Marriage for One

by Ella Maise

Jack and I, we did everything backward. On the day he lured me into his office, which was the first time I’d ever seen him, he proposed. You’d expect a guy like him, striking yet seemingly unattainable, to only as the love of his life to marry him, right? No… it was me—a complete stranger who had been recently dumped by her fiancé. You’d think I’d laugh, call him crazy and walk away. Well, I did all that, except for the walking away part. It took him mere minutes to persuade me into a business deal—scratch that, marriage as he called it—and only days for us to officially tie the knot. What should’ve been magical and the happiest day of my life felt more like a nightmare. Jack Hawthorne was nothing like what I’d envisioned for myself. I blamed him for my lapse in judgment, his ocean-blue eyes and unapologetic gaze that drew me in, and that mysterious frown that would soon become my fascination.