23. Ashley

23

ASHLEY

Declan Wolfe was Big. Big was Declan Wolfe. How was that possible? I honestly felt like I was getting Punk’d , or I was on Candid Camera . At any moment, someone was going to tell me that this was all a big prank.

I hadn’t told anyone about my discovery yet. Not Skylar or Nadia. I couldn’t tell them because if I did that, I would probably have to tell them about his proposition, and that was not something I was ready to discuss with anyone. By the time I got home after picking up Luna from school, Declan’s terms were in my inbox.

Ten weeks. Declan Wolfe was asking me for ten weeks of my life. All I had to do was legally marry him until after the New Year, when we would have our marriage annulled. In return, he would pay off my student loans and credit card debt.

The financial benefits were not the only reason I was considering his indecent proposal. If I went along with this, then Declan would save everything Stella had worked so hard for; even if her husband didn’t see her value or worth over the years, I knew that she’d sacrificed and built that company alongside him. Just the work she’d put into our launch alone was not something I wanted Derek to have ownership of. Not to mention all of the other assets. If there was one thing I did know, it was that Derek Wolfe definitely didn’t deserve to have it handed to him. I may not like Declan as a boss, but he clearly loved the company and was the person who should be running the business.

But this would be nothing more than a business transaction. There was no way that I could say yes…right? It would be wrong. Morally. Or would it? I had no clue. What I did know was that four words kept repeating over and over in my mind.

“Romance can be negotiated.”

What did he mean by that? None of the terms had anything to do with romance or us being “compatible,” as he’d put it. So, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen in that department.

There was one term I was unwilling to agree to. He wanted me to move to Atlanta. To move in with him. No way was that going to happen. I was not going to leave Firefly. My sister was about to have my nephew. I wasn’t going to miss the first ten weeks of his life.

Wait. Was I actually considering this? No. No. None of it was going to happen. This was insane. It was crazy.

“Earth to Ashley.”

I blinked as Nadia’s voice invaded my inner thoughts, and her hand waved in front of my face.

“What is going on with you?” she asked with concern as we waited for the photos we’d just taken in the booth to be printed out. “You are a thousand miles away.”

“Sorry, I’m just tired from the launch.”

We’d arrived at the premiere of Fallen Hero about thirty minutes ago, and I was doing my best to be present, but my mind kept wandering. The event was being held at the Firefly Drive-In Movie Theater, and the place was packed. Besides the parking lot being filled past capacity, the grass hill beside it was overflowing with people. The entire town had shown up.

Nadia and I had just finished taking photos in a promo booth. She reached down and grabbed the strip of pictures, then hooked her arm through mine. “Let’s go check and see how Zoe’s doing.”

We started across the parking lot filled with cars and made it to the back, where Zoe was posted up in the old concession stand. They’d remodeled the drive-in a few years back, and now this stand was used for storage. Tonight was probably pretty emotional for her, and I had a feeling she was using this place to stay away from prying eyes.

“Hey, sexy! How are you doing?” Nadia asked as we joined her.

“I’m good!” She beamed. “Let me see your pics.”

Nadia was showing them to her when something caught her attention over Zoe’s shoulder.

“Who’s the zaddy in the suit?” Nadia swooned. “He’s giving off serious Christian Grey vibes.”

Before I even turned my head, I had a sixth sense that the ‘zaddy’ in question was Declan Wolfe. I’d never met a man who matched that description more than him, right down to him having his own plane and being a pilot.

Zoe glanced back and shook her head. “I’ve never seen him before.”

My heart was pounding wildly in my chest as I turned my head in what felt like slow motion. Sure enough, when I did, I saw Declan Wolfe standing at the end of a row of trucks wearing an Armani suit and designer shoes that probably cost as much as half the cars in the lot.

He had tracked me down. I shouldn’t be surprised. He wanted what he wanted when he wanted it. This was the Declan I knew in the emails. He had to have everything his way, on his terms, on his timeline. I told him I needed time to think, and he’d shown up…looking well, really, really, really hot.

“ He is going to be my husband if I agree to his terms.” I was both furious and also a little (a lot) turned on as I marched over to confront Declan. I couldn’t help my body’s traitorous reaction. Hearing Nadia refer to him as having Christian Grey vibes brought back memories. Not that I needed any help remembering. I thought about that night all the time. But Nadia’s first impression was the same one I’d had, especially when he’d told me that he needed to have control in his life, in and out of the bedroom.

In fairness to him, he had told me about his need to control the first night I’d met him. In the bedroom, I enjoyed it. Out of the bedroom, not so much.

Remember, you don’t like him , I reminded myself. This is the arrogant jerk who made my life miserable for the past six months.

I’d forgotten in the office today. He had a way of making me do that.

He is also the man who gave me five orgasms in one night .

So…yeah, there was that, too.

“What are you doing here?” I seethed through clenched teeth as I approached him.

“You haven’t responded to me, and I have to go back to the city.”

“I told you I would think about it.”

“That was 4:00 p.m. I’ve messaged you since then.”

Yes, he had. But I wasn’t obligated to drop everything and put my life on hold to respond. This was the self-entitled behavior that was infuriating. I didn’t work for him any longer.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I put a tracker on your car and phone.”

Indignation boiled up inside me.

“Just because you have more money than God does not mean you can invade people’s privacy and?—”

The corner of his lips twitched, and I knew that he was fucking with me. “The entire town is here, and you invited Gran, Fred, and Dorothy.”

It frustrated me that I’d taken the bait. It also reinforced my suspicion that he purposefully provoked me for his own amusement in our emails.

“Did you look at my terms?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“I told you. I need to think about it.”

“You were going to marry a stranger. Would marrying me really be that much worse?”

“That was different.”

“I still don’t understand what would make a woman like you?—”

“A woman like me,” I snapped back, immediately defensive.

“Yes, someone who is intelligent, creative, honest, caring, beautiful, compassionate, resourceful, sexy, funny?—”

“Stop!” I cut him off. “You can’t do that.”

“Do what?” A crease appeared between his brows.

“You can’t be you and then say those things.”

“Be me?”

“Yes, be an arrogant asshole and then say nice things like that.”

His lips curled at the edges again, and he got a familiar look in his eyes. It was the same one he’d gotten at the bar when he’d said I was cute.

“Don’t,” I warned him.

“Don’t what?” he asked with faux innocence.

I pointed at his chest in accusation. “You know what.”

“No, I don’t.” He lifted his hand in mock surrender.

“I am not cute. This is not cute.”

“Agree to disagree.”

A crackling sound came over the speakers.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Miles Ford, and this is AJ James.” Miles Ford began the introduction.

“I have to go. The movie is going to start.”

I turned to leave, but Declan reached out and grabbed my wrist. The moment he touched me, arousal spread through me like a dam bursting, flooding my system. My knees went weak, and a shock of bliss curled low in my belly.

My eyes lifted to meet his, and everything around me melted away. The cars, the people, the sounds—all disappeared.

“Please say yes.”

I could see the desperation in his eyes. I knew that it wasn’t about me. He needed to save his company.

“There are so many women who would happily marry you.”

“But only one I want to marry,” he stated, then dropped his hand from mine as if he’d just touched a hot stove, and his expression was one I couldn’t quite read.

He looked surprised and unsettled…then there was nothing. His face went completely blank. A mask went up, and he turned and walked away. I stood, watching his back as he retreated, wondering why he’d reacted the way he had. He’d appeared shocked that he’d said what he had. Why would he be shocked? Why would he be anxious? He was the one who said it.

I scanned the parking lot to find Nadia. She was cozied up with one of the male models who had served in the armed forces the studio had hired to hand out popcorn. Skylar was at home with Hank. Zoe was with Miles. Daphne was with Harlan. Nadia was coupled up with her flavor of the night. And I found myself alone after sending away the hottest, sexiest man I’d ever met, with whom I’d had the best sex in my life, and who asked me to marry him.

Yeah, I should probably reevaluate my life choices.