Marriage of Convenience (The Raven Brothers 1)

I laughed. “Money makes people act different.”

“No doubt.” She set her bags down. “I bought this too.” She shucked off her tank top and took off her jeans revealing a dark purple teddy. “Men seem to like this sort of thing.”

“Men?” I quirked a brow. “Are you taking a survey?”

She laughed. “You. You seem to like this sort of thing.” She nodded toward my pants where my dick was straining against my zipper.

“I do like it, Sara. Are you going to help me take care of this?” I maneuvered her to my desk. “I can’t work with this distraction.”

“We can’t have you distracted.”

Yep, things were back to normal, I thought as I fucked her on my desk. The rest of the evening went smoothly, having dinner, fucking some more, and then her sleeping in her room and me in mine. Finally, things were on track again.

On Monday, I woke early, exercised and then got ready for work. Sara hadn’t woken up yet, so I left Mrs. Childs instructions for taking care of Sara’s needs and then headed to work.

I got to the office as usual and dove into work. While I’d done some work over the weekend, it wasn’t nearly as much as I normally got done. Sara had been a distraction, but it was difficult to regret it. I’d had more sex over the weekend than I probably had over the last few years. It was nice to know my dick still worked and that orgasms were as enjoyable as I remembered. Actually, with Sara they were more intense than I remembered. I chalked that up to the long dry spell in my sex life.

I was in the middle of reviewing financial reports when Ash poked his head in my door. “Hey, you’re alive.”

I frowned. What did he want? “Was there a question about that?”

“I didn’t get the fifty emails that you usually fire my way over the weekend. Since you’re not one to take time off, I wondered if you died.”

I smirked. “I can see you would have been broken up about it.”

Ash grinned. “Devastated. So, what did you do this weekend?”

I didn’t usually talk about anything personal with my brothers, and they didn’t with me. All of our conversations since we’d become adults had been about the company.

“I was a little distracted,” I admitted, trying to decide how much to tell him now.

With an intrigued smirk, Ash sat on the couch in my office. “By…” he prompted.

I felt strange sharing my personal life, and yet at some point I’d need to. I decided to start small. There was no need to jump into the whole married thing. “I was with a woman.”

Ash’s eyes widened. “Working on dad’s ultimatum?”

I nodded. “I’ve worked too hard to have that old man take it away. I will admit, this weekend was a nice change.”

“It must have been a long time for you.”

Had my brother been keeping track of my sex life? I couldn’t believe I was discussing my personal life with my brother. “A while. I’ve been focused on work. Something you’d think dad would appreciate.”

Ash shrugged. “I know how you feel.” He looked down for a moment and then back at me with a serious expression. “If she’s special, hold on to that, Chase.”

I tilted my head studying him. I had to imagine he was talking about his own experience and loss in the relationship department.

I was going to ask him about it, but Ash moved on to a new topic. “Where’s the hot intern?”

I flinched a little, although I wasn’t sure if it was because I was going to have to deal with this topic or because Ash was calling my wife hot. “She’s on another project.”

Ash laughs. “Is that the project you had over the weekend?”

Annoyed, I grumbled. “I have to get to work. There are at least fifty emails I need to send you.”

Ash stood holding his hands up. “Alright, alright. I’ll go.”

I let out a relieved breath when Ash left, but immediately started to feel tense when I considered that I needed to tell him, and my other brothers and our father about Sara and that we were married. I couldn’t imagine how they’d take it. They’d see it for what it was; a marriage of convenience. I wondered if my father would once again change the rules since his goal was to have his sons discover love or a life outside of the company.

If she’s special, hold on to that, Chase. Ash’s words came back to me. I wasn’t a man to believe in love and fairy tales. But I couldn’t deny that there was something compelling about Sara. I wondered how long our mutual friendliness would last. At some point would she grow to resent me as my mother had my father? That was why this situation was perfect. There were no expectations that come from traditional marriages. She’d get the security she wanted, and I’d get the company, or my child would.