Page 69 of Whatever You Need

Butcher& Singer was an upscale steak house in the heart of Philadelphia. It shouldn’t have surprised me that this is where Owen would choose to meet. He liked to be seen and noticed. This was his crowd, not mine, and it was the last place on earth I wanted to be.

The overpriced filet that he took the liberty of ordering for me while I was in the restroom sat untouched on my plate. I asked our server to put it back on the grill, because I did not eat my steak medium rare. By the time they brought it back out, Owen had already finished off his meal.

He was a real charmer.

I sat across the table from him, playing with the stem of the wineglass and studying the way he spoke to the waiter as he cleared our dishes. It was apparent that Owen enjoyed talking about himself. I was convinced that he loved the sound of his own voice.

“Shall we get this conversation out of the way?” I suggested, brushing a few crumbs off the table so I could lean across it. I did my best, played my part, and I was ready to call it a night. I was sick of slowly sipping my wine and staring at my watch, pretending to tolerate him.

Owen held up his finger to the waiter to get his attention as he attempted to go serve another table. “We’ll take a bottle of Dom Perignon please, and two glasses.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Are we celebrating something?”

Between the bouncing of his leg, and the constant clearing of his throat, he’d been jittery all night. He’s pulled on the collar of his dress shirt no less than twenty-five times, because yes, I counted, and straightened his tie every five minutes. I was really hoping he would just ask for the check so I could put an end to this date and go on my merry little way. All the way home to my empty townhouse where I would go to bed alone and cry myself to sleep, because that’s all I seemed to do lately.

The waiter arrived and placed the ice bucket down in the center of the table. He filled the two glasses and carefully set them down in front of us.

“Thank you,” I said, feeling my own nerves start to take flight.

Owen surprised me when he leaned forward across the table and reached for my hand. I froze as he slowly brushed his thumb across my knuckles. I stared down at the display of affection and tried not to make a big deal of him touching me.

“You look nice tonight.” He smiled tightly while looking over at the plum colored dress that he’s seen me in a dozen times. “I think it’s time we make things official.”

Oh. My. God.

This was it. It was really happening. My life was about to become my worst nightmare and I had no idea how I would get through this. I knew this was agreed upon, but I was already losing strength and things hadn’t even started yet.

Owen pulled a ring out of the pocket of his dress shirt and held it out. “We’re going to make great business partners.”

His words were met with silence as I looked down at the bubbles fizzing along the top of my narrowed fluted glass.

“I know this isn’t ideal.” He sighed. “This whole situation sucks and may seem unfair to the both of us.” He swallowed and scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. “Regardless of how insane this seems; we have the same goals and dreams. I really think we can make this work.”

My defenses were crumbling and my composure, good God, there was no way he couldn’t see it slipping. “Owen, I…”

“Let’s get married and take over the company.”

Fuck! It felt like a Mack truck was barreling toward me, and the only thing I could do was watch it happen in slow motion. I felt powerless.

My head and my heart were struggling between knowing what I needed to do and wishing that I didn’t have to do it.

I had to remind myself that this was nothing more than a business arrangement. It wasn’t his fault we were in this mess. He was just as much a victim as I was, but I still resented him all the same.

I might be able to give him my hand in marriage, but my heart would forever belong to someone else.

He slid the ring on my finger and I had to close my eyes as I felt it push past my knuckle. The wordyeswould never leave my mouth. The enormous diamond was perfectly round and heavy. The surrounding stones in the band caused the candlelight to flicker across the tablecloth. My entire body shook from the inside out.

I picked up my glass and took a huge swig of my champagne and looked around. That’s when I noticed people clapping and smiling while I felt like I was about to have a mental breakdown. My stomach stirred with apprehension as they all went back to their overpriced food and conversations. They thought they were witnessing a romantic moment between two lovers; they couldn’t have been more wrong. If a group of strangers could have me feeling like a fraud, I could only imagine how I would feel around the people I knew.

Sucking in a breath I stared down at the ring hating everything about this charade.

Owen slid his chair back, stood up and held his hands out. I rose from my seat and allowed him to pull me into his arms. “The ring sure did cost me a mint, so make sure you always wear it. I want people to see it.” My eyes bounced between him and the rock that now felt like dead weight pulling me under. A pang of guilt hit me, making my chest feel uncomfortably tight.

He reached for my chin, and I practically jerked back, but his hold was strong. My entire body cringed when his lips descended down onto mine. I kept my lips pressed closed and prayed for the seconds to pass. If he was offended that I didn’t reciprocate, he didn’t show it. His ego would never allow it.

“Let’s sit down and go over a few things. I want to make sure we are on the same page.” I was too numb to fight with him, so I slumped back in my seat feeling defeated. I just sealed my fate, and it felt like there was nothing left of my soul. Empty… that’s what the feeling was. Everything I sacrificed up until now seemed pointless.

Owen rested forward on the table, completely unaware of my turmoil. “First, are there any men, past or present, that I should be concerned about?”

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