Marry Me For Money

TerranI should have been having a blast instead of feeling as if I were facing the most important decision of my life. It was one of those rock and hard place decisions. Damned if I did and damned if I didn’t.“I need a drink,” I mumbled.“I’ll get you one, sweetie.” A pretty blonde woman sitting on a leather couch across from me quickly jumped up to do just that.Zach looked at me and smiled. “That was easy.”It hadn’t exactly been what I meant. I needed a drink, but I didn’t expect her to fetch it for me. She was a guest. She returned a minute later with a margarita, the rim of the glass lined with salt. It wasn’t exactly the drink I had in mind, but it would do.“Thank you,” I said, unable to remember her name.She smiled. “Any time, Terran. If you need anything, you only have to ask.”I smiled and nodded my head, ignoring the flirting. I wasn’t in the mood to flirt, which was out of character for me.“Can you ladies give us a minute?” Zach asked.The four women who had followed u

HaileyThe constant flash from the camera was giving me a headache. I couldn’t wait until I got the break I needed to become an actress. A successful actress. There were millions of actresses, but only a select few ever achieved the status I wanted. For now, I was modeling. The career had paid the bills since I was a teenager, but it was time to do something different. “Great job, Hailey,” the photographer, Carl, said. “Let’s do a series with you beside the bike since Brittany can’t figure out how to look sexy.” I climbed off the bike, giving the young new model, Brittany, a comforting smile. “You’re doing fine. Don’t listen to him.”She nodded her head. I could see the disappointment in her eyes. I was like her when I first started. Too many photographers were obnoxious and rude. They didn’t treat models like human beings. They treated us like objects to be posed and manipulated to their will.“She’s not doing fine,” the surly man snapped. “I’m going to have to retake all those sho

TerranIt was the typical Monday morning with my secretary going over my calendar for the week. As usual, it was packed full of meetings with potential clients and the ad execs in charge of the various clients. I always had a lot of balls in the air, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I liked being busy. Busy meant job security for myself and the hundred people I employed.“You have the meeting with the model for the sportswear company later today,” Lena said. “Do you need her file?” I shook my head. “No.”The phone rang, and she answered it from my own desk, which felt a little strange, but she would have slapped my hand away if I tried to answer my own phone.“Just a moment please,” she said, pushing a button and returning the phone to its cradle.“Who is it?” I asked, watching her gather her things.“Your father’s attorney. He says it’s important.”I groaned. That couldn’t be good. “Thank you, Lena.”She stopped at the door and smiled. “Let me know if you need anything,” she sa

HaileyThe butterflies dancing in my stomach were making me jittery.I was used to walking runways, but walking into the building of the ad company that had helped launch my modeling career to the next level was nerve-wracking. I knew I was on the older end of the modeling spectrum. My days as a model were numbered. Few models got to keep working into their thirties. It wasn’t exactly fair, but it was the business. Maybe they were going to tell me my contract was being tossed out the window because I was too old. I wasn’t what they were looking for, or I was too difficult to work with. My own insecurities had offered up a litany of reasons for the rather sudden meeting.I was meeting with the CEO, which was only making me more nervous. Terran Maddox had a very colorful reputation. I knew of him vaguely but had never been all that interested in getting to know more about him. I was convinced he was like the rest of the men who were wealthy and held positions of power. That was not the

TerranI hadn’t been able to think of anything else except my father’s demands. I would lose everything. He hadn’t given me a choice. He was making me marry someone I couldn’t possibly love. In his attempt to give me that happiness he was convinced I was missing out on, he was damning me to a miserable life of being trapped in a marriage I didn’t want. How could he have possibly thought that was better than a lifetime of being single?I felt physically ill. The stress over what had to be done was disrupting my ability to think straight. No matter how much I tried to think of anything else, everything seemed to come back to my father’s will. Going to work, I realized I could soon be out of a job. Sitting behind my desk reminded me it could all be gone in six short months. I felt like my entire life was about to crumble beneath me. The morning passed in a blur. I barely remembered the meetings, only the mention of things being shuffled around, and my earlier appointment would be later