You're The One (Very Irresistible Bachelors 1)

A lot of people knew him: he was rich and had succeeded despite his dad’s legacy. He also ran charity events with his cousins. To be honest, I think many in the city knew him more because of those events than his business. They were called the Ballroom Galas, because they took place in an actual ballroom, and the dress code was very fancy. There were no two ways about it, he was famous in New York. What would it be like to be his wife?

Usually, my go-to people when I needed advice were my family or the Winchester clan. Ryker and Cole were younger than their sisters, and I was smack dab in the middle. I was as close to Tess and Skye as I was to my sister.

My fingers were itching to grab the phone and call my sister or one of my brothers. But Hunter was right. I couldn’t involve them or the Winchesters, though I could imagine their reactions. My family would have a lot to say on the topic.

Amelia would probably tell us both to not even think about going through with this. Despite being in her seventies, she didn’t want to retire. She’d worked her way up from teacher to principal and still ran the school with an iron fist. Tess would hand us our asses for taking this risk. Skye would insist Hunter check out every other option.

Ryker and Cole would laugh and give us thumbs up. Cole would probably tease Hunter relentlessly about giving up his bachelor status—even if it was temporarily. Ryker would too, but since Cole worked with Hunter, it wasn’t easy to escape his teasing. Not that Ryker was easy to escape either. His office wasn’t far away from Hunter?

??s. He was a successful Wall Street analyst.

I blew out a breath, pouting. I couldn’t involve anyone in this.

Clearly, this decision wouldn’t be rational, but emotional. The lawyer in me struggled with that. But it all boiled down to whether I’d leave Hunter in the lurch or not. If the one time he truly needed me, I’d turn my back on him and tell him to take his chances with the immigration services.

By dinnertime, I still hadn’t decided anything. I felt like I needed more details, and yet I couldn’t come up with them on my own.

What would our life together look like? How often would we have to be seen in public?

As husband and wife, we’d be expected to show some PDA. My skin tingled at the prospect. And therein lay my problem. Could I live with Hunter for three years, pretend I was head over heels in love when we were in public, and not actually fall for him?

At five o’clock, I still wasn’t sure about my course of action but canceled my evening plans. I wasn’t in the mood to go out.

I wondered what Hunter was doing tonight. Was he on a date? My stomach churned unpleasantly at the thought. I circled back to my sheet of paper, crossing over the words “pros” and “cons.” The new title was Demands and Conditions.

I had no problem coming up with a lengthy list. I was a lawyer, after all. Setting up a framework and boundaries was second nature to me.

After I wrote down everything I could think of, I surveyed the list, biting the end of my pen. Hunter would think I was out of my mind.

I jumped when my phone started buzzing. Hunter was calling. No time like the present to bring this to his attention, but I couldn’t work up the courage to answer. I could barely bring myself to write down some of the conditions. How was I supposed to say them out loud?

I fretted so long that the phone stopped buzzing. But I couldn’t put this off. If I was going to go through with this, I needed all the facts. Drawing in a deep breath, I called him back. He answered right away.

“Hey. Are you still out?” he asked.

“What? Oh... I stayed in. Wasn’t in the mood for anything. I’ve been thinking about what you said....”

“I’m listening.”

“So... I made a list of things we should discuss.”

He laughed. “You have a list?”

“Hey. Don’t mock me. I think better when I see things in writing.”

“Hit me up.”

“First things first. We’d sleep in separate rooms.”

“It wouldn’t be real, Josie. Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to share my bed.”

“I’m glad we clarified it.”

“What’s the next point?”

“I just want paperwork. No wedding.”

“Amelia will flip her shit. Mom too. Your family too. Why no wedding?”