THE BILLIONAIRE’S MARRIAGE

Sarah Rosewood checked her email for the seventeenth time This was more than her tenth online application to different companies seeking for a job.She let out a "huff" sound as she sat down on the provided chairs at the reception.Drake Holt was her last option and even though she had just sent in her curriculum vitae the day before, she received a response for an interview the day after. As she fidgeted, she didn't notice that everything around her seemed to fade away until she turned and looked right at the receptionist who had just walked up to her, Sarah turned the corners of her mouth up in a smile meant just for herself. She drew a deep breath, horrified that she'd ruin her interview if she didn't compose.

" you may go in Miss. Rosewood. "

Sarah rose from the butter-soft leather sofa, but she’d been sitting for so long her legs gave a credible impression of belonging to a premature newborn foal. She smoothed her damp hands down the front of her skirt, hitched her tote bag more securely over her shoulder and wheeled her overnight bag with the other hand, approaching the still closed office door with resentment bubbling like a boiling pot in her belly.

Sarah decided that there was only one thing worse than having to see Drake Holt after almost two years of separation, and that was being made to wait to see him.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Not a couple of minutes. Not ten or fifteen or even twenty, but a whole stomach-knotting, nerve-jangling hour that crawled by like a wet century.

Sarah walked pass the secretary quickly into the office, the only man who will forever hate her standing with his back to her at the window overlooking the bustling streets of New York, just inches away making a phone call .

Sarah's eyes heart jumped and her heart stutter like a lawnmower running over rocks. maybe she shouldn’t have come to Drake's company without giving him heads up .But he was her only option to save her father and her sick brother right now.

" you don't have to stand ."

If that wasn’t insult enough, he was seemingly engrossed in a conversation on his phone. He barely gave her a glance over his shoulder, just cursorily waved his hand towards one of the chairs opposite his desk and turned back to the view changing the phone to his other hand with his brow frowning in concentration as if she were some anonymous blow-in whom he had graciously shoehorned into his incredibly busy day.

A sharp pain seized her chest. How could he ignore her after not seeing her for so long? Hadn’t she meant anything to him?

Why wasn’t he looking at her? She wasn’t vain but she knew she looked good.

Sarah was starting to wonder if she should have worn something with a little more cleavage to show him what he’d been missing. He was still as jaw-droppingly gorgeous as the last time she’d seen him. His jet-black hair was neither long nor short nor straight nor curly, but somewhere sexily in the middle, reminding her of all the times she had trailed her fingers through those thick glossy strands, or fisted her hands in them during earth-shattering, planet-dislodging sex. He was clean-shaven but the rich dark stubble surrounding his nose and mouth and along his chiselled jaw was a heady reminder of all the times he’d left stubble rash on her softer skin. It had been like a sexy brand on her face, on her breasts, between her thighs...

Sarah suppressed a shudder and, ignoring the chair he’d offered, threw him a look that would have frozen lava. ‘I want a word with you .’

The corners of Drake’s mouth flickered as if he were trying to stop a smile...Oh, dear God, his smiling mouth. The things his mouth had made her feel. The places on her body his mouth had kissed and caressed and left tingling for hours during their intimate days...

"Let me guess.’'

He placed the phone on his desk with unnerving precision. A dark light gleamed in his espresso-brown gaze like the flick of a dangerous match.

You want to come back to me.'’

Sarah curled her hand around the handle of her bag so tightly her bitten-down nail beds stung. ‘No. I do not want to come back to you. I’m here about the job ."

"Sit down.''

Sarah sat, not because he told her but because her legs were threatening to go from under her like damp drinking straws.

she wouldn’t be able to avoid him the way she’d been doing for the last two years.

She turned into someone else when she was with him. Someone who had all the hopes and dreams of a normal person—someone who didn’t have a horrible secret in her background. A secret not even her brother knew about.

Her half-brother.

"Why?'’

Hearing Drake’s question, Sarah straightened her skirt over her thighs and took a calming breath. “My father is sick. We need money.”

Drake leaned back in his chair with one ankle crossed over his muscle-packed thigh, his dark unreadable gaze moving over her body like a minesweeper. ‘You’re looking good."

Sarah was trying to contain her temper but it was like trying to restrain a rabid Rottweiler on a Teacup Chihuahua’s leash." I always do." She responded sharply.

"Come back in a week."

" A week!." Was he joking

" You may take your leave."

" Are you saying you can not offer me the job?."

" I only said be back in a week."

She grinned wickedly before she stood up " you know what Drake? Go f**k yourself. "

She walked out immediately almost in tears. One thing she would not do is let him see her cry. How could she have thought Drake would give her the job without any delay.Waiting about a week is telling her he wasn't giving her the job, most interviews she went for didnt exceed two days to give responds, She can’t wait for a week. Matt can’t wait.

****