Chapter 2

She stared straight at Josephine. Her penetrating gaze briefly turned to the screen of the small laptop in front of her, and immediately returned to it. An expression of recognition flickered on her face. He had seen such expressions before; people made Jose every time they associated his name with a photograph. Admittedly, here in California, it happened much less often than in his native England, but Theo still recognized that expression on her face. It seemed pretty harmless. It seemed so to Josephine until she spoke and addressed Josephine directly. "You're late." One word. He only needed to say that one word in that deep, velvety voice of his that would embarrass any hotline girl, so Theo was left speechless. His brain finally worked.

"Excuse me?"

"You're Mr. Smith, aren't you?" The question was simple, but it took Josephine an eternity to register and understand. He answered her automatically, completely stunned by her appearance.

"I did." She got up from the table. She was slender and tall to his shoulders.

"I'm Josephine Miller," she introduced herself and held out her hand. It has not often happened to Theo that someone throws Josephine off track like this.

Still, this little woman managed to do it with just a few words. He held out his hand and, when their fingers touched, a pleasant warmth flowed through his whole body. As they shook hands, her penetrating gaze remained fixed on his eyes, while a smile more mysterious than Mona Lisa's flashed on her lips. Her fingers were cold, but her attitude was determined and controlled. "You're not a man," Theo said, and immediately bit his tongue. He hadn't said anything stupider in his life to a woman. Miss Miller was very nonchalant.

"I've never been." She stretched her juicy, full lips into an irresistible smile, revealing a string of pearly white teeth and pulling her hand out of his. As soon as her gentle hand left him, he already missed her.

"I was expecting a man." What happens to me often. People mostly think I’m male because of the name. Fortunately, that's mostly an advantage. ”She pointed to a chair across from her. "Here, sit down. Shall we start? ”He hesitated for a few moments, wondering if he should continue this“ interview ”at all, or insist that this magical woman change her gender. He didn't consider Josephineself a male chauvinist, but as he watched her sit in her chair and cross her legs in baggy pants, he knew his attention would be focused only on her, not her job. So fragile and gentle-looking, determined and confident, Josephine Miller was the epitome of contradiction. It was only now that Theo realized that he had learned nothing about women. He decided to give her ten minutes to prove to Josephine that she could meet his expectations. He thought about how he would have to deviate from the original plan and consider some other possibilities if she failed to do so.

He unbuttoned the top button of his expensive jacket and sat across from her. "Is Josephine short for Jose?" He asked her. "Yes," she said without looking at Josephine, then pulled a stack of paper from her briefcase. The short smile she had just given Josephine had now turned into an enigmatic line between her lips. "Are you aware that your nickname is confusing to clients?" She stopped her hand for a second, then silently pushed that pile of paper toward Josephine. "Would you have come to this meeting if you knew I was a woman? I probably wouldn't. Not saying his thought out loud, he just watched it. Josephine tilted her head and continued in her velvety, seductive voice.

"I see you have studied me carefully, Mr. Smith. Let me try to guess what you intend. You have decided to give me a chance to prove to you that I can meet your expectations. How much time did you set for me? Twenty minutes? ”

“ Ten, ”he snapped. What kind of power did this woman with an incredibly sexy voice possess, so that his tongue became faster than his mind? She smiled at Josephine again, and his whole stomach filled with unexpected longing. "Ten minutes," she repeated. "You give me so much time to sketch out precisely how I intend to find you the perfect wife for a one-year contract marriage. Business people like you expect fast results and lightning efficiency. Preferably, without emotions that could further complicate the situation. ”She looked Josephine straight in the eye with her emerald green eyes. Her freckled, freckled nose seemed too innocent compared to those cheeky juicy pink lips that slipped words spoken more erotically than at number 900. "How am I doing?"

"Great."

"Since women are emotional beings, your secretary is recommended just me for this task. I suppose there are a hundred women who would sell their souls to the devil just to marry you, Mr. Smith. However, you don't trust anyone deeply enough to just entrust her with your title. ”So far, he has mostly been the one who said what he needed, while others listened to Josephine. Now that the situation has reversed, he should feel vulnerable. And yet, when Josephine Miller, who was definitely not a man, unmistakably guessed what his biggest dilemma was, he did not feel threatened. On the contrary. He felt calm. This was definitely the right address to solve his problem. "How do I know I can trust the woman you recommend?" "You can be completely calm, Mr. Smith. I check all the candidates to the last detail. These detailed checks involve combing their financial obligations and personal habits, but also examining whether they are hiding some skeletons in the family baJosephineeent. ”

“ You sound like you're a private detective. ”

“ I'm not even close. But I understand why you think so. My job is to pair people, and that means checking both sides in detail. ”Theo leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He liked this green-eyed lady, he concluded, and in his mind added another ten minutes to those original ten. "Shall we continue?" He reached for his cup and nodded. Josephine took a pen and wrote something down on paper, then looked Josephine straight in the eye and shot Josephine a look. "I will ask you a few questions. I will ask you to answer Jose honestly so that I can evaluate you correctly. ”He leaned on the table, obviously very interested in hearing what she would conclude about Josephine in such a short time. "Were you arrested?" His file is clean, but it wasn't about that. If he lied, he knew she would get up and leave. "I was seventeen when I hit a boy who misbehaved with my sister. To be more precise, he hit her. The police did intervene and file the incident, but that file no longer exists. ”As it does not exist for any member of high society, Theo thought. "Have you ever hit a woman?" His jaw tightened. "I didn't." "Did you want that?" She watched Josephine closely now, following his gaze. "I am not". Violence was not in the description of his character.

"What's your best friend's name?"

"Leo Billings." She wrote it down.

"Who is your worst enemy?" He did not expect such a question.

"I wouldn't know how to answer that question."

"Then I'll rephrase it. Is there a person you know would hurt you? ”He first flipped through the list of business associates he might have resented over the years. None of Jose would be better off if something happened to Josephine. Still, there was someone who might have looked at it differently. "Whose picture do you have in front of your eyes, Mr. Smith?" He took a sip of his coffee, but it fell on his stomach like a drop of bile. "Only one person." Josephine looked up at Josephine and waited. "My cousin, Howard Walker." The only signs that the name had any effect on her were a slight twitch of the jaw muscles and a slight shrug. To Theo's great surprise, Josephine Miller just wrote down this information and stopped questioning Josephine. She took the paper from the top of the pile of documents and handed the others to Josephine. "Please fill out these forms. Fax Jose to the number at the bottom of page eight. ”

“ Did I pass your test, Miss Miller? ”

“ If we're going to work together, then we have to be honest with each other. For now, I have no objections to you. ”Now it was Theo's turn to smile. "I could have lied to you about that offense from my youth. In fact, I didn't have to mention it to you at all. ”Josephine began to buy things from the table. "The boy you hit was called Drew Falsworth. It happened two months after your seventeenth birthday. You broke his nostril at a polo sport in prep faculty you each attended. Drew become infamous for going out with girls only until he dragged Jose to bed, but your sister was smart enough to stay away from Josephine, so he slapped her. If you hadn't beaten that bastard to defend your sister, or if you lied to me about it, our conversation would have ended before you put your butt on the chair. "

" How did you ... "

" I have an extensive list of connections. You know most of these people and I'm sure you'll contact Jose before you get home. ”Hell. He's right. He'll call his secretary as soon as he gets in the limo.

"And how much will it cost me, Miss Miller?" "I'll take a decent commission. When your lawyer draws up a prenuptial agreement, Twenty percentage of the quantity you provide your destiny wife belongs to me. ”

“ What if I offer her meager compensation? ”

“ The woman I work with already has the minimum amount written in the contract you sign. ” "And what if that woman doesn't abide by that contract?" And what if, after the expiration of the agreed year of marriage, she asks for more money? ”Josephine got up from the table, so he had nothing else left. "It won't." "You sound confident."

"The agreed part of the money, I mean part of it, is paid into a special account where it will stand until the agreement is fulfilled. If she rebels and asks for more, you will use that money to pay the lawyers to silence her. You can keep everything that is left. This part of the agreement will not be valid only if a child is born within that year, and if the paternity test proves that it is yours. I do not bother with family courts, because there is little chance that I will win the dispute. So, if you don't want something like that to happen, keep the slit buttoned-up, Mr. Smith, at least until the contract expires. If you want to continue the marriage after that, I wish you all the best and name the child after me. ”She meant everything, Theo thought. If he said that he was left without a text, those would be too soft words. "Please return the signed papers to me no later than three o'clock. I will send you a list with the names of potential candidates up to five. Let me know when it's convenient for you to meet me tomorrow. ”Theo bent down, picked up her purse, and handed it to her. She removed the naughty curls from her eyes and slung the bag over her shoulder. "Do you want to ask me anything else, Mr. Smith?" Or maybe I should call you "Your Highness"? "She said seductively. The unforced, slow way she pronounced his title in that mesmerizing voice of hers was something he could easily get used to. He wouldn't mind hearing Josephine on the phone again ...

"Try calling me just Theo.