I’m pretty sure that we did not have sex. We were both so out of it that we couldn’t have managed even if we’d have wanted to.
Chapter 4
Declan
The reception is being held in a small ballroom within The Dash hotel.
“Good to see you here, Declan,” Brad says and claps my shoulder. Hard. I flinch. I should be used to it by now since I hang around my brother’s colleagues whenever I’m in LA. They are all burly and huge, not that I’m a wuss myself, but these guys lift weights and exercise multiple times a day.
I ask about his kids and wife. He hugs Marian, and she explains that Jason and his wife Brooke couldn’t make it to the wedding.
Now I know where I know Marian from. She must have attended one of the many gatherings that the firemen and their families have. Probably at my brother’s house or one of the other friends.
We select a table away from everyone else. It seems Marian has the same idea to talk as I do. On the dance floor, Connor and his new wife Jen are dancing to a slow song with their eyes only for each other.
I pull a chair for Marian, and she mutters her thanks. I admire her lush body encased in a gorgeous silver shimmery dress.
“We need to talk. You can’t just wish this away,” I say to Marian.
I don’t know how much of the previous night she remembers, but I remember plenty. We had drunk more than we should have, and before too long, we’d started exchanging confidences. She’d told me how all her friends were married and having babies, but she wasn’t interested in marriage. What she wanted was a baby.
I, in turn, told her my woes with my business. How close I was to bankruptcy. How I’d never failed at anything, and the thought of it petrified me and kept me awake at night.
I’d even told her about the trust fund. My brother and I are what is popularly known as trust fund babies. My grandfather left us a sizeable inheritance.
A glint had come into her eyes, and she had suggested we get married and solve both our problems. It had seemed like a genius idea at the time.
She flashes her gorgeous green eyes at me. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
“I don’t understand,” I say.
“We are going to get an annulment,” she says.
I inhale sharply. The last thing that I want is an annulment. I’ve had a bit of time to think through this marriage. Admittedly, it was a crazy thing that we did last night, but it could work in our favor.
“Let’s not rush into making a decision,” I tell Marian.
Her eyes widen, and she looks at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am, but desperate times call for desperate measures. My business is laden with debt, and I have no chance of expanding. The only way I can save it is with an influx of cash.
I hadn’t thought about my inheritance before now because there was no chance that I would fulfill the conditions required to access it. One of the conditions is that I have to be at least thirty-five years old. That’s five years away from now. The other is that I should be married.
I have no girlfriend or fiancée, so there’s no chance of fulfilling the second condition. Now my circumstances have changed in a single night. I’m married, and I can access my trust fund, and with it, all my financial worries will be gone. I can concentrate on expanding my brand, Did you say Pizza?
All I have to do is to convince Marian to give us a chance.
“There’s no decision to make,” Marian says.
My dreams are disappearing like smoke before my very eyes. “Last night, you told me that the one thing you really want is to have a baby,” I tell her.
“But not with a stranger,” she snaps.
“We’re not strangers,” I tell her. “Your best friend Jason and my brother are good friends.”
“So?” Marian says.
“I’m just trying to establish that we are not strangers,” I tell her.
She takes in a deep breath. “Listen, do me a favor. Let’s get an annulment, go home, and forget this ever happened.”
The deejay invites everybody to the dance floor.
I turn back to Marian. I decide to lay it all on the table for her. It is my last chance to get her to agree to my crazy proposal. “Maybe we can help each other,” I tell her.
My heart pounds as I think of the implications that this marriage will have on my life. I’ve put my heart and soul into Did you say Pizza? and to be honest, my work is everything to me. I tell her about the trust fund.
Even before I finish speaking, she’s already shaking her head. “Oh no. I can see where this is going, and the answer is an emphatic no.”
“My business is almost going bankrupt, and all I need is an injection of cash. We would only need to stay married for a short time, and we can divorce soon after,” I tell her.
“I, I, I,” she says. “It’s all about you, isn’t it?”
I Inhale deeply and realize that I’m using the wrong tactic. In being honest, I’ve concentrated on telling Marian how this marriage will help me but not how it will benefit her.
“I’m thinking it will help you too,” I tell her. “I’m willing to be your sperm donor for your baby. My family genes are good. We’re pretty smart in school, and we don’t have any criminal tendencies.” I sound like an ad for a toilet cleaner. I feel like a fool, but I’m desperate. Now that the solution is so close, I’ll do anything, even donate a baby to Marian to make this marriage work so that
