The Deal : Billionaire Romance (2 page)

Chapter 3

  Robin watches the clock closely, the last half an hour of her day always ticking by slower than the rest.

“The nerve he has.” She whispers to herself, fuming.

  She jumps, her heart stopping as she hears the muffles ringing of her phone inside of her purse under her desk before she quickly reaches down and picks up her bag.

  Robin answers her phone inside of her bag, not wanting the ringing to fill the reception area before she pulls it out of her bag, looking around for her boss before bringing the cellphone up to her ear.

“Hello?” She asks, her voice just above a whisper.

“
Robin?
” She hears on the other end, immediately recognizing the voice.

“Mom.” She starts, rubbing her finger tips over her eyebrow as she leans against her desk, sighing. “Mom, I’m at work. You know I can’t talk at work. I’ll call you back in half an hour, alright?”

“
Robin, I just got terrible news
” Her mother says, ignoring Robin’s request.

“Oh, my God.” She says, sucking in air as she sits up straight, her stomach sinking. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“
It’s your grandmother…
” Her mom sobs into the phone. “
I just got a call from her care home and the woman on the phone says that we’re so behind on payments that they can’t keep her anymore.
”

“What do you mean they can’t keep her?” Robin asks, her arm trembling as she holds up the phone. “If she doesn’t have a nurse…” She whispers. “Mom, she can’t take care of herself, she needs medical care.”

“
I know sweetheart.
” Her mom says, her voice shaking. “
But what are we supposed to do? They won’t keep her! She’s going to have to come home.
”

“But mom,” Robin says. “We don’t know how to take care of her. If she comes home, she’s going to die…”

“
I’m so sorry, Robin.
” Her mom says, her voice barely above a whisper. “
There’s just nothing we can do.
”

  Robin sits in silence as she looks down at the phone in her hand.

  Her grandmother was the woman to raise her. To bake her cookies. Whose house she went to every day after school for twelve years.

  Robin’s mother was always a working mom, long hours at a café taking up most of her mornings and the register at the grocery store just a few blocks away taking up her evenings nearly every single night, so in a way her grandmother was always just another mother to her.

  She fought hard, tooth and nail, to keep her grandmother out of a care home. She never thought it was fair to ship someone too old to take care of themselves away, like they weren’t family.

  It took her years to realize that her grandmother got all the medical care and attention she could ever need there. In reality, it wouldn’t have been fair to her to keep her at home, locked up in her house too old to help herself.

  Robin places the phone back in her bag before letting it fall to the ground. She scrunches up her nose, wiping a small tear away from under her eye, denying it the chance to run down her cheek before she roughly kicks her bag into her desk, knocking it hard against the plywood wall.

  But now, that’s it. Maybe the kindest thing to do now would be to just make her grandmother comfortable. Not everything is going to be fair.

  Robin sniffs, turning her head to look over to her boss’s office, her eyes tracing the lettering on the frosted glass door.

  She takes a deep, shaking breath as she works up the courage to get out of her chair.

  There’s no other option. She’s going to have to do it.

  Robin stands, clearing her throat and smoothing her hands over her clothes before wiping away the puffiness from under her eyes.

  She walks over to Mr. Yates’s office door, holding up her hand as she balls it into a fist before lightly rapping it against the door.

“Yeah, come in!” She hears him call through the door.

  Robin twists the shiny silver handle, pushing the door to his office open before peaking her head inside.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” She asks, nervously biting her bottom lip as she watches him take a long sip of coffee from his mug.

  He waves her inside as he puts his cup back on the desk before clacking against his keyboard, quickly finishing up whatever it was he was working on.

“What can I help you with?” He asks, his eyes connecting with hers.

  She walks into his office, sitting down in the chair across from his as she bites the inside of her cheek in frustration.

“I’ll be your wife.” She blurts out, rolling her eyes as the words slip off her tongue.

“Hm.” He nods, his lips upturning into a smirk as he leans back in his chair. “I knew you’d come around.”

“But I want more money.” She says, crossing her arms over her chest. “And I want a raise when we get back from the trip, too.”

“Sure.” He nods. “You’re good for a raise I suppose. How much are we talking.”

“Four…” She says, trying to think quick. “No, I want five times my hourly pay right now.” She says, before picking a number out of thin air. “And I want ten dollars an hour more when we get back.”

“Ouch.” He says, chuckling. “That’s pretty steep. If I knew a fake wife was going to cost me so much I would have just gotten a real one.”

“Take it or leave it.” She says, shaking her head. “I’m not going to do it for anything less.”

“Well, then I guess I’m going to have to take the deal, aren’t I?” He says, leaning forwards over his desk as he extends his hand out to her.

  She hesitates before grabbing it, shaking firmly and quickly before pulling away.

“Okay. It’s done.” She says, getting up from the chair and turning around, her heel clicking again against the terrazzo as she walks to the door.

“We leave Friday.”

Chapter 4

  Robin pulls the card across the screen, listening to it click and stick against the others, as she lets go of the curser, her eyes catching the time in the bottom corner of her task bar.

  She pushes on her desk chair, rolling it out and way from her desk as she begins to get up before the front door to the reception area open, chiming the little, high pitched bell as a man in a suit walks through the door.

“Hi.” She says, trying to hide her exasperated sigh as he walks towards her desk, his briefcase in hand. “Everyone is just about to go to lunch, is there any way you can come back in about an hour?”

“Um, no.” He says softly, shaking his head as he glances around the room from behind thick rimmed glasses. “I’m here to see Mr. Yates.”

“Do you have an appointment?” She asks, sitting back down at her computer.

“He called me this morning.” The man says. “Oh, here he is.”

“David!” She hears her boss say as he steps out of his office. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

  Robin glances back before looking up to the older gentleman, as she slides her chair back out and away from her desk.

  She steps past them quietly as they begin to chat, trying to make her way down the short hallway to the kitchen to eat her lunch.

“Hold on.” Yates says, turning towards her as she walks past. “Robin, we need you for a little bit.”

“On my lunch break?” She asks, biting her bottom lip.

“We’ll be quick.” He says, nodding his head. “I just need you to sign some stuff.”

“Okay…” She whispers, following them into his office before Mr. Yates closes the door behind them.

“Sit, sit.” He says, walking around to the back of his desk, his lawyer following him as he sits down in his leather chair.

  Robin sits across from them, watching intently as the older man opens his briefcase, pulling a stack of papers out from the black case.

“Basically.” Her boss says, cracking his knuckles, the popping sending a chill down Robin’s spine. “Since there’s money involved, I had my lawyer write us up a little contract stating what we agreed and you just have to take a second and sign it.”

“Wow, that’s romantic.” She says, her voice flat as the lawyer hands her the little booklet of papers and a pen.

   She quickly flips through the pages, finding her numbers before opening the booklet to the back and signing her name beside the thin, bright orange sticky marker.

“This isn’t because I don’t trust you or anything, by the way.” She hears her boss say as she dates her signature. “It’s just because of the money.”

“I understand.” Robin says, clearing her throat as she hands the contract back to his lawyer who slips it into his briefcase.

“I have extra copies.” The man says, pulling out a copy of the contract and handing it to Robin.

“Thank you.” She whispers under her breath as she rests the papers against her lap.

  Kurtis nods to his lawyer, dismissing him and the man clips his briefcase closed.

“Golf on the thirtieth.” He reminds, smirking as he, gives the man a small wave as he steps disappears out the door.

“That’s it? We’re all set?” She asks, rising up from her chair.

“Nope.” He says, leaning back as he shakes his head.

“Can it wait?” She asks, resting the palm of her hand on her belly. “I’m starving.”

“Come on.” He says, getting up from his chair and walking past her as he pulls his door back open. “I’ll buy you lunch.”
 

  Robin gets up, following her boss out of his office as he walks into the reception area, pulling the glass door open and holding it for her.

“Thanks.” She says, brushing her dark hair behind her ears as she quickly steps out of the office.

“Oh.” She says, glancing back through the window at the large clock on the wall inside the reception area. “I have to get back to work in half an hour.”

“Robin.” He says, stopping as he looks back raises his eyebrow at her. “Who’s going to tell on you? You’re with the boss. If anyone comes in, let someone else deal with them.”

“I guess.” She smiles softly as she follows him down the hall and out onto the street, the sunshine warming her as she walks with him down the sidewalk, people in business suits bustling past them.

“You always go back into the kitchen for lunch?” He asks as he steps out into the street, narrowly missing cars as they pass.

“Mostly.” She says, shrugging her shoulders. “I like to eat quickly and then get back to my desk.”

“Why?” He asks, glancing at her as they walk.

“Well, I’m the only secretary in a company of investors.” She says, shielding the sun from her eyes. “I wouldn’t exactly have anyone to talk with anyway.”

“When you meet my family.” He says, opening the door to a busy restaurant. “Don’t be so shy.”

  She nods as they step inside the restaurant, the hostess smiling as she watches them walk in.

“Mr. Yates.” She says, picking up a menu. “Your usual place at the bar?”

“Not today.” He says, turning her down. “How about a table that’s a little quieter at the back?”

“Sure thing, sir.” She says, turning around to walk through the crowd.

  Robin follows, nervously looking down at her feet as they pass the guests still waiting for their tables.

“Lunch special today is a Cajun chicken wrap with a Caesar salad for twenty five ninety nine and today our chef is recommending the shiitake bacon cheeseburger with smoked Havarti on a fresh baked onion bun.” The hostess says, folding her hands together. “Your waitress will be with you in just a second.”

“Thank you.” He nods, picking up a menu to flip through as Robin watches the hostess walk back to her station.

“Oh, my God.” She whispers, leaning over the table, trying her best to keep her voice low. “Their special is more expensive than any meal I’ve ever ordered at a restaurant before, ever.”

“It’s a good one, though.” He says, placing the menu in his hand back down on the table.

“Maybe they have some cheaper salads…” She says, picking up the menu and opening the first page.

“Oh, please.” He says, sliding the menu out from between her fingers. “Just get the special.”

  She nods, her face flushing as she shrugs her shoulders, the guilt of the cost eating at her insides as he watches him raise his hand slightly into the air, pointing his finger upwards as he calls a waitress over.

“A special and the chef’s burger.” He says, smirking softly a the woman as she bows and nods before walking back to deliver the order to the kitchen.

“You come here often?” Robin asks, breaking the short silence, shifting in her seat as she glances back at the people still waiting for tables. “They seem to like you a lot.”

“For years.” He says, picking up his water glass and taking a small sip before placing it back down on the dark wooden table.

  She nods her head, taking another good look around at the expensive décor before her boss clears his throat.

“Alright.” He says, sighing out as he leans back comfortably in his chair. “We’re husband and wife. We’ve been married for six months and we got married in Rhode Island. Small ceremony, just us and a few witnesses. You don’t like big weddings.”

“A guy like you wouldn’t have a big wedding?” She asks, brushing her fallen curls back behind her ear.

“Hey, it was at your request. I was just trying to be a good husband.” He says, resting his hand over his chest as he leans forward over the table.

“What if your family wants to see some wedding pictures?” She asks. “What am I supposed to say?”

“What else would you say? They haven’t come in yet.” He says, shaking his head. “Our photographer is a very busy man.”

“I don’t have a ring.” Robin says, smirking as she holds up her left hand. “No ring, no band, what am I going to say when they notice?”

“It’s at the jeweller’s.” He says, chuckling. “We had to get it sized because your fingers got fat.”

“No.” She says, squinting her eyes at him. “My fingers did not get fat.”

  She leans back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest as she thinks.

“You wanted to get me a custom ring.” She says, nodding her head. “Stuff like that takes a while. If you want it done right, it can’t be rushed.”

“Yeah, good one.” He says, leaning back in his chair again to get comfortable.

“Mr. Yates.” She says, pausing. “Kurtis…”

  She shakes her head, resting her elbow against the table as she leans her cheek in the palm of her hand.

“Why?” She asks. “Why make up this big lie?”

“My mom.” He begins, clearing his throat as he sits up straight, resting his hands in his lap. “She’s always nagging me to get married, you know how moms do…” He chuckles, smirking for a second before it falls away. “Well, she has an aggressive form of terminal cancer and she quit her treatment. So when we were on the phone a few weeks ago, I just…” He says, pausing. “I just told her I did.”

  Robin sits quietly, chewing on her bottom lip as she gazes down at the table.

“She was so happy. She really was.” He says, picking up his glass of water to take another sip. “I just blurted it out and now I don’t want to break her heart.”

“I’m sorry.” She says, clearing her throat as she breaks the silence.

“Don’t worry about it.” He says, his eyes soft as he looks over to her.

“That’s not…” She says, shaking her head. “That’s not as evil as I thought it was going to be.”

“Evil?” He says, chuckling as his eyes widen as he shakes his head. “Yeah, I guess it’s not the first time I’ve been called evil.”

  She bites her bottom lip as she watches the waitress walk up to their table with their meals before she gingerly places them down in front of them before walking away.

  Robin stares at her food, her stomach flipping as her flushed ears ring.

“My grandma’s dying.” She blurts out awkwardly, stopping Yates in his tracks as he cuts his bun in half.

  She glances up at him as he places his knife back down on the table.

“She’s getting kicked out of her care home and we can’t afford to get her medical care anymore. I don’t want to sit there and watch her die.” She says, picking up her fork before piercing the leaves of her Caesar salad. “That’s why I’m doing this.”

  She quietly brings the bite of salad up to her mouth, pushing it past her lips and chewing as Mr. Yates silently chews on a French fry.

“It doesn’t seem so different.” She whispers as she swallows before they eat the rest of their meal in silence.