Page 39 of The Billionaire's Heart

Ian gets a text as soon as he sits back down at the patio table where I’ve spent my entire afternoon coming up with my terms of agreement to this crazy-ass idea of playing the fake fiancé for a ridiculous amount of money. “Oh, shit.” He says, more under his breath than to me.

“What? What’s happened?”

“Last night, someone severely vandalized one of my friend's girlfriend's bagel shop. They want to hold a fundraiser at Hooplas and they’ve got a crowd funding thing online.” He mumbles under his breath as he quickly types an answer to whomever sent him the text. “Okay. I’m all yours, Mia. What are your terms?”

He places his phone on the table, facedown. I appreciate that. He’s giving me his full attention. “Are your friend and his girlfriend okay? Because in the grand scheme of things, that’s all that matters, right?”

Ian cups my cheek and takes me off guard. And there’s that damn electricity again. What is that?

“Mia, your heart is bigger than any I’ve ever seen. Yes, they’re fine. They weren’t there when it happened.” He pulls away.

“Good. There’s that.” I open my notebook to the page I was writing on when Ian walked out here. “So, my terms are as follows. I will not take two million dollars. That’s too much money. Half of that will be more than enough. Probably shouldn’t even take that much, but I haven’t done the research on where I want the shop to be located.”

“Nope. You’ll take the two million.”

“Nope. I will not.”

“Mia…”

“Ian…” I interrupt him. “I’m not taking advantage of you and two million is taking advantage. That’s not me and that much money is unnecessary. I’ll do this for one million dollars and that’s a deal breaker.”

Ian stares at me and I cannot for the life of me figure out what he’s thinking. This man would cleanup in Vegas playing poker.

“One million…”

“Great. Next item.” I interrupt again.

“One million,butthe location of the shop will be on Hibiscus Island in one of my properties rent-free. Deal breaker.”

Shit. If I take only one million, there’s no way I can afford a property on Hibiscus Island, and it’s an exclusive island. That’s where the money is and being on the island will make a huge difference in my clientele. Damn, he’s good.

I resign myself to letting him win this one. My list is long, and I plan to win all my other deal breakers. “Fine. Deal.”

“AndHibiscus Island Country Club will be the exclusive venue for all wedding planning that Magical Moments contracts.”

Damn it! I’m going to have to get better at negotiating if I plan to be a successful business owner. "Fine," what he doesn't know is that was one item on my list. What he doesn’t know won’t kill him. “Can we move on?”

Ian nods his head and makes the ‘go on’ motion with his hand. He’s got a smug look on his face. I’m about to wipe that off.

“Next item. When this is all over,I’llbe the one that breaks up withyou. I will announce that I felt we were incompatible and broke off the engagement. Your reputation will be intact if we do it this way. I can't, in good conscience, own a bridal shop and let the billionaire dump me. That would damage my business reputation and all my hard work. I need to make a stand for my self-esteem and women everywhere will respect me for doing that. Right?”

Ian contemplates this for a few minutes, but then looks at me. “Deal. What’s next?”

“Deal? Are you sure you’re okay with this? I was sure you would fight me on this one.”

“Nope. You make a great argument and at the end of all of this, I want you to be successful. If you breaking my heart in the public’s eye is the way to do that, then so be it.” He smiles at me.

“Okay.” I draw out. “Next is big and a deal breaker for me.”

“Go on.”

“During all of this, you are not to date, sleep with, be seen, or have any relationship with any other woman, other than family and co-workers, of course. If we’re engaged in the public eye, then you need to act like it.”

Ian sits up and takes both of my hands into his. “I would never disrespect you like that, Mia. It will be just you and me. That’s it.”

“Even your girlfriend.” I say emphatically. “I don’t know why you took me and not her to the gala… and it’s none of my business – but you can’t been seen with her either.”

His face is scrunched up in confusion. “What girlfriend?”

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