The Billionaire's Secretly Fake Bride (MANHATTAN BACHELORS Book 3) Read online

Eyeing his best friend thoughtfully, Ryder laughed and gave his head a shake. “You know, you’re right. You have a point. I probably should do something like that, just to spite the old bastard.”

  He thought on it a while longer and when his glass was low on liquor again, the cocktail waitress came by to see if they wanted another drink. He looked at her curiously and lifted a brow.

  “Do you have a few minutes to sit down and talk with us?” He asked with a lightness to his voice.

  She gave him a half smile. He was sexy as hell, but he knew it, and she wasn’t too impressed with any man who not only knew how good looking he was, but played the hot card into his game all the time. Still, she thought to herself, he and his friend seemed decent fellows, and there wasn’t much else going on in the strip club at that moment.

  “Alright. I have a minute.” She pulled out a chair at their table and sat down across from them.

  Ryder glanced over at Taylor who nodded once to him in agreement, then he looked over at the young woman. “I’m Ryder.” He extended his hand and she shook it.

  “I’m Regina.” She replied, giving him a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you as well.” He felt his nerves quiver slightly. He’d never felt any kind of nervousness talking to any girl or woman in his life; they always came to him, drawn like moths to a flame, and he’d never had to make much effort at all, but a strange uncertainty came over him as he faced her. He was going to ask her about hiring her to take on the role of his wife, and that made t him uneasy,

  “I wanted to talk with you about a business proposal.” He cleared his throat and glancing at Taylor again. Taylor was watching Regina.

  Many men often spoke to her about plans and ideas, they spoke to her about dating and loneliness, about dreams and desires. They talked to her about themselves and everything that they wanted. She was used to listening, nodding, and when she needed to, telling them no. There were proposals of many kinds, and the business proposals were usually to do with the men making money off her one way or another, or offering her money to fulfill fantasies or desires of theirs.

  She was never one to take any of them up on their proposals and offers, and so when Ryder voiced his introduction, telling her that he had a business proposal, she knew right away that it was something she would not accept.

  All the same, she gave him her full attention and listened politely. “What is it that you’re thinking of?”

  Everything in him tightened and he curled his fingers more firmly around the glass in his hand. He willed himself to speak the words.

  “I come from a wealthy family. It’s a prominent family in this city, and with that prominence comes a great deal of responsibility. I…” he hesitated, wondering just how to propose his plan to her, “I have come to an impasse with my father. He believes that it’s time for me to get married and settle down. I disagree. I don’t wish to be married at this time. I’m still very interested in living a life without a permanent partner in it.” He tried to keep the groan he was feeling inside from being heard in his voice.

  She cocked an eyebrow. For the first time, a man was putting forth a plan involving her, and she could not see where he was going with his request. “That sounds like a problem.”

  He rolled his eyes slightly. “It is a problem. Mostly it’s a problem because if I don’t get married, my father is going to disinherit me and kick me out of the family. I don’t want that to happen, obviously.”

  “That’s understandable.” Regina intoned, still unsure of where he was going with his idea.

  “So, I-” he began, and Taylor stopped him.

  “We.” He looked over at Ryder.

  Ryder nodded slowly, looking from Taylor back to Regina. “We… had an idea that might be a viable solution for this problem. We were thinking that I could find a woman to hire to be my wife.”

  Regina’s mouth fell open slightly. A light dawned in her mind and suddenly she knew exactly where Ryder and Taylor were going with their plan. A wave of irritation and anger began to rise up in her. She narrowed her eyes at Ryder. “You want to hire me to be your wife?” she asked, hardly believing that the words were coming from her mouth.

  He held his breath as he watched her, seeing in her eyes that she was completely unimpressed with his proposition. “Uh… well, yes. Actually. It would be nothing more than a business arrangement. I would pay you, you would sign a prenuptial agreement stating that the only money that you would get from me would be the agreed upon amount. We would have a wedding-”

  She held up her hand and looked at him seriously. “A real, legal wedding…” she asked, her eyes wide as she blanched in surprise. She wanted to be certain that she was hearing him correctly.

  “Yes, a real, legal wedding. You would be my legal wife.” He drew in a deep breath, trying to steady himself as the words sounded in his mouth and he heard his own voice sounding them out, and heard himself say it with his own ears. It was completely surreal to him. “We would be married long enough for me to get my inheritance, and once I had it, we would divorce, you would take the money that we agreed that I would pay you, and you could go your way and I would go my way, and we’d be done with it.”

  She stared at him. Her mind couldn’t even begin to comprehend such a ridiculous notion. Speaking slowly, she tried to make herself believe it. “How much money are you thinking you’d pay me for marrying you as your fake bride?” She couldn’t fathom the idea at all, and speaking the words aloud made it sound even more incredulous and totally unbelievable.

  He looked over at Taylor and Taylor shrugged. He considered it for a moment as he looked back at Regina. They hadn’t talked about an amount. He had no idea what the going rate was for a fake bride. He knew that he didn’t want to lose his shirt in a messy divorce, and he knew that it must be a fair price, though he had no notion at all what that number might be. His mind went to the inheritance that he would have coming.

  A billion dollars, plus property and a quarter of the business. His siblings would each have a quarter of it as well. He’d have part of the house they lived in at the Hamptons, and there were other properties around the world that they owned. A fraction of that seemed to him a likely amount.

  “A million dollars.” He finally said, looking back at her squarely. “I could see my way to paying you a million, if you signed the prenuptial agreement and didn’t ask for anything else. I think that would be fair.”

  He stopped talking and waited. It was what all business people who were any good at selling a pitch knew; you made the offer and then you shut your mouth and waited. She would make up her own mind, and there was nothing else that he could say either way to persuade her. There was nothing more that he could add that might sweeten the deal or convince her. He had laid it out, heart pounding at the very thought of it, and he must wait for her to respond.

  She blinked at him. It was clear as day that the man before her was either drunk or insane, and she had only brought him two drinks. Granted, they had both been doubles, so that was four shots of bourbon in about an hour, but even so, it wasn’t enough liquor to make a man with a right mind offer her a million dollars to be his wife until he could divorce her. Obviously, he was completely out of his mind, because he wasn’t drunk, though she knew he was probably getting tipsy.

  With a shake of her head she pushed herself back from the table. “That’s a great offer, but I’m sorry, I’m going to have to pass on it. For one, there’s no way you’re a billionaire and you’re coming in here to drink. What’s more, I can’t be bought.” She stood up and glared down at him.

  He was dumbfounded. Her words didn’t quite seem to make sense to him. It couldn’t be possible that she was turning him down, she was a woman. Women didn’t turn him down. Not for anything. Ever. On top of that, she was turning down more money than she would ever see in her life.

  “Not even for a million dollars?” he asked in amazement.

  She lowered her eyes at him and plan
ted her hands on her curvy hips. “Not even for a million dollars. I think you had better look somewhere else for your fake bride.” She turned then and walked away as disgust and irritation stole through her. She knew she should have been laughing it off; it was easily the most ridiculous offer she had ever heard, but it was a plain as day that he was serious about what he was asking of her, and both he and his friend fully expected her to believe it. They both thought that she was going to buy into it, and that they could buy her and get her to go along with their cockamamie idea.

  Taylor frowned and Ryder groaned as they both watched her walk away. “Well that didn’t go like I thought it would.” Taylor watched Regina in disappointment.

  “No, it didn’t.” Ryder agreed. He shook his head slowly. “How could she have said no? How is that even possible? It’s a million dollars. How does a cocktail waitress turn down a million dollars? How does she say no to me? Women don’t say no to me….” He was thoroughly astounded.

  Taylor lifted his shoulders as if giving up. “You got me. I haven’t ever seen a woman turn you down for anything. You’re always beating them back off you. And as far as the money… well… I’ve got nothing. She’s never going to make money like that in her life. Never. But I guess maybe it’s like she said, she can’t be bought.”

  “Everyone can be bought. Business 101. Everyone has a price.” Ryder narrowed his eyes as he continued to watch Regina.

  “Do you think she didn’t believe that you’re a billionaire?” Taylor asked.

  “She said that… she said she didn’t think I was a billionaire.” Ryder tilted his head thoughtfully. “I thought she wasn’t serious, though. Maybe you’re right. Maybe she doubts it.”

  “So, leave her your phone number and leave a big tip for her. Maybe she’ll come around.” Taylor suggested helpfully.

  Ryder nodded. “I could. Maybe she’ll change her mind. If she doesn’t, then no big deal. I have no doubt that I could find any number of women who’d be more than willing to take me up on this offer and marry me.”

  Taylor pressed his lips together firmly and then looked over at Ryder earnestly. “Yeah, you’re right, you could find any number of women to marry you, but think carefully about that… could you find one who would be willing to divorce you? It seems to me like all those women who would want to marry you would also want to keep you. You’re rich, you’re good looking, and they’d be legally bound to you. That’s the downside to this sweet idea. You’d have to find one who would be more than happy to walk away from you when it’s all over, and who wouldn’t try to stay married to you, or refuse to get a divorce, because then you’d be stuck with a real, legal wife.”

  He gave Ryder a pointed look. Ryder felt his stomach clench again. “You’re right. Finding one to marry me wouldn’t be a problem. It could be that finding one to marry me and then want to divorce me might be the challenge. The most important part of this. Hmm.” He hummed thoughtfully, gazing from Taylor back over to Regina who was going around the room checking on patrons at other tables.

  “She walked away. She wouldn’t even take the deal.” Ryder said quietly, still trying to work out in his mind how it was even possible that she had turned him down.

  “She’d probably walk right away from a marriage to you, if you could figure out how to get her to marry you in the first place.” Taylor bemoaned in disappointment.

  “If a million dollars won’t get her to marry me, then I don’t know what else could change her mind.” Ryder sighed and reached for his glass, tipping it back and swallowing all of the contents of it.

  They sat in silence a while, watching her as she worked. She had become a bit of a fascination to them. She knew that they were watching her. She kept her attention and her eyes on everything but the two of them, hoping that they would leave and she could be at some peace without them there. She knew they weren’t dangerous at all, but they were definitely not sane, and she wanted no part of their company, whether personal or professional.

  Another half hour had passed when the two friends finally decided to give up on it and call it a night. They stood up and Ryder took a business card from his pocket, along with a hundred dollar bill.

  Making himself do the walk, he left the table and went to her where she was at the end of the bar, bringing empty glasses to the bartender. He reached out and touched her arm, and she turned to look up at him in surprise.

  “You need another drink?” she asked, hoping that drinks were all that they wanted. She hadn’t been back to their table again since she had left it, and they hadn’t gone to the bar for more.

  Ryder shook his head. It was clearing from the liquor he’d ingested. “No, we’re heading out for the night. I just… I wanted to thank you for listening to my offer, and I wanted to leave my number here with your tip. I hope you’ll give it some more thought and consider it seriously. If you change your mind, my cell phone number is on this card. I hope you’ll call me, and perhaps we can talk about it a bit more and maybe find a way to work it out. I think you’d be just right for it, to be honest.”

  She pursed her full lips and did her level best to give him a serious look. “I’m not going to change my mind.”

  He sighed and lifted his hand, reaching over to give her his business card, wrapped up in a hundred-dollar bill. “Listen, I’m not crazy. I promise. I am a billionaire, and I do need someone who would be willing to be married to me for just a short time. It’s a million-dollar job. Just… just think about it. Consider it. I would be willing to bet that another offer like this will never happen again in your lifetime.”

  She took the tip and the card and gave him a nod. “I bet you’re right. This offer will never happen again in my lifetime. And yes, I think you’re crazy.” She tucked the money and the card into her pocket and watched and waited as he sighed and looked away from her.

  “Well, have a good night.” He walked back over to Taylor. She watched as the two of them headed out of the front door of the bar. They were the last to leave, and the dancers had gone back to their dressing rooms, so it was only herself and the bartender left in the room.

  He turned the overhead lights on throughout the room and walked to stand beside her at the end of the bar. “You alright? Those two giving you a hard time?”

  She raised her eyebrows and gave her head a shake as she pulled the tip and the card out of her pocket and looked at them. “Oh my god. He gave me a hundred dollars.” She blinked in astonishment, staring at the bill in her hands. She had never gotten so much money from one person in her life. Not as a tip, anyway.

  The bartender smiled. “Good! I know how hard you work. You’re worth that hundred, and much more.”

  She lifted her eyes to him, smiling back at him. He was tall and thin, with salt and pepper hair, and a favoring eye for men rather than women. “Thank you, Garrett. I think you’re right. I am worth this much and more.”

  Turning the business card over in her hands, she read the name aloud. “Ryder Carrington.” She said in a soft voice. “Well he was certainly good looking, but unfortunately, he’s insane.”

  Garrett raised a brow and looked at her. “Why are they insane?”

  “Maybe not clinically insane, but just a couple of drunk guys with a crazy scheme. Craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” She rolled her eyes and he leaned on the bar and gazed at her.

  “What did they want?” he asked curiously.

  She couldn’t believe she was saying it. “The dark haired one who gave me his card offered me a million dollars to marry him and be his fake bride. He said that his dad was going to disinherit him if he didn’t get married, so he wanted to marry someone just long enough to get his inheritance and then get a divorce. He was going to pay me to be the fake wife.”

  “He sounds like he’s all heart.” Garrett chuckled quietly. “A million dollars huh? That’s a lot of dough.”

  “Yeah, it would be if he was serious, but think about it. Why would a billionaire come looking at a strip club for a woman t
o marry and offer to pay her a million dollars to do it? That’s the most insane thing I’ve ever heard. There’s no way he’s serious. Jerks.” She shook her head and reached her hand toward the trash can to throw the business card away.

  “Wait a minute,” Garrett stopped her. “Did you say he’s a billionaire?” he looked at her curiously.

  She nodded. “That’s what he said, that’s not what I believe. I think he’s full of it, and full of himself for that matter, but yeah, he told me that he was.”

  “What’s his name?” Garrett asked, looking at the card that was about to fall from her fingers into the trash.

  She stopped and drew the card back, turning it over in her hand to look at it again. “Ryder Carrington.”

  Garrett frowned and took the card from her, eyeing it closely. “I’ve heard of that name. Rich folks. Live on Long Island. I think they own some big companies around Manhattan.”

  Regina looked at him in surprise. “You think he’s really one of them?”