Romancing His Rival

Chapter 1

1 NOAH“Coffee? Tea?” my best friend Sterling asks.

“I’m fine. Thanks,” I say, taking the seat across from him.

“You don’t look fine. You look nervous.” He smirks, settling back into his chair.

He’s right. I am nervous. But who wouldn’t be? Marriage is a big deal.

I must say this last part out loud because Sterling responds. “Yes, but it’s only a fake marriage, mate.”

I give him a stern look from across the cafe table. “I’m going to be someone’s husband. Has that not sunk in?”

He shrugs. “A fake wife is a lot different than a real one.” Sterling wiggles his eyebrows at mee over the rim of his mug of tea.

With a slow exhale, I loosen my tie, and level him with a dark stare.

“It’s a legally binding ceremony, so she’ll be my real wife. Until we got divorced, or got the marriage annulled or whatever.”

“Do you even hear yourself? This is insane. You can’t marry some chick you don’t even like.”

“Who says I don’t like her?”

His eyes widen. “I’m not talking about the unrequited lust-fueled crush you’ve had on her since you were a teenager.”

I rub the back of my neck, feeling the stirrings of a headache. “What do you expect me to do? It’s part of my father’s will. This is my—no, our condition for taking over the company. No marriage means no inheritance, period. For either of us.”

Some people may say that being thrust into such luxury from the start makes you immune to it all, but that’s not true. I’ve never taken a single day of it for granted, and there’s no way I’m going to give it up without a fight.

Sterling releases a loud sigh, and his gaze follows mine to the busy street just outside the café’s windows. “I just think you should really think this through, man. Marriage is a big deal. It’s not something to be entered into lightly.”

Between the two of us, Sterling’s always been the voice of reason. For every brazen and rash idea I’ve had, every time I’ve jumped into the deep end without thinking, he’s helped steer me back onto the straight-and-narrow path. He’s been my best friend since we were fourteen. As the two new kids at a prestigious boarding school in Connecticut, we became inseparable.

“Trust me when I tell you I understand the gravity of the situation.”

My father’s death last year was a huge wake-up call. The fate of his $100 billion company suddenly dropped straight into my hands. I had to be ready to take over. And I am—I’ll do whatever it takes. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that my bride-to-be is the woman I’ve always wanted.

“There has to be another way,” Sterling says after taking a sip of his tea. “Besides, with your workaholic tendencies and wandering eye, you’d make a terrible husband.”

Ouch. I’m not that bad, am I?

He’s lecturing me about something, but all I can focus on is the uneasy feelings stirring inside me.

“Oh, one more thing,” I say, turning toward him. “I need to knock her up.”

Sterling spits out his drink.