4. Cole

Yet,less than a week after receiving the information I"d needed to take Sunny down—and put an end to my meddling grandmother"s marriage plans—I found myself proposing to her with the vintage wedding ring I"d tossed into my desk without much thought.

"Agree to marry me, no questions asked, and I"ll make all of your problems go away."

Sunny gaped at the ring. Then raised her large brown eyes to look up at me."Why are you doing this?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "That"s a question."

"You"re damn right it"s a question! One I need answered!" She stood up and shook her head at me. "I stole from your grandma. Why would you want us to pretend to be married?"

That"s a good question—too good, actually. I was still trying to figure out what the hell I was doing myself.

I decided to go with a mild version of the truth as my less-than-a-minute-old plan continued to form in my head.

"The thing is, my grandmother is very fond of you." I gritted my teeth, remembering Nora"s inane argument for giving me an ultimatum that would ruin my AudioNation deal. "She thinks I work too much, and apparently, it"s her dying wish that I settle down and marry you. You, specifically."

At first, Sunny simply stared at me, her expression uncomprehending. Then her face fell. "Oh God! Nora"s dying?"

She sank back into the white metal seat I privately called my pawn chair. "And her dying wish is to see you married?"

A strange, foreign emotion flickered inside my chest. Was it guilt, attempting to access my long-dormant and iced-over sense of right and wrong?

I hesitated, but only for the few seconds it took me to remember that this woman had stolen six figures from a charity account. She wasn"t worth my guilt.

I took a seat, too, and calmly answered her second question. "Yes. That"s what she said."

"She looked so great at the photo shoot! But I know she still smokes." Sunny"s shoulders slumped. "I should"ve guessed that awful habit would catch up with her. Just like it did my grandmother."

A wave of sadness passed over her features. Her incredibly pretty features. I had to admit, Nora had been right about her... appealing nature, if wrong about her being an easy, perfect match for me.

Before I found out about the embezzlement, I might not have minded taking Sunny on a date to assess whether or not we could come to terms on a no-strings-attached arrangement.

But I didn"t appreciate the conflicting sensations she aroused inside of me.

I was good at assessing people. Damn good. I wouldn"t have made the kind of strides I did within only five years of being named CEO without a knack for breaking down the wants, needs, and motives of the people who sat down on the other side of my mental chess board.

This woman was a thief. She"d stolen money from the charity fund she was supposed to be administrating on her dead grandmother"s behalf. That was a fact, printed out as clear as day inside the black file folder still lying open on the desk between us. But I couldn"t shake the feeling that she was genuinely upset about my grandmother"s supposedly deteriorating health.

That unfamiliar emotion twinged again. This time inside my gut.

But Max...Nora...the AudioNation deal. I"d be damned if I let myself get manipulated out of everything I"d work for on a baby-hungry grandmother"s whim.

The high-stakes, multi-billion-dollar ends justified any means I took to ensure that Nora would never be able to pull a stunt like this on me again.

I reset my expression to impassive. "So, your answer to my proposal is…?"

"Yes!" She leaned forward in the pawn chair to answer with an adamant nod. "Of course, I"ll pretend to be marrying you or engaged to you or whatever it takes. No more questions asked."

"Good. It"s decided, then." I ruthlessly stamped down that unwanted emotion before it had the chance to bother me again. "I"ll have the money transferred back into the charity fund, and I"ll also have my assistant set up a weekly allowance to go into your personal credit union account."

"Oh no, I can"t accept payment," she said before I could finish laying out my generous deal terms.

I inwardly jolted and outwardly squinted. "What do you mean you won"t accept payment?"

"I mean, I"ll do anything to ensure Nora"s happiness. I don"t need to get paid an allowance for that." She talked slowly, as if she were explaining her answer to a kindergartener, not the billionaire CEO who"d just handed her a get-out-of-Vegas-jail-free card with an allowance on top.

"Thank you for putting the money back in the fund. I"m so grateful, believe me. And I"m going to pay you back every cent, I promise. But..." Sunny shook her head, her expression both righteous and resolved. "I can't, in good conscience, accept money for doing the right thing."

Is she serious?

"Good conscience? The right thing? You embezzled six figures worth of charity funds," I reminded her.

"Yeah..." She squirmed in her cold metal seat. "And that"s why I can"t take any more money. From Nora. Or you, her grandson. That"s why I have to pay you back."

"But you don"t have to pay me back," I pointed out. "I"m offering you a good deal with an allowance on top. I don"t understand why you can"t?—"

"I know you don't. And, like I"ve already said, I can"t explain it to you." She fretted her bottom lip. "I"m sorry for the confusion. Truly. And thank you for your generous offer. But I can"t take it. I just can"t."

I kept my expression an icy blank. Barely.

I"d dealt with thieves before. I"d negotiated with stubborn vendors. I even knew one or two people in my circle who could be called noble.

But I"d never in my entire Vegas life encountered a stubborn, noble thief.

"You"re confusing the shit out of me," I informed her without any inflection in my voice. "And it"s pissing me off."

She winced. "I"m not trying to, but I can"t?—"

I held up a hand before she could finish another apology that would probably just leave me with more questions. "You will tell me why you stole that money. If not now, most definitely before this little charade of ours is over. So you might as well let me in on whatever you"re hiding."

More squirming. It was like watching a pretty brown house cat politely try to stay put inside a frying pan. "Could we go back to the pretending to be engaged stuff?"

Apparently, this wasn"t an actual request. She kept going without waiting for my answer. "What exactly does making Nora happy mean? What would you require of me? And what"s our story for why we"re suddenly engaged out of the blue?"

Another good question. Also, should I appreciate or be annoyed that she"s treating this like a team effort, something the two of us are in together?

Whatever. Shaking off the confusion, I squared my shoulders. "We"ll say we had a whirlwind romance, dating back to when we met"—I put air quotes around the word met—"when I picked my grandmother up from the Benton Girls holiday party. In real life, that was when Nora first told me I had to marry you. Something about you breaking up with a long-term boyfriend and this being my only chance."

"Really?" Sunny touched a hand to her chest, and her gaze softened even further. "I can"t believe Nora thinks that highly of me."

Seven weeks ago, I would have agreed with that disbelief. But now, I found myself once again having to remind myself that this woman wasn"t some innocent. She was a thief who wouldn"t even explain herself. Personal matter, my ass.

A potential snag in my new plan interrupted my irritated thoughts. "You"re still broken up with this guy, right? You haven"t replaced him yet?"

She let out a wry chuff. "Like I"ve had time to date anyone. Right now, I"m working three jobs."

"Good." I didn"t realize a green cloud had risen inside my head until it receded after she told me she wasn"t seeing anyone.

What the hell is the matter with me?

"Then we"ll use our engagement as the reason for your sudden resignation from the Benton Girls Revue. Effective today."

"Today?" Sunny"s voice cracked with sadness.

So, not only was she genuinely upset over Nora"s supposed demise, but she also didn"t want to give up her job. I was aware that as the very last showgirl revue left in Vegas, being a Benton Girl had reached a cult-like status. I wondered if she"d beg to keep her job. Make that a condition of playing along with my new plan.

But the shadow of sadness passed, and she nodded, her expression becoming resolute. "Yes, I"ll resign. It"s not the sixties anymore, like when your grandparents got together. I guess it wouldn"t look good for the Benton CEO to be dating some showgirl."

For some reason, I felt it necessary to correct her. "It wouldn"t look good for any CEO to become intimate with any employee. It wouldn"t matter if you were a showgirl or another executive."

Sunny nodded, accepting my explanation. "Okay, and it"s just pretend, anyway. We"re not really going to date or be intimate. We"re just saying that we are for Nora"s sake. Right?"

She let out a little laugh, then smiled up at me, waiting for me to agree.

That smile. How is she so fucking pretty? I was beginning to suspect Nora had been right about me being too focused on the AudioNation deal. Otherwise, how could I have failed to notice this beauty standing right beside her in a jeweled bikini?

"Right?" she asked again. Her smile wobbled.

And I let the silence drift on for much longer than I knew was suitable, even in business, even during business negotiations. I was aware this question was the deal-closer, a softball clencher to put her mind at ease about going along with my unorthodox proposal.

I should give her the answer she was clearly expecting.

But I didn't.

I surreptitiously let my gaze roam down her body. Her dance leggings and neon-red Benton Girls top combo, while not the jewel-covered bikini she was required to wear for the revue, somehow made her curves even more appealing. My hands itched with the image of me reaching under that off-the-should fleece to find out what she was hiding beneath her bulky top.

Christ.Maybe I needed to get laid more often. If the way my body was buzzing at just the thought of touching Sunny was any indication, I had gone way too long between my prearranged trysts.

Yes, I was sex deprived.

That was the only way to explain my sudden change of plans.

And what I said next.

"This arrangement can be whatever you want it to be." I leaned forward and steepled my hands. "Do you want to be intimate, Sunny?"