Page 11 of On His Bride's Terms

You’re welcome. Think about my proposal on the flight home.

I’ll be sleeping.

Pity.

That provocative flirty response had sent flutters through Faye’s body. No, not flutters. Something distinctly stronger and earthier. Something that scared her with its intensity. And it annoyed her because she had no doubt that he was just playing with her.

It had been a long time since anyone had been so direct.Since someone had wanted her.Even if it was for a marriage of convenience. But those last words he’d issued to her face had revolved in her head like a mantra all week.

‘You can’t deny that there is something between us.’

Disturbing. Intoxicating. Unbelievable.

Faye hated to admit it, but she’d spent much of her time when not working looking the man up online. There were scant details of his mother and father’s divorce. Acrimonious. How his father had married again, numerous times. How his brother had refused his inheritance and become a self-made billionaire with his tech business and was now based in São Paulo. How Primo had taken the reins of the family business and within just a few years had tripled its fortunes and importance. Thousands of employees globally.

The man seemed to be indefatigable. In one twenty-four-hour period a journalist had accompanied him as he’d done a deal over breakfast in London, another in New York that afternoon, and by the same evening had been hosting a charity ball in Miami.

Faye could remember seeing him at that event, because it had taken place during a famous art fair held annually in the city. She remembered him wearing a white tuxedo jacket and looking vital and gorgeous. Not as if he’d just traversed the globe.

As for his private life—it was locked up tight. There were only a few photographs of him online with beautiful women. Each one more accomplished and impressive than the last. A human rights lawyer. A famous model turned philanthropist. An interior decorator. A fashion designer.

There were no salacious kiss-and-tells. No tabloid rumours. Only endless speculation as to when he was going to settle down and with whom.

And he wants you.

As his wife. Not a lover. It was probably second nature to a man like him to make a woman feel desired. He could have seduced her that first night and she probably would have succumbed, much to her shame.

Faye walked over to the window in her living room and took in the view of Central Park in the distance. She worried her lower lip—a bad habit.

While she’d been in Los Angeles her father had agreed to the deal with Primo. Her father looked years younger already...as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Faye’s conscience pricked. She hadn’t truly noticed how much of a burden the business had become.

She’d had lunch with her father after that conversation with Primo, and she’d told him about the proposal.

He’d responded, ‘You don’t even know the man.’

Faye had explained about Primo taking her for a drink.

Her father had frowned, ‘Is he using marriage as a bargaining chip?’

‘Not exactly,’ Faye had had to admit. ‘He would still do the deal with you, to take over majority control of MacKenzie Enterprises, but...as he pointed out...a marriage would ensure hispersonalinvestment as well as the business deal.’

Her father has asked, ‘What do you think of him?’

Faye had avoided answering that directly by asking, ‘Wouldit be beneficial to you? If we married?’

Her father had shifted a little uncomfortably and hadn’t been able to meet her eye. Faye’s insides had sunk. Primo himself had confirmed it already. Of course it would be beneficial.

Eventually her father had sighed and looked at her. ‘Itwouldgive us an added level of protection. He’d naturally be more invested in protecting his wife and father-in-law.’

Her father had reached for her hand with his and Faye had noticed how fragile he felt.

He’d said, ‘I do worry about you, my dear. What are we going to do about you?’

‘Daddy, you don’t need to worry about me, I’m perfectly fine as I am.’

‘Aren’t you lonely, though? I was so lonely after your mother died... I know what it is to be alone.’

His words echoed in her now, with a kind of hollow truth. In spite of her hectic work schedule shewaslonely. More than she’d like to admit. And one of the most exciting men she’d met was expressing an interest in her.

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