“Well?” He said glancing back at the hallway.
I got the hint and followed him out of the apartment complex and to the car he had parked out front. It was a matte black Tesla with no driver in sight. He got into the driver's seat and even though it felt strange to me, I got in the passenger's side. Every influencer and company owner I’d rubbed shoulders with to get my business off the ground always had a driver, at least for appearances sake.
He started the car and we drove in complete silence. I lost count of how many times I fixed the skirts of my dress even though they were fine.
“So.” I started not sure where I was going with it. I just had to break the silence, or I would lose it. “Where are you taking me?”
“The Goose.” He said without taking his eyes off the road.
I’d heard of The Goose. It was an incredibly swanky place in town that opened last year. Of course, he’d take me somewhere like that. At least to keep up appearances, I hoped he’d be paying.
“Do you like the food?” I asked just to keep the conversation going.
“It’s food.”
“Yeah.” I said and turned to look out my window. That was useless. How on earth did this man handle business meetings if he didn’t speak? He was going to be a CEO after all.
The Goose was a place that took up the bottom floor of an old apartment complex. The red brick aesthetic clashing somewhat with all the gold fixtures inside. We were seated immediately in a space towards the back of the restaurant. From where we sat, we could be seen, but no one was close enough to eavesdrop. Anyone looking at us could mistake us as a couple on a date. Perfect.
When the waiter stopped by to take our order, Taylor said, “The usual.” And the waiter seemed to know what he meant.
“I’ll take the fettuccine alfredo,” I ordered, not wanting anything too heavy or too complicated. No matter how many years I spent in the fashion world, I couldn’t get used to some of the kinds of food rich people ate.
Once the waiter had left, Taylor gave me a firm look. “Your answer, then?”
I huffed. “You obviously know what it is.”
“I want to hear you say it. I want to know you’re serious.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled his ring out of my purse and set it on the table behind my wine glass so it wouldn’t be seen. “I accept. As long as you provide the two million, I’ll stay married to you for a year. No longer than that.”
“No other terms?” He asked.
I shook my head and took the ring back. “It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that. If you’re hoping I’ll sleep with you, that’s a deal breaker.”
He frowned. “No worries.” I wasn’t sure how to take that. I thought he said I was attractive yesterday. I decided not to let it bother me. I didn’t want to have sex with him anyway, so it didn’t matter what he thought of me.
He pulled out his phone and began scrolling, then looked up. “How’s next Saturday for the wedding? I’m free that morning.”
“That soon?”
“I wasn’t planning on dragging it out. If it seems sudden, all the more to convince my grandfather this is a whirlwind romance.”
I checked my own calendar on my phone and found that I was free. “Yeah, I can do it next Saturday.”
“That will give you enough time to call your parents. I would prefer if they didn’t know but I can make an exception if you think they’d be difficult to convince.”
“That’s not a problem,” I said glancing up from my phone, “they’re uh, dead.”
“Oh.” His expression softened a little. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t have to apologize. It was a long time ago. I’d have to tell you anyway. What kind of husband doesn’t know his wife’s parents are dead? Ha-ha.” I tried to joke to make it less awkward but succeeded at the opposite. “Anyway. My aunt raised me, so I’ll invite her. We don’t talk very often so she’d probably believe it.”
“That works.”
“What about your parents? Do they know?”
He looked away, examining the golden goose statue in the middle of the restaurant like it was the most interesting thing in the room. “They won’t be coming.”
I got the feeling he didn’t want to talk about it anymore than that, so I decided to let it slide. Good to know we both had issues, maybe we were more alike than I thought.
“I have to let you know that I told my business partner and his girlfriend about this arrangement.”
He looked back to me and wrinkled his brows.
“They are both trustworthy and would never have believed me if I said I suddenly fell in love with you. Besides, Michael owns Sew Fit too, what was I going to tell him about the two million and then the marriage? He would have figured it out.”
“That’s acceptable then.”
Our food arrived. It was predictably delicious. Taylor’s “the usual” turned out to be crab cakes. I was worried it was going to be some kind of dark elixir or uniform white cubes. Sometimes the things Virgo brought over for us to try dumbfounded me.
“The hardest part will be meeting with my grandfather after the wedding.” He said suddenly.
I quickly swallowed my mouthful of noodles. “Why do you say that?”
“He knows me. Better than anyone else. We can fool everyone, but he’s the only one that matters.”
“What’s your plan then?”
“I’ll have to coach you
