Between Marriage and Merger Read online

  Charlotte pulled out her phone. “I have the link saved.”

  Sawyer held up a hand and turned his laptop around so Charlotte and Noah could see it. “Let me save you the time. I have it pulled up on my computer. Lyle Hannafort sent it to me.”

  The webpage Sawyer had opened looked to be a spot for online gossip. Not Sawyer’s usual fare. If he was online, he was watching the markets or sports, particularly college basketball this time of year. “Now I’m really lost,” Noah said.

  “You won’t be.” Sawyer scrolled down and clicked on the icon in the center of the screen. The video began to play.

  Noah only needed to hear his name, purred by a woman with a sultry voice, to feel like the ground had fallen out from under him.

  Big Apple businessman, Noah Locke, of the Locke hotel family, has been busy with the ladies over the last several months. And do we mean busy.

  All warmth drained from Noah’s body. His hands went cold. He’d been in the tabloids before, but this was different. These were moving pictures—shot after shot of Noah walking into and out of bars, restaurants and apartment buildings all over the city. A different woman on his arm in every picture. With a number counting them off. One...two...three... They stopped at fifteen. Noah felt sick.

  Although his brother, Sawyer, and sister, Charlotte, have both settled down, it seems Noah is rallying to keep that trademark Locke wild streak alive. His father, James Locke, has not only been married four times, he’s been romantically linked to hundreds of New York socialites over the years. Perhaps the middle Locke child is patterning himself after dear old dad.

  Noah had a real talent for shrugging things off, but right now, he wanted to put his fist through a brick wall. “I’m calling our lawyer. This is defamation of character.”

  “Is it? Did they lie about a single thing?” Sawyer turned his computer back around to Noah’s great relief. That final voice-over line and slate in the video was already permanently burned into his brain. Perhaps the middle Locke child is patterning himself after dear old dad. That was absolutely not the case.

  “Well?” Charlotte asked. “You didn’t answer the question.”

  Noah sat back, kneading his forehead, trying to think of anything they’d said in the video that was untrue. He would’ve asked to see it again if it hadn’t made him sound like such a miserable excuse for a human being. Was he terrible? He didn’t want to think he was. “Well, no. I mean, yes, I dated all of those women. That’s true. But the last time I checked, this is a free country and a single man is allowed to have dinner with a single woman.”

  “Or fifteen,” Charlotte quipped.

  “I don’t really see the point of this. Is it the slowest news day in the history of the world?” Noah’s jaw tightened. He hated this.

  “People love gossip. Especially about rich men who like to spend time with pretty women,” Charlotte said. “You should know that by now.”

  Noah did know that, but in the past, Sawyer had most often been the target if there was anything tawdry to be said about the three siblings. A few times Charlotte had been busted for her party girl ways, but that had been a while ago. Now that both Sawyer and Charlotte were hitched, and both sets of wedded couples had babies on the way, apparently Noah was left to be the top of the dubious Locke family heap.

  Noah then remembered what Sawyer had said before they’d come into his office. “Hold on. Hannafort has seen this? How in the hell did that happen?”

  “It’s the internet, Noah. This stuff spreads like wildfire. He’s not happy about it, either.” The deal they were working on with Lyle Hannafort, founder and CEO of Hannafort Hotels, was massive. A real game changer. There was a mountain of money to be made. “He’s a straight shooter. He doesn’t mince words. And he’s already predisposed to thinking badly of anyone named Locke. You know how hard we’ve worked to convince him we’re not like Dad.” Lyle Hannafort hated Sawyer and Noah’s father and the feeling was mutual. They were bitter competitors. As much as that might have been one of Lyle’s reasons for doing this deal, it was also a reason for calling it off.

  “I’m very aware of how hard we’ve worked.”

  “He said he’s not sure he can do business with a man who doesn’t treat women as they should be treated,” Sawyer said.

  Noah sprang from his seat and jabbed his finger into the top of his brother’s desk. “Now, hold on a second. Taking a woman out to dinner does not equal treating her badly. I’m always a gentleman. Always.”

  “You’re just a gentleman a lot.” Charlotte cocked a judgmental eyebrow at him, bobbing her foot. Noah could’ve easily fought back—Charlotte had once dated half of the men in Manhattan—but he couldn’t be mean to her. Plus, she was expecting, and if he was worried about being seen as an ass, lashing out at his pregnant sister would not be a good move.

  “I know that you’re a good guy, Noah,” Sawyer said. “Charlotte knows that, too. But Hannafort has built an empire on being a family man. He has five grown daughters, so I’m sure he’s seen his fair share of men behaving badly. He totally owns up to being old-fashioned. He and his wife were high school sweethearts.”

  Noah had been impressed to learn that little factoid about the Hannaforts. That was a long time with one person. How did they make it work? In Noah’s family, they didn’t. Their dad had burned through each of his marriages, and there had been many serious girlfriends in between. There was a difference between Noah and his dad, though, and it was plain as day—one man a serial monogamist, carrying relationships to a cherished place only to destroy them. The other man, Noah, knew his limitations. He never led a woman on. Never. He was always clear about where and when things were ending.

  “So what is Hannafort saying?”

  “Let’s say that we’ve gone from a place where both parties were head over heels to a place where one side is thinking about leaving the dance.”

  This deal had been in serious discussion for only a month, so things were still fragile. After months of convincing Lyle to talk to them, they were just starting to get comfortable with each other. This was supposed to be the honeymoon phase, but that seemed to be over. “Seriously? It’s that bad?”

  “As he put it, he has no patience for negative publicity that could have been easily avoided.” Sawyer rocked back in his seat.

  “How was I supposed to avoid this? No one could’ve predicted this.” Noah had been looking forward to a quiet day in the office. He had no meetings, only a few phone calls, and he and Lily were supposed to have a discussion about some new projects. He’d been looking forward to that, however hard he’d have to try to concentrate on work.

  “I think his point was that it never would’ve happened if you weren’t the guy who dates dozens of women.”

  “What he really means is that if I wasn’t like Dad.” Which I’m not. Noah grumbled under his breath, frustrated beyond belief. He would never admit it to anyone, but part of the reason he’d been going out so much was because of Lily. The nights when he went home alone were awful. He couldn’t watch TV, he couldn’t read a book. His mind kept drifting to Lily, everything she’d done or said at work that day, replaying in his head like a never-ending movie. There was something about her that stopped Noah dead in his tracks.

  But Sawyer had been crystal clear about it—all of that was too bad. Lily is the best employee we have ever had. She is perfect. Don’t mess this up. We need her and all you do is break hearts.

  Noah got it. Lily was forbidden fruit.

  “How do we convince Mr. Hannafort that Noah’s not that kind of guy?” Charlotte asked.

  Sawyer snickered. “By finding him a wife. Or a fiancée.”

  Charlotte stifled a grin. “But it would have to be right away. Preferably before we go to Hannafort’s daughter’s wedding.”

  “Ideally, yes.” Sawyer stared off into space like he was brainstorming. Charlotte was doing the
same. Noah wasn’t about to contribute to their ludicrous meeting of the minds. There was no woman in his life he’d consider asking to marry him. No one was even close.

  A knock came at the door. Noah turned as Lily walked in with four black binders in her arms. “I have the revenue projections from Mr. Hannafort’s team. I cross-referenced them with our own, which are considerably more conservative.”

  “Great. Thank you,” Sawyer said.

  Lily doled out the presentations while Noah remained standing.

  “Lily, you can take my seat. I’m happy right here.”

  She settled in, rocking her hips from side to side. “You got it all warmed up for me.”

  He sucked in a sharp breath. Good God, she was going to be the death of him.

  Noah opened his binder. There was no time to absorb all of the information in this report, but one quick glance at a few spreadsheets told him one thing—they were going to make a lot of money if this deal went through. And his actions, which had been perfectly innocent at the time, could end up taking it all away. Charlotte, and Sawyer in particular, would never forgive him. Or if they did, it would take a very long time. There was already enough acrimony in his family from their dad. Noah refused to be the cause for this blowing up in their faces.

  “Wow.” Sawyer flipped through the pages. “These numbers are impressive.”

  “They are.” Charlotte closed her folder and chewed on her nail. “Can’t let this get out from under us.”

  “No, we can’t.” Noah racked his brain for a way to make himself seem less like a Lothario.

  Charlotte narrowed her vision on him, then her sights drifted to Lily. She sat a little straighter and turned in her chair. “Lily, can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course.”

  “Would you have any interest in going to a wedding with all of us? This weekend. I don’t know what sort of personal obligations you have, and I know it’s short notice.”

  As the words out of Charlotte’s mouth found his ears, Noah quickly realized what she was doing. She was setting him up. With Lily. The woman who he’d been fighting to keep in the friend zone. Noah bugged his eyes at Charlotte, but she shot him a steely look right back.

  “A wedding? Do you mean Annie Hannafort’s wedding?”

  Charlotte smiled effortlessly, like this all made perfect sense and would not cause a single problem. Noah already had a dozen reasons not to do what Charlotte was about to suggest. The reasons were already stacked up and waiting, and he’d only been living with this realization for less than a minute. “Exactly. It’s just that we would need you to be Noah’s date. Well, more than his date. We would need you to pretend to be his fiancée.”

  Two

  Lily mustered the strength to hold her smile, but only because she was fairly certain her face was frozen. She managed to blink, so her eyes were working. That was good. Her mind, meanwhile, was frantically running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Had Charlotte Locke just said those words? Pretend to be Noah’s fiancée? At a wedding, no less?

  Lily’s worst nightmare and her most closely held fantasy had decided to make sweet love to each other.

  “Are you serious?” She realized how terrible the question must sound to Noah, but she needed clarification and she needed it now. This felt an awful lot like the moment her biggest high school crush asked her out in front of his friends, only to burst into peals of laughter. That was the day Lily learned how apt the word crush was when it came to love.

  “I know it seems a little strange, but there’s a reason behind it and you would be helping the company immensely.”

  Noah stepped closer and sat on the edge of Sawyer’s desk, crossing his long legs, facing her with a look that could only be described as raw embarrassment. His expression was difficult to endure, which spoke volumes about how real it was. Noah was ridiculously easy on the eyes.

  “You don’t have to do this,” Noah said. “This is not part of your job.”

  Lily couldn’t decide if he was saying that because he desperately wanted his own out, or if he was simply being kind. She hoped for the latter, if only to save her pride.

  “We would pay you, of course,” Sawyer said. “We’ll have to come up with a number. Maybe you should sit down and think about what you would need for three days away from home.”

  “Acting as Noah’s fiancée.” Lily wanted to be sure she’d heard that part right.

  “Yes. There was a very unflattering video of Noah that turned up on a gossip website and we’re trying to curb its effects. Mr. Hannafort wants to know that the Lockes aren’t a liability when it comes to publicity.”

  “Unflattering video?” Lily could only imagine what Noah’s sister was referring to.

  “Do you want to see it?” Charlotte asked.

  Noah grumbled. His straight shoulders dropped. “Don’t show her the video. It’s demeaning. Lily and I need to work together. I don’t want her to think of me that way.”

  Charlotte leaned over the arm of her chair. “It’s about the stable of women he’s been dating lately.”

  Lily could feel her lips mold into a thin line. Oh, she knew plenty about Noah and his dates. A few women had come by the office, all intimidatingly beautiful. And she’d heard him talk to them, as smooth as could be. Lily would’ve done anything to have a man say one-tenth of what Noah regularly said to women he apparently hardly cared about. “I see.”

  “So as I said,” Sawyer interjected. “We would need to come up with a number, but I promise we’ll make it worth your while. This isn’t normally something I’d consider, but desperate times call for creative measures.”

  Lily crossed her legs, her mind mired in the business of deciding whether or not this was a good idea. She loved working for Sawyer and Noah, so it would be next to impossible to say no. It wasn’t in her DNA to let them down. But one downside of being employed by Locke and Locke was the limited opportunities for advancement. Lily had already worked her way well beyond the parameters of her title of Executive Admin. Sawyer and Noah had given her more and more responsibility, they’d even given her a few raises, but she was capable of even more. If the payoff was there. She was a hard worker, but she wasn’t an idiot. She wasn’t going to kill herself if they were just going to take advantage of her.

  “If I do this, I don’t want to be compensated with cash. I want a piece of the company.” Lily was impressed with herself. She’d come out with it, no hemming or hawing. She sat straighter, fighting back any concern over how her proposal might be met. “A small piece, but a piece. I believe I’ve demonstrated that I’m a valuable asset to the company, but I want to do more.”

  Sawyer nodded slowly, as if he was still taking it all in.

  “This isn’t my call. I’m in on this Hannafort deal and that’s it.” Charlotte looked at her phone. “I’m also going to be late for my doctor’s appointment if I don’t leave now.” She got up from her seat and shot both of her brothers a very pointed glance. “Don’t screw this up. And Lily, don’t let them screw this up.”

  Lily grinned as Charlotte excused herself and left. She did love the way Charlotte put her brothers on notice.

  “What do you think?” Sawyer asked Noah.

  “You’ve said it yourself a thousand times. Lily is by far the best employee we’ve had. She’s irreplaceable. If she’s willing to put up with me for a weekend, we should give her what she wants.”

  Sawyer chuckled quietly, and that made Noah laugh, which filled Lily with happy flutters in her chest. She was overcome with pride, knowing that she’d been a frequent subject of conversation between the brothers and in such a positive light, no less. It reaffirmed her decision two years ago to focus on her career and let romance and her personal life take a back seat. This might actually end up paying off.

  “I think one percent is fair,” Noah said.

  “Ag
reed,” Sawyer quickly added. “It might not sound like a lot, but if the Hannafort deal goes through, it will be sizable. And it should be income that comes in for years and years. Not bad for three days’ work.”

  Lily was a bit of a whiz with numbers, so she knew exactly how big 1 percent of Locke and Locke could end up being, especially after having worked on the Hannafort projections. A nest egg to last her a lifetime? All for one weekend pretending to be enamored with gorgeous, unattainable Noah? This was a no-brainer if ever there was one. Even if the part about Noah did make her stomach flip-flop. Yes, she struggled at weddings, but she’d just endured one. What difference could another one possibly make? “I’ll do it.”

  “That’s great news. Thank you.” Sawyer’s eyebrows drew together. “I hope you know this is not something we would normally ask you to do.”

  “I’ve been here two years. I know this is not the way things work around here. Sometimes things have to be done for appearances.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I should probably get back to my desk. I have lots of other stuff to do. Emails to answer.” Lily rose from her seat, but something about this was still leaving her unsettled. Was this the right thing to do? Would it ruin her working relationship with Noah? They got along so well. She didn’t want it to be awkward later. “I do want to clarify that this is for show, right? We’re pretending. That’s it.”

  Noah’s eyes found hers and she felt naked, like he was looking right through her. “That goes without saying.”

  She smiled and nodded, like the loyal employee she was. But inside, all she could think was of course. Noah Locke was that guy and he always would be.

  * * *

  Noah closed the door when Lily walked out of Sawyer’s office. “I don’t think you’ve fully thought this out.” He paced back and forth, between the chairs and the window. “We’re talking about pretending to be engaged to each other. Do you know what engaged people do?”