Chapter One

THE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

  Maria's POV

  

  "Will you marry me, Miss Belluci?"

  

  The question has me eyeing the man before me as if he had grown two heads over the past half hour he had been in my office. If anyone had told me my perfectly boring morning would take the route it had now I would have called them insane.

  

  I had woken up in a good mood, earlier than usual because I wanted to drop my son off at his kindergarten before heading to work for a meeting that would essentially change my company for good not expecting to be interrupted by the last person I had expected to see.

  

  Sebastian Bolt.

  

  Even his name sounded attractive.

  

  He was the CEO of Bolt Industries who had hounded me with proposals to buy my company despite my continuous refusals. He had come to apparently convince me in person but soon changed his proposal.

  

  "What happened to buying my company?" I asked stepping away from him.

  

  I couldn't help but wonder if he remembered me from that night five years ago when I had asked him to help me forget the betrayal of finding my step sister and fiance in bed. I had never forgotten his face especially not after I'd found out I was pregnant shortly after.

  

  It had been the one thing that sponsored my decision to leave London so I never bump into him again even though I didn't know whether or not he lived in London.

  

  "Plans change."

  

  "I would have rather you stuck to your original course so I know how to reject your offer." I answered, pouring myself some coffee to give my hands something to do.

  

  "Does that mean marrying me is a better offer?" He asked grinning wolfishly.

  

  "No. It just shows me that perhaps you're even more unhinged than I had imagined."

  

  "I am not unhinged, Miss Belluci." He said softly, crowding me against the table. "I'm just a man who knows what I want and goes for it.

  

  His cologne was a delicious fragrance that made my nose twitch, itching to breathe deeply but I stopped myself, remembering he wasn't just any man.

  

  He was even more attractive than when I had seem him those years ago and my body remembered just how well he had handled it. Even now I could feel the stirrings of desire in my blood as I looked at him.

  

  "I am not an object to be acquired." I told him stubbornly.

  

  "I can see that." He smiled.

  

  "You do not even know me." I went on. "Surely you can't marry a stranger."

  

  He grinned wider then, running a hand down the side of my face.

  

  "That's where I'll stop you, Miss Belluci. I happen to recall we spent a very beautiful night together five years ago."

  

  My eyes widened in shock.

  

  "We aren't exactly strangers you see." He smiled proudly. "I believe we know each other quite intimately."

  

  "It still doesn't count." I answered stubbornly. "We barely know anything about each other. A marriage should be more than a business proposal. There should be something. Love, attraction, anything but this... farce you're suggesting."

  

  “I do not need you to love me.” He rebuts coldly. “I want you to marry me. Besides going by that delectable flush on your skin I can say there certainly is attraction."

  

  “I do not want to, Mr Bolt.” I reiterated, flushing even deeper much to my dismay, in case the stubborn asshole hadn’t understood my view on the subject. "There's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise."

  

  “I believe you think you have a choice in the matter.” He smiles wolfishly. “Marry me or I’ll let those wolves have a field day with tearing your company from your hands. You do not have a lot of options. I'm offering you a deal you cannot afford to lose. Your company will be yours. I'll be a silent investor. Isn't that what you wanted?"

  

  “I would rather take my chances with them than you.”

  

  Yes my company needed investments to survive but that didn't mean I was just going to accept help at any cost. I still had my principles to live by. What would I teach my son then?

  

  He smirks, stepping even closer that I could feel ever hard ridge of his body against me.

  

  “Marriage to me wouldn’t be so bad, Miss Belluci.” He smirked running an eye up and down my body. “I’ll keep your days busy with clients and your nights very warm.”

  

  "You will have to make a better proposal than that to get me to marry you, Mr Bolt." I spat. "I suggest you take your time."

  

  "That sounds like you you want me to come back."

  

  I pushed him off me, ignoring how warm and solid he felt beneath my hand.

  

  "Good bye, Miss Belluci." He smiled. "I believe I will take your advice."

  

  I sighed as soon as he stepped outside my office, falling into my seat.

  

  "What was that about?" Helena, my best friend and business partner asked me. "You were in here for a long time."

  

  "He said he wants to marry me. If I do, he'll invest and I'll retain ownership."

  

  Her eyes went wide.

  

  "What? Why?"

  

  "Remember when I told you about that one night stand I had five years ago?" I asked.

  

  She would definitely remember as I had called her crying when I finally returned home from his apartment.

  

  "Yes why?" She asked. When I didn't answer, her eyes widened. "It can't be."

  

  "It is." I sighed falled into my seat.

  

  "And he remembers?"

  

  I nodded, holding my head in my hands.

  

  "What will you do?"

  

  "I don't know." I answered truthfully.

  

  She was silent for a long time but had a contemplative look on her face. As a lawyer, I knew she would bd weighing the pros and cons of the deal.

  

  "We do need help at this point." She started, undeterred by my glare. "And marriage to him would mean contracts."

  

  "You seriously aren't suggesting I..."

  

  "I'm not suggesting it, Maria." She answered folding her hands. "I'm all for it."

  

  "Hel..."

  

  "Would it be so bad?" She asked. "The man is hot as hell, dynamite in bed from what you said and stupidly rich and he obviously is interested in you. You're single so there's nothing stopping you."

  

  "I don't want to sell myself for money."

  

  "We all have to at some point." Helena sighed. "If you're going to do it, you might as well make sure its worth it."