Possessive Fake Husband

I nod. “I do.”

“Fine. I hear you’re starting a civil war in this company. I hear you’re trying to betray everything we stand for.”

I sigh and glance over at Maggie. She’s frowning, her head cocked. “So I guess Seb got to you first.”

“Seb called me last night,” he says. “Truthfully, I think that man’s a liar and loathsome. But I’m not sure you’re much better.”

I laugh, genuinely happy to hear some straight-out honesty for once in this whole fiasco. “I’ll be straight with you then, Larry. Cork is going under and Seb wants to make sure it happens. He wants to sell his shares as soon as possible and get out before things get worse, but he needs to make sure the rest of the board sticks around until his shares all get sold off.”

Larry snorts. “I doubt that.”

“Why?” I ask. “I’m trying to merge our company with our closest competitor, which is the only way to make both our companies viable in the long run. Otherwise, we won’t be able to fight back against the big guys.”

“Even merged, it’ll be hard,” he says.

“True, but merge and we have a chance. Seb wants us just to do… what? I mean really, you’ve seen the numbers. What was Seb’s big idea?”

Larry frowns. “He wants to do nothing.”

“Exactly. Do nothing and we’re toast in a few years at best. Come on, let’s not bullshit. This isn’t a civil war. This is one man trying to scuttle a deal that could save thousands of jobs.”

Larry watches me carefully for a long moment. His deep blue eyes are sharp and his gray hair blows in the wind. He seems entirely unpretentious, his hair unruly and a little curly, nothing about him manicured or clean. But he’s clearly a smart man with a sharp eye and a lot of patience.

“Tell you what,” he says. “You carry my gear back to my car and then we’ll talk.”

I perk up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Carry it all.” Larry walks past me. “And don’t make her carry anything.” He waves and heads off onto the path.

I stand there and watch him go as Maggie joins me toward the end of the pier. “What do you think?” she asks.

“I’m not sure,” I say.

“I think he’s an asshole.” She shakes her head. “Just as bad as Seb. Leave his shit here.”

I laugh and turn away. “If there’s a chance he’ll go for it, I gotta try.”

“Doesn’t matter to me either way. I’m not the one carrying all that stuff.”

I sigh as I bundle it all into my arms. It’s heavy and awkward, but I manage to trudge back to the paved path. Maggie walks next to me the whole time, swinging her arms wide, grinning at me like a moron.

I glare right back. “You’re having too much fun.”

“I think I’m having a very appropriate amount of fun, thanks.”

I laugh despite myself. She looks gorgeous in the afternoon sun and I’m tempted to drop all this shit and kiss her. Hell, being with her might be better than this whole company.

“Let’s run away,” I say.

“Yeah? Where to?”

“I don’t know. Paris. Barbados. Anywhere.”

“How about Australia?”

I give her a look. “Really? It’s so far. And there are so many killer bugs.”

“I know. But I like the idea of riding around on kangaroos.”

“You can’t ride a kangaroo. They’re not that big.”

“We’ll figure out a way. We’re Americans, right? We can ride anything.”

I laugh and shake my head. “I don’t think that’s how it works.” I heft up the fishing rod before I drop it by accident. “Come on, what do you say? Let’s run away. Forget about the company.”

“I can’t,” she says, still smiling. “My dad would be so mad. And I feel like I owe him.”

“Really?”

She skips ahead a little then turns and walks backwards. “Yeah,” she says. “I mean, like I told you, he really stepped up when my mom died for a while there. He really wanted to be an amazing dad, and now I have the chance to pay him back for it. I can’t just… you know, turn away from it.”

“I get that.”

She turns around and drops back beside me. “Plus, I like America. I don’t want to go anywhere else.”

“We could go to California,” I offer. “Still America.”

“Hm. Tempting. I do have family in California. You know that Divas reality TV franchise?”

“Oh, yeah, there are like ten of them now, right?”

“Six, and yeah, my cousin owns that. Well, his wife does.”

“That’s pretty cool.” I tilt my head toward her. “I didn’t know you were connected.”

“My dad’s sister married this super rich guy. You met her at the wedding, remember?”

“Oh, right. Sylvia Lofthouse.” I sigh. “Maybe they can give us the money to buy your dad’s company.”

She laughs. “You don’t know that family. They’d never go for it.”

“Well, we should try anyway. We’re getting desperate here, remember?”