Her lips part, but no words come. For a moment, it’s just her stare locked on mine—furious and conflicted. And beneath all of it, something that tells me she hasn’t completely slammed the door shut.
“I can’t marry you, Worth.” Mya’s chin tips up stubbornly. “What would I even tell my family? What will you tell your daughter? This is completely unbelievable.”
“Then we’ll work hard to make it believable. Sell the story. We’ll be a whirlwind romance. And don’t worry about Brianna, I’ll handle her.”
Her eyes flash. “Handleher? Worth, she’s not a business deal. What if she hates me? You’d be forcing a stranger into your daughter’s life. And me—” she presses her hand to her chest, voice breaking “—I’d have to move into your house. Be in her space. Oh my God, this is insane. I can’t do it.”
She pushes off the wall when a laughing couple squeezes by with two champagne flutes and asorry.
“Mya—”
“I’m not a damn charity case. You want a rent-a-wife? Find someone else.”
She storms off, but pauses, shoulders rising and falling with the weight of her breaths. When she finally speaks again, her voice is softer, but it cuts deeper. “I thought you respected me, Worth. Guess I was wrong.”
16
MYA
My pulse is still roaring in my ears as I stalk down the hall. By the time I reach the doors, my hands are shaking badly.
I can’t believe him.
Asking me to be his fake wife? For compensation? Changing the HR policy like this is some kind of power play? The audacity. The arrogance. Thenerveof that man.
I press the heel of my hand against my chest, willing my racing heart to slow. But it’s not just anger making me this worked up—it’s hurt. Disappointment. I actually thought Worth respected me, at least a little. That underneath all the growling and mixed signals, there was a man who… God, I don’t even know.Sawme.
Instead, he wants touseme.
I can’t believe I might have secretly wanted him to mean something else when he said he needed me.
No. No, I can’t go there.
I push past the double doors and into the cool night air. Relief—or maybe panic—rushes through me as I gulp down a huge inhale.
I head straight for the curb and throw up a hand. A cab screeches to a stop, and I slide inside.
Lights smear across the windows as we move. Only then do I finally let myself breathe.
I grab my phone and call Tiana. I don’t expect her to pick up, but I desperately need to tell her what happened.
On the fifth ring, she answers.
“Mya?” I hear the fading sound of music and the faint pulse of bass in the background. “What’s wrong?”
“Worth.”
She exhales. “What did he do now?”
“He asked me to marry him.”
Tiana chokes on the line. “Come again?”
“Not for real-real,” I clarify quickly. “Some fake marriage arrangement to help with his custody case. He wants me to play wife so he doesn’t look like a playboy in front of a judge.” I lower my voice. “You have to swear, TJ, you cannot tellanyone. Not Mom, not Devon, not JJ.”
She whistles. “Sworn to secrecy. But… That might not be the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”
I gasp. “Are you well?”