His Indecent Proposal by Lynda Chance

Chapter One
    "What you need is a wife."
    David Bennett leaned back in his chair,
crossed his hands behind his head and gave his best friend and
legal counsel the kind of look that indicated he was insane.
    Craig Brantley continued. "Don't look at me
like you think I've lost my mind. Think about it, man. The board of
directors is trying to fuck you. You know it." He paused and then
continued with his opinion. "You should have this shit wrapped up
tight. The presidency should be yours. You've got the education and
the experience. Fuck, you've got the family dynasty behind you.
Your family owns the goddamn corporation. Not to mention you've
been single-handedly running the business for years."
    David contemplated the other man in silence.
What his friend was voicing out loud was nothing new to him. He was
experiencing a reversed form of nepotism. The reason the board of
directors were dragging their feet was because he was family. He
was a Bennett.
    The old bastards were taking it one step too
far. They were considering handing the job to a younger man with
much less experience. A good, valuable employee, true. But Troy
Johnson didn't have the backbone it would take, much less the
ruthless drive to expand when the time was called for. It was a
fine line. Always a fine line. If you didn't expand, you were sunk.
If you expanded too quickly, you were sunk. Johnson didn't have the
knowledge or the balls it would take to advance the company.
    It was a private corporation, and David's
frustration and resentment rose when he thought about the risk the
old dinosaurs on the board were taking by not seeing the forest
because of the trees. They were not only fucking around with him,
they were fucking with his preferred stock, his inheritance, and
his family name.
    He steadily concentrated on the man sitting
in front of his desk. "How do you think a wife would help me?"
David asked.
    Craig leaned back and crossed a large, booted
foot over his knee. "It's simple, man. They see you as a risk
because you're not settled. You're nothing but a player to the old
geezers. A liability. They listen to the rumors. Your exploits get
magnified ten times before they get back to the board. Johnson's
steady. He has a wife and the designated two-point-five kids. A
house with a yard. A goddamn dog ." He paused and
crossed his arms over his chest for emphasis. "You've got to get
that shit, David. You need to get a wife, and quick-fast."
    David raised a semi-amused eyebrow. "And
where the hell am I supposed to find her? 1-800-HOTWIFE?"
    Craig raised his eyebrows and responded
seriously. "You've got women coming out of the damn woodwork. Just
choose one."
    David scowled. "I pay you a shitload of money
to keep you on retainer. Is this the best idea you can come up
with?"
    "Yeah. You pay me a ton of money to have your
back. I'm telling you what you have to do to win this fight. I'll
have the pre-nup ready in two days. Choose a girl, man."
    ****
    Jenna Marie Hardin sat at her desk at work
and rummaged through her bottom drawer. It was past lunch time, she
was starving, and as usual, she didn't have any money. She usually
kept ramen noodles, microwave popcorn and cups of macaroni and
cheese for such occasions. The problem was, she had been having a
lot of such occasions lately. Her drawer was depressingly
empty.
    Frustration gripped her. She liked to think
of herself as relatively smart. How the hell she had ended up in
this situation was a mystery. Not a complete mystery, but as time
passed, her debt had only grown, and her circumstances were dire.
Why the hell didn't they make seniors in high school take a basic
financial class? Then maybe she wouldn't have listened when
everyone told her to take out student loans. It's okay. Go to a
good college and take out loans . Then when you get an
awesome job, you can repay them. Sure. That was working out
real well for her.
    Now, the whole college thing just seemed like
a scam. And had she gone to a state school? No .