Imperfect Match (Elixir Bachelor Billionaires #1)

“Charles!” Her hands clutch her chest. “You’re here?”

I raise an eyebrow. “It’s my office. You should be surprised when I’m not here.”

This is the first time I’m seeing her since she left through my office doors yesterday in a bewildered state. Despite her rejecting my offer, I got a sliver of enjoyment in making her speechless for a moment.

“It’s not funny. I thought, given everything, you might be working from home,” she rasps. Her gaze swiftly drifts away, and her fingers with purple nail polish play with the long sleeves of her matching silk blouse. Lightly squaring her shoulders, she looks up. “I mean, after Jax’s interview.”

I hate hearing that jerk’s name from her mouth. How did she end up with that piece of shit?

“I can’t run this company if I’m scared of assholes like him.”

“I…I’m sorry, Charles. It’s all my fault. I should have been more careful. If I hadn’t hit the cake—” She stops abruptly. “Oh my God! The cake. I had planned to call the baker, apologize, and even offer to pay.”

Yes, no surprise there. I’m fully aware of my little assistant’s need to make things right with anyone she inconveniences.

“Don’t worry. I took care of it.”

“You mean you paid?”

When I nod lightly, she makes a grab for her purse, but before she can open it, I place my hand above hers. A spark shoots down my spine at the contact, but years of practice comes in, and I don’t let any emotion show on my face.

“I don’t want your money, Daisy.” I want something bigger.

A curl of hair falls in front of her eyes, and she tucks it behind her ear, as if hearing but choosing to ignore my unsaid words.

“Jax’s interview is no longer available. Did you do something?”

I nod.

“But the other is still there?” She doesn’t need to say which one explicitly—it’s the one where she declared she loves me the most.

“It was up for a while and had already worked in my benefit with the shareholders. Temporarily, at least.” Desperation furls inside me like a tightening coil. “What do you want, Daisy? Just tell me.”

“I told you, Charles. I want to marry for love, and that’s not a part of this proposal.”

I run a hand through my hair. There’s no hiding my disappointment as I’m reminded again that our wants are completely opposites.

“Then there must be something you need. Something that will fix every problem in your life in this current moment.”

She sucks in a breath. I’m finally fucking saying the right thing. The most important thing this business world has taught me is to read the person sitting on the opposite side of the table. And right now, I know there’s something she needs that she believes I can give, even if it’s not love.

But that relief in her gaze starts to fade.

“And what about the future? You don’t think this”—she motions between us—“will create a new set of problems? In resolving what’s broken now, we won’t be opening a new can of worms for the future?”

My hands unclench and my fingers relax from the tense grip I didn’t know I had. We are finally moving forward, even if she might not see it yet.

Time to seal the deal, Hawthorne. Fix the future problems she’s imagining.

“Come with me.”

I walk toward my office door and don’t look back to check if she’s following. As much as I hate waiting, negotiations only work when the other person arrives at the same point on their own.

I can only clear out the mental hurdles blocking her path, and luckily for us, I’m damn great at it.

Once we’re seated on the couch, I turn to fully face her.

“What are you worried about? You won’t have to do anything more than what you already do in the office. After we get married, your life will remain the same, but your bank balance will see significantly more zeroes. I’d say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal.”