Marrying My Fake Boyfriend

She believed they had done enough to make her parents realize that she wasn’t on the singles list and to back off.

Brad let out a sigh of relief as they went down the steps once Madge had let them out and shut the door.

“Well, that was an event and a half.”

“It was.” Exhaustion and relief made Cherrelle lean against Brad, resting her head on his shoulder. “But it’s over.”

Brad didn’t say anything about her leaning on him. He simply put his arm around her and let her lean. It felt comfortable, almost natural.

“I was surprised your father didn’t run me out of the house.”

“From the look on his face I think he was tempted.”

Cherrelle had been glad when Logan had escaped to his office and they had been left with Emily, who seemed to have got considerably warmer to Brad and they were chatting away happily about anything and everything. He certainly knew how to make women eat out of his hand.

A wave of jealousy hit her and Cherrelle pushed it back fiercely. Brad was technically hers. She had no right to be jealous. She smiled up at him.

“Thanks for helping out.”

“No problem. What are friends for?” Brad grinned. “And thanks for getting rid of Serena’s foot. I’ve never had a foot job and I don’t intend to have one anytime soon. She’s put me off.”

Cherrelle laughed. Pinching Serena’s leg had been very satisfying. She poked him in the belly. “What are friends for?”

They reached Brad’s car just as a flashy black Mercedes swung into the drive and pulled up behind them. One look at the car and Cherrelle knew who the sudden visitor was. She groaned. “Oh, you’ve got to be joking.”

“What?” Brad turned and saw the Mercedes. His expression was blank. “Jason Colney.”

“Unfortunately.”

And it was the man himself who climbed out from behind the wheel and sauntered towards them, clicking on his key fob to lock the car without looking round. Cherrelle resisted the urge to back away as he stalked towards them. Tall with dark blond hair tousled about his head and cobalt-blue eyes and a body any man would kill for, at first glance Jason Colney was a gorgeous man who was the envy of his social group. But then you looked past the superficial outside and you would see the evil glint in his eyes, the nasty twist in his mouth, and the permanent leer in his expression.

Cherrelle had met Jason seven years before shortly after she had launched Life and Love. He had been charming and they had gone on one date, but Cherrelle had figured out pretty quickly that Jason, while a millionaire in his own right, was after her money and her project rather than her. That became obvious when he was always asking about those topics instead of about her. She had had to use Sarah to help her get out of the date nearly two hours after they went on the date.

He had tried to ask her out since but Cherrelle did everything from telling him an outright no to giving him the cold shoulder. And he just kept coming back. The bas*ard loved to be in control and having someone say no to him had him wanting them even more.

It may work in romance novels, but it didn’t work in real life.

Cherrelle could guess why he was here and that it was no surprise Logan had sneaked off to his office. She clasped her purse in front of her and faced him with a blank expression.

“Jason. What a surprise.”

“Cherrelle.” Jason leaned in for a kiss, but Cherrelle stepped back and turned her face away. Jason straightened up and raised an eyebrow. “What, no kiss for your future husband?”

“You’re never marrying me, Jason, and we both know it,” Cherrelle snapped.

“Your parents arranged it all. I must admit I was surprised you proved to be a stubborn brat for seven years about it, but your parents agreed with me that you needed a firm hand.”

Cherrelle wasn’t sure what she was hearing.

“You approached them about marrying me?” she demanded. “We only went on one date and that only lasted two hours.”

“Because you had an emergency. I know, and I’ve been trying to rearrange it.”

“I think after seven years of saying no you would’ve got the message that I don’t want to rearrange it.”

“Your parents were confused about that. They couldn’t understand why you’d turn away an eligible bachelor.”

“Because they don’t have a good sense of character.” Cherrelle stepped back and felt Brad’s arms go around her waist. That gave her some strength. “Besides, no way can I marry you. Unless you want to have me jailed for bigamy.”

“What?” Jason blinked in surprise. “You’re not married already?”

“As good as.” Cherrelle looked up at Brad, who smiled down at her, and her stomach fluttered. “This is Brad, my fiancé.”

She watched as the news hit Jason and he realized what he had heard. He stared at them as if they had grown extra body parts.

“He’s your fiancé?” he exclaimed. “What the fu*k were you thinking, Cherrelle?”

“Let me see.” Cherrelle pretended to think. “I’m thinking I’m in love and I want to get married to the man I love.”

She felt a squeeze of Brad’s arm at her waist and sensed Brad shifting her so her bottom wasn’t against his groin. She wondered at that but was focused on Jason, who was staring in amazement.

“How come I never heard of this before?” His eyes narrowed at Brad. “You’ve attended functions without him. Surely you’d want your fella on your arm at those sorts of things.”

“Have you ever heard of privacy?” Cherrelle shot back. “I’m not parading my love life in front of the press.”

She waited for Jason to realize that she was no longer available and back off. But it didn’t come. Instead Jason’s face darkened and he looked angry. He jabbed a finger at Brad.

“He’s only after your money, you do know that,” he growled.

“Right. And you’re after Cherrelle for her looks and not the fact that she’s a billionaire,” Brad countered. He pressed a kiss to Cherrelle’s head. “I’m with Cherrelle because I happen to love her. So, why don’t you admit that you’re not going to get her and fu*k off?”

Cherrelle knew before Jason spoke that he wasn’t going to back off. Her heart sank. This was going to be harder than she realized. Why she thought simply parading a boyfriend in front of the people she wanted to leave her alone would work she had no idea. But it was clear that Jason wasn’t taking this rejection.

She had never met anyone who was that desperate to marry someone for their assets. Jason stepped up close and Cherrelle resisted the urge to step back, keeping eye contact with him as he went nose to nose with her.