Page 6 of The Billionaire's Wife

“It was on your application when I hired you.”

Oh yeah. He’d been the only one to have me fill out a formal application before hiring me to walk his dog. Like I was taking a job at his company. It reeked of pretention, and it definitely still does.

“Can we talk?” he repeats.

I stare at him for a heartbeat more. “I guess.” I step aside. My entryway is narrow, so he has to practically brush against me to get into the living space. I’ve never been this close to him. God, he’s tall. And he smells like … pine? Or is that the flowers?

But then he’s passed me and is standing awkwardly in my living room, glancing around. I close the door and follow him in. Howard hurries up to him, sniffing and wagging his tail. Alec stiffens awkwardly.

I stand a few feet away, shuffling my feet and crossing my arms. “I assume you wanna talk more about the wife thing, yeah?”

His expression doesn’t change. He simply assesses me with that calculating look he always wears. God, does this guy even have feelings? Is he a goddamn robot?

“Yes,” he answers. “I realize it was completely unfair of me to spring it on you the way I did, but I’d like a chance to explain the situation and give you my offer.”

My offer. Like this is some kind of business deal. Which, I guess, it probably is. I vaguely remember him offering to pay me something before I’d stormed out by how weird that entire encounter had been.

I’m torn between throwing him out and actually hearing what he has to say. At the very least, it’s got to be entertaining. And I have to admit I am a bit curious as to why he’d randomly pulled me over and introduced me as his wife.

“Okay, sure. I’ll hear your offer.”

He nods. Then he glances around. “Do you have a vase for these?” He holds out the flowers.

So I guess they are for me. I purse my lips. “I have a cup.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Would you like to put them in … a cup?”

I shrug, turning around and pulling out a drinking class from a cabinet above the kitchen counter. I fill it with some water and turn back around to take the flowers from Alec’s outstretched hand. I put them in the glass and set it on the counter.

Seemingly satisfied, Alec continues. “King Tech has an incredible opportunity with Marcus Caddelle. We’re considering merging our companies. In fact, we almost certainly are. There’s only one problem. Marcus values business partners with family values—business partners with …” Alec’s expression looks pained, “wives.”

I nod. I see. “Okay so this guy wants you to be married. Sure. But you couldn’t find someone better to play pretend with? Or at least ask me before you introduce me as such?”

Alec’s pained expression deepens. “Yeah. I realize how inappropriate that was. I, uh … honestly, Marcus saw you walking my dog, made an assumption, and I just … went with it.”

I stare at him for a long, long moment. He actually looks … uncomfortable. Upset, worried, nervous. I’ve never seen him anything other than aloof and domineering. It’s actually kind of fun to see him like this. Watching him squirm.

I lean back against my kitchen countertop with a soft smirk. “So it’s me or nothing?”

He lets out a frustrated sigh. “Basically.”

I nod again. “Okay.”

Alec’s eyes widen slightly. “You’ll do it?”

“No, I said ‘okay,’ as in ‘okay, I understand,’ not ‘okay, I’ll do it.’”

A flicker of annoyance flutters across his face, stirring some satisfaction within me. “Please, Ella,” he says. It’s the first time he’s really called me by my name other than in his apartment hallway earlier when introducing me. “I’ll pay you. A lot. This is an opportunity I can’t blow. I need this to go smoothly.”

But as much as I’m enjoying watching Alec King squirm, I’m starting to grow tired of this game. And just like when he’d first proposed this, I’m doubting what the details of this entail, what this really means. I shake my head, dropping the smirk and getting real. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what pretending to be your wife would look like. It all sounds … shady, and iffy.”

“It’ll be easy,” Alec presses. “All you have to do is stand beside me and act like we’re a couple. Maybe we’ll hold hands, but that’s the most. We don’t even have to kiss if that’s something you’re not comfortable with. We can just say we don’t prefer PDA. It’ll be the easiest hundred grand you’ve ever made.”

At his last comment, my eyes widen, and suddenly my attention is fully caught. “I’m sorry, did you say one hundred grand?”

It’s Alec’s turn to smile, and I hate the feeling of him having the upper hand. But he does, and we both know it. “Yes. Like I said, it’ll be the easiest hundred grand you’ve ever made.”

I narrow my eyes. “Come on. You’re not going to pay me that much just to hang out with you. Platonically. Without …?”

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