Chapter Four

"God your parents really screwed you up." she muttered. 

"Thank you."

"What if i don't fit in all these categories?"

"We will work on it."

Her eyes narrowed, and she bit her lip. Jordan flashed back to the first time he kissed her, when he was sixeen. How his mouth had pressed against hers,feeling her tremble. His fingers lightly caressing the bare skin of her shoulders.

Then she had smiled and told him she loved him. Wanted to marry him. He should have kissed her or said something sweet and nice instead he had laughed. Even at sixteen he knew no relationship could ever be beautiful, they all eventually turned ugly.

He shook off the memory and concentrated on the present. "Why don't you tell me what you are looking for in this marriage?"

"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars upfront. In cash."

He leaned closer to her intrigued, "Hell, that's alot of money. Gambling debts?"

An invisible wall slammed between them. "No."

"Shopping spree?"

Temper flared in her eyes. "None of your business. Part of the deal is that you don't ask me questions about the money and how i intend to use it."

"Hmmmm, anything else?"

"Where do we live?"

"In my house."

"I will not be giving up my apartment, i will pay the rent as usual."

Surprise shot through him. "As my wife, you will need a proper wardrobe. You will get an allowance and have access to my personal shopper."

"I will wear what i want and when i want."

He fought back a smile. "You will play hostess to my business associates. I have a huge deal coming up, so you have to play nice with their wives."

"I can manage to laugh at their horrible jokes. But i need to be free to ran my own business and enjoy my own social life."

Ofcourse i expect you to carry on your individual lifestyle."

" As long as i don't embarass you. "

" Exactly. "

" I have got some problems with this list though."

"I am a flexible person."

"I am very Close to my family and they will need a good reason to believe am suddenly getting married."

"Just tell them we ran into each other and decided to get married."

Maya rolled her eyes, "They are not allowed to know about this arrangement, so they need to believe we are madly in love. You will have to come to dinner so we can make the announcement and it needs to be convincing."

He remembered that their father had left them for the bottle and abandoned his family. You still speak with your father?"

"Yes."

"You used to hate him." 

"He made amends. I chose to forgive him. Anyway my brother and sister in law will be there, and the twins too, they will ask you a million questions and you have to be convincing." 

He frowned, "I don't like complications." 

"Tough lack buddy, that's part of the deal." 

"Fine, anything else?" 

"Yes, i get a real wedding." 

He narrowed his eyes, 

"I was thinking a white dress outside with my family in attendance and Olivia as my maid of honor. 

" I don't like weddings Maya,"

" So you have said, my family will never believe i eloped. We have to do this for them. "

" I am marrying you for business reasons Maya not your family." 

"Believe me, am not happy about this too, but we have to play the part if people are going to think it is real." 

"Okay, anything else?" 

"Not really, that's it." 

"Well do you want to sleep on it or whatever women do when they cant make a decision?" 

She bit her lip, hard, and forced out the words. "Fine you have a deal. I guess that covers it" 

"Not quite." he paused as if about to approach a delicate topic. Maya swore to remain calm, no matter what he said. 

"I want to talk to you about sex." 

"Sex?" the word dropped from her lips and fired into the air like a gunshot. She blinked, but refused to show any change in expression. 

"See, we need to be discreet with.. Uh..our extra curricular activities." 

"Discreet?" 

"Yes, i deal with some very high end clients, and i have a reputation to protect. Let alone the terms of the agreement would be broken if our marriage was questioned. I think it's best if you agreed to remain celibate for the year. It's doable, don't you think?"

He gave a fake laugh and she wondered if she caught a gleam of sweat on his forehead. Suddenly the true meaning of his words caught fire in her brain. Alex wanted her to be the perfect wife, which included holding a chaste marriage bed under their ruse. 

But he hadn't mentioned his own celibacy. Olivia had spilled all the secrets about Diana, his girlfriend. So she knew Alex was in a relationship, however she did not understand why he could not just marry her. But it wasn't her place to judge or ask why.

She smiled, " i understand." 

His face practically lit up. "You do?" 

"Ofcourse, if the marriage is supposed to be real, how would it look to find your wife the gossip of an affair so soon after thewrdsing?" 

"Exactly, you get it." 

"And you shouldn't have to deal with humiliating questions about your manhood. If your wife is sleeping around, it's obvious what the problem is. She wasn't getting it good enough at home." 

He shifted his weight, his nod was half hearted. "I guess."

"So what about Diana?" 

He drew back in surprise, "How do you know about her?" 

"Olivia."

"Don't worry about Diana, i will take care of that." "Are you sleeping with her?" 

He flinched, then tried to pretend he didn't care. "Does it matter?" 

She lifted her hands up in defense. "I want to clarify the sex issue. You are saying if i want a one night stand, i can't go for it. So what are the rules for you?" 

Maya pursed her lips and wondered how the man intended to get himself out of his freshly dug grave. 

"Look, i promise you will never find yourself in an arkward position." 

"So you are telling me you are still going to sleep with Diana?" 

"Diana and i are involved in a relationship." 

"But you won't marry her?" 

Tension snapped the air around them. He took a few steps away yearning for some distance. "It's not that kind of relationship." 

"Hmmmm, so you are saying i can't screw around, because i don't have anyone steady to screw around with." 

If ice cubes were available he would have sucked them down one by one. Her accusation made a strange heat rise to his skin. Her tone was mild. Her smiled seemed easy and genuine. Jordy poised on the edge of some female power trip, and he recognized he was on losing ground. He rallied for the upper hand.

"If you had someone steady in your life, we would work out the situation. But strangers are too dangerous. I can guarantee Valerie can keep a secret. 

She smiled. His heart stopped, paused and then went on beating. Fascinated, he waited for her next words. 

"No way baby," 

He fought for concentration ad her refusal slipped from that sexy mouth. "Pardon" 

"No sex for me, then no sex for you too. I don't care if Diana is a stripper or the love of your life, if am having no fun neither will you. 

Alex completely defeated and in no mood to argue with her agreed.

She looked at him and spoke in a business manner, "I know the contract does not state our new agreement. Do you give me your word that you will stick to the new terms?" 

"I can draw up a revised document." 

"No need, do you give me your word?" 

Alex realized she trusted him on the same level he trusted her. A pickle of satisfaction ran through him. "I give you my word." 

"Then i will shake on it. Oh, and the dissolution of our marriage after one year, my family can't be hurt in this deception. We cite irreconcilable differences and pretend to part as friends." 

"I can live with that." 

"Good, pick me up tonight at seven and we will go see my family and break the news. I will take care of all the wedding arrangements. 

He nodded, his brain abit foggy from hid decision and her nearness. Was that subtle feagrance from her skin vanilla? Or cinnamon? He watched in a daze while she dropped a business card on the cherry wood table. 

"My address at the flower shop," she said, "i will see you tonight."

He cleared his throat to reply, but it was too late. She had already left.