Page 8 of Marry Me, Right Now

His jaw tightened, then he took a deep breath. “If I were married before the end of September, I would get my eight million dollar inheritance early, and could likely buy the house from him before he spoils it.”

I nodded, sipping my wine. Then I blinked a few times. “You want me to marry you? For real?”

“Just for a year, to make it legal.”

“But–” I stopped, frozen. Playing someone’s wife at a party to get back at an ex-girlfriend or something was strange, but funny. This was mental.

“And you would live here,” he said quickly. “I have two spare bedrooms, you could have the larger one, and do whatever you wanted to the condo while you’re here. I’d pay for all of your expenses – food, clothes, whatever you want.” He grinned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “And all the wine you can drink. You’ve seen the cupboard.”

I burst out laughing, walking over to the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked Lake Ontario, that was just a few blocks away.

He came up behind me and handed me my glass. Holding his up, he said, “To possibly making millions of dollars through being friends?” he asked hesitantly.

I clinked his glass while laughing. “Sure, let’s start there.” I took a sip, trying to will the alcohol into calming me down immediately.

“Do you like the place?” he asked. “If we decide that this is a good idea, this will be your home for the next year.”

“It’s incredible,” I said.

“I’m not that particular about anything, so if you wanted to rearrange stuff or whatever, I’d be fine with that.”

“Let’s start with the basics,” I asked. “I would be staying in the guest bedroom?”

“Oh, right,” he said. “Come on.”

Jacob took our glasses and set them on the coffee table, then motioned for me to follow him. The hallway was simple but elegant, and we passed several doors before we got to the second last room.

He opened it and led me inside. “This could be your room,” he said cautiously. I glanced at his eyes, and noticed that he looked quite nervous about my reaction, which surprised me a bit.

The room was huge, with a king-sized bed, a giant closet, a large bureau, and a charming writing desk in the corner. It also had floor to ceiling window, with a sliding door that opened onto the balcony.

“The living room balcony stops,” he explained, “And then the balcony for the two bedrooms on this side of the hallway is shared.”

I slid open the door and stepped out onto the terrace, looking down forty-three floors to the bustling traffic, then turned to look out across the lake, where sailboats were starting to come in as the sun was setting.

My mind was reeling. It was absolutely unreal that I could possibly live here, for free. This one room was bigger than two of the apartments I looked at, yet were snapped up before I could decide. It was absolutely insane that I was even thinking about getting married for a place to live, but how could I not?

I could either beg for a microscopic, probably mold-ridden basement apartment that I could not quite afford, risk finding a roommate online who was sure to be some kind of sketchy weirdo, or I could live here, perfectly safe. With a doorman. And a wine fridge.

Coming back inside, I looked around the room again. It was stylishly pastel, but with a few prints and pillows for a bit more color, this would be absolute paradise. Everything I owned would fit in that closet, so I could keep the minimalist aesthetic.

I sat on the bed, bouncing slightly as if testing it.

“We could get you a new mattress, of course, if you don’t like this one,” Jacob said. “We could replace all of the furniture.”

I looked at him, aghast. “What’s wrong with this furniture?”

“Well, nothing, I guess, but you didn’t choose it.”

“It’s lovely,” I said.

He looked relieved, but unsure. “Come on, I’ll show you the den.”

Going back down the hallway one door, there was a large open room with soft caramel leather sofas, a gigantic flat-screen TV, and a huge dark worktable at the end farthest from the window.

“If you’re into crafts, you could take over this room most of the time. That big table is good for all sorts of projects, games, gift wrapping. Or sometimes it’s just easier to organize paperwork across a huge table.”

Having never used anything other than a scuffed kitchen table for projects in my entire life, I thought this was ridiculously decadent.

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