The arrangement

CHAPTER TWO 

Chapter Two

Ryan Cole 

“There are very few things I can tolerate, Pete,” I said to my best friend as I leaned into the not-so-soft cushion of the bar we'd found ourselves in.

“Just do what the old man wants,” Pete advised. This was like the third time he was advising me to just do what my father wanted. 

“I can't say you've been helpful with your counsel, Pete.”

“I don't see another way out of this,” he maintained. 

“Is that why you brought me to a cheap bar with tough chairs?” I demanded. 

Pete genuinely looked amused.

“The bar is not cheap and the chairs are not that hard unless you're trying to get too comfortable.”

A fat man with tiny red eyes came to our table. He was well dressed.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. Welcome to Quinns Bar. I'm Brandon and I'm happy to serve you,” he said. 

His smile was too wide. His face was too fat and…

Damn it. 

Everything was pissing me off. 

“We'll let you know when we want something,” Pete said. 

The man nodded and walked off. 

My problem was back in my face. My father had been breathing down my neck since I turned thirty two. He wanted me to be married. He wanted to be sure that I could run a family and still balance being the CEO of Turnip Corp, but it was stupid. 

“I consider it old-school that I have to be married to prove myself to anyone.”

“You would be married if she hadn't cheated on you,” Pete said. 

He wasn't entirely right. 

I had recently broken off my engagement with Gina over her infidelity. My parents had matched us because she was from another billionaire family and it only made sense that I would be with a woman who understood their world. 

Gina was a superficial woman and from the beginning, I had only wanted to do what my parents wanted, seeing that I didn't have the time or the patience to find myself a woman who I would consider fitting enough to be my partner. 

“I would have married Gina if I eventually didn't get myself someone better,” I said. 

“Well, you didn't, and you also didn't marry her. Fix your shit.”

“Idiot.”

“That's not what you say to your friends.”

“Women in this town would die to have my attention. They would line up to have me pick from them,” I said. 

I wasn't lying. From the moment we walked into this place, the women here had refused to look at anything other than at us. 

“Pick from them and make one your wife,” Pete suggested. His face came bright with the idea as he went on, “If you had something of a private interview and invited a class of women from this town, then you'd have a chance to pick one of them without having to go on several dates, which you hate doing.”

“But I don't want any of these women.”

I looked around. None of the women flashing me a smile were my kind of women.

“Maybe I'll pay someone to pretend to be my fiancee for a week. My father doesn't want me showing up this weekend without a woman on my side.”

“And what happens after then?”

“I'll pay the woman and she'll go her way.”

“And you'll tell your parents you broke off yet another engagement?”

“Yes. Then they may start making peace with the fact that I'm not cut out for marriage. I only care about expanding our empire and building wealth that will stay for generations to come.”

“I'm not sure that's all there is to life,” Pete mumbled dryly.

“That's all there is. Love isn't a real thing, Pete. Money is. Money can get you anything but love can't.”

“You buy too much with money, Ryan. Time to start doing less with money.”

“You can't do shit without money, stop being dramatic.”

“Paying a woman to play your fiancee is stupid. You can't buy that, Ryan.”

“I'll find a beautiful woman who needs the money enough to take the job. Women are great actresses and they usually don't worry about having to pretend.” 

I reclined on the chair. 

“You see, there's hardly enough time to find the right woman, go on dates and then make up my mind on whether or not they can be my partner.”

“Then maybe….”

Holy fuck. 

Whoever that waitress was, she was pretty as hell and her backside jiggled with each step she took. 

“I think I found someone for the job, Pete.”