Page 3 of Accidental Proposal

“I’ll have a hot chocolate…grande,” I said, not wanting coffee so late. I planned on listening to Liam for just a few minutes, then heading home to pass out before waking up at nine for my diner shift.

“Is that all?” the barista asked, punching something in on the computer.

“No. I’ll have a coffee…grande.” I heard Liam’s deep voice come from behind me. The moment he spoke, the girl immediately perked up and plastered a smile on her make-up-caked face.

“Do you want anything else?” she asked, pushing her chest out, obviously hoping to get Liam’s attention. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“No,” came his curt reply. The girl didn’t seem to get the hint but at least rang us up. I reached into my bag and pulled out some money. Before I could hand the money over, a big hand shoved mine away and handed the girl cash. I looked up at Liam, who was now pressed against my side.

“I was going to pay,” I objected.

“I got it,” was all he said before walking toward a table a few feet away. Since we were the only people in the shop, we didn’t have to give the girl our names. I took a seat across from Liam, starting to wonder what he wants to talk to me about.I don’t even know him. I just found out his name not even fifteen minutes ago. What would he want to talk to me about?We sat in silence as we waited for our drinks. A few minutes later, the barista came over with them. She practically threw mine at me while handing Liam his, her breasts practically in his face. When she walked away, I saw she had written her number on the side of his cup. It didn’t surprise me, and it still wouldn’t if Liam called her.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” I finally asked, taking a sip of my hot chocolate.

“I want you to be my wife,” Liam said bluntly. I choked on my hot chocolate and sat there coughing, my eyes wide.

“W-What did you just say?” I asked once I finally stopped coughing.

“I want you to be my wife,” he said again, taking a sip from his coffee and staring at me like he had just asked me what my favorite color was, instead of asking for my hand in marriage. I started to laugh.This is a joke. He’s definitely kidding.“Why are you laughing?” he asked almost angrily.

“Because you’re joking.” When he didn’t agree with me, I stopped laughing. “Are you being serious? We don’t even know each other! Hell, I just met you twenty minutes ago!” I yelled.

“Keep it down!” he hissed at me, his voice low and dangerous.

“How can you ask me that after you just practically proposed to me?” I hissed back at him. My hands tightened on my cup. “You have to be joking right now, Liam. I am not going to marry you!”

“Yes, you will. I am not asking you to be my wife forever. I am asking you to be my wife for a year. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Why do you want me? You can have any girl you want,” I said.

“Because I need someone who will make my parents think I’ve changed. I need someone that is the opposite of my usual girls,” Liam said, shrugging as he drank from his cup.“Someone that is the opposite of my usual girls?”Yeah, that makes me feel so good. Glad to know I’m at the bottom of your pretty list.

“Why do you need someone to make your parents think you’ve changed?” I asked, confused.Why would his parents care?

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” he asked, switching the subject suddenly.

“No…am I supposed to?”

“Does Stanford Industries ring a bell?” I vaguely remembered hearing that name before, but I didn’t know what it was or what it had to do with Liam. The look I gave him said no.

“I own Stanford Industries, well, my family does. My name is very well known in New York.” He went on when he saw I still didn’t know what he was talking about. “My company owns multiple hotels, apartment buildings…ring any bells?”

“Not really,” I answered truthfully. What? I didn’t get out much. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Anyways, I want you to be my wife so I can show my father I am the right choice to take over the company.”

“You want me to marry you so you can take over your father’s company. And to be only married for a year. Am I right?” I asked, trying to figure out why he wanted me to marry him.

“Yes. You won’t be left without anything after the year. When the year has passed, we will get a divorce and you will get a million dollars.” I almost choked again. He mentioned it as if it were only ten dollars.

“Are you kidding me? A million dollars?” A million dollars was a lot of money.How can he just hand that kind of money over to someone?

“Money is not an issue for me,” was all he said.

How rich are you?I wanted to say but bit my tongue.How stupid could I be to say yes? But a million dollars! You could do things you’ve always wanted to do, and you could quit your awful jobs.I sat there, arguing internally with myself. Liam sat silently, seemingly letting me think about his offer as he sipped his coffee.

“Can I think about it and let you know?” I finally asked. I wanted to say no, but some part of me wanted me to think about it. Money like that was something I didn’t want to immediately say no to, especially in my situation. I would never be able to save up that much.

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