Temporary Bride

Chapter 2

(Dove Ventures; San Diego, September 30th 2021)

Damian pov

I was in my grandfather's office, which was soon to belong to me, going through the financial report for the third quarter of the year when the intercom buzzed. I straightened and rubbed my forefinger between my eyebrows to ease the tension headache that was brewing in my head.

"What do you not understand about no interruptions?" I snapped into the intercom. The staff knew better than to disturb me when I had expressly ordered that I was not to be distributed. "Mr Sutherland is here to see you, sir, I told him you were busy, but he wouldn't take no for an answer". As far as I knew, there was only one other Mr Sutherland in the whole of San Diego, and if I needed any more clues, the breathlessness in the secretary's voice was the perfect clue. My cousin has always had that effect on women, right from grade school.

"Send him in". I muttered.

The door opened, and Thomas sauntered in.

Thomas was the perfect example of a pretty boy. He was 5'10 and had very fair skin. He wore his wavy blonde hair slightly longer than a crew cut. He had blue eyes, a nose that was almost too feminine, and what an ex-girlfriend of Damian's had described as gothic cheekbones. The women loved him, and he was forever jetting across the globe, with one or two of them hanging onto his arms, and staring at him with googly eyes. As usual, he was immaculately dressed in a lime-green Armani dress suit, and hand-made alligator skin shoes. Compared to him, I looked quite rough in my signature black jeans, chambray shirt and leather jacket and cowboy boots.

" Howdy hey, cousin". He drew in his carefully modulated accent.

I scoffed, did he have to be so obvious, he thought?

"What do you want?" I snapped. There was no use making it easy for me.

"No need to be grumpy cousin, I was in the area, so I decided to stop by and look around my new office space".

"You knew what?".

"Oh, come on cuz, we all know you're never getting married. How does it feel to finally feel rejection? It hurts, doesn't it". All this was delivered in a rush.

"You listen to me and listen well Thomas, I've worked too hard for this company to let you get your sticky fingers all over it."

"Then you better hurry up cousin, you have twenty-seven days to find yourself a bride who loves you enough, to stand before the board of directors and tell them how she f****d you. The ladies may flock to you because of your money, dear cousin, but none of them is gonna do that for you". I was so choked with anger that he couldn't get a word out.

"See ya, cuz". He drew and walked out of the office. I ran a hand through my hair, the headache had come back in full force. I signed up and went into the bathroom to look for some aspirin. Dealing with Thomas had always given me a headache, from as far back as grade school, when he had "mistakenly" dropped a baseball bat on my head. I heard giggling in the outer office, that slimy bastard, he was working his charm on the staff. Probably had them all hoodwinked already. Williams had better be as good as his word because I would rather wreck the company myself rather than let Thomas get his slimy fingers anywhere near it.

(Williams legal associates; San Diego, October 3rd 2021)

I don't mean to brag, but.

In my twenty-nine years of life, I have met a lot of beautiful women and even bedded a number of them. So why was the woman sitting beside me affecting me so much? I may not be as pretty as my cousin Thomas, but I am quite good-looking in my own right. I don't lack confidence either, so why was I tongue-tied? I haven't been able to make any intelligent statement since I walked into William's office and found her sitting there. She probably thinks I'm a daft i***t. It is a good thing, Williams has been chattering away like a magpie for the past fifteen minutes, not that I was listening, I was too busy drinking her in. I had certainly seen more beautiful women, but there was something about her that seemed to draw me in. She was the kind of woman that turned heads for a second or even third look. She was petite, definitely not more than 5'3, and she would probably look like an elf beside my 6'4 frame. She had long dirty blond hair, the colour of dishwater, bewitching hazel eyes, a beautiful nose, and finely sculpted lips that looked perfect for kissing. She had a deep melodious voice, which was quite a surprise compared to her size. I shook my head, snapped out of it, and told myself, she was a business partner, that was all, nothing more, nothing less.

I managed to get her senses in order and join the conversation, just in time to see her going through the prenuptial agreement; I hadn't even had the time to read it beforehand. Well, he would just have to trust Williams. She scrawled her name and pushed the file across the desk to me. I glanced at her name, "Chantal McGuire". A beautiful name for a beautiful woman, damn, I thought, I was even thinking of cliches now. I quickly scrawled my signature and passed it to Williams.

"I'll make copies and send each of you your copies. In the meantime, Chantal, meet your fiance, Damian, meet your fiance.

"Nice to meet you", she said, holding out her hand.

" Pleasure, " I muttered, taking her hand in mine. Her hand was so small and warm it was a struggle not to hold it longer than would seem polite.

" I've already applied for the license, it should be ready in forty-eight hours, which means you can get married in seventy-six hours, after the mandatory twenty-four-hour wait". Williams announced. " I've also booked the restaurant opposite the registry for the reception, and the judge hall has agreed to perform the ceremony". He continued. "Unless, of course, you want a religious ceremony".

" A civil ceremony is fine with me". Chantal announced.

"Yeah, me too". I said.

"About the money……………." Chantal began…

"Damian will write you a cheque for the first quarter now. The remaining three quarters will be paid in installments at the specified times as stipulated in the prenuptial agreement.

"Damian, I trust you brought your cheque book."

"I did", I muttered, getting it out of my pocket and writing Chantal McGuire a cheque for two and a half million dollars.