Chapter 2: Why Don’t We Get Married?

Two years later…

Elizabeth felt like she had ruined her life.

Her marriage had been as fleeting as the sham romance that came before it.

Jonathan had broken her heart and killed every last one of her hopes.

On her wedding day, she found out that her husband was already with someone else, and that the two of them had agreed to swindle her together.

Ruined and with no family to turn to, she hid the last piece of jewelry she had left from her husband and sold it so she could survive while she looked for a job.

The happiest day of her life wasn’t the day she got married. It was the day, three months later, when they finally handed her the divorce decree.

With a broken heart and shattered self-esteem, she found herself barely scraping by, because the job hunt turned out to be far harder than she’d expected.

At every place she applied, the excuses were always the same: “You’re overqualified, you’re not what we’re looking for right now, we’ll call you.” And so it went, one rejection after another, until she reached Robson Company, where her beloved boss took her on as his assistant.

Elizabeth never thought she could work with anyone as in sync as she was with her father, but Roger was a wonderful man.

Then again, she was the only one who saw him that way, since his reputation as a womanizer preceded him.

Which was exactly why she was about to arrive at the apartment where Roger took his lovers, to save him… Again.

Same as always, and every time, her heart hurt a little more.

“Why did it take you so long?!” he asked the second he opened the door. “Help me. That woman won’t leave, and she says I’m the love of her life. Me?! Can you imagine? How horrifying!”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him.

“This is the last time. Learn to clean up your own skirt-chasing messes,” she whispered as soon as the woman her boss wanted to get rid of appeared. She covered her face with both hands and the performance began. “How could you do this to me, Roger?! We’re engaged and you’re cheating on me again! How many does that make now? You have no heart!”

Tears began spilling from her eyes, and if they could see her in Hollywood, they’d cast her as the lead in some movie.

Her boss was always telling her what an excellent actress she was. What he didn’t know was that she was crying for real.

God, it hurt that he saw her as nothing more than an assistant!

“You have a girlfriend?!” the woman asked, staring at Elizabeth.

And she said it in that way that always crushed her. To a beauty like that, it was inconceivable that someone like her could be the partner of a man like him.

“I’m sorry, Marta, the love of my life is Elizabeth. I don’t know what came over me, you seduced me, but I’ll get down on my knees if I have to so she’ll forgive me,” her boss said, pointing at her, and she wished that at least that part of the act were true.

“My name is Denisse, you’re a…”

“A shameless jerk,” Elizabeth finished for her, took her by the arm, and nudged her toward the door. “If I were you, I’d get some tests done. He gave me a few little souvenirs… You know. Herpes,” she murmured, and the girl bolted.

When the woman ran out, her boss grabbed Elizabeth by the arm.

“Don’t you think you went a little overboard with that last part? I’m perfectly healthy.” Roger gave her a sulky look. “But the acting? A ten out of ten. You get deeper into the role every day. Anyway, let’s go to the office, I’ve got that horrible meeting. Apparently I slept with the wife of one of the shareholders, but I swear I had no idea she was married.”

“Yes, let’s go already. I have the documents ready. Now it’s up to you to convince them you’re a pure soul, completely innocent of everything you’re accused of,” Elizabeth grumbled.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said, and hugged her. Elizabeth felt her legs tremble just from having him this close.

She hadn’t been able to help falling in love with him.

She’d tried not to, but it was impossible.

“You’d do what you do with all women. You’d find yourself another assistant to cover for your flings. Why don’t you settle down, Roger? You’re thirty-two years old. Don’t you think it’s time to grow up?”

And marry me, she thought. Dreaming was free, and being Roger’s wife had been her most treasured daydream ever since she started working for him.

Roger pretended to shudder when he heard her.

“Whoa! When did my mother become my assistant? You sound just like her!” he complained. “Let’s drop it and go to the office.”

They got in the car, but she couldn’t keep quiet, because this time Roger had really stepped in it.

“Seeing as my job is on the line because of your craziness, tell me, what do all those women give you that one woman couldn’t?”

What couldn’t I give you? But those words never left her mouth, no matter how badly she wanted them to.

He gave her a wicked look and started laughing.

“A good girl like you wouldn’t understand. Quit judging me and tell me why, being the daughter of someone like Patterson, you decided to work for me. You’re his heir. Did you know I ran away from my family for a while too? If you tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.” It was the question he’d asked most often over the last two years, and she always gave him the same answer.

“That’s none of your business. Be happy you have me working for you and stop looking for answers.”

“Hmm, the perfect Miss Elizabeth Patterson has dark secrets. Interesting.” Roger gave her that look that made her tremble and sped up the car. “Tell me. You know all of mine. At least the current ones.”

“I’ll tell you my secrets the day you’re my assistant.”

“But that will never happen. My assistant days ended a long time ago,” he grumbled before turning into the building’s parking lot. “Go ahead and book the restaurant, and make it an expensive one. Don’t be stingy. We’ll have to celebrate once I convince those old fossils that I’m the best thing that ever happened to this company.”

“How can you be so calm?” she shot back.

“Because we’ve done an excellent job. The company gets more productive every day, and that’s thanks to us.” Roger pressed his index finger to her forehead and gave her a gentle push. “Now go make the reservation. Oh, and cancel my appointment with my mother. Tell her we’re going to spend the whole afternoon together, doing whatever.”

“We’re going to spend the whole afternoon together?” she asked, hopeful, her heart pounding so hard she was afraid he could hear it.

“No! We’ll have lunch together so I can fill you in on what happened at the meeting, and then I have a date with a blonde bombshell. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

Roger turned around and walked into the meeting while Elizabeth watched him go, her heart more broken with every step.

She didn’t want him to tell her anything. She wanted to be that blonde bombshell who got to spend the afternoon with him.

***

Roger’s meeting dragged on far too long.

Lunchtime arrived, and she had to call and cancel the reservation.

She was so disappointed. It was going to be the first time she’d spent time alone with him anywhere other than the office, and it hadn’t worked out.

It was already quitting time, but she didn’t want to leave without seeing him and finding out how the meeting had gone.

She decided to step away from her desk and head to the vending machines in the building. She hadn’t even gone out to eat because she’d been waiting for him, and she was starving.

She was about to reach the second floor when her phone rang.

It was Roger.

“Did you already leave?” he asked the second she picked up.

He sounded pretty serious, which wasn’t like him.

“No, I just went to find something to eat. I’m still in the building.”

“Then come to my office. I’d like to talk to you about something important.”

Elizabeth got worried. Maybe the meeting had gone terribly and he was about to fire her.

“Okay, I’m coming right now.”

When she got to her boss’s office, carrying a pack of cookies and panting from having run harder than her fitness level allowed, she walked in.

“What happened to you? You look like you’re running from a ghost,” Roger asked the second he saw her come in.

“Nothing, I just wanted to get here as fast as I could. You worried me.” Elizabeth dropped into the chair like a sack of potatoes.

Her boss was standing, hands shoved in his pockets, avoiding her eyes.

Roger was acting really strange.

Elizabeth took the opportunity to open the pack of cookies and stuff a whole one into her mouth.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said to me earlier,” he said, breaking the silence, and she froze mid-chew.

“Hmm?” she mumbled, regretting that her hunger had won out.

She’d said so many things to him that she couldn’t remember which one he meant.

“You know, that thing about how I should settle down, get married, be with just one woman… Grow up.”

Elizabeth felt her heart drop to her feet.

She remembered saying it, but in a moment of frustration, while daydreaming about him marrying her.

It was already hard enough having to cover for all his flings. Watching him married and in love would be too much for her heart.

“I see,” she managed, once she’d swallowed the cookie. “Do you have someone in mind? Or do you want me to help you pick…”

Please, don’t let him ask me that, she begged silently.

Roger gave a faint smile and looked at her. Elizabeth got so nervous she shoved another cookie into her mouth so her nerves wouldn’t betray her.

“The truth is, I do have someone in mind, Elizabeth. Why don’t we get married?”

She chewed, trying to process what he was telling her.

“A double wedding? That’s too much. You’re my boss, and I’m used to you asking me for all kinds of weird things, but wanting me to get married too just because you’re scared of commitment? That’s crossing the line.”

Elizabeth had no intention of going to that wedding, not even if she lost her mind. Watching him at the altar next to one of those models he liked to go out with… No, she’d stay home and cry. Besides, where did that man think she was going to pull a boyfriend from?!

“You didn’t understand me.” Roger came closer and tried to steal a cookie, but she, nervous at having him so near, smacked his hand.

“S-sorry, I’m very territorial about food. Here,” she offered, “but tell me, what was it that I didn’t understand?”

Roger started circling her until he stopped right in front of her eyes.

“What I meant is, marry me. You, me, a church, a bouquet, you know. Let’s get married. Do you want to?”

Elizabeth shot to her feet, knocking the chair and the cookies to the floor, and if Roger hadn’t caught her by the arms, she might have gone down too.

“You’re joking, like always. Don’t make fun of me, Roger!” she raised her voice, hurt because it reminded her of her ex-husband and the way he’d deceived her. “Why would you want to marry me? Do you think I don’t hear how your sister and your mother are always laughing at me because of how I look? Even your brother would laugh at me if he visited them more often. But you were never like that, you were different. Are you recording this? That’s it, isn’t it?

“They asked you to humiliate your fat assistant so they can keep laughing at me. And do you know why they asked you to?” She pointed at him and kept going without thinking about the consequences. It hurt so much that he was making fun of her. “Because everyone except you has figured out that I’m in love with you.”

Elizabeth looked around, searching for the cameras.

Roger’s eyes went wide when he heard her, a grimace of pain crossed his face, but then he looked at her, dead serious.

“This is no joke, Elizabeth. Maybe I’m not good at this kind of proposal, because the first time I made one it didn’t go very well, but I’m saying it for real. Do you want to marry me? Forget my sister and my mother, I’m the one asking you.

“Besides, the part about them laughing at you is all in your head. My family adores you. My father only has good things to say about you.”

“You’re really not saying this to make fun of me?” He shook his head, but something was tormenting him, though he didn’t mention it. “But you’re rich. What do you get out of marrying me?” she asked, looking down at herself, feeling very inferior.

Elizabeth didn’t understand any of it. Jonathan had wanted her for her money, but Roger had plenty of his own. Was it possible that he wanted her as a woman?

Hope swelled in her chest, and she waited anxiously for his answer.

“I get a wife, a good woman who I know won’t betray me,” was his only answer.

And her lovestruck heart, which hadn’t learned its lesson even after all the blows, took it as a declaration of love.

“I accept. I’ll marry you whenever you want.”