Possessive Fake Husband

Josh is handsome and calm. My father is sweating and drinking. They make an unlikely pair.

“How does us getting married help?” I ask Josh.

He grins and looks at my dad.

“It’s political,” Dad says again. “If you marry Josh, then his board can’t possibly reject a merger. I mean, our families would be bound together, so it makes sense to brings the companies together, too.”

“I know it sounds crazy,” Josh says, “but it’s a good idea. I think it’ll actually work.”

“It does sound crazy.” I stare at them. I can feel a bubble of anger rising up in my chest. “So I’m just some, what, some piece of meat? Some pawn for you two to use?”

“Honey,” Dad says, but I cut him off.

“And you ambush me like this,” I say. “You get me alone in this weird room at this weird party and I’m wearing this awful dress and these stupid shoes.” I reach down and rip my heels off. I don’t know why I do it. I feel dizzy and angry and I just want to do something. “You tell me I’m supposed to marry this total stranger for your business? Come on, Dad. That’s insane.”

Josh sighs. “I agree with her,” he says.

Dad gives him a horrified look. “What? But you—”

“She’s right.” Josh says. “We can’t treat her like some tool.” He looks back at me. “Maggie, I am so, so sorry we approached it like this. We never should’ve discussed anything that involved you without you in on the discussion. That was wrong.”

Dad stands there, shell-shocked, but I’m staring at Josh.

He sounds sincere. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s absolutely gorgeous.

“You’re right,” I say. “It’s a shitty thing to do.”

“But it doesn’t change the fact that our marriage could help us both,” he says. “Look, your father’s company is important, and so is mine. We service a lot of folks that can’t afford the big companies. And I’m not going to pretend like this is all altruism, either. If we can bring Cork and Bushings together, we can create something lasting for both of our families, something stronger.”

“But we don’t do that sort of thing anymore,” I say. “We’re not… we don’t live in the Dark Ages. This isn’t ancient Rome.”

“No,” he agrees, “but why do we think we’re so much better than that? Marriage has always been a tool. We can use it as one now. I promise, I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do, and when this merger is over, we can get a divorce. It’ll only be for show, only to convince my board.”

Dad shifts from foot to foot. “I’ll let you two talk,” he says, moving toward the door.

“Dad,” I say.

“Let him go,” Josh says. “He’s uncomfortable. And we have a lot to talk about.” His eyes stare into mine and for a long moment, I’m held transfixed, unable to look away.

Dad slips out the door and disappears.

Josh pours himself a drink and walks over. He leaves his glass of wine on the sideboard and sits in the chair next to mine.

“I know this is a lot,” he says.

“Imagine if you were me,” I say. “Imagine if your dad was trying to sell you to his rivals.”

“You’re not getting sold,” he says, shaking his head. “Come on. That’s going too far.”

“Fine. Imagine he’s trying to use you as a tool in his business.”

“Okay, that’s more accurate. But look, we’re talking to you about it now.”

“Great. I’m not doing it.”

He shrugs. “Fine.”

I stare at him. He sips his whiskey and smiles at me, not saying anything. I sit there, bare feet, the ice melting in my wine, and I want to scream.

“Fine?” I ask. “That’s it? Your whole plan is going to fall apart now.”

“Not exactly,” he says with a shrug. “I mean, we can try and find some other way to convince my board. We don’t have much of a shot now, but whatever. We’ll figure it out or die trying.”

I sit there and stare at him. “You’re serious about all this,” I say. “Both your companies are going to go under?”

“I’m very serious,” he says. “I took over Cork after my father passed last year, and from what I’ve seen since then, we have five years, six if your father’s company goes under sooner rather than later.”

“And Dad is really going under too?”

“So he says.” Josh shrugs. “I haven’t seen his financials. But I suspect they’re similar to mine.”

“If all that’s why, why would your board want a merger? It sounds like it’ll save a lot of jobs and make a lot of money.”

He laughs and swirls his drink. I clenched the heavily padded arms of my chair and take a deep breath of leather and shoe polish. “They’re old men,” Josh says. “They think this company is done for already. Half of them are getting ready to sell their shares and bail entirely. They don’t want to save the company. They just want to make a short-term sale and get out.”