3. Three

Chase

“Marry me.”

Val blinks her big dark eyes. She looks stunned.

“Marry you?”

“Well, you don’t have to sound so shocked by the thought.”

“But why would you be willing to do that for me? You don’t need the money. You’re already rich. Your family is worth what now? Billions?”

“What does my being rich have to do with anything? Of course, I’m willing to do this for you. We’re friends, Val. Good friends. We could get married temporarily so that you can collect your inheritance.”

“Chase, the stipulation states I must be married an entire year before I get the money. The stock shares transfer immediately, though.”

“We’d have to remain married for an entire year?”

“Yes, for me to receive my full inheritance. A lump sum of five million dollars. I also have my monthly trust fund.”

I watch Chase stand up and then walk back and forth as he thinks over what I said. He turns toward me.

“Alright. For you to get five million, I can commit to one full year. Once you get your inheritance, we could get a divorce.”

“Forgive me for asking this, but won’t it cramp your style? I mean, you are something of a playboy, Chase. You have girls over here all the time.”

“I wouldn’t if we were married. That I promise you, I’m not Tony. I’m not that much of a man whore.”

Val rolls her eyes and looks like she wants to disagree, but she says nothing out loud.

“Chase, what if you were to meet someone? Someone you could care for? What then?”

“Well, then I would... I don’t know, let you know somehow. I would be discreet. I certainly wouldn’t be a douchebag about it. I’d talk to you first.”

“What would you be getting out of the deal, Chase?”

“Besides helping out a good friend? Um... let’s see. My mom has been putting pressure on me and my brothers to find someone and get married. It would give me a year-long reprieve if we were to get married.”

“That’s it? You’re willing to marry me to get out of hearing your mother nag you about settling down?”

“That’s not the only reason, Val.” I give her a direct look. “You mean a lot to me, and I’m willing to give my excellent friend a year of my time so she can collect five million dollars. That is no small thing, Val. That’s a lot of money, life-changing money.”

“It would make you my hero.”

I smile, “I’ve always wanted to play the hero.” I give her a direct look. “Besides, would you do it for me? If the situation was reversed?”

She gets a thoughtful look on her face. Then I see her slowly smile, her eyes clear, and she looks up at me, “Yes, Chase, I would do it for you if the situation were reversed.”

“So, you’ll marry me?”

“Yes, Chase, I’ll marry you.”

I grin at Val. “Good. Then please change out of that horrible-looking dress so we can pick out rings and get a marriage certificate. Your birthday is next Friday, so we don’t have much time.”

Val looks up at me and smiles as well. I see her dimples flash.

“Okay. Give me half an hour, and then I’ll be ready.” She goes to leave and then comes over and hugs me. “Thank you, Chase. You’re a good friend.”

I watch as Val walks out my front door. My eyes automatically go, as they always do, to her lush, perfect ass. Only this time, the white-ruffled monstrosity is in the way. Damn. I try not to laugh. Who in their right mind would think that dress would look good on a full-figured gal like Val? She’s got curves that go on for miles.

I suddenly frown. Did her aunt and cousin pick a dress they knew would be unflattering to Val? I wouldn’t put it past them. Everything that Val has told me about her shit family rubs me the wrong way. Val’s too na?ve for her own good.

I didn’t tell her this, but I’m also signing up to be her protector. With an authoritarian family like hers, they will just continue to harass and try to manipulate her. They need to leave her the hell alone.

Val is the nicest person I’ve ever known. The thought of anyone taking advantage of her makes my blood boil. I shake my head in disgust at even the idea of anyone trying to hurt or belittle her.

But I just agreed. No, I volunteered to marry Val for a year. A whole freaking year. Will I be able to keep my promise to myself not to touch her? Damn, I hope so.

Since meeting Val, I’ve tried hard not to risk our friendship. In other words, I’ve kept it in my pants, which has not been easy. I’ve even tried to quench my desire for Val by bringing other girls home. But they all seemed shallow or petty. All of them lacked whatever exceptional quality Val had. In short, none of them were Val.

Will I be able to keep my hands to myself? I don’t want to risk our friendship because that means more to me than sex. Just the thought of sex with Val has my cock twitching.

I can’t believe she was willing to marry someone else without even telling me. It pisses me off that she even considered it. I thought our friendship meant more to her than that. Shit, I almost lost her.

A year of marriage. I wait for the panic to set in. One year of being in a relationship, even a fake one, should have me shaking in my boots. Instead, the thought of being tied to Val for a year does nothing but make me smile. Val is fun to be around. She makes me laugh. She’s like a breath of fresh air and doesn’t realize how special she is to me.

I’ll need to keep my thoughts out of the gutter and my hands to myself for an entire year. Is that even possible? Yes, I’ve already had two fucking years of practice.

I hear my front door open and close and look up to see Val. She’s obviously taken a shower, as her unruly curls are even more pronounced from the moisture that still clings to her dark curls.

She’s dressed in jeans and a black top that shows off her dark hair and eyes. I remind myself that she is just a friend as we head toward the door.

We see a car pull up in the driveway as I open the front door for her. It’s probably her aunt and uncle. They are now parked in our driveway.

“Damn, I was hoping to avoid this. Come on, Val. Let’s get this showdown with your family over with.”

Val’s car is parked on the left. I notice they park directly behind her car. I guess they think they might be able to hem her in if she tried to leave again. I feel my anger start to rise at their high-handedness.

“Valentina, we see you standing there in the doorway. Come out this minute and explain yourself.”

Val walks outside to talk to her family. They’re the older couple I caught a glimpse of as they ran after Val at the church. I take my time and walk over to them with a swagger. I want to show them they aren’t the ones calling the shots anymore.

They look exactly as I expected them to look. Mean and petty. The older woman has brown hair and hard, green eyes, and she’s as thin as a rail. She looks like she would try to cut you down to size if you let her. Unfortunately, Val lets her.

The man, Val’s uncle, might have been better off if he had married a more likable woman, but it looks like the years haven’t been kind to him. He’s a big, dark man who looks Italian, but his belly protrudes over his waistband, and he’s sweating in the hot Florida sun.