The Moment of Decision

Pov

Cora

I struggled to keep up with him as he walked quickly to the parking lot, stopping at his Maserati and opening the door for me. He silently drove me through the city, stopping at a luxurious building with a doorman.

Finally, we passed through the doors of his massive penthouse.

I sighed.

My eyes first swept over the waterfall in the foyer, then moved to the expansive ocean view through the windows. My mouth dropped as I observed the marble floors and ornate furniture. My head spun.

Everything was incredible. It smelled like money.

So this is how someone like Bryce Hollis lives.

"This will be your home, and I want you to be comfortable," Bryce said as he gave me the tour. "I want you to feel that what's mine is yours. Nothing here is off-limits to you, understand?"

I nodded, looking around, amazed by the marble statues in every corner and oil paintings on the walls. Priceless finishes and cutting-edge technology combined to make the penthouse apartment worthy of one of those magazines that celebrate luxury condos.

Being in his home made everything seem real.

This was happening. In fact, we were getting married, and I would spend six months in this luxury apartment.

"When should we do this?" I asked, turning to Bryce as we stood in front of the large windows in one of the guest rooms overlooking the ocean. "When will we get married?"

As soon as possible, without arousing suspicion. Right now, the board knows I'm single, so we'll have to fool them into thinking this happened for real.

I raised my eyebrows. "That sounds impossible. Nobody falls in love overnight."

"What are you talking about? Romeo and Juliet's love affair happened over three days."

"And look how it ended for them."

Bryce laughed. It was a good laugh, like he didn't have a care in the world. "We'll figure it out."

I took a deep breath and tried to let go of the tension on the exhale.

"We're just going to sign a piece of paper, right? Then it's done? Almost like eloping."

Bryce looked grim as he shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. We'll have to do it all: a big party with the dress, the cake, and the guests. To make it look real."

My jaw dropped as I looked at him. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Yes, I am. Our next stop is the city's best wedding planner. You'll work with her until you have the wedding of your dreams. You can have everything, everything you've ever dreamed of since you were a little girl." He smiled as if to excite me.

I felt like I'd been hit by a ton of bricks and sank into the chair near the window to catch my breath.

I didn't know how to tell him that I never dreamed of weddings when I was a little girl. My mother taught me early on that fairy tales never come true. She drilled into my head that I needed to stand on my own instead of relying on any man to take care of me. It was ironic that I was doing just that—marrying a man so he could pay the bills. But it wasn't the same thing.

Okay, so maybe I'd dreamed of getting married once or twice when I was younger. But I always thought I'd marry someone I had a relationship with, someone I loved.

But there was no time for sentimentality. I had to keep my eye on the prize.

"Ready?" Bryce asked.

For what?

"To meet the wedding planner."

I nodded. "I guess so," even though I wasn't even remotely ready.

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking to the wedding planner. The woman was a shark. She looked the part—she had perfectly styled dark blonde hair, makeup that made her look like she stepped off the cover of a magazine, and she was eloquent, selling the Big Day as something every woman would want. She almost got me excited about the idea... until her entire team arrived, everyone a bride might need to plan a wedding.

And I was bombarded with questions. What color scheme did I have in mind? What kind of cake did I prefer? What would our menu be? What music would the DJ play? They bombarded me with so many questions that I felt like the Spanish Inquisition had traveled forward in time to 21st-century Los Angeles.

And the more they grilled me, the more samples they threw at me, made me taste cakes and talk about different heel heights, the more panicked I became.

My throat closed up, and I struggled to breathe. I was sure I was on the verge of a panic attack. But the team kept pressing for more.

Bryce stood aside, offering no information. He made call after call, only stopping to type emails on his phone.

And finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

I turned and walked away, leaving the showroom to hide in the women's bathroom at the end of the hall. Locking myself in a stall, I gave in to sobs that wracked my body. The stress and sudden upheaval in my life were too much for me.

A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door.

"Go away!" I yelled. I wasn't ready to face the wedding planner or any member of her team. I wanted my mom here. Or Avery. I wanted someone who cared about my feelings and what this would mean for me. I was doing a very big thing, and for all the wrong reasons.

"It's me," Bryce's voice came through the stall door, and I blinked.

"What are you doing in the women's bathroom?" I asked.

"Come on, Cora," he said. "Open up. Talk to me."

I opened the stall door, not even caring that the little makeup I wore had smeared around my eyes in dark circles that made me look like a raccoon.

"What's wrong?" Bryce asked.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. "You don't know the answer to that question?"

I sobbed. Bryce reached out to me, rubbing his hands along my arms. He sent electricity through my body by touching me like that.

"Talk to me," he said. "We're in this together, you know."

"No, we're not," I said, new tears streaming down my already wet cheeks. "You're standing there doing nothing while I have to give her all these answers for a wedding I didn't even know I

was having until this morning. It's too much, Bryce. I haven't even gotten used to the fact that I'm getting married and we're already talking about caramel filling."

Bryce nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry."

I frowned. "Really?"

"Yes. This is a big deal. And I'm not getting as involved as I could be. I'll change that."

"Are you serious?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. For someone who didn't seem to care about me beyond what he could get out of this deal, this was a thoughtful thing to say.

"Yes," he said. "I'm serious. I know it's not easy, and I'm asking you to do something very big. So... what can I do to help?"

I thought about it. It wasn't just about the dress, the cake, the decorations, and the menu. It was about much more—about my mom not being here, about everything I was taught as a girl, about the fact that we've been surviving on our own all these years without a man to help us.

I needed not to feel so alone in this crazy world of pretense.

"I want something real," I said. "I don't want everything to be fake."

"Something real," Bryce echoed.

I nodded. "Yes. I want..." I thought about it for a moment. "I want to meet your family. And I want you to meet my mom. This can't just be about business, not if it's for six months."

Bryce hesitated. "It's just me and my dad," he said. "My mom left when I was very young. So, there's not much of a family to meet. But if meeting my old grumpy dad is what you need, then let's do it."

I blinked at Bryce, and suddenly, I saw him in a different light. He was an only child, just like me. And he only had one parent, just like me. I wouldn't have thought we had anything in common, especially not that Bryce came from a broken home too. But maybe there was more to Bryce than met the eye.

Maybe I didn't know him.

"Thank you," I finally said.

"For what?"

"For meeting me halfway."

He nodded. "It's the least I can do, Cora."

The way he said my name sent a shiver down my spine. But I could think about that later.