The Wedding Hoax Read Online Free Page A

they were. She’d taken on their relationship the same way she took on her business, always pushing for bigger, better, more. And then she’d asked for too much. She’d wanted forever. He’d wanted right now.
    Ending things with her hadn’t been his first choice, but he hadn’t seen any other way when they wanted fundamentally different things out of life. Marriage was not in the cards for him, not when he was busy doing everything he could to save the magazine and prove to his father he deserved the one he really wanted. Any relationship had to come second. For Daisy, second was never good enough. And when she stopped being into the fun and freedom of their relationship, he’d decided it wasn’t fair to string her along, knowing he’d never give her the future she really wanted.
    Breaking up had been the best thing for both of them.
    So why did seeing Daisy again stir something up inside him that had been dormant? He felt like a man who’d walked the desert to drink from the sea, only to never feel his thirst be quenched.
    Damn, Daisy was going to complicate things.
    “I won’t sit here and listen to you say it’s no big deal to fake an engagement…to fake an entire wedding…for six months!” She looked as if she was ready to jump across the table and smack Mason for the mere suggestion of being married to Cole. The notion wasn’t that repugnant to her now, was it?
    Cole turned to her. “Maybe it’s worth considering.”
    “Are you kidding me? You’re actually going along with this fake-marriage idea? You, the sworn bachelor?”
    “I’m saying it’s worth talking about before we make a final decision that affects both of our businesses.”
    “You’re going to commit to me for six months? You can barely commit to a pair of pants!”
    “Hey now. Don’t insult my pants.” She didn’t have to hit below the belt, did she?
    She cocked her head to the side, challenging him. He remembered that look well. “And your last girlfriend? How long did she last?”
    “How long was it, Daisy? You tell me.” He leaned back and crossed his arms. Why the hell was she being so difficult?
    “I was your last girlfriend?”
    He shrugged. “I stopped using that word. Seemed it always led to a miscommunication about relationship status. Figured it was easier to drop the word from my vocabulary all together. I’m thinking about getting a pet, though. If I can make that commitment, I’m sure I can deal with this arrangement for a few months.
    “You’re getting a pet? You’re going to take care of a dog?”
    “I didn’t say anything about a dog. I’m thinking about a fish.”
    “Wow. You’re really evolving.”
    “Thanks.” He grinned, thoroughly enjoying her biting sarcasm.
    “I won’t do it, Cole.”
    “My deal is final,” Mason said. “You can take it with my conditions and have many successful years ahead of you in the bridal industry, or you can refuse, and your design house could fail, drift away to nothing. But I’m sure your skills will land you a job as an assistant to another designer if you decide to stay in the field. The choice is yours.” He stood and collected his things. “If you’ll excuse me, I have other opportunities to attend to. You have twenty-four hours to decide before I move on to my next idea.”
    He walked out of the room without another word.
    It was the first time Cole and Daisy had been alone in the same room since they’d broken up. Something intangible crackled between them like static electricity. The familiar sensation, along with seeing Daisy sitting here all fired up, feisty—and goddamn it sexy—made his heart race.
    He really needed this money to come through, but did he want to get engaged to Daisy—go through with a fake marriage—just so he could save the magazine, when simply being in the same room as her made his blood pressure rise along with his dick?
    …
    “You’re not really considering this, are you?” Daisy asked, disbelieving. No way would