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“That much?” she asked.
“Yes.” Liam stood, too, and crossed the room to stand in front of her. “Amelia, I know this is a very unusual proposition. I know you must have misgivings. But please, hear me out.”
With Liam standing so close to her, Amelia noticed how much taller he was than her. She noticed the definition of his muscles, the five-o’clock shadow on his high cheekbones, the line of tiredness beneath his blue eyes. She remembered the Cheerio on his slacks, which must have been from his daughter.
“I’m sorry.” Amelia shook her head. “Even for that kind of money, it doesn’t feel right.”
Yet, despite herself, Amelia didn’t walk away. She couldn’t bring herself to. Not yet.
“I understand. But there’s one more thing that might change your mind.” Liam pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it. After a few taps, he handed it to her. On it, Amelia saw a picture of a little girl. She was dressed in a pair of green leggings and a purple top. Her wispy blond hair was loose around her face. In one hand, she held a teddy bear. By Amelia’s estimation, she was around two years old, maybe a little older. She looked healthy enough, but her blue eyes, so like Liam’s, were unbelievably sad.
“This is Grace.” Liam’s voice was low. “She needs your help. I need your help.”
Amelia bit her lip. Then she let out a short sigh. “I still don’t love the idea of a fake marriage. Exactly how long would this last?”
“No more than a year,” Liam said hurriedly. She could hear a change in his tone. He felt like he’d won — and he probably had. “We can draw up a contract. Whatever you need there to feel comfortable, we’ll add. A payment schedule, a specific end date — whatever is necessary.”
Amelia looked down at the little girl in the picture and felt her heart ache. She’d agreed not to take another job that would take over her whole heart, but she needed to do this for the little girl.
The money wouldn’t hurt, either.
Nor would spending a little more time with Liam. Despite his strange approach to handling his sudden fatherhood, and his slightly abrupt nature, Amelia still found him intriguing.
“Yes.” The word slipped out before she had time to fully consider it. She looked up from the picture of the child to meet Liam’s eyes. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
“You will?” The relief and hope on Liam’s face was overwhelming. It transformed his face from firm and businesslike to something else. “Thank you, Amelia.”
“But we have to set some ground rules,” Amelia added firmly. “If we’re going to be… married… we should lay down the guidelines.”
“Of course. I couldn’t agree more.” In one quick motion, Liam turned away from Amelia and returned to the table. “Please, sit.”
Amelia followed him and sat back down. It felt a bit strange to be sitting across the table from Liam, their salads untouched in front of them, after the intensity of the conversation they’d just had. Amelia found herself picking up her fork and spearing a piece of lettuce. Liam followed suit.
“We should establish who will need to be told that we’re married,” Amelia began.
Liam held up a hand. “I’ve thought about this. Everyone. Rumors are the biggest thing that could endanger my career and reputation, so even one person knowing that we aren’t really together is too much.”
“Even my family?” Amelia asked.
“I suppose you can tell your close family members about our arrangement, if you can be sure they won’t speak to anyone. But your friends, everyone at my office — they need to believe that we’re really married.”
“And just to be clear, are you asking me to pose as Grace’s biological mother?”
“No, of course not. I don’t imagine anyone will ask, but if they do, we’ll tell them that Grace came from a previous relationship and that the two of us married relatively recently. If it doesn’t come up, we can let people believe that you are Grace’s biological mother, but I’m not asking you to lie about that.”
Amelia took another bite of salad and chewed slowly, trying to give herself time to think. It seemed like a reasonable plan, although she struggled with the lie of omission — as well as the actual lying.
“Okay. And when would you like me to start, as it were?”
Now Liam looked a little sheepish. It was another pivot from the confidence she’d seen on his face before. “Well… today?”
“Today?” Amelia couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I really need help with Grace. She needs stability as soon as possible. And the longer we wait without you becoming my wife, the more chance there is for negative rumors to begin.”
Amelia would have liked to say that she needed to give notice at a job or tie up loose ends in her personal life, but the truth was that she could start right away. And some part of her wanted to. With a sigh, she nodded. “All right.”
“Really?” Liam leaned forward, those intense blue eyes focusing on her once again. His gaze made Amelia feel slightly tingly and very… visible.
