The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(4)
"None of this explains why you want me to marry him. I'm not exactly looking to spend the next decade of my life in a fake marriage."
"Come on, it would only be for eighteen, twenty months. Then you can get a quiet divorce and go your separate ways. He'll be a senator, and you'll be the ex-wife of a very important man. You'd be able to do whatever you want. Besides, this would solve my two biggest problems at once."
"You're kidding, right? Your biggest problems? You're beautiful, blond and engaged to a billionaire. We just cut your bachelorette party short before it even began so you could spend the night with him. What am I missing?"
Callie shook her head. "I feel guilty, OK? We've been roommates for five years, and I've moved out, leaving you on the hook for our lease just as you lost your job. I feel responsible. You could at least let me pay off the rest of the lease."
Charlotte crossed her arms and leaned back. "No," she said. "You are not responsible for anything or anyone but yourself, and I'm going to be fine. I don't need you to solve all my problems for me."
"But I'm really good at it!" Callie protested.
Charlotte couldn't deny that fact. In the five years they had spent as roommates, Charlotte had watched her best friend become one of the best crisis managers in the country. If you had a problem, Callie was the one you wanted solving it. Even so, Charlotte wasn't about to admit she needed help. She would figure out something on her own. She always did. "So what's the second problem? Charlotte asked.
"Jack's image problem."
"He looks pretty good from here," Charlotte said, cracking a smile and looking back across the room.
"Not that kind of image problem. Our polling numbers show that people worry about his status as a bachelor. His family's reputation for excess doesn't exactly help much either. So when people see a handsome, successful, single man, they start to ask questions."
"I know I do," Charlotte said. "Please talk to him. It would make my night. Who knows, you might like him. It's perfect. He's Logan's best man, and you're my maid of honor. He even lives near us."
"Oh wow!" Charlotte said. She choked down her sarcasm without another word. It was Callie's night, and Charlotte wanted to make her happy. What harm would it do to talk to him? She took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll talk to him. I'm not making any promises though."
Callie jumped over to Charlotte and hugged her. "You're the best!" She grabbed Charlotte's hand and tugged her across the room. "You're going to love him."
"Right," Charlotte said. She tried to think of what she should say next, but before she could do anything, Callie had tapped Jack on the shoulder.
"Jack, there's someone Logan and I want you to meet."
Chapter 2
Charlotte caught Jack's glance as he spun around. Up close, that calming glow she had seen from across the bar changed to a twinkle in his eyes. There was something inviting about that look, something intimate that drew Charlotte in immediately. His cheeks folded back into a warm, practiced smile, but his eyes — there was something about them that drew Charlotte in, something that made her want to know more about him.
Jack held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Jack Coburn," he said.
How many people see that look in his eyes on a daily basis? Charlotte wondered. It had to be in the hundreds. How many people does he meet and forget just as quickly? It had to be almost all of them. Charlotte took his hand. "Hi, so Callie just told me that I'm apparently going to be your wife." Charlotte held her breath as she waited for his reaction.
Jack's eyes widened, and he choked down a gulp of his drink. "Uhh," he said. He looked over to Callie and Logan to see whether or not Charlotte was serious. When they didn't react, he searched for something to say. "I guess a handshake is a little impersonal then, isn't it?" he added, cracking a smile.
"We have to start somewhere, I guess. I'm Charlotte Crowley," she said, her hand still resting in his. She pretended for a moment like she was one of those people who believed in the power of a firm handshake, and she shook his hand vigorously while staring him in the eye. After about ten seconds, she joined Jack in looking to Callie for any way to break the awkward moment.
"Jack Coburn at a loss for words," Callie said. "Logan, can you believe this?"
"Let's get out of the way before he thinks of something witty," Logan said. He wrapped his arm around Callie and headed back toward the bar.
"Looks like it's just you and me," Jack said. He slipped his hand from hers and gestured to the door. "Would you like to come for a walk with me? I like to at least talk to my wives before we marry."
It was an interesting offer. "Don't you have a security detail or something we'll have to duck?"
"I'm a congressman. There are hundreds of us buzzing around the city. Other than a few photographers who want pictures of Baby Jack, the last living golden boy of America's Favorite Political Dynasty, no one really cares who I am."
"Baby Jack?" Charlotte asked.
"My family is in the press a lot. In the year I was born, they were in it even more. It's kind of a long story, and I don't want to bore you with the details, but just know that for my entire life, people have expected great things of me, and just as many people have eagerly waited for me to fail or to disgrace myself somehow. I took over my father's seat in Congress, and now everyone wants me to do what he hadn't been able to do. Everybody wants to be famous, but they have no idea how terrible the press can be."