Desperate is good

Rosa’s POV

I was taking the kitchen’s emergency exit door when I heard footsteps in the kitchen.

“Rosa?”

Fuck!

It was Aex.

I bit my lips and tried to tiptoe out when I heard his voice again. “I can see you.”

I stopped and turned around. How I hated to be in this situation. I had to explain myself. I was so sure he thought very little of me.

“I don’t know how I got to be here…and if we had sex - I don't know why we did it again. It’s like the saying: "Fool me twice, shame on me…”

God, I was blabbing.

And he was finding it funny.

“This was a mistake. I swear, I was in a bar..”

He was the one stalking me. “I can’t remember everything after that. This was a mistake."

He lowered his brows in a way that made him suddenly looked dangerously handsome, and walked up to me. My feet felt like rock. They couldn’t move.

He stopped a few inches. He was too close that I felt he could feel the pounding of my heart against my ribcage.

“You were drunk, Rosa,” he said.

News flash: that’s what heartbroken people did.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and I flinched. He steadied his grip. “Nothing happened,” he continued. “I only brought you home.”

“Home?”

“Yes,” he answered.

Was this all about that stupid contract I tore this morning or was Alex Kane my brother in this alternate universe?

“Give it a chance.”

No freaking way.

He must have read my mind. “Come,” he said. “I wanna show you something.”

He pulled me along and we stood in front of one of the windows in the sitting room. Old man Kane was rocking a chair on the porch.

“He has dementia,” he told me.

“I know that. I’ve seen him. And I'm sorry.”

“What you don’t know is…he has never been this better for weeks. He hardly recognises me anymore and the doctors say it's progressive.”

I could hear his voice breaking. At least, he was committed to his father.

“Until you came,” he comtinued.

I shifted my gaze to him. “Pardon?”

“You made his tea just the way he has been wishing for and you’ve put him in a good mood. And…he recognized me today.”

I felt bad for Old man Kane. But I couldn’t stay or be married to his philandering son.

“I -”

“Give it a chance,” he insisted. “I would be committed and stop the women.”

I turned away. That was easier said that done. Old habits die hard.

“Why?” I asked, facing him again. “Why do you want this marriage?”

He took my hand and I felt warm. His eyes changed. “You’re different, Rosa,” he said. “Let me show you something else.”

He took me back to the room I had woken up in.

“This was my room while I grew up as a child,” he said.

Okay…and?

“I was always alone,” he continued.

If I told him my childhood story, we would cry for days.

“My mother was unfaithful.” He dropped it like a bomb, stealing my attention immediately. No one knew about his mother and some peoople have even claimed she was a baby mama. “She cheated and broke my father’s heart and after she left, I vowed never to trust a woman,.”

He walked up to me and took my hands. “But you, Rosa, you are different. You were faithful to your man and you challenged my mindset and prejudice. You don’t deserve to be with a man who can make you happy…not some bastard making you drunk.”

He had a solid point.

He let one of my hands go and dug his hand into his trouser pocket. He brought out a box and my gaze fell on it. A diamond ring was sitting on it.

I gasped softly.

Didn’t he say three years? I didn’t have to fall in love. I needed a place to stay and a job. I couldn’t be a burden to Patra. This was the only choice I had. And when the three years was over, I would have enough money to get that imported sperm from Mexico.

I lifted my gaze to him. “Is this for me?”

He slipped the ring into my finger.

I wondered what Patra would think whhen she saw the ring.

***

She screamed.

We were in the female restroom so I let her have her moment.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “One moment you’re hating Alex, then, you’re sleeping with him, and now, you’re his wife.”

“Contract wife.” I laughed at the term.

“Why?” Patra asked. “By the way, you look hot.”

I had seen myself in a mirror before stepping out and I knew Patra was right. Alex had bought me some clothes yesterday. And they were not just some clothes. They were luxurious.

Clothes. Bags. Shoes.

“I wanna see your wardrobe!” Patra squealed with excitement.

I had a wardrobe that I could walk in.

And to top it, Alex gave me a credit card that had no limit. I knew this was temporal but it was going to be good while it lasted.

I shrugged at Patra’s question. “I guess Charles is the fool who thinks I’m not good enough for him.”

“I’m so jealous,” Patra said. “First, you had Charles Baker. And now, you have richer, hotter, and better.”

I didn’t want to hear Charles Baker's name again.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. Alex Kane had arrived and was requsting a meeting with all the staff.

“No one can know about this,” I whispered to Patra as we left the restroom

Alex raised his head and watched me when I walked into the room. I almost stumbled from the attention and found a place where he wouldn’t see me. Patra was beside me, glancing at the ring from time to time.

I shouldn’t have worn it.

How was I going to explain to the other staff members that I was wearing real diamond in my ring finger when I was as single as the day I was born?

I was still rummaging various thoughts in my head when I heard applause. I raised my head and found everyone looking at me. My eyes fell on Alex. His hand was stretched towards me.

For a moment, I thought he had announced our relationship. My heart raced and I was about to dash out of the room when Patra’s voice stilled me.

“Congratulations,” she said. “You have been promoted to one of the Tech specialists.”

I couldn’t believe it.

No more PA duty.

My knees buckled but I moved. When Alex’s hand took mine, it felt warm and safe. And his smile even made me feel like I belonged right beside him. Which was so damn wrong.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Kane,” he whispered.

I stiffened and hoped no one had heard. “How about a little celebration in your new office?”

My office was spectacular. I couldn’t stop smiling. In about 24 hours, I had ended a fake marriage, slept with my boss, started another fake marriage, and got promoted.

It was a rollercoaster.

“Do you love your new space?” Alex assked.

“Tech specialist?” I asked. “How did you know?”

He grabbed a bottle of champagne and poured it for the two of us. “I have your CV, Rosa. All I had to do was check. Why did you settle for being PA?”

My throat tightened and I gulped down the wine. “That was the only opeinng available,” I lied. “And I learrned to love the job.”

Alex could’t find out that I had been planted by a rival company to sabotage their plans of buying Baker Tech.

He nodded. “Now, you have a new job.”

At least, I wouldn’t get to see the numerous girls that were visiting him in a day. Even though he said he wouldn’t anymore, I couldn’t believe it would be that easy. And a diamond ring meant nothing to a billionaire. It was just excess money that needed spending.

I watched as his eyes raomed my body. It suddenly felt like that night when I had stripped before him and I reached for my glass of wine.

“How about a being my plus one tonight?" he asked.

“Wouldn’t people talk?”

“What about? Our relationship? It’s not going to be a secret, Rosa. I can’t keep you a secret for long.”

Charles Baker did that for years. He attended meetings and seminars alone. I prepped him up and sat in the backstage, cheering him on. All along, he was screwing someone and they were tooasting to my foolishness.

If Alex wanted to announce our relatioship to the world, then, maybe he was better than Charles Baker.

“Is that a yes?” he asked.

“Can I say no?”

“You can. But I desperaately want a yes.”

Desperately.

Desperate was good.

I ssmilled sweetly and walked over to him. “Since you’re asking nicely and literally begging…”

“My soul is on its knees.”

I chuckled. “How could I say no to a man whose soul is begging?” I straightened his tie. Somehow, the pull was beginning to feel natural. Too natural that it scared me. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“There is a tech of year award tonight. I need you to be there.”

I had heard of that before.

And suddenly, like a flash, I remembered.

Charles Baker was going to be there...with his original girlfriend. My stomach knotted and the thought made me want to throw up.

I wasn’t looking forward to seeing them again.