is the only way I can get them off my backs.”

He sighed. But I knew he got me. And I knew he knew I was telling the truth. The old men could be extremely stubborn and once they had set their minds on a specific idea, they didn’t want to let go of that idea.

“I guess,” Dylan answered with a sigh. “So, who was it? Kayla? Nelly?”

“None of the above,” I said, then I paused before finishing my statement. It was for shock purposes. “It’s no one you know. And if I’m being honest, no one I know either.”

“Jax…”

“It just happened,” I said, shrugging.

Dylan was looking at me intently. And if I were a lesser man, or if I had not known him since we were both five years old, I would have felt intimidated. But it didn’t faze me. Not anymore.

“What do you mean by it just happened, Coleman? And what the fuck do you mean by it’s no one you know?”

“I met her yesterday. After the meeting. And we spoke for a while, went on a lunch date where I asked her to be my pretend fiancée.”

My tone was very casual. And I knew Dylan would assume that I was unconcerned about the entire issue. But that was by no means true. I just didn’t like getting into any kind of headspace where I was liable to get stressed. Plus, he got riled up enough for both of us.

“What did you offer her for her to agree?”

This was it. The moment where my best friend went absolutely bonkers.

“One million dollars.”

The silence that followed my sentence was a little chilling. You could have heard a pin drop in the office at that moment. Dylan’s gaze was heavy on me, and I knew he was going to explode. Explode in his own way anyway.

“Are you fucking out of your mind, Coleman? One million dollars?” he boomed.

I laughed a little. I knew it got him mad but seeing Dylan riled up like that never failed to entertain me.

“Dylan, relax. We haven’t concluded anything yet. I haven’t given her any money. I’m not daft. I just ran the idea by her, and she accepted.”

“One million dollars, though? Fucking hell, I know you’re a rich man but that’s a little too over the top.”

“She looked like she needed convincing,” I said with a shrug. “Plus, she’s in pretty serious debt, from what I understood.”

That got the gears in Dylan’s head turning. I could see them. “What kind of debt does she need to settle with a million dollars? Is she a drug addict? A gambler?”

“None of my business,” I said, with my hands raised. Just like she had told me. I knew I could ask Dylan to run a background check on her and find out what exactly she was trying to hide. And what had gotten her into so much debt? But she had told me it was none of my business and I was going to respect that.

I didn’t want to dig into her past. No matter how much she fascinated me and no matter how much I wanted to know about her, I didn’t want to go down that route. Besides, knowing more about her would probably mean getting more interested in her. And I wanted this to be nothing but a business transaction. That was all.

“And—”

“Are you going to draw up the contract for me? Yes or no?” I asked before Dylan could launch into another speech. I knew I sounded illogical, and maybe a little crazy; giving someone I didn’t know one million dollars to pretend to be my fiancée. But I couldn’t explain how Reine made me feel. It was a weird feeling.

“You know I’m going to,” he almost grumbled. “But you also know that I don’t agree with everything you do. And today is one of those times. Let me at least run a background check.”

“You’ll have to keep everything you find to yourself,” I said, shrugging. Dylan stared at me like I had said something taboo for a few seconds.

And I knew it sounded taboo. Normally, I would have asked him for a background check as soon as I met him. But here I was, telling him not to dig. It made me surprised at myself as well. I didn’t understand what kind of pull this girl had on me.

Dylan heaved a sigh after staring at me for a while, as though talking to me was a chore. “Fine,” he said, “I’ll draft everything up. But I want to meet her. As soon as she signs everything, I want to meet her.”

“And scare her away? Want to take her place and pretend to be my fiancé instead?” I asked with a low chuckle.

Dylan grunted. “Fuck off,” he said, then we laughed together.

“You’ll definitely get to meet her,” I reassured him. I stood and went around my desk, standing next to my best friend. “I know all this seems impulsive and stupid. But I know you trust me. So, all I ask is for you not to question any decisions I take,” I continued quietly. I valued his opinion greatly. But I was sure this was one of those things I wouldn’t accept that opinion.

“I can do that,” Dylan answered easily, “But you need to be careful.”

“I will.”

We stayed like that for a while in silence. Then Dylan stood and clapped my back. “I’ll send everything to you by this evening,” he said, then he left.

I stayed in the same spot after Dylan left for a little while, then I walked to the window. I stared out of it. I couldn’t forget the main goal in all this. It wasn’t to get to know Reine, it wasn’t to know why she was in debt. It was because I needed to run the company I had been playing a role in since I was nine.

I couldn’t let anyone else be voted CEO. I knew I was going to do a fucking great job. The last thing I wanted to see was someone come and run whatever my dad had built to the ground. I thought of the man, a frown taking over my features. The last time I had heard from him was two months ago. He was in Greece and enjoying the great weather. I didn’t blame my father for escaping. After all, so much responsibility could get stifling. But I did blame him for leaving when he did, and without making any settlements.

But resentment was only going to lead me so far. So, I pushed the thoughts of my old man out of my head and went back to the desk, picking up my phone. I scrolled through the contacts till I reached Reine’s name.

I clicked on it and waited till the call connected. It seemed like hours before she picked up.

“Jax?” Her voice was breathless, almost as if she had run to pick up the phone. It sounded appealing in some weird way.

It satisfied me in some weird macho way. To know that she had been eager to hear my voice. Or at least that was how I pretended it was. I knew the only reason Reine had answered the phone so quickly was because of our arrangement.

“Reine. How are you?”

I knew the small talk was going to throw her off, she was probably waiting for me to drop the other shoe and tell her I had changed my mind about the deal. Well, that wasn’t going to happen.

“I- I am fine. How are you?”

I chuckled. “No need to sound like I put a noose around your neck either, Reine. It’s not a social call.”

“Oh,” Reine breathed. “Is it bad news? Is the deal no longer valid?”

“You’re a negative one, aren’t you?” I observed rhetorically. “I’m not calling to say the deal is off, Reine. Quite the contrary. I want us to meet so we could further discuss the terms of this engagement.”

“Oh,” Reine breathed again. “When do you want us to meet?”

“Tomorrow. I will give you a copy of the contract, so you sign it.”

There was a pause, and I could almost picture her biting her lip. “Can’t you just send it to my address, and we talk over the phone like we are doing now?”

I laughed. “Trying to avoid me won’t work, Reine. I want us to meet for dinner tomorrow. But 7 pm.”

“Okay,” her voice was small, and she dragged the okay out. “Where are we going to meet?”

Now came the fun part.

“We’ll meet at my place.”

Silence.

Then, “What?”

“At my place Reine. We’ll meet for dinner at my place.” It was amazing how riled up she could get just from my teasing.

“But how and why exactly do I need to come to your apartment? I mean there are so many restaurants around. Surely you have enough money for us to eat out.”

“That’s not the point, little Reine. I don’t want anyone listening in on our conversations. There is utmost privacy at my apartment, and there is no way anyone is going to hear whatever we are going to discuss.”

“Oh.” It was the third time she was saying oh and this was the most tinged with disappointment, almost like she hated the fact that I was making sense.

“I’ll send you my address,” I said.

“Okay. I won’t have to stay long, right?”

“You’ll stay for however long our discussions last, Reine. I’m not an abuser or a rapist. I’m not going to force you into doing anything you do not want to do. Take whatever precautions you think necessary before you come here.”

“Okay,” she said in a tiny voice. “Thank you, Jax.”

I hummed then I hung up. It irked me that she thought I was going to force her to do something she didn’t want to. I wondered what her deal was. I wondered who had triggered her to be that way, or if she was simply a cautious person by nature.

I shook my head. The last thing I wanted was to psychoanalyze her or get into her head. That was not my goal. Especially since I still didn’t know why she was in debt. For all I knew, she could be a chronic gambler or a big spender. And neither of those screamed amazing.

Plus, trying to get into her head would mean getting to know her. And I didn’t want or need that.

So, the more distant I made myself be, the better it would be. I needed to remember that this was business, no matter how intimate we might seem throughout the experience. I had to treat her like I did my projects, coldly and with calculation. That was there was going to be no doubt about whatever relationship there was between us. Because my fascination was becoming something else.

No matter what happened, I wasn’t going to let it get the best of me. I wasn’t a stupid man, neither was I inexperienced. Reine was nothing new; I had been with women more beautiful and more sophisticated than she was. And so, if she felt threatened by me, or if she felt that I was going to force her into something she didn’t want, I was going to remind her that all of this was a business transaction.

After all, I was Jax Coleman. It would be no hassle to get someone to get Reine Graham out of my system. Yes. Child’s play.