Page 66 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

I hadn’t told anyone about my discovery yet. Not Skylar or Nadia. I couldn’t tell them because if I did that, I would probably have to tell them about his proposition, and that was not something I was ready to discuss with anyone. By the time I got home after picking up Luna from school, Declan’s terms were in my inbox.

Ten weeks. Declan Wolfe was asking me for ten weeks of my life. All I had to do was legally marry him until after the New Year, when we would have our marriage annulled. In return, he would pay off my student loans and credit card debt.

The financial benefits were not the only reason I was considering his indecent proposal. If I went along with this, then Declan would save everything Stella had worked so hard for; even if her husband didn’t see her value or worth over the years, I knew that she’d sacrificed and built that company alongside him. Just the work she’d put into our launch alone was notsomething I wanted Derek to have ownership of. Not to mention all of the other assets. If there was one thing I did know, it was that Derek Wolfe definitely didn’t deserve to have it handed to him. I may not like Declan as a boss, but he clearly loved the company and was the person who should be running the business.

But this would be nothing more than a business transaction. There was no way that I could say yes…right? It would be wrong. Morally. Or would it? I had no clue. What I did know was that four words kept repeating over and over in my mind.

“Romance can be negotiated.”

What did he mean by that? None of the terms had anything to do with romance or us being “compatible,” as he’d put it. So, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen in that department.

There was one term I was unwilling to agree to. He wanted me to move to Atlanta. To move in with him. No way was that going to happen. I was not going to leave Firefly. My sister was about to have my nephew. I wasn’t going to miss the first ten weeks of his life.

Wait. Was I actually considering this? No. No. None of it was going to happen. This was insane. It was crazy.

“Earth to Ashley.”

I blinked as Nadia’s voice invaded my inner thoughts, and her hand waved in front of my face.

“What is going on with you?” she asked with concern as we waited for the photos we’d just taken in the booth to be printed out. “You are a thousand miles away.”

“Sorry, I’m just tired from the launch.”

We’d arrived at the premiere ofFallen Heroabout thirty minutes ago, and I was doing my best to be present, but my mind kept wandering. The event was being held at the Firefly Drive-In Movie Theater, and the place was packed. Besides theparking lot being filled past capacity, the grass hill beside it was overflowing with people. The entire town had shown up.

Nadia and I had just finished taking photos in a promo booth. She reached down and grabbed the strip of pictures, then hooked her arm through mine. “Let’s go check and see how Zoe’s doing.”

We started across the parking lot filled with cars and made it to the back, where Zoe was posted up in the old concession stand. They’d remodeled the drive-in a few years back, and now this stand was used for storage. Tonight was probably pretty emotional for her, and I had a feeling she was using this place to stay away from prying eyes.

“Hey, sexy! How are you doing?” Nadia asked as we joined her.

“I’m good!” She beamed. “Let me see your pics.”

Nadia was showing them to her when something caught her attention over Zoe’s shoulder.

“Who’s the zaddy in the suit?” Nadia swooned. “He’s giving off serious Christian Grey vibes.”

Before I even turned my head, I had a sixth sense that the ‘zaddy’ in question was Declan Wolfe. I’d never met a man who matched that description more than him, right down to him having his own plane and being a pilot.

Zoe glanced back and shook her head. “I’ve never seen him before.”

My heart was pounding wildly in my chest as I turned my head in what felt like slow motion. Sure enough, when I did, I saw Declan Wolfe standing at the end of a row of trucks wearing an Armani suit and designer shoes that probably cost as much as half the cars in the lot.

He had tracked me down. I shouldn’t be surprised. He wanted what he wanted when he wanted it. This was the Declan I knew in the emails. He had to have everything his way, on histerms, on his timeline. I told him I needed time to think, and he’d shown up…looking well, really, really, really hot.

“Heis going to be my husbandifI agree to his terms.” I was both furious and also a little (a lot) turned on as I marched over to confront Declan. I couldn’t help my body’s traitorous reaction. Hearing Nadia refer to him as having Christian Grey vibes brought back memories. Not that I needed any help remembering. I thought about that night all the time. But Nadia’s first impression was the same one I’d had, especially when he’d told me that he needed to have control in his life, in and out of the bedroom.

In fairness to him, hehadtold me about his need to control the first night I’d met him. In the bedroom, I enjoyed it. Out of the bedroom, not so much.

Remember, you don’t like him, I reminded myself.This is the arrogant jerk who made my life miserable for the past six months.

I’d forgotten in the office today. He had a way of making me do that.

He is also the man who gave me five orgasms in one night.

So…yeah, there was that, too.

“What are you doing here?” I seethed through clenched teeth as I approached him.

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