The Billionaire's Kiss(109)

Ethan smiled. “I didn’t know that Callie was your sister. I thought she was your secretary. That makes a lot of sense now. No, I’m completely serious. I need you to marry me, and I’m ready to make you the offer of a lifetime.”

Amy looked at Ethan again. He wasn’t smiling anymore. Was he insane? Amy raised her hand and signaled to the bartender. I’m going to need something stronger than wine, she thought. Then she turned to Ethan. “Explain. Now.”

“Have you ever been to Wyoming?” Ethan asked as the bartender came back with a new glass of wine.

***

“This better not be a repeat of Chicago.” Amy crossed her arms and stared at Ethan. “I am not in the mood for a repeat of Chicago. Are you being serious right now? I have an aunt’s birthday party to get to. I have a company to run. I’m not in the mood for a practical joke by the world-famous Ethan Cole. I suppose you think I should be flattered that you want me to marry you for some reason.

“First off, you and I remember that night in Chicago very differently,” Ethan replied.

“You make it sound like something happened between us.”

“Like I said,” Ethan repeated, “you and I remember that night very differently.”

Ethan reached down into his briefcase and pulled out a manila envelope. He placed it on the bar and slid it over to Amy. “It’s all right there in the prenup. All you have to do is sign, and the marriage contract is legally binding.”

Amy placed her hand over the envelope. “If you think for one second that I’m going to let you buy me.”

“Amy, you know that isn’t this at all. People have marriages of convenience all the time. You and I just happen to have the added bonus of being able to see opportunities and seize them. I need a wife.”

“So go and get one. Who is the latest model you were dating? Miss Russia or Brazil or?”

“Argentina,” Ethan replied. “And I called things off. She wasn’t really interested in me anyway, and, well, supermodel wife doesn’t exactly fit my needs at the moment.”

“What you need at the moment is someone to knock you in the side of the head,” Amy replied. “This is definitely Chicago all over again.”

“Like I said, I think you and I remember that night very differently, and you brought it up, not me. This is nothing like that. That was a moment, and this is a unique opportunity. I think you should consider my offer. A multibillion dollar deal that will help ensure the future of my company and the jobs of tens of thousands of people all depend on you helping me become a family man.”

“I need you to be my wife. Not for long, just long enough to convince Hank Hilson that I’m a good man, a family man, and someone worthy of taking the reins of Hilson Energy.”

“You run a tech company,” Amy replied. “Why in the world would you want to buy a business you know nothing about?”

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Hilson is retiring, and he is looking to sell the company. Almost no one knows, but I do, and I’ve been in talks with him for months. He likes me, but he doesn’t know if he can trust me.”

“So you want to lie to him and tell him that I’m your wife?”#p#分页标题#e#

“No, I want you to marry me and help me make my case to him. Hilson Energy is a relatively minor player in the energy sector. They are a regional supplier of oil and gas, but they also control rights to over half of the neodymium reserves in the western hemisphere.”

“Neodymium?” Amy asked. “You want me to pretend to be your wife so you can buy magnets?”

Ethan laughed. “Now you get it. It’s an essential component of modern electronics, and a major weakness in my supply chain. My company uses it in everything from cellphones to missiles, and Hilson’s other assets would help us deploy new technology in fields we’ve been trying to break into for years.”

“Again, I don’t see how or why this involves me in any way,” Amy replied.

“Hank Hilson is a family man,” Ethan replied. “And he wants to find someone who shares his values to take over his company. I tried to convince him to sell me just the mineral rights, but he won’t break up his company. I told him I understood and assembled a proposal to buy Hilson outright. He asked me if I was married, and I told him I was engaged to you.”

“You what?”

“I told him we were getting married in a small ceremony in DC, and that I wanted to keep the whole thing very quiet.” Ethan placed his hands on his head and ran his fingers through his hair as he took a deep breath. “He thinks we got married last weekend.”