Seduce Me (Austin Singles 1)

Rolling my eyes, I mumbled, “Men.”

Making my way to the sofa, I fell face-first across it. That may have not been as thought out as it should have been because my face landed on a decorative pillow with little diamonds that stuck out and embedded into my cheeks. I let out a groan.

With a quick flip of my body, I stared up at the ceiling. The words from my father’s lawyer swirled around in my head.

“In order for you to become chairman and CEO, you would need to be married.”

Married! What in the hell?

The look on Ricker’s face was enough to make me hurl. He thought he was going to

win, but I had other news for him.

Of course, the worst of the news came after my initial shock. I had to prove it wasn’t an arranged marriage. How in the hell was I going to do that? They expected me to find a man, fall in love, and plan a wedding in three months and three weeks’ time? The only good thing that came out of this was I found a flaw in good ol’ granddaddy’s evil plan. I only had to be married one year. If after one year I divorced, I was still able to maintain control. What he didn’t know was divorce was nothing these days. Hell, I’ve had friends marry and divorce a week later without so much as batting an eye.

My phone rang, causing me to sit up quickly. I recognized that ringtone. Jumping up, I ran over to my purse and pulled out my phone.

I smiled when I saw her name.

Terri.

“Hey,” I said as I made my way to my bedroom. I lived in a historic loft apartment in downtown Austin. It had killer views and cost more money than should be legal, but it was my place. I rented it from a friend of my father’s who owned the whole historical building. I had spent countless hours on Pinterest looking for ideas on decorating it. My parents thought I was nuts investing so much money restoring a penthouse loft I was renting, but I was working on the old man into letting me buy the place. My pappy, my mother’s father, owned half of Texas, I swear. His love of buying and selling real estate was passed down to me. I just never had the time to really learn more about it. I’d love to someday buy old houses and restore them. Then flip them and make a shit ton of money.

Another dream I had given up for this clusterfuck of a situation I was in now.

“I got your text. What’s up?”

Heading to my closet, I pulled open the doors and walked in. I needed a dress, a sexy dress.

“I need two things.” Really I needed three. The last one I would keep to myself. I’d spent the last week hiding in my apartment, crying endlessly for my parents. I needed a night out in the real world. Something to take my mind off the hole in my heart.

I could hear Terri’s boyfriend, Jim, in the background. “Wh-what two things do you need?”

My hand came up to my hip as I stopped what I was doing. “Are you having sex right now?”

“What? No! Oh my God. I’m at Jim’s parents’ house. I just walked outside.”

“Oh. Well, it sounds like moaning in the background.”

Terri giggled. “I wish. Now what are these two things you need?” Smiling, I went back to scanning my closet. I knew I could count on Terri. She had been part of my large group of friends from college, and we’d been close ever since freshman year. We had all stayed friends and got together once a week still, even if it was for drinks only. It was hard because most of the time that meant seeing Tucker. My heart ached every time I saw him. Especially when he had his latest girlfriend on his arm.

Ugh.

“I need to get laid, and then I need to get married.”

I had to admit, I wasn’t too surprised by the silence on the other end of the line.

“You still there, Terri?”

“Ah. Yeah. I got the get laid part; it’s the get married part that’s thrown me for a loop.”

I let out a frustrated moan. “Can you meet me for drinks? I really need to talk to someone.”

“Sure, babe. Where did you want to meet?”

“I don’t care. I need a hard drink and an even harder dick, which I’m not even sure I know what that is anymore. It’s been so long since I actually had sex. After that, then I need to get married.”

“Jesus,” Terri said, scrambling with something. I was pretty sure I heard something crash on the floor. “My God, Charlie! I had it on speakerphone.”