Page 4 of The Billionaire's Secret
“I’ll be the assistant to Locke Montclair.”
“Have you lost your mind?”Jacklyn screeches, staring at me in wide-eyed horror.
I expected that reaction.Locke has a reputation for turning assistants into ex-lovers.That’s why I faked being married to land the job.I plan to protect myself from getting romantically entangled with another rich man.
Even thinking about that makes me feel sick.Douglas said I was a joke to him.A bet with his friends that he couldslum it with the poorgirland get me to fall for him.He felt nothing for me.Never had, he’d said.
“Salem?”Jacklyn waves her hand in front of my face.“You should forget that idea and come work with me at the hospital instead.”
“I can handle this job,” I assure her.“I know you’re worried, but rumor has it Locke Montclair doesn’t hook up with married women.”I hold my arms out in a ta-da gesture.
Lear frowns.“Yeah, but you’re not married.”
I raise my left hand to show the simple gold wedding band I’d purchased earlier.
“Ah…faking it.Where have I heard that term before?”Lear says with a grin, lifting his son into his arms when Princeton tugs on the side of his sweatpants.
“Exactly.”I laugh.“Faking it.”
Ever the worrier, Jacklyn says, “But what if a situation arises where you need to show up with a husband?Like an employee event or something?”She grabs a water bottle from the refrigerator and twists off the lid.“That would be a complication.”
“I thought of that, too.”I glance at Lear.“You’ll be my husband.”
The three of us grew up together and we’re more like siblings than friends.We’ve supported each other through all our ups and downs like Lear’s divorce.His ex-wife did a number on him.
She left him when their son was a baby after saying it wasn’t a life she wanted.She’d said he could have everything including thewhining brat.She’d cleaned out their bank account, given up her parental rights and moved to Hawaii with a surfer she met online.
Lear gave up a job he loved for a lower-paying one so he could work from home to be there for his son.
“Well?Husband?”
Lear hesitates.He’s a stickler for truth.
“I won’t need you to play the part unless I can’t avoid it and I’ll do my best to make sure that never happens.”I press my palms together, pleading.
“Fine,” he relents with a sigh.
Princeton holds his arms out to me.“Mama,” he says.He calls me and everyone he sees by that name including the apartment manager, a big, bearded man who’s gruff on the outside but an angel on the inside.
I take him and settle him on my hip.“What did you do today?”I ask, brushing his hair off his forehead.
“Play with cars,” he says, sniffing loudly, then coughing.
Lear frowns.“I hope he’s not coming down with something.”
I put my hand against Princeton’s forehead.“No fever,” I say.
“Down.”Princeton says squirming to be set free.
I lower him to the rug then hand him his favorite toy.“I have to head to the company.I’m supposed to sign something at the HR department before officially meeting Locke.”
Locke.The sexy, most charming one of the Montclair brothers.
I’ve seen his photograph flashed on screens behind talk show hosts as they’d discussed the most eligible bachelors in Texas.I’ve also seen him on the front cover of numerous magazines.
According to the articles, he’s a hard-to-resist playboy.And I admit that his devil-may-care smile made me stop in my tracks when I first noticed his photo.But if I were to peel back that public façade, I’m betting I’d discover he’s just another rich asshole.
I shake off the thoughts.“I’d better get changed before I’m late.”
