The perfect wedding date...

but at what cost?

She’s about to get way more than she bargained for...

Iris Collins needs a wedding date, fast. And the billionaire who saved her from a public shaming is the best candidate yet. She’ll invest in Zac Bisset’s yacht-racing team in exchange for four days in paradise. After all, Zac is adventurous, sexy...perfect for a straitlaced heiress to show off on her arm. Until they land in her bed. Now their real connection—and the backlash of a family scandal—threatens their perfect facade...

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Katherine Garbera

KATHERINE GARBERA is the USA TODAY bestselling author of more than ninety-five books. Her writing is known for its emotional punch and sizzling sensuality. She lives in the Midlands with the love of her life; her son, who recently graduated university; and a spoiled miniature dachshund. You can find her online at www.katherinegarbera.com and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Also by Katherine Garbera

Tycoon Cowboy’s Baby Surprise

The Tycoon’s Fiancée Deal

Craving His Best Friend’s Ex

One Night with His Ex

One Night, Two Secrets

One Night to Risk It All

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Her One Night Proposal

Katherine Garbera

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-008-90430-2

HER ONE NIGHT PROPOSAL

© 2020 Katherine Garbera

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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For Rob, love of my life and my partner in crime.

I’m so glad to be sharing this journey with you.

I don’t know that I would have finished this book on

time without my afternoon sprints with Renee Ryan,

Cindy Kirk and Nancy Robards Thompson.

Thank you for inspiring me to stay on track and get my

word count every day.

Also, a special thank-you to my editor,

Charles Griemsman, for his insight and judicious

editing that makes my books shine!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

Acknowledgments

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

About the Publisher

One

Lunch with her family was always one of the highlights of Iris Collins’s week. It was a Wednesday afternoon tradition that had started when she and her twin sister, Thea, were home from boarding school and had followed them into adulthood. They always dined at the club in her father’s high-rise office building in the financial district of Boston. Hal Collins was the sole owner and proprietor of Collins Combined, a firm that focused on long-term investments in publicly traded companies.

Iris’s phone pinged just as she entered the lobby of the building. She pulled it out of the pocket of her sheath dress and glanced down at the screen to see it was from her so-called boyfriend. She put the phone back in her pocket as her sister came over to hug her.

“I knew you’d be early. I figured I’d get here first so we could chat before Mom and Dad get here,” Thea said. “We haven’t talked since your trip with Graham. How’d it go?”

“Okay,” Iris said.

“Just okay?”

Actually, less than okay if she were honest. During their Bermuda vacation, Graham had pushed her to be more adventurous in bed and that had ended badly. He’d gone down to the bar to drink all night while Iris had sat on the balcony alone listening to the waves. She was trying to keep things going with him until her college roommate’s wedding in ten days’ time. Graham was her plus one at all the events and she was a bridesmaid so it could get awkward if they broke up. She knew the bride, Adler Osborn, had planned for them to attend as a couple and the last thing that Iris wanted to do was add any extra stress for her friend.

Her phone pinged again, and her smart watch vibrated on her arm. She glanced down to see it was another message from Graham.

“Speak of the devil,” she said, pulling her phone out to read the text while Thea looked over her shoulder.

Listen, things aren’t working out between us, so I’m done with dating you. I hope you understand.

“Are you kidding me?” Thea said. “He’s breaking up with you over a text.”

Iris wished she could be surprised but was relieved instead. She quickly typed, Sure, I understand.

Great. Figured you’d get it.

“Get what?”

“Nothing,” Iris said to her sister. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about sex in the lobby of their father’s building. She was starting to wonder if she was the prude that Graham had labeled her...and did that matter to her?

Thea took her phone from her before she could stop her, typing in a quick message.

That’s okay I want more from life than you can offer.

“Thea. Give me back my phone.”

She saw the dancing dots that meant Graham was responding and her stomach felt tight. There was no way he was going to take that kind of insult without replying. That was just the kind of person he was.

That’s okay I want someone who’s not beige, boring and basic. Bye, bitch.

Thea reached for her phone, but Iris just held it away from her and texted back the thumbs-up emoji.

“Why did you do that?” Iris said to her sister. “He was my plus one. I’m going to have to deal with him not being there.”

“Who do you have to deal with?” their mother asked as she came up behind them and hugged them both. Always larger than life, Corinne Collins, known as Coco to her close friends and bridge group, was wearing Ralph Lauren.

“Graham. That guy I was dating.”

“He just broke up with her over text,” Thea added. “How rude.”

“Very rude. But not everyone pays attention to etiquette these days.”

“They don’t,” Iris said. “Where’s Dad?”

“He’s running late,” Mom said. “I warned him not to be too late or I’m taking you two on a shopping spree.”

They all laughed as it was a family joke between their parents from back in their early days when her father said time was money and her mom had said she agreed and liked to use her time to spend it.

As Iris followed her mom and her sister to the hostess stand at the entrance to the restaurant on the second floor, she was seething. How dare he say something so rude to her? Of course, she knew he thought she was boring...but basic? She was so not basic. She was Iris Collins, television lifestyle guru. Known for her trendsetting style and Instagram-worthy jet-setting.

She’d known he was douche bag when he’d suggested a three-way, but this was beyond.

Her mom saw a friend from her bridge club at the bar and went to chat with her, which meant that Thea and she were alone again.

“You need to bring someone so hot to the wedding. Show him who’s basic. I can’t believe he had the nerve to say that,” Thea said.

“Agree. But who? I don’t know anyone. I really don’t have time to cultivate a relationship in only ten days.”

“Let me think,” Thea said.

“It can’t be anyone I know,” Iris added. Graham knew most of the people she worked with.

“True. You should hire someone. Just be straightforward about it. Like a Julia Roberts movie. You can do that.”

“No,” Iris said.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s embarrassing, that’s why.”

“It’s not embarrassing. You could have a hot guy on your arm, and if you’re footing the bill, he has to behave the way you want him to,” Thea said. “I know some hot guys who might be interested.”

“Like who? You work at home with two cats,” Iris pointed out. Her sister ran a very successful blog about etiquette and deportment. There was a high demand for people who wanted to actually live the life in those swank Instagram photos they saw online, and Thea was in demand when it came to social events.

“I have friends,” Thea added.

“Thanks, Thea,” she said. “But I’ll sort this out. We don’t need to waste any more time on Graham.”

Their father arrived and they had a nice lunch. Iris had that feeling deep inside as she watched her parents holding hands under the table during coffee and dessert. That longing that she always felt. Was it too much to ask that she could find a partner? She wanted what they had but she seemed to attract men like Graham.

But for now, maybe Thea was right. She could find a hot guy to hire as her date for the wedding. It was only four days and three nights...

Zac Bisset hated being in Boston but there were times when real life intruded on his training schedule and he was forced to leave his yacht and deal with it. It didn’t matter that it was a perfectly nice June day. He was wearing a suit and loafers instead of a pair of swim trunks and bare feet. Being born into a family that had wealth, privilege and way too many constrictions had never suited Zac well. He’d found his escape on the sea, sailing. It was a passion he’d pursued through his college years. Then he’d joined an America’s Cup team from the UK and done that for the last few years, but he’d recently left the team to start his own bid.

Putting together an America’s Cup team was expensive. He could easily ask for and receive the money from his family’s company, Bisset Industries. But that money would come with too many strings. His father had been dying to get him to be more active on the board and the last thing Zac wanted was to answer to August Bisset. Or worse, his older brother Logan. He liked having the freedom to do his own thing.

But his options were limited. After the US-sponsored Oracle team won, Zac had craved creating his own team and putting together his own bid to win. He needed a big company to sponsor him or his own inheritance to make a successful run. Time was running out since they needed to already be training.

He left the meeting at the corporate offices of the large telecom company where he’d been discussing a sponsorship. When he got to the bar in the lobby and ordered a club soda, his phone pinged and then started buzzing as a slew of messages came in. The first was from his eldest brother, Darien, who was a politician and not in the family business; he wanted to meet up for drinks before their cousin’s wedding festivities kicked off. Then there was a message from the group chat he had with his teammates who were waiting for an update. The last was from his mom, saying she was on Nantucket at Gran’s place and urging him to come by early so they could have some mom-and-son time.

He rubbed the back of his neck, not interested in responding to any of them at the moment. Of course, his two favorite people in the family had reached out, which he appreciated. Logan and his dad wanted to boycott Adler’s wedding because she was marrying into the Williams family. They were the chief competitors of Bisset Industries; their business had been started by a man his father hated. So there was that.

Zac had no beef with the groom, so he’d volunteered to go to all the events. He liked a wedding party. With booze, pretty girls and lots of dancing, it was his kind of shindig. It was a destination wedding, so everyone was being put up at a luxury resort on Nantucket, the flagship of Williams Inc.’s newest venture. The groom and his family were slowly encroaching on every line of business the Bissets were in. But Zac’s youngest sibling and only sister, Mari, had been to a press party there a month ago and couldn’t stop singing the resort’s praises.

Which had done nothing to make Logan and his father happier about going. Family was trying at times and one of the reasons he preferred to stick to training for the America’s Cup.

He texted his teammates first. They had a group chat nicknamed the Windjammers. The team was pretty small at the moment, just Zac, Yancy McNeil and Dev Kellman. The three of them were in New England searching for sponsors and working on a new design for their yacht. The competition was won as much with skill on the seas as it was with the aerodynamic design of the craft.

No-go on the money. Got one more meeting before we are going to have to brainstorm more options.

Yancy was the first to respond.

Damn. I have some feelers out. Heard from a friend that she has someone who is looking for a long-term investment. I’ll text you the deets.

Dev quickly chimed in.

I don’t have any leads but I do have some margaritas ready to go once you both get back to the Blind Faith.

Zac wrapped up the chat with, Thanks. I’ll check out your lead, Yancy.

Yancy texted over the information as Zac signaled the waiter for a refill of his soda water. He glanced up, his breath catching in his throat as he saw the blond woman walking into the bar. She wore a formfitting dress with tiny sleeves that left her long arms bare. She was tan and fit, and she moved with confidence and purpose. Their eyes met and she stopped, her lips parting in a slight smile. Her eyes were blue like the seas around the southern island of New Zealand. Her mouth was...damn, all he could stare at now. Her upper lip was fuller than her bottom one and it seemed to him that she was very kissable. All he could think about was how her mouth would feel under his.

He stretched his legs under the table and looked away. Yeah, he’d been at sea for too long if his first thought when seeing a woman was kissing her. He needed to get himself under control before he was surrounded by family for a week.

He heard footsteps and looked up, expecting to see the waiter, but it was the woman. She smelled good up close like the summer blossoms in his mother’s garden at the house in the Hamptons. She had a direct kind of gaze that he liked. He wasn’t a timid man and he didn’t always know how to deal with people who were. Up close he could see that her hair wasn’t truly blond but darker shades of caramel were shot through it. It curled around her shoulders and he noticed how slim her neck was and the tiny necklace with a flower charm on it.

Iris was still thinking about her sister’s outrageous advice as she went to the bar across town after lunch. She glanced around the room; it was midafternoon, and she was meeting her “glam squad” to go over her prep for the wedding in Nantucket. The fact that Adler’s wedding was going to be televised and there would be lots of vloggers and online society gossip websites meant that she was going to have to be camera-ready at all times.

She’d built her own platform over the last five years, working her way up from an assistant to Leta Veerland to her having her own style television show. Leta had taken reality television by storm in the late 1990s and early 2000s, starting out by showcasing her sister Jaqs’ bridal designs. She had set a standard that many young video channel content creators tried to emulate, with her style and advice on creating the perfect personal habitat. Iris had learned from Leta that she had to always look the part when she walked out her door, even if she was only going to the grocery store. If one of her viewers saw her acting or looking in a way that contradicted her brand image, then she’d lose her believability.

Thea texted to say she’d found a guy who would be her date for the entire weekend for a thousand dollars. She tucked her phone away, not at all interested in some guy her sister found for her.

She glanced around and didn’t see her makeup artist, KT, and her stylist and personal assistant, Stephan, so she headed toward one of the tall tables in the back. She almost stumbled when she saw the hunky blond sitting in one of the large leather club chairs near the entrance. He had a clean-shaven, chiseled jaw. His hair was long and brushed the tops of his shoulders, but it was clean and lustrous and reminded her of a Viking...not the pillaging kind but the hot, yummy kind.

Make him an offer he can’t refuse.

Thea’s voice whispered through her head and she shook it to dispel her sister’s ridiculous idea. It absolutely wasn’t happening.

But now that Thea had planted the seed, Iris did sort of wonder if she could do it. She ran a multimillion-dollar business. She remembered something her mom had said when she had started to make real money as a social media influencer: don’t be afraid to pay people to do the things you need done.

Technically there was nothing wrong with showing up at a destination wedding without a date. But the wedding was going to be televised. She was getting ready to launch a domestic goddess–themed range of products and a book. Everyone from her management team to her own staff were looking at the numbers that said she was stagnating while her competition made advances. People like Scarlet O’Malley, the heiress and social media influencer, who was now married and expecting her first child. Iris’s peers—her competition—were moving on from single-girl-in-the-city to new-wife-and-mama and she was still stuck in...boring-and-basic land.

Ugh!

If she showed up with someone like the Viking on her arm, it would be a boost to her social image, and it would give her a man to pose with. She could even frame it as a business deal...

He glanced up and caught her staring and she smiled at him. He winked and smiled back. She walked over to him. She wished she’d paid more attention to that movie her mom had made them watch on girls’ night... Indecent Proposal. She needed to channel her best Robert Redford...or she could Pretty Woman him and be Richard Gere.

Confidence was key. She could be confident. Hadn’t she convinced her parents to let her start her own YouTube channel when she was fourteen?

“Hello,” she said. She’d charm the socks off him, she thought. Glancing down at his feet she saw he hadn’t worn socks with his loafers. Fate was giving her a sign that she wouldn’t mess this up.

“Hi. Want to join me?” he asked.

She glanced at her watch. She had about fifteen minutes until she’d have to call her team. And Thea’s idea was there, nagging at her...though really, if she was going to do this, she had to stop thinking of it as Thea’s idea.

“Sure, but only if you’ll allow me to buy you a drink,” she said.

“I’m never one to turn down a pretty lady,” he said, standing and holding out a chair for her to join him.

“You aren’t?” she asked.

“Not at all.”

“Have you ever regretted that?” she asked. This man seemed daring, just like the Viking she’d compared him too, but she knew that she might be seeing what she wanted to see and not the real man.

“Never. Sometimes it has turned out differently than I anticipated but that’s life, isn’t it?”

“Your life maybe. I’m pretty much always following a plan,” she said. She watched him, carefully trying to gauge his reaction. Was she seriously thinking about Thea’s outrageous suggestion?

Yes. She was.

“I’ve never been one to follow a plan,” he said.

“How does that work?”

“I go where the wind takes me,” he said.

“The wind?”

“I’m a sailor and compete in yacht races,” he said.

Hah, she thought. She’d known he was a Viking and instead of pillaging he was out there conquering the sea.

“Like the America’s Cup?” she asked. She really didn’t know that much about yachting.

“Exactly like that. I’m currently putting together a team and looking for investors for my bid in four years,” he said.

He needed investors...

“Why are you asking?” he asked.

She took a deep breath. If she was going to do this then she wasn’t going to find a better man than this guy. He looked good, he needed investors and she liked him. “I need a favor,” she said.

“And only a stranger will do?” he asked.

She noticed he had a pile of papers on the table in front of him and as she glanced down, she recognized it as a prospectus—the kind of document someone looking for investors would use to showcase their product. She quickly looked away as he sat back down and straightened the papers, turning them facedown on the table.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to read your stuff,” she said.

“No problem. But you mentioned you need a favor. I’m already intrigued. Please sit down and then you can tell me all about it,” he said.

She sat down, crossing her feet at her ankles and keeping her back straight. Her father had once said that posture was the first step to giving off the air of confidence. She swallowed and then took a deep breath. She had to be careful: sexual harassment went both ways and she didn’t want to come across like she was propositioning him.

“I’m going to make you an offer that you can’t refuse,” she said. Wasn’t that what Robert Redford had said? Was that right? Wasn’t that the line?

“What are you, the Godfather?”

“No, I’m trying to say I need a man for the weekend, and if that prospectus is any indication you’re looking for investors, you need some money, so... I’m making a mess of this.”

“Is this an indecent proposal?”

Two

She blushed and blinked at him and then sat up even straighter and tipped her head to the side. “It’s more of a business proposal that is personal in nature.”

He’d been propositioned before but usually by women who wanted entrée into his jet-set world.

“I’m intrigued,” he said. And he wasn’t lying. This woman was beautiful. And though the fact that she was offering him money out of the blue was crazy, it was a nice fantasy to think of someone like her sponsoring his America’s Cup bid, not a bloodless corporation or his controlling father.

“I’m going to a destination wedding and I need a date. It’s four days, three nights, and I’m willing to invest in your project there in return for you accompanying me. It would be strictly for show. I’m not expecting you to do anything indecent.”

“Too bad. I sort of liked the idea,” he said. Funny, he was about to attend a wedding that was scheduled to run for the same amount of time. Was she attending Adler’s wedding, too?

Her shoulders stiffened and she sat up even straighter if that were possible. He liked her, he realized. She was different from the sporty women he usually hung out with, and though she was polished and clearly moved in the same social circles he’d grown up in, she felt different.

“Well, that’s not on the table,” she said.

“Why are you hiring a guy?” he asked. Frankly she didn’t seem like the type of woman who had to pay someone to be with her, and if she was, what was he missing?

“It’s a long story,” she said. “And I really don’t want to get into all the details. Suffice it to say, I was dating someone, and he broke up with me and I don’t want to go stag to this event. It’s televised and I’m filming while I’m there so...”

“It’s about image?” he asked, a bit disappointed because she’d seemed to be more real than that. But he’d been fooled before so he shouldn’t be too surprised.

She shook her head. “Yes, but it’s not what you think. It’s my business. I’m a lifestyle guru... I have a show and line of products and my mentor’s sister designed the wedding dress so I’m doing an entire behind-the-scenes thing. If it was just me and not all the other brand stuff, I wouldn’t care.”

“Who are you?” he asked. “I hope you don’t mind me asking but I’ve been out of the country and spend most of my time on the water.”

“I’m Iris Collins.”

He had heard of her, mainly from his sister, Mari, who had mentioned her as someone she wanted to grow her brand to be like. Which Zac had freely admitted he had no clue about. “I’m Zac.”

“Am I right in assuming you need investors for your America’s Cup bid?”

“Yes, I’m trying to find investors to fund my run. I have some new people and ideas I want to try,” Zac explained.

“I think I can help you with that,” she said.

“Lifestyle guru-ing pays that well?”

“Very well,” she said with a laugh. “Which is another reason why I really need to present the right image. It would mainly involve you dressing up and holding my hand. Maybe there’d be a kiss or two but I just need someone to be my partner at all the events.”

He was 100 percent sure that his answer had to be no. He didn’t need Carlton Mansford—his father’s PR-spin doctor—to explain that hiring himself out as a date for the weekend wasn’t going to play well if it ever got out. And he’d been a Bisset long enough to know that this kind of thing wouldn’t stay a secret.

He had to come clean with her. Let her know he wasn’t desperate for money.

“I...”

He trailed off. He wanted to let her know it was a no-go but didn’t want to embarrass her. Under different circumstances he’d have asked her out to dinner, but this wasn’t that time. He had a problematic wedding of his own to attend, and he needed to really focus on getting serious investors for his team, not a nice lady who had some money to pay him for a weekend together.

She gave him a wry smile. “Don’t say anything else. I knew it was a long shot. My sister said I should be Richard Gere and find myself someone pretty to have on my arm.”

“She’s right. But I’m not that guy,” he said.

She nodded. “Thank you for your time. And the drink is of course on me.”

She got up and walked away with way more class and elegance than he knew he could ever muster. She held her head high and back straight as she went over to the bar area.

Then there was a commotion near the entrance, and he noticed a TV cameraman and several photographers entering as the seating hostess tried to stop them.

They made a beeline for Iris and Zac turned to watch them.

“Ms. Collins, rumor has it that you were dumped by Graham Winstead III?” one of the paparazzi shouted out. “Will this affect the launch of your new Domestic Goddess line? How can you claim to know anything about domestic bliss when you’re—”

“Boys, please. Rumors are just that. Rumors. I’m not going to deign to answer them. As my father always says, keeping your ear close to the ground and listening is good business, repeating what you heard is asking for trouble.”

Iris Collins smiled winningly at the cameras and then glanced at her watch. “I have to run. I’m meeting someone important.”

She turned and started to walk past the paparazzi, but bumped into a table and lost her balance. Zac was on his feet before he had a chance to remind himself he’d already decided this was a bad idea.

But somehow watching her maintain her poise and dignity as she dealt with the gossip had made him forget that. He wanted to know more about this woman. He caught her and pulled her into his arms, looking down into her startled face.

“Angel face, I’ve got you,” he said, making sure he only looked at her.

Angel face?

She clung to his big shoulders and automatically smiled but she was pretty sure she looked like Jared Leto’s version of the Joker from Suicide Squad. Being ambushed in person wasn’t something she’d ever get used to. She preferred to deal with this kind of gossip online when she could rant to her assistant, then just smile and type out a response. Even more embarrassing had been the fact that she knew that Zac had overheard it all.

She’d pretty much used up all of her stores of bravado talking to the paparazzi and the last thing she wanted now was to make things worse. There was a knot in the pit of her stomach, and she was angry. And she couldn’t help it; ever since she was a young girl, when she got mad, she cried. She blinked a number of times, refusing to let anyone see tears in her eyes.

Including Zac, but he seemed to get that she needed someone at her side. And here he was, holding her and calling her angel face. She had been doing photo-calls for her blog and TV show for the last five years so she was polished and professional or at least she hoped she was on the outside. Inside she wanted to hammer out the details. Did this mean he would come with her to the wedding?

“Thanks,” she said, straightening back up. But he continued to hold her close to him.

“Go with it,” he said.

“Did you change your mind?” she asked, staring into his blue eyes and hoping that he had. Though a part of her wanted him just for her own, this was easier. No messy feelings, no falling for someone who thought she was basic. Just a simple exchange of favors.

“Yes,” he said under his breath.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted the biggest, juiciest, showiest kiss on his lips that she could. She knew it had to look good for the paparazzi and she put everything she had into it. She thought he was surprised at first, but then he dipped her low, his tongue sliding over hers, and she forgot about the cameras and the game. Forgot everything but the fact that this man was holding her in his arms, and he made her feel alive.

He straightened them both up and she still felt dazed. She had no problem ignoring the paparazzi, who were calling out questions to them as they walked out of the bar. He just sort of directed her and she followed. As soon as they were on the street, a large Bentley pulled up and a driver got out and opened the door.

“Sir.”

“Malcolm,” Zac said as he held the door open and she slid in the backseat.

As soon as the door closed behind them and they were on their way, she grabbed her phone and texted someone. Then she turned to him.

“Sorry, I was supposed to meet my hair and makeup people back there. I just texted them to cancel. Now what’s going on? Who are you? Did you really agree to be my date for four days? I’m pretty sure you don’t need the money...unless you’re a professional gigolo—you’re not, right?”

He rubbed his finger over his lips and just stared at her as if he couldn’t stop thinking about their kiss. If she were 100 percent honest, she couldn’t either, but she wanted to pretend nothing had happened. She was beige, right? She didn’t kiss a stranger and feel instant passion like this. It was probably a fluke, she thought. Yeah, a total fluke.

“You asked me to help you out in exchange for investing in my project,” he said. “I wasn’t going to do it, but when I saw what you were up against, I couldn’t resist.”

“Are you doing this out of pity?” she asked. If so, she was turning into a total loser. She really should never have started this whole indecent-proposal thing.

“No, I’m doing it for money,” he said, winking at her.

Damn, he was so handsome for a minute she just smiled back at him and then his words sunk in. “But do you need money? You’re not a gigolo, are you?”

“I don’t know anyone younger than my grandmother who uses that word.”

“I don’t like the term man-whore,” she quipped. “Listen, just answer me. Do you take money from women to hang out with them?”

“Just you,” he said.

He was being cute, and she couldn’t blame him, but this situation had just gone from a jokey idea to reality and she was committed because those photos of the two of them were going to go viral. Having him by her side would seriously save her bacon, but at the same time it created a bunch of issues she and her team were going to have to deal with.

“Glad to know I’m special. Where are we going?” she asked as she realized the driver seemed to be making a big circle around downtown.

“Wherever you want to discuss this,” he said. “Malcolm will keep driving until we give him a location, right?”

“Yes, sir. Ma’am, where should I take you?” the driver asked her, without taking his eyes from the road.

“Take us to Collins Commons,” she said, naming her father’s compound in the financial district. They could discuss the details in one of the conference rooms there. Her phone started blowing up with texts and she glanced at them. Her team wanting to know where she was and who that hottie was with her.

“What’s at Collins Commons?” he asked.

“My father’s office. We can discuss your project, my investment in it and what I will need from you this weekend,” she said. “I think it’s best to get that all in writing so that we don’t have any confusion.”

“This weekend?”

“Yes. The wedding is the Osborn-Williams one on Nantucket.”

Zac stared at her for a long moment and seemed to be pondering something but he finally just took a deep breath and nodded more to himself than to her.

“Your dad does this kind of thing?” Zac asked.

“Investments and contracts, yes. Hiring a man for the weekend, no. I think I’m the first one in our family to do this.”

Zac had to give her props for recovering quickly; he realized there was much more to Iris Collins than met the eye. She had handled the online-gossip-site stringers with more aplomb that he ever had. He had seen her mask slip only once and that was when he kissed her.

She was attending his cousin’s wedding. He should tell her who he was, but then she might not believe he really wanted outside investors. They were still essentially strangers and telling people he was a Bisset, had complicated his life in the past.

He knew the embrace was meant to be all show for the photographers, but he’d never been good at hiding the truth of who he was. He was ambitious and some would say militant when it came to what he wanted. But then he was a Bisset, and even though he hadn’t gone into the family business, he’d brought the cutthroat Bisset drive with him to the world of competitive sailing.

But this was an entirely new situation and he was trying to be chill until he got the lay of the land. The conference room they were led to in the Collins Commons building was well appointed. Not unlike the massively impressive boardroom in the Bisset Industries headquarters in New York.

He knew that at some point he needed to clear up who he was, but not yet. He was enjoying this. She’d wrested control back from him, and though it was counter to his nature, there was something about her that fascinated him.

Maybe it was that for the first time since he’d left Team GB and came back to New England to start his own team, he wasn’t facing a choice that he didn’t want to make. He had always been the kind of man who forged his own path. He’d known from watching Larry Ellison’s attempts to win the America’s Cup with his Oracle backing that it wouldn’t be easy. But he hadn’t realized how hard it would be to convince investors to take a chance on him without Bisset Industries’ money also backing him.

He had always been able to make things happen without his father’s assistance. It had been a point of pride for him and now... Well, unless he missed his guess, Iris had the connections to the kind of investors he needed. All he had to do was be her date for a long weekend. Simple enough.

Except his family would be at this wedding and, though he kept his private life private, the kind of splashy relationship she wanted from him...might raise questions. He had to make some decisions quickly.

“Are you freaked out now?” she asked.

“Aren’t you?” he countered.

“Yes. I am. Listen, you were so sweet to come to my rescue when I tripped, but I’m not sure you know what you’ve gotten into,” she said.

He leaned back in the large leather chair and steepled his fingers across his chest in a move he’d seen his father make many times when facing an opponent in the boardroom. The fact that the opponent was usually his aunt or his mom had always made Zac smile, but right now he was glad to have that model to draw on.

“Tell me about it,” he said.

She nodded and stood up, moving to the other side of the large boardroom table and pacing in front of the windows that looked down on Collins Commons. The summer sun was filtered through the tinted windows but still provided enough light for him to admire her slim silhouette.

“As I mentioned, I’m a lifestyle television personality. My career started with a blog, and I was a personal assistant to Leta Veerland. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of her,” Iris said.

“I know her,” he said.

Leta Veerland was on par with Martha Stewart. She’d built her career in the 1980s and ’90s with her lifestyle books, monthly magazine and television show. Yeah, he’d heard of her. His mom had considered her the gold standard for entertaining and had emulated Leta Veerland at all her Hamptons summer parties and events.

“I figured. She’s a household name. Anyway, she wanted to cut back on the show and I transitioned into it and brought a younger, fresh perspective—her words—to it. And people seemed to respond. So, I’ve been doing this for about seven years now. My market has been growing from single-girl-in-the-city to coupledom-and-settling-down—”

“But you’re not in a couple?” he asked.

“Well, yes. I mean I was dating someone but that didn’t work out. And I’d been teasing that I’d reveal my new guy at this wedding that I’m a bridesmaid in. I’m also promoting a new product launch for brides-to-be and new wives so...”

“It would look really bad if you showed up stag,” he said. “Okay, that makes sense. So what exactly do you need from me if I do this?”

She turned around, and he noticed when she talked business there was none of that sweetness to her. She had a very serious go-getter expression that reminded him a lot of his father and his brother Logan when they were going in to close a deal.

“If? The paparazzi just caught us embracing. I’m afraid it’s you or no one else,” she said. “We just need to work out a price.”

He stood up and walked around the long conference table, taking his time. He had somehow gotten the upper hand and while he knew funding and financing an America’s Cup bid was way too high a price to ask her to pay for four days as her “boyfriend,” they were both in a position where there wasn’t an out.

She didn’t back up when he moved closer, not stopping until only an inch of space separated them. “I’m afraid what I need is very pricey.”

Three

Coming home to Nantucket was always bittersweet for Juliette Bisset. She and her mother, Vivian, had continually had a difficult relationship when they were in the city but on Nantucket they’d always been strangely close. Maybe it was the beach-hair-don’t-care attitude that seemed to infuse the island. Juliette had never really thought too much about it, had simply vowed she’d be less harsh if she had a daughter of her own, something she’d failed at.

Her younger sister, Musette, had loved it here as well when she was alive. She’d been gone almost twenty-five years now. Juliette still missed her even though during the last few years of Musette’s life, it had been difficult to love her and not live with the constant fear that she was going to kill herself with her reckless lifestyle.

“I figured I’d find you out here.”

Juliette turned around to see her niece, Adler, standing there. Musette’s daughter. She was the reason the entire family was descending on the island.

Adler’s was going to be a no-holds-barred, celebrity-studded, televised ceremony. And as if that wasn’t enough to cause stress, she was also marrying into the family of Juliette’s husband’s business rival. It was completely insane and yet seemed perfectly normal considering she was Musette’s daughter. A part of Juliette imagined her sister, who’d never like August Bisset, chuckling in glee at the fact that her daughter was marrying into his rival’s family.

“I can’t help thinking about your mom this week as we are all here for your wedding.”

“Me too. I miss her,” Adler said.

Juliette put her arm around Adler and hugged her close. “Me too. I feel like she’s here with us.”

“I hope so,” Adler said. “That’s one of the reasons why I picked Nantucket for the wedding. This is where we were always happiest when she was still alive.”

“I’m hoping the gardenias bloom in time for my wedding bouquet,” Adler said.

Juliette knew that Musette used to leave the blossoms in Adler’s nursery when she was a little girl. “I’m sure they will.”

Adler turned away to the other headstones in the private family cemetery. This land had been in the Wallis family for six generations and most of their ancestors were buried here.

“Why is this gravestone blank?” Adler asked.

Juliette’s stomach felt like lead and her throat tightened. That tiny gravestone held her deepest, darkest secret. “It’s for a baby who was stillborn.”

“Oh. That’s sad. Was it Gran’s?” Adler asked.

“No, it wasn’t,” Juliette said. “Let’s get back up to the house before that storm blows in.”

Adler slipped her arm through Juliette’s as they walked back up the cobblestone path toward the house. Adler was talking about her wedding and the last-minute things she needed to do in the three days before all of her guests arrived. But Juliette’s mind was elsewhere—back there with that tiny unmarked gravestone. There were times when she’d wished she’d never hidden that baby.

But there were other actions she’d taken...things that couldn’t be undone, so her little stillborn baby boy would always be hidden there.

They went through the house’s beachside entrance, switching their sandy shoes for slippers that the butler, Michael, thoughtfully left for them. As soon as they entered the hallway, Dylan, Vivian’s corgi, ran toward them. Adler dropped down to her knees, petting Dylan and getting several sloppy kisses.

Juliette petted Dylan, as well.

“Nice walk, Juliette?” her mother asked as she entered the hallway. Vivian was in her seventies but looked younger. She wore a pair of slim-fitting white jeans and a chambray shirt that she had loosely tucked in on one side. While on Nantucket and in beach mode, she let her naturally curly blond hair actually stay curly instead of having it straightened by her lady’s maid, Celeste, each morning. She held a martini glass in one hand, and as she came closer to Juliette, she reached over and gave her a loose hug.

Then her mom did the same with Adler but added an air kiss. Juliette had compared herself to others for so many years, and for a moment she started to let the old feelings of jealousy well up before she shoved them aside. She had a daughter of her own that she was finally getting close to. Something she’d never expected to happen at the ripe old age of sixty-one.

“Martini, girls?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Adler said.

“Definitely,” Juliette said. This weekend was going to be hard for her in more ways than one, but she was going to do her best to face it with charm and a smile firmly in place.

“When is August coming?” her mom asked when they were all seated in the sunroom.

“I’m not entirely sure. He and Logan have a meeting with a client this week and they will be coming together,” Juliette said.

She and her husband were enjoying a new closeness since he’d stepped down and handed the reins of Bisset Industries over to their son, Logan.

“I hope Logan and Uncle August are nice,” Adler said. “Zac promised he’d help me ride herd on his older brother, but you know how Logan can be.”

“I do. He’s so much like your uncle,” Juliette said, trying not to let her mind linger too long on that thought.

“How pricey will it be for you to join me?” Iris asked Zac as they continued their negotiation. She was trying to stay focused on business but he smelled good and that kiss earlier... How she’d felt when he’d kissed her kept distracting her. Was it a fluke? That was the one thought that was going through her head.

His mouth continued to be a distraction. It was firm looking, but his lips had been so soft when he kissed her. Had she just imagined it? She wasn’t sure that hiring a man to be her date at the wedding was a good idea. She’d barely kissed Zac and she was already losing her focus on the big prize. She had to hustle to stay ahead of the competition. And instead of worrying about that she was wondering about his kiss.

Focus, girl.

“I’m actually putting together my own team for the America’s Cup.”

She blinked. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting to hear. She knew very little about the America’s Cup except that the CEO of Oracle had won for the United States a few years ago and that it had taken him a lot of money and time. “Is that what you do for a living? Sailing? Or is this a new hobby?”

“Yes, it’s my job. I have some other interests as well, but the bulk of my time is spent training and participating in yachting competitions around the world. I’ve been in Australia for the last few years and I had hoped to captain the team I’d been training with, but they went in a different direction and I’m not really that great at taking orders so I’m doing my own thing. I need investors to help sponsor us.”

“Okay. I think I can help,” she said. “Actually, my dad manages all of my investments and I think this might be something that he would be interested in. He’s always trying to diversify but this is niche.”

“It is,” he said. “You want your dad to know you hired me?”

“No. What I’m now thinking is that you and I would be together the four days at the wedding and then, since this is going to be a big investment, could we possibly extend the arrangement for, say, three months to get through my new product launch? Then you could go off to do your yachting and we could drift apart but it won’t look like it was just for the wedding,” she said. Now that she knew what he wanted, it was easier to get her head where it needed to be. She turned away from him and moved to the sideboard where she knew pens and paper were kept.

She took two legal pads out and pens and then hit the intercom button on the phone and rang her father’s assistant.

“Hello, Bran. It’s Iris. Could we send some refreshments into the small conference room and I’ll need some time on my dad’s schedule in an hour or so,” she said.

“Certainly, Iris. I’ll get some fresh fruit and those cookies you like sent up. Shall I also bring in cold beverages and some coffee?” he asked.

She looked over at Zac. “Do you want coffee?”

“That’d be great,” he said.

“Yes, please. Coffee for two.”

“Certainly, Iris,” Bran said, hanging up.

She walked back to the table and pushed one of the pads of paper and a pen across to Zac, and then pulled out a chair for herself. He took the paper and pen, then came around and sat down next to her.

Dang, but he was impossible not to watch as he moved. He had a lithe, masculine grace. She was still staring when he sat down next to her.

“What are we doing?”

She shook her head. She had to get over this ridiculous attraction to him. He would be an employee like KT or Stephan. She had to treat him as such.

“I thought we could each write down the things we need. I know you already have a prospectus. Do you have a profit-and-loss sheet?”

“I do,” he said.

“Good. How do you feel about the three months?”

“I’m not even sure what it is you want from me,” he said.

“I need you to be my boyfriend in public. Take photos with me, of course. You’d have to give me permission to use them on all social platforms. There are four days of events at the wedding, so I’d want you there at all times by my side. Once the wedding is over, I’m thinking we’ll need one or two dates a week, as well as some cute social media exchanges and maybe a couple of live videos so I can keep us relevant. My product launch is in six weeks and once it does, I’ll be traveling and doing events. We won’t be together so maybe we can do some exchanges on social media again and possibly, if it works for your schedule, you could fly out and meet me at one of my appearances. I will give you the full schedule so we can see if that works.”

“Uh, I don’t know about that. Being your boo for the weekend is one thing, but all that other stuff is a big commitment. I’ll have to start hiring my team and get to work on having the yacht I’ve designed manufactured. My time is going to be pretty well spoken for. I can do the wedding but beyond that you are on your own.”

“Forget it then. I need someone... Actually now that you were photographed with me, I need you, Mister... I don’t know your last name,” she said.

“It’s Bisset. My dad is—”

“Mr. Bisset, I don’t think we need to go into families right now. All I’m interested in is the details. I’m going to be giving you a large amount of money, you are going to have to work for it.”

“You are investing in my racing team, Iris,” he countered. “You will see a profit from it when I win. I’m doing this as a favor because I like you, angel face.”

He leaned in closer and she felt the brush of his minty breath across her cheek. “I think you like me too or you wouldn’t have suggested this in the first place.”

Her skin was as soft as it looked and the more time he spent with Iris, the happier he was with his gut decision to help her out. He hadn’t liked watching the paparazzi question her, but he knew that was in no small part due to the way that they had treated his own little sister, Mari. Mari had had an affair with a married man when she was younger, and the press had sniffed that story out and made her life a living hell for a while.

As much as he knew that everyone seemed to live for the latest tea, he didn’t like it. His sister said that being in the spotlight meant taking the good with the bad, but he wasn’t sure about that. And because he wasn’t going to lie to himself, that kiss between him and Iris had been hot. Hell, hotter than he’d expected. He didn’t want to just walk away. But hanging out with her at the wedding was one thing. Three months of fake dates and appearances would be hard to maintain.

He wasn’t at the point in his life where he wanted to focus on anything but winning the America’s Cup and that meant his next few years were taken. But she wasn’t going to back down; he could easily read the determination in her eyes. And as she’d said, now that they’d been photographed together, it was either him or no one. And he didn’t want to leave her in the lurch.

“I do like you,” she said, at last, touching her finger to his lip and then drawing her hand back.

A tingle went through him at her touch.

“So then. Let’s make this work,” he said, shifting back because he couldn’t allow this to be anything more than a business deal. He needed investors and unless she was lying—and Iris didn’t strike him as a woman who would make things up—she could provide solid backing. This place belonged to her father; she had real money on the table. He would make the three-month arrangement work.

“Yes, let’s,” she said. “I’m going to make a list of every event I need you at for the next three months. You jot down your schedule, as well.”

“Before we do that, shouldn’t we make sure that your investors are on board?” he asked. “Or did you anticipate that it would just be yourself?”

“Um, yes, of course,” she said. “Let me see what you have. I think an investment group would be better, but I’ll ask my dad.”

He handed her his prospectus and she started going over it, making notes off to one side of her notepad. He watched as she flipped through the prospectus and the profit-and-loss sheet. Finally she sat back. “Okay I think you’ve got a solid plan here. I’m not sure why you weren’t able to secure investment on your own.”

“Me neither,” he said.

“I wanted to sort our part of the arrangement out first, but I think my dad is going to need some time to look into this. So let’s get him in here and we can discuss that. Regardless of his opinion, I will be investing in your run.”

“Why?”

“Because you are going to help me out,” she said. “I like a man who honors his word, and from what I’ve read in this document, you are qualified and know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not looking for handouts.”

“You’re not getting it. I’m not a passive investor. I’ll be looking for updates quarterly.”

“You will?”

“Yup, but don’t worry, you’ll be hanging out with me a lot so I can keep up to date,” she said, with a wink. She pushed her chair back and stood up, but he stopped her with his hand on her wrist.

That electric tingle went up his arm again and his touch drew her off balance. She started to fall and he caught her and steadied her as he stood up. “I don’t want you to think you’re the boss.”

“Why not? I clearly am. I’m going to work up an employment contract for the next three months for our personal arrangement,” she said. “And we will have the investment contract separately, okay? You were right. I don’t want my dad to know about this. It would be better for everyone if it seemed like you were into me.”

“I am,” he said.

“Perfect, keep that up,” she said. “I’ll go get my dad.”

“Not yet,” he said.

“What? Why not?”

“Because you’re giving me credit for being a much better actor than I really am,” he said, putting his hand on her waist and waiting to see if she pulled away.

She didn’t. Instead she tipped her head to the side, watching him with those wide brown eyes of hers. She nibbled on her lower lip as she waited, and he was struck again that she was two very different women. Strong and confident in business, a little shy and reserved personally. Which of course made a certain kind of sense when he thought about her asking to hire him for the weekend.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” she said, putting her hand on his chest. But she didn’t push him away.

“Why not?”

“We’re pretending to be a couple,” she said. “I don’t want to blur the lines.”

“We have to make it look real,” he said. “If you push me away when I touch you, no one will buy the act.”

She nibbled her lower lip again and he bit back a moan. She turned him on like no one he’d been with in a long time. But he was here for business. Which was part of the point he’d been trying to make to her. They had to appear to be lovers even though they were strangers.

He’d also been determined to make his own path and that had sometimes led him astray, but he had to be honest, this detour was the most interesting one he’d found himself on. Pretend boyfriend/lover to a lifestyle guru...who knew?

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