The Deal

He waited for her to sit down before he started talking. "I've decided to do it, but before you get excited I have some conditions first."

Taking a strand of hair she twirled it around her finger. "Conditions, what conditions?" she asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Alright, here goes. Once married we'll be living in my home, not here. You'll have your own bedroom and we won't be having any more sex. We wouldn't want to complicate things with getting sexually involved. While we are still legally married neither one of us will get involved with the opposite sex. We'll sign a prenup and when the time is right we'll divorce. Until then you will behave like a loving wife around other people. You will have to go with me to parties and to other functions."

"I can live with those conditions, but why can't we live here?"

"Because I don't really like it, it's all glass and doesn't have that cozy feeling. I own a beautiful home with lots of rooms. I have a home office, a gym, a pool out back."

"What am I suppose to do with this place?"

"I don't care what you do with it. Sell it, or lease it out or you can leave it empty until you're ready to move back in."

"It would make sense to keep it, once we're divorced I'll need a place to live. OK, you win, I agree to your terms."

"There is one more thing," he said, sitting back with a smirk on his face."

A shiver went down her spine when she saw the look on his face. "What?" she asked, her voice cracking, something told her she wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"I want thirty shares in New Women's Cosmetics."

She sat there with her mouth open, it took her a few minutes to grasp what he had said. "Thirty shares, are you out of your fricken mind? There's no way I'm giving you that many shares. Have you any idea what even one share is worth?"

"I'm not a fool Blair, I've done my homework."

"There's no way," she said, her eyes flashing with anger as she crossed her arms.

He stood up, looking down at her, his lips set in a firm line. "If you're not willing to give me those shares then you can find another sucker to go along with your plan."

She glared at him. "I'll give you five shares."

"Forget it," he said and started walking towards the door.

"Wait," she shouted. "I'll make it ten shares."

"Twenty and you have a deal," he said, waiting for her answer.

She twisted her finger through her hair while she thought it over. All the other shareholders only had one to five shares. She had the most shares and giving him twenty of her shares she would still have forty shares left. Giving him that many would be a big gamble but in the end, it would be worth it. The company would be all hers and she'd still own the majority amount of shares.

"Alright, I'll give you twenty, but only after we are legally married and when I own the company."

"Then we have a deal. I'll go ahead and arrange for someone to marry us and you can start packing. We'll get together later on in the week and go shopping for wedding bands. What about your parents, how are they going to feel about you getting married so quickly?"

"My parents are on a trip around the world. By the time they get back we'll already be divorced so they'll never have to know about it."

"You don't think they'll find out about it from friends or the media?"

"If they do I'll handle it. Mr. Ritter will be back in three weeks, we need to marry right away. I will be telling him we dated in high school and recently met and fell in love all over again. Also that we've been keeping our relationship a secret for a while now and we decided to elope. You will have to go along with my story when and if you meet him."

"I'll call you," he said as he walked out the door.

She slammed the door behind him, the nerve of him to demand so much and yet she had no choice but to agree. As for the no sex part, screw him. If she wanted it she knew she could seduce him into it. He may be an arrogant jerk but he was still a man with desires and has already shown weakness when it came to having sex with her. Smiling to herself she also knew he might resist at first but she was looking forward to the challenge.

The following Monday she received a call from him, telling her to meet him at Ace's jewelry store around noon. She was actually surprised that he picked that peculiar store, it was one of the most expensive places around. You even had to make an appointment to go in there and word around was you sometimes had to wait up to a month before getting the appointment.

Clearing her schedule she drives to the store, parks her car and seeing Austin standing there in his suit, looking all hot and sexy her heart started fluttering. "Were you waiting long?" she asked, not really caring if she had or not.

"No, you're right on time, they're waiting for us," he said, rapping on the glass door and when a security guard unlocked the door he let her walk in first.

"Mr. Cooke, it is a pleasure having you as a customer and good to see you again Miss Sherwin," Mr. Ace said, shaking both of their hands. "Now how can I help you today?"

"I want a pair of matching wedding bands."

"Oh, are you and Miss Sherwin getting married?"

Austin puts his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "Yes, and we plan on marrying right away."

"Well, congratulations to the two of you."

They were shown several of the top-selling bands, but Austin couldn't decide. Blair would have been happy with a cheap band from one of the small and less expensive stores. Then he saw the ones he wanted. It had diamonds all the way around, the price of them had her in shock, she wondered why he would want to spend so much on bands when they planned on ending the marriage in under a year.

"We'll take these," he said, not bothering to ask her, her opinion. "Now let's look at some engagement rings."

"Austin, can I speak to you alone for a second?" She pulls him over to the far end of the counter so that Mr. Ace couldn't hear them. "What are you doing? I don't need an engagement ring, it would be a waste of money not to mention pointless."

"It wouldn't look right for you not to have one, my colleagues would think I'm cheap, we do have a reputation to uphold. Once the marriage ends you will give back the rings, I may be able to sell them." He turned and walked away, going back over to the owner.

Mr. Ace pulled out a tray of expensive and unique diamond engagement rings. "These are a few of our newest ones that just arrived today. Each is one of a kind.

Austin rubbed his chin as he looked each one over, she too stared at them. "I like this one," he said, picking it up checked it over. It was gorgeous, the way it looked like a flower with diamonds all around. He grabbed her left hand and slid it over her finger, he was thrilled that it was a perfect fit. "Do you like this one?" he asked her, smiling when he saw how her eyes lit up.

"It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen, but it's two hundred thousand dollars, way too expensive."

All he did was smile at her and hands the owner his card. "When the rings have been sized have them sent to my office, I want them as soon as possible, the engagement ring she'll wear now."

When they got outside she holds up her hand to admire the ring which sparkled in the sunlight. "It really is spectacular but you shouldn't have gotten one so expensive."

"I believe in buying nothing but the best. We have time for lunch before we go back to work but I must ask that you not give the waiters a hard time. Try to be polite this time."

He took her to a place around the corner, pulling her chair out for her. He was pleased that she behaved, eating the meal he ordered for them both. "I've arranged for someone to marry us on Friday. It will take place at your apartment and from there we'll take your belongings back to my place, so make sure to pack whatever you need."

"So soon?" she asked, nervously.

"It was you that said it had to be done right away, before your boss returns from his vacation." He signaled for the waiter to bring the cheque over so he could pay.

"Yes, you're right, the sooner the better. Do we not need a witness?"

"The man marrying us is bringing his wife, she can witness it." He saw the look of sadness on her face. "Is there a problem?"

"It's not every day a girl gets married, I was hoping to have my friend with me on that day. I know it's not a real marriage and I don't expect anything romantic but still, it would have been nice to have her there."

"If it means that much to you then have her there."

"Thank you, it would mean a lot to me."

"Blair, you do know we won't be going on a honeymoon, right?"

She looks down at the table. "It would have been nice to go away somewhere for the weekend, maybe take in a play or go sightseeing."

"Look at me, Blair." When she did he frowned at her. You must realize that since we are doing this for reasons other than love it would be a joke to take a honeymoon. I'm a very busy man and have an important case coming up. I'll be working at home all weekend."

She twisted her finger around a strand of her hair. "You're right of course. I'm busy too and need to catch up on some new ideas for the company."

She was starting to regret her decision to marry, especially for the reason she was. As a young girl, she had dreamed of the day her prince charming would come and sweep her off her feet. But so far all she had ever kissed were frogs. It was too late now to back out, and there was the company that she wanted more than anything.

"I'll walk you to your car," he said, standing up he waited for her.

"Thank you for lunch and for this amazing ring."

"Don't get too attached to it, I will be taking it from you when we end things. I do think it suits you."

When they got to her car he opens the door for her to get in behind the wheel. "I will have the prenup and our contract finished by Wednesday for both of us to sign. I'll come by your place that night. You can look it over and if you don't trust me you can have your lawyer check it out."

"I don't want anyone knowing what we're doing so I'll check it myself. I'm pretty smart when it comes to legal forms and so on. I'm also hoping I can trust you not to pull anything underhanded."

"All I want is the shares and to be free once the company is fully yours. I'll see you Wednesday."

Turning the key she waved goodbye and headed back to her office. She still had lots of work to do before the day ended.