Page 8 of Faking With My Grumpy Billionaire

“Considering you burn water I will be more than happy to make my own coffee,” he said with a playful smile.

“One last condition, and it’s a big one. I have my own room, and there will be no sex between us. I will play my part when we are out in public, but that is it.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to have sex with him. He was hot, and it was earth shattering last time, but this was strictly a business transaction. I didn’t want to muddle it all by adding sex into the mix. Regardless of what both parties wanted, eventually feelings did develop and that was something I could never risk. I wouldn’t risk myself, and I can’t risk him or Zoey. I needed to be able to cut ties and run at a moment’s notice. Once you start caring about someone, that made it increasingly difficult to do.

“I think that would be a deep shame, but I understand. I can agree to your terms. I have a couple of my own though,” he started, and I figured it was only fair.

“Which are?”

“Nothing too major but given Zoey’s age, I think they are important. She doesn’t call you mom. It’s Maya. I don’t want her getting attached to you on that level only for you to be gone in a year. She’s seven; she won’t understand.”

“I completely agree. This has to be handled properly with her, so she doesn’t get confused.” Absolutely no to being called mom. Damn, I was too young for that. Plus, what Charlie said was true. Zoey was too young. This was already going to be confusing for her, and I had no idea how he wanted to play it with Zoey. But she didn’t need to grow overly attached to me, because at the end of the year, I would need to move; I wouldn’t be able to keep in contact with her.

“I will tell her that we are moving and that you are going to be living with us. She will know you as a new friend, but she doesn’t see us kissing, even out in public. I’ve never had a girlfriend with her yet, and I’m not ready to introduce her to that. Second, I am her parent, so it is on me to take care of her and teach her. If she does something wrong, I will handle it. I will tell her when she needs to brush her teeth or go to bed. It’s not because I think you would cause her any harm. You wouldn’t be here if I believed that, but because she is my kid and not our kid. I think it would be easier to make sure that line was very clear between all three of us.”

Again, I could understand and agree with that. He was doing this to look out for Zoey after the year was up. He wasn’t saying this to be an ass and that was the only reason why I would easily agree.

“I am fine with that. I don’t mind helping though. If for some reason you get stuck at work or something, I don’t mind picking her up from school or making sure she gets dinner. Dinner will be takeout, but she’ll have eaten. I’m used to being around kids. I grew up with a bunch of them. I completely understand that she is your kid. I’m just saying that if something were to happen and you were late, she would still be alive when you got home.”

I didn’t mind helping with Zoey. She seemed like a cool kid. I mean she liked anime. What wasn’t there to like about her? I understood his side of things, but I also wanted to make sure he knew I could be a trusted babysitter should that happen.

“Her still breathing would be greatly appreciated. And judging by that one conversation, I can assume you both will be vegging on the couch watching Naruto. I just wanted to make sure we both understood the ground rules and what the expectations are.”

“I get that. I don’t have any more. Do you?”

“Nope, that was it. I am sure we can be adults though if something comes up along the way.”

“I am sure we can be.” Maybe, probably. It really depended on the situation, but where Zoey was concerned, then definitely.

“Sounds like we have a deal then,” he said with a warm smile, and I could tell he was pleased with himself. It reminded me of a cat that knew he was getting to eat the bird. I was choosing to ignore it though considering this was the best shot I had of getting ahead.

“We have a deal. I have to ask though, why did your grandfather make having a wife a stipulation in you inheriting the land?”

It was such a weird condition. I could understand if maybe he was already married when the will was created, but from what I gathered, Charlie held zero interest in being married. I couldn’t imagine that had changed very much over the years. Surely his grandfather knew he didn't want to be married one day.

He gave a soft huff of a laugh before he went over to get the burgers ready as he spoke. “My grandfather was a sweet man. He believed in helping people and being there for your neighbors. He was front and center for every practice and game I had, and his voice was always the loudest. Zoey had him wrapped around her little finger before she was even born. He lived close by while Elizabeth was pregnant, and he was over almost everyday with a bag full of whatever she was craving. He even lived with us for a few months after Zoey was born to help.”

“He sounds like a great man,” I commented. I didn’t know what it felt like to have grandparents, but it would have been really nice to have someone like Charlie’s grandpa.

“He was a great man. He worked very hard for the majority of his life. He was up at four every morning from the age of five to help his father in the farm fields. He was also very old fashioned, and he believed that a good man needed a good wife. Someone to be there to help support him and to bring children into the world. And don't take that the wrong way. He was all for women having careers, but he was old and some of those values didn’t wash off with age.”

“A lot of older people believe in the two-parent household with two point five kids and a white picket fence,” I said with a shrug.

“I had been with Elizabeth for five years before she got pregnant and then another three years after that. He asked when she got pregnant when I was going to marry her. I told him I didn’t want to be married, and he looked at me like I had five heads all of a sudden. Looking back, I should have known he had something planned. because he gave me this smirk and said he bet one day I would change my mind. The town was purchased a week after that conversation.”

“Sneaky bastard.”

“Indeed,” he simply agreed.

I wanted to ask him why the strong opinion of never getting married. I didn’t want to get married either, but I had a legitimate reason. He didn’t really have one of those. It had to come from somewhere, but I got the sense that he wasn’t going to open up and tell me. He had no reason to, just like I didn’t have one for him. One thing I did know, this next year was going to be very interesting.

Charlie

Imademywayinto my office to make a couple of quick calls. Zoey was currently curled up with Maya on the couch watching Naruto on the big screen in the living room. I had tried to sit through a couple of episodes, but it just wasn't my thing. The fact that Maya was right there with Zoey deep in conversation, eyes glued to the screen, told me that they would get along great, and I wouldn’t need to worry about Maya being annoyed by Zoey. She wasn't a typical seven-year-old girl. Maybe that was because she had mostly been raised by me her whole life or she had more of her aunt in her. Elizabeth had told me about her older sister, Hailey. She had died in a horrible car crash when she was twenty-three, but according to Elizabeth, she was an oddball. She loved to watch anime and draw. She was very hands on with refurbishing old furniture pieces, and she worked with resin to create all sorts of things.

Hailey had been the exact opposite of Elizabeth, and I used to joke that I had ended up with the wrong sister, never to Elizabeth’s face obviously. Elizabeth was always more girly. She loved anything that had glitter, even in her twenties. She loved to get her hair and nails done. She had dreamed of having a daughter that would be just like her. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe that was part of the reason why she left. Why she never fully connected with Zoey. She had been great at first. My grandfather and I had both made sure she didn’t get overwhelmed. We both knew postpartum was very real and could ruin our family if she developed it and didn’t get help for it. She never developed it, and when that happened, I thought we were in the clear.

However, as Zoey got older, I started to notice that Elizabeth was pulling back from her. Zoey didn’t like getting her toenails painted even when she was a toddler. She didn’t always want to wear a dress. Every time it rained, she wanted her rain boots so she could go and jump in all the puddles. To me she was being a normal healthy child, but to Elizabeth she was being a tomboy, and she didn’t know how to handle that. I’m not blaming Zoey for Elizabeth’s actions. She should have just loved our daughter regardless of what she was interested in. The more she pulled away from Zoey, the more I leaned into her. I needed to make sure that she knew I was there for her. That she had someone that loved her and all of her uniqueness. On the other side of that though, it made Elizabeth feel like I didn’t care about her, and she started to cheat and party. The result was a broken home that would never be put back together again.

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