Some Like It Charming

Three

Mackenzie parked at the end of her street and watched with growing disbelief. Multiple news vans blocked her driveway and neighbors stood out on the sidewalk watching. Some were even being interviewed. How could one single man wreak such havoc?

She slowly turned the car around and headed back to the nearest gas station. She was either going to have to fix this mess soon or break down and get a cell phone.

She called his mother again. “I have reporters at my house. How do I get ahold of your son?”

Christine was silent and Mackenzie tamped down her frustration. The woman wasn’t going to let Mackenzie anywhere near Ethan as long as she was afraid bodily harm was the order for the day.

It was; Mackenzie just needed to hide it better.

Mackenzie said, slightly more calmly, “No one can undo this but him. I need to talk to him. Could you give me his cell number? I don’t need, or want, to see him.”

She heard Ellen in the background and then a scuffle as the phone changed hands. “You two are going to fight this the whole way, aren’t you? Call Ethan; he’s looking for you.”

Ellen read off his number and the suite he was staying in and Mackenzie hung up, rethinking whether she really wanted to talk to him or not.

She was going to fight it the whole way. But she knew better than anyone that Ethan got what he wanted as long as it was worth the cost. He wasn’t going to just change his mind about their pretend engagement; he thought it fixed all his problems. He would pay a lot for that, and considering that she was the one paying, not him, there wasn’t much hope convincing him it wasn’t going to work.

And she certainly wasn’t going to win this battle by appealing to his better nature; he’d known before he started the ball rolling that it would disrupt her life and give her a heart attack.

She needed to either make him see that it wouldn’t help him like he thought or make her terms too damn expensive to be worth it.

She dialed his number slowly, wondering if he would even pick up an unknown number, but it barely rang before his voice came on the line. “Mackenzie?”

She let out a pent up breath. “My house is inundated with reporters.”

“I know. I drove by trying to find you after you ran away.”

She ignored his dig. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I think we should let them take some pictures. That’s all they want.”

“They want pictures of your fiancé. I am not, nor will I ever be, your fiancé.”

He sighed heavily. “Mackenzie, I know you normally wouldn’t help me out for any reason, but I need you. I really do.”

There was silence on the line as they both digested that. He didn’t seem to like saying it anymore than she liked hearing it.

He sounded desperate. How in the world was she to fight a desperate Ethan O’Connor?

He cleared his throat. “Come to my hotel. Or tell me where you are and I’ll meet you. We can work out a mutually beneficial agreement, okay?”

She shuddered as he inadvertently mimicked his grandmother, then gave herself a shake. He didn’t want kids, he wanted a fake fiancé. No need to make this worse than it already was.

She sighed heavily, leaning her forehead against the payphone box.

She was still trying to figure a way out when he said, “What number are you calling from? Is this your cell?”

“It’s a payphone. I don’t have a cell.”

There was a long, confused pause. “You don’t have a cell? Kindergartners have cellphones.”

She hung up on him.

She was just getting into her car when the payphone rang. She stared at it, then stomped back to answer it.

“What?”

“We could meet at your place but you’ve seen the vans. At least the hotel will keep the paparazzi away.”

She closed her eyes, sealing her fate. “Fine. I’ll come to you.”

“I’ll have some dinner waiting. What do you like?”

She looked at the phone in frustration. “This isn’t a date, Ethan.”

“No. It’s a business meeting in my hotel room at a time most people have dinner. We’ll eat and hammer out the terms.”

Her stomach squished at the thought of being alone with him in his hotel room.

“Don’t they have a restaurant at that fancy hotel of yours? Make a reservation.”

She could practically hear him shaking his head. “You know that’s not going to work. We can’t have someone overhearing this particular negotiation, can we? Besides, I get the impression you’re going to need to yell at me some more.”

She almost smiled. “You got that right.”

He said, “I’ll order something chocolate. That’ll help.”

She hung up on him again. He’d better have a lot of chocolate.



And back downtown she went. His suite was on the top floor of the hotel, of course. Nothing but the best for Mr. O’Connor.

She stood in front of the panoramic windows, staring out over the city. Lights glittered in the night and she watched the red and white stream of cars on the freeway below them.

Ethan walked up beside her. “It would’ve just gotten worse and worse with the tabloids. I have a lot of ex-girlfriends.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the understatement and he flashed a wry grin at her before looking back over the city.

She said, “Have you ever thought of taking a break? Do you always need a girl on your arm?”

“I know this sounds conceited but a girlfriend is sometimes the only defense I have. Women just. . .”

“Throw themselves at you?”

He nodded and she rolled her eyes. “Have you ever considered just saying no?”

He turned toward her. “I don’t think you understand what it means to have someone throw themselves at you. Every time I step in an elevator, there’s a woman waiting for me. Every time I sit down at a restaurant, a woman slides in next to me. Numbers in pockets, whispered invitations. A simple ‘I’m a one-woman man’ saves face and ends the confrontation quickly.”

“Along with a smile and a ‘honey’.”

He smiled slightly. “I only call you honey.”

She didn’t know what to say to that and he laughed.

“Honey comes from bees and bees have stingers. No one has a bigger stinger than you.” He shrugged, still smiling. “It makes me laugh. And you don’t like it, which makes it even better.”

“Yeah, I can see how everyone is going to believe we’re madly in love.”

He took her hand. “We have something together. Heat. It may be antagonistic heat, but it’s there. Any idiot can see it. We were in the National Enquirer.”

She took her hand back and put it in her pocket. “My claim to fame.”

He looked out at the city and she silently watched him for a moment. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

He met her eyes and shook his head. “I know your weakness, Mackenzie. If I have to, I’ll pay the price.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And just what is my weakness?”

He grinned. “You like to win.”

“I thought you were going to say money.”

He shook his head. “Money is the trophy. But winning is what you want.”

“How in the world am I going to be a winner engaged to you? Do you know how many sales I’ve made since your little fiasco of a press conference? None. Do you know how many times I’ve heard ‘sleeping with the boss’ whispered? Twice.”

“I’m sorry for that. I really am.”

“Ethan, I don’t know how I can continue to work for the OC. Whether I go along with this charade or not, every accolade I’ve ever received is now in question, every bonus wondered at.”

“No one would ever doubt that you earned everything you got.”

“Oh, they would. They will. They’ll start wondering if I’m getting special treatment, the easy sells.”

Room service knocked on the door and Ethan went to answer it. A cart was wheeled in heaped with dishes. Two bowls of soup, two plates each of salad, steak, pasta, a bottle of wine, two bottles of beer, and chocolate cake.

Mackenzie shook her head, a smile hovering at the corners of her mouth, and Ethan grinned at her. “I didn’t know what you wanted. Except I was pretty sure about the cake.”

She grabbed a steak and salad and beer and he did likewise.

He pointed to their plates and said, “See how compatible we are?”

“Uh-huh. I can see it now, matchmaking services based on what you eat.”

“Or perhaps based on what you won’t eat. If you don’t like fish, you don’t want to wind up with a fish eater.”

Mackenzie snorted and shook her head. “And there goes romance. What if love is putting up with stinky fish?”

Ethan eyed her. “That’s love? I had no idea.”

“I’m just saying that love isn’t all good parts. Sometimes there will be things you just can’t stand but they don’t matter.”

He watched her with a small smile on his face. “You’re a romantic. I would never have guessed.”

“I’m not. I just think that if there’s love, stupid little stuff shouldn’t matter.”

“Nope, you’re a romantic. Can’t talk me out of it.”

She sighed, reaching for a slice of cake. It was thick and rich and chocolatey and she felt a little less hostile about getting herself engaged to Ethan O’Connor after eating it.

She said, “So what happens if I go along with your crazy idea and agree to be your fiancé? Pretend that all the little things you do that drive me crazy don’t matter? Just how are you planning on making me come out on top after all of this?”

“First of all, there aren’t that many things with me. Don’t you know I’m Mr. Charming?”

“Uh-huh,” she said again and he grinned.

“And second of all, I’ll give you a share of O’Connor Capital.”

She sucked in a long breath, gauging his sincerity. He looked at her, no smile on his face, no twinkle in his eye. She opened her mouth to say something, say anything, and nothing came out.

He said, “It means that much to me.”

Mackenzie cleared her throat. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am. I’ll give you a three percent share. That’s worth about $100,000 per year, which is comparable to your base salary, but you’ll be the only outside owner. That’s how you’ll wind up winning.”

Mackenzie sat back in her seat. “Can you even give a portion away?”

He smiled slightly. “I need a majority approval. Mother, Grandma, and I all own equal shares, so I need one of them to agree to let me give you the shares. Luckily, my grandma likes you.”

“This much? And what happens when this ends? She still going to want me owning even a little part then?”

“You’ve worked for O’Connor Capital for seven years. You know sales, you know the business. I have no worries about bringing you on board as a minority owner. She knows this engagement won’t last and still thinks it a fine idea.”

A laugh escaped her lips. “Do I even want to know how your mother took it?”

He took a bite. “I didn’t tell her. I only need one of them to go along with it.”

She shuddered. “I don’t want to be there when she finds out. You’re crazy for even thinking of giving me a share.”

“I need a break, Mackenzie. A break from women, from drama, from the stupid tabloids. I need a break from Mr. Charming. I feel as if I’m standing on the edge of a cliff and one more rumble from any direction and I’m going right over.”

He sat back, looking at her. “I know I can trust you. I don’t need to worry about hurting you because you’ve never believed anything I’ve said. I can be myself around you.”

“That’s not worth three percent of your company.”

He closed his eyes and said softly, “I can’t see one more woman look at me like I’m the answer to all her prayers when I know I’m not. When I know in just a few short months I will be one more hurt. I don’t want to hurt anyone, especially anyone I care about. I can’t seem to stop, though.” He opened his eyes. “I need a buffer. I need you to be my buffer.”

She stared at him, trying not to feel sorry for him.

He said, “And I know that you will only play for my team when I pay you. When this engagement ends, we’ll let it leak that I gave you a share of my company. And everyone will say how smart you were to get a chunk out of me at the beginning instead of standing there empty-handed at the end.”

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. She hadn’t quite realized how desperate he was. He was willing to give her a share of his company? She wasn’t going to be able to stand against him if that was any indication of what he was willing to pay. Funny that he would dangle a piece of his company in front of her though because she didn’t want that.

“I don’t want three percent of your company.”

He shook his head. “I’m not going any higher. It’s my best offer.”

“I’m not negotiating here. I don’t want any part of your company.”

He blinked. “Why not?”

“You can’t give away part of your company for a favor. You can’t. It’s not worth that much. I can’t believe your grandmother would even go along with this.”

“She wants it to turn out real.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “Because I almost beat you at softball?”

“I think because you threatened me. She can’t stand women who throw themselves at me, who fall for the O’Connor charm.”

“I can’t be the only woman who can keep my wits around you.”

“It’s a short list.”

She pointed to the growing stack of tabloids piled haphazardly on the end of the couch. “Getting longer everyday.”

He laughed. “I can only hope. I’ll need a few more women than just you to choose from if I ever want to find the woman who can see past the money. And the looks.”

“And the bullshit.”

He saluted her with his beer bottle and nodded. “O’Connors marry forever. If I’m going to give my wife half my shares when I get married, I’d better be damn sure of who I’m marrying. And she’d better damn sure be able to see me.”

Mackenzie choked. “Half your shares?”

“It’s tradition. When my grandfather married my grandmother, he gave her half of his shares. When my father married my mother, he gave her half of his shares. When I get married, I’ll give her half of my shares.”

She shook her head. “You O’Connors are crazy. No wonder you dump your girlfriends as soon as they start thinking marriage.”

“Maybe love isn’t putting up with stinky fish. Maybe it’s giving half of everything you’ve ever worked for, everything you will ever work for.”

“That’s not love, that’s stupid.”

He looked into his beer bottle and said with a sigh, “It’s being certain of who you’re marrying.”

“And if you never find the woman who is worth half your fortune?”

“I will. She’s out there.”

She couldn’t decide if she thought him incredibly sweet or the dumbest person alive. “Now who’s a hopeless romantic?”

He smiled. “Maybe. Or maybe a hopeful romantic.”

She took a deep breath. “Well, I’m not going to take one and a half percent from your future wife. I won’t take any shares from you. You’ll have to think of something else to get me to play for you.”

He stared into her eyes, then smiled. “Oh, Mackenzie. I can even trust you not to take advantage of my desperation? You’ll never get me to change my mind now.”

She saw that it was true. She should’ve negotiated for half his company, half his life’s blood. Now she’d never shake him loose.

He leaned back in his chair. “How about this? Take a little break from work and come be my fiancé. I will continue to pay your average salary for the last year, including bonuses, out of my own pocket. Then after a few months, when all this blows over, you can go back to work.”

“And you think I can go play fiancé for a few months, break up with you, and then go back to work for your company like nothing happened? That my clients would even still be there waiting for me?”

He was silent, knowing she was right but refusing to agree with her.

She said, “I can’t work for you now or after. I can’t go work for a competitor engaged to you, no one would hire me. They would be afraid I would spill all their secrets to you.”

“There’s more to life than working. Take a vacation.”

She laughed at him. “There’s more to life than working? That really just came out of your mouth?”

He shrugged. “I’ve had plenty of girlfriends to prove I am not a workaholic. How about you? Lots of boyfriends to prove there’s more in your life than work?” He froze. “Is there a boyfriend right now?”

Mackenzie mentally kicked herself. Now that would have been an excellent reason she couldn’t go along with his outrageous proposal.

“Yes, I have a boyfriend. He was understandably upset when he heard I was engaged.”

“Liar. You would have brought him up before this.” He leaned forward, taking her hand. “Come with me to New York. Whatever you want, I’ll do it. We’ll work something out, just come with me.”

She knew she would. She’d go with him to New York, disrupt her whole life, and come back to nothing when it was all over. But it had to be worth it to her.

“I will do this on one condition. I will take my accrued vacation time while we live out this little fantasy of yours. And at the end of it I get a nice severance package. Nice enough that I don’t need to find another job until everyone forgets that I was ever engaged to you.”

“You won’t have to leave the company. I’ll simply stay away from the L.A. office for a while.”

“I will have to leave. I will be your ex, Ethan. You said it yourself, your breakups are always ugly. There’s no way I could continue working for you. Are you willing to give up your best salesman for this?”

He looked her in the eye and said, “Yes,” but she knew he didn’t believe he’d have to pay the price.

She shook her head. “Let’s write a pre-nup.”

“Huh?”

“A pre-nup. I’m sure you’ve heard the term.”

“You know I don’t actually want to marry you, right?”

She went to the desk, searching for paper. “It’s an engagement pre-nup. I have about six weeks of vacation time. At the end of the six weeks, we break up and I quit. And that will be the end. I will move to a competitor, probably HGC, and you will go out and get another girlfriend, thereby starting the whole cycle over again and accomplishing nothing except losing all my sales.”

He slouched in his chair, folding his arms. “Not HGC. Anybody but them.”

She smiled. “Oh, I think it will have to be HGC. I can just imagine how much Bob Givens would love to hire Ethan O’Connor’s ex-fiancé.”

“He’s a putz. You’d hate working for him.”

“Probably. But I doubt I’ll see him as much as I’ve seen you. And besides, my severance package will be good enough that I won’t have to for a while.”

She spied his laptop and waved towards it. “May I?”

He nodded, following her as she went to flip it up, and leaning over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

“You’re willing to give me a three percent share for doing this.” She looked at him. “Which is stupid, and you’re not stupid.”

“Desperation sometimes leads to the same destination.”

She turned back to the computer. “Let’s be conservative and say the OC will grow at one percent a year and I will live another fifty years.”

“You know I really hate it when you call it the OC.”

“I know.”

“And one percent per year? That’s not conservative, that’s insulting. Let’s say ten percent.”

“For fifty years?” She twirled the chair around, forcing him to step back. “I didn’t realize you indulged in fantasy.”

He leaned back in, resting his hands on the armrests. “Frequently.”

She whirled back towards the desk and he hopped back before he fell flat on his face. “Mean, Wyatt.”

“Stop breathing in my ear, O’Connor.”

She didn’t even have to look at him to know he was smiling. He would like knowing he was getting to her.

She said, “And just for that I’ll say growth will be three percent. Ten percent is in your dreams.”

“And what discount rate are you using?”

“Fifteen.”

He barked out a laugh. “Fifteen percent interest for fifty years? Now who’s indulging in fantasy.”

“I’ve done it for the last ten.”

He put his mouth next to her ear and murmured, “Have you? Perhaps I hired you for the wrong position, after all. But let’s be a little more realistic and say ten.”

“If you’re not going to beat the market, what’s the point?”

“Let’s just see what you come up with.”

She worked on the spreadsheet for a few minutes, then sat back and they looked at the number together. Her heart started beating very fast.

“Well,” he said. “You should have been an accountant.”

“Looks to me like I can be anything I want now.” She swallowed. “Is it worth that much to you?”

She couldn’t decide if she wanted him to say yes or no. Talk about a mutually beneficial agreement. She just might throw in a kid or two for that.

And still, she knew, it wasn’t anywhere near half his fortune.

Ethan said, “If you really can get ten percent per year, I can just give you an even million. You won’t have to go work for HGC, at least.”

She wouldn’t have to work for anyone ever again. She could sell her house, move somewhere cheaper than L.A., and live pretty well.

He breathed in her ear. “You could just take a share of the company. It would practically be the same.”

Except she’d never be rid of him. “I don’t know why you keep trying to give away part of your company. Stop it.”

“I think my mother would like you if she could hear you protecting my interests.”

“Someone has to. You keep trying to give away your legacy.”

“But this way you know I’m serious.”

She gestured toward the computer. “I’ll know you’re serious with this, too. Are you really going to pay me a million and a half dollars to be your fiancé for six weeks?”

“No. Just a million.”

“I like the sound of a million and a half better.”

“Who doesn’t?”

She twisted in her chair. “I could say two million.”

He raised his eyebrows. “There are probably a number of women who would do this for two million.”

“Good. Call them up.”

“I’ll thumb wrestle you for the half.”

She shook her sadly. “Good thing you inherited your fortune. I don’t think you would have made it on your own.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve won quite a few negotiations with my stellar thumb wrestling skills.”

“Since the sixth grade?”

“If you’re going to be picky about it. . .”

She couldn’t help her smile. “Half now, half later?”

“You don’t trust me? That hurts, Wyatt.”

She could see he was real worked up about it. “It’s not really about trust. It’s more I just don’t believe you’ll do it.”

“To show I trust you, I’ll have the full million wired into your account in the morning.”

“Million and a half.”

He shook his head. “It’s never going to happen.”

“You shouldn’t have begged. I know you’ll pay the half.”

He held his hand out and she gave him the pre-nup. He read it over quickly. “I hesitate to bring this up but you’re missing something.”

“What am I missing?”

He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she shook her head. “I’m not missing anything. There will be none of that.”

“None of that or none of that? And what about this and that?”

“There will be none of any of it, so I don’t need to include it.”

He looked down at her lips. “I’m just saying it’s ambivalent. Just how real is this pretend engagement going to be?”

“It’s not real at all. This contract is for our public performance.”

He leaned down close to whisper in her ear. “Ooh, public performance. Will there be any of that?”

She placed her fist in his belly and his breath rushed out. He said in an exaggerated wheeze, “I’ll have to remember you have a temper.”

“Please do.”

He rubbed his stomach, then grinned. “Okay, you can have the half. But I expect something good for that half.”

“Mmm. If only we were in Nevada. Because that is illegal in California.”

He sighed heavily. He grabbed the pen from her, scribbling one million only where she’d put one and a half, and signed it with a flourish. He held the pen out to her. “Very well. At least this way I’ll know that if I get you into bed it will not be because I’m paying you.”

She took it gingerly. “You’re not getting me anywhere near a bed.”

“Semantics. It could be the couch, a table, the floor.”

She shook her head.

“But a bed is the most comfortable. A guy’s got to hope.”

She paused, staring at the paper, then closed her eyes and scrawled her name hastily.

She whispered, “Shit.”

He chuckled, folding the paper and putting it in his pocket. “I’ll keep this until we can get a copy made for you.”

“You’re the devil.”

“You’re the only one that thinks so.”

“That doesn’t make me wrong.”

His fingers circled her wrists, pulling her gently out of the chair and towards him. She resisted. “What are you doing?”

“Sealing it with a kiss.”

She reared back. “No, no, no.”

He kept pulling her closer. “We’re engaged. I think it’s tradition for a man to steal a kiss from his intended after a lengthy battle.”

She kept her eyes wide open as his lips touched hers, as his breath mingled with hers, as his heat touched her skin.

He looked at her through lidded eyes and whispered against her lips. “Thank you, Mackenzie.”

When he pulled back, she nodded and tried to pull her wrists out of his grip.

He held on. “Really, Mackenzie. Thank you.”

She looked into his eyes and saw no twinkle, no charm, no persuasion. She stopped fighting and simply said, “You’re welcome.”

He smiled, releasing her wrists. “Before we leave L.A. we need to give them some pictures. That’s our best chance of having it clear in New York. It’s harder for the paparazzi in New York but they’ll do it if they have to.” He looked her up and down. “I’ll have mother and grandma take you shopping, get your hair done. Tomorrow night we’ll go to dinner and let the paparazzi get all they want.”

Mackenzie grabbed her beer bottle. “Oh, God. I need hazard pay.”

He pulled a blue box out of the desk and set it beside her. She looked between it and him, and said, “What’s this?”

“Your temporary engagement ring. We’ll get a better one in New York, but as my grandmother noted, an engagement’s not real until there’s a ring on your finger.”

She didn’t touch it. She took another pull of her beer. He stared at her for a minute, waiting for her to open it, then said, “This is the first time I’ve given jewelry to a woman who didn’t jump in my arms at the sight.”

She snorted.

He flipped the box open, showing off a diamond as big as a sugar cube.

“Holy crap!” She looked up at him. “That’s the temporary one? Just how big do you think a diamond has to be?”

“For my fiancé? Big.”

“And when this is all over?”

“Keep it.” He smiled. “We’ll call it hazard pay.”

She shook her head and he said, “You never complained about those bonus checks I signed. Just think of it like that.”

“Yeah, I earned those.”

He took the ring out, reaching for her hand. “You’ll earn this, too.”

He slid it on to her finger. “We’ll get it sized tomorrow.”

She tried to laugh. “Good thing I’m taking some time off. There’s so much to do now that I’m your fiancé.” She looked up into his face, so close, and took a step back. “I’d better get to bed early tonight if I’m to spend the day with your family.”

She might need to stock up on booze if she was going to be spending a lot of time with his mother. Chocolate just wasn’t going to cut it.

He took a sip of beer, watching her. “Sounds like a plan. Whose bed?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re trying already? I’m not staying here with you.”

“I’ll get you another suite. The paparazzi will still be waiting for you at home.”

“I’m staying at a friend’s house.”

He grabbed pen and paper from the desk and held it out to her. “The number you can be reached at.”

She thought about giving a fake one but decided that ship had sailed. She was going out shopping with his mother– and wouldn’t everyone involved just love that– and to dinner with him tomorrow night. She accepted that he would probably need to get ahold of her. She scrawled Cassandra’s number on the paper, then headed for the door.

He followed her. “Tell me again why you are the only person in the world who doesn’t have a cell?”

“Because I don’t like being instantly available to anyone and everyone.”

“That’s what the off button is for.” He shook his head. “You’re even stranger than I thought you were.”

She smiled slightly, shutting the door behind her before he could follow her out. She walked to the elevator, her hand clenched to keep his ring from sliding off her finger, her lips still tingling from the lightest kiss she’d ever received.

This she knew: she was stupider than she thought she was.



Ethan watched through the peephole until the elevator doors closed behind Mackenzie. Then he took out his hard-earned contract.

He flopped onto the couch, propping his feet up, and read over the contract quickly. He shook his head. A million dollars for a fiancé. Bad deal, Ethan. But he couldn’t stop grinning.

He really couldn’t tell who’d won that negotiation. And that was always the way with Mackenzie. He’d go in thinking he could get her to do what he wanted, just like he could with anybody else, and he’d come out later in a great mood, with a lot less money in his pocket.

A million dollars!

And if she kept after that half, he knew he’d eventually give in. He was turning her life upside down and he felt an inkling of guilt about that. She’d ferret that guilt out eventually.

He frowned when he read again that she would leave O’Connor Capital at the end of their “engagement”. She was his best salesman. How she did it, he didn’t know. She wasn’t personable, friendly, chatty, sexy. . .

Okay, she was a little sexy. In a hold-the-whip, take-no-prisoners kind of way.

But she could see if and how much others wanted what she was selling. He couldn’t remember how many times he’d heard her clients say they wouldn’t have paid a dollar more.

He’d talk her out of leaving at the end. He knew she didn’t want to.

Even if she did suddenly find herself holding a small fortune.

It was the game that drove her, and if she left she’d have no one to compare herself to. No one to compete against.

Ethan knew she was too competitive to flourish without that in her life. She’d get gray and boring without that drive. Ethan had six weeks to point that out to her.

He pulled out his cell and called up his grandmother.

“You might want to get Mother something strong to drink. I talked Mackenzie into playing fiancé.”

“Good. Not more than three percent, I hope?”

Ethan grimaced. “She didn’t want it. She wanted payment up front.”

“How much?”

“A million. With a possible half at the end.”

“A possible half your shares at the end?”

He laughed. “No. Another half mil.”

“I guess it’s a start.”

He shook his head. “We’ll go to dinner tomorrow night, give the paparazzi some happy couple pictures. Can you take her shopping in the morning? She’s out of her element with all the cameras and I don’t want her to feel self-conscious.”

“I’ll bring your mother. They’ll fight each other and distract themselves.”

He’d hear about it from his mother, and wondered briefly if he’d hear about it from Mackenzie as well.

His grandmother asked, “Did you get a ring?”

“She has it. It needs to be sized.”

“We’ll do it.” She laughed. “Tomorrow will be fun. And don’t worry, your mother will warm up to her.”

Ethan grinned. “I doubt it. But it should be pretty fun anyway.”

They hung up and Ethan glanced down at Mackenzie’s hastily scrawled signature.

This would work.

The tabloids would stop quoting his exes, reminding him how much he hurt those he cared about. Mackenzie would keep him from hurting anyone else for a while, and he had no fear of somehow finding her falling for him. If anybody in this world was O’Connor-proof, it was her.

And at the end, he would go into a woman-free mourning. He’d make sure Mackenzie came out on top and that the world knew that his heart was broken. If he played it right, he could get a year off by this six-week engagement. He would become more careful, a little more introspective. Slower to jump in to the next relationship.

He already knew this was going to be the best million dollars he’d ever spent.

All he really had to worry about was keeping that half mil in his pocket for the full six weeks.