Page 29 of If the Ring Fits

“Well, getting legally married gives you more rights and more protection. Like alimony and such. I had my lawyers draft a prenup with all the details.” I slide the documents over the table to her. “I’ve asked them to keep all the legalese out of it and write it as straightforward as possible so you don’t need a lawyer to check it.”

Rowena eyes the documents as if they make her more uncomfortable than at ease. “Give me a rundown.”

“In simple terms, you agree to be married to me for at least six months. All your expenses medical or otherwise will be taken care of, for the baby, too. And once we divorce, you’ll get an alimony to put your annual income at $150,000 a year regardless of what you make or until you marry again.”

“What if I don’t have a salary?”

“Then, you’ll get the full 150K from me.”

Her mouth gapes. “Are you joking?”

“If I get the top chair at Fulton, 150K will be a drop in the ocean for me.”

“Okay, Scrooge McDuck.” She narrows her eyes playfully, crossing her arms. “Glad to hear you have a pool of gold to dive into.”

I sit back in my chair and give her a breather. “Sorry if I’m coming on too strong. But I want you to see that once I get my side of the deal and we divorce, I won’t leave you hung out to dry.”

Her eyes shift again and finally she looks at me. “No, it’s okay. I asked. And you’d just be okay getting married?”

“Look, the prenup protects my assets, too. I won’t lie about it. This way, we’re both safeguarded. And saying I do will prove to my boss I’m serious beyond the shade of a doubt.”

“Wow. You make it sound so straightforward. I just never imagined… you know…” I raise an eyebrow becauseI don’t know. She adjusts her glasses. “I never imagined this is how I’d get married.”

I give her time to elaborate. But when she still doesn’t speak, I prompt, “Did you have questions?”

She takes a sip of tea. “I guess just, what would be your relationship with the baby?”

My jaw tenses. I could sugar-coat it for her, but she needs to come into this agreement with a clear idea of how things are going to go. “I wouldn’t have one. It’d be better that way, less messy for everyone once we split up.” She gives me big eyes so I explain further, “We’d be married in name only and for my work functions, the rest of the time, we’d be leading separate lives.”

“Yeah, you’ve said,” Rowena replies in a small voice. “What about you, do you have any questions for me?”

I stare at my coffee before I tell her the heaviest doubt on my mind because it’s another delicate subject. “I guess, only… how will the father take the news that you’re living with me? You mentioned he’s not a good guy.”

She winces. “He doesn’t know I’m pregnant.”

“Are you going to keep it that way?”

She looks out the window, lost. “I don’t know…”

If she decides to bring this dude into the picture, it sounds like a problem future-me will have to deal with. But for now, the most important thing is to get her on board, so I don’t press the subject. “I’m sorry this isn’t how you’d imagined your life going…”

“Yep, me, too,” she scoffs. “But I thought about it, and I don’t want to go back to living with my parents or rely on my roommates’ charity.” Rowena stares directly at me now. “So, yes, Adrian, I will marry you.”

The words sink into my chest harder and hotter than any deal I’ve closed before.

13

ROWENA

Eight weeks pregnant

After I say yes to Adrian, things move at light speed. And just the next day, I’m standing in the middle of his sprawling penthouse, my new home, feeling completely out of place. He’s out on a business lunch that apparently is lasting well into the afternoon even if it’s Sunday—he wasn’t kidding when he said he is a workaholic. The doorman let me and the movers in.

I study the space. Floor-to-ceiling windows, sleek modern furniture, an intimidatingly vast kitchen. Adrian’s apartment is like a spread right off ofLuxury Home Magazine.

“So, this is home now,” I mutter under my breath, getting out of the way of one of the movers.

I glance at the tower of moving boxes stacked in the entrance hall, feeling almost dizzy with how fast everything is happening. After I accepted his proposal, Adrian asked how soon I could move in and I blurted out, “Right away.” My next rent payment was looming and well, better to rip off the Band-Aid.

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