The Wealthy Frenchman's Proposition by Katherine Garbera Page B

with you, I’ll start to buy in to the fantasy you’ve written for us. I might start to really believe that I’m your fiancée, and that would be devastating for me when you leave.”
    “All relationships end.”
    “How do you figure?”
    “Even the strongest and most loving relationships end with death. So no matter what, everything is temporary.”
    “Tristan, that’s sad.”
    “What is?”
    “That you view life that way.”
    “It’s realistic, Sheri. Hell, if you were to admit it, you see things the same way.”
    She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
    “Even though you won’t leave your little brownstone?” he asked.
    “That’s different. I don’t see relationships as temporary. I see them as unbalanced.”
    “I’m not following.”
    Sheri crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Tristan. His eyes were misty gray today because of the shirt he had on. He was so handsome, sometimes she worried that he’d wake up to the fact that there were a million gorgeous women in the world who’d gladly be his pretend fiancée and do whatever he asked of them.
    “My reality and that brownstone are tied together. I see relationships as unbalanced because I’ve always been the one to care more than everyone else. And in the end, they’ve all left me behind.”
    Tristan didn’t say anything and she felt like an idiot for revealing what she had.
    “I’m going to run down and get Maurice.”
    She walked out of the office and down the hall, trying to pretend that nothing had changed, but knowing that everything had.

    At the end of the day Tristan was tired. Sheri had made excuses to be away from her desk for most of the afternoon and he’d let her. There was work to do and he didn’t need the distraction that she presented.
    But in the back of his mind all he thought about was what she’d said about people leaving.
    He thought in terms of temporary because his life had always been in constant change. The only thing he really counted on was his friendship with Gui and Christos.
    And even that was changing, with Christos’s marriage. He was happy for his friend, but at the same time concerned for him. Christos had never allowed himself to love a woman before, not the way he was in love with Ava. Tristan hoped they had a lifetime together, but his experience had taught him that they probably wouldn’t.
    There was a knock on his door.
    “Enter.”
    The door opened to reveal Sheri. “I need your signature on these papers before I leave for the night.”
    She was all business. Until this afternoon, he hadn’t realized how much of her personality she hid when she was in the office. It was only because of the last three weeks, when he’d seen so much more of her, that he now knew that.
    She handed him a folder and he opened it up. He glanced at the papers and realized he wasn’t reading them, so he closed the folder and pushed it aside.
    “Please have a seat, Sheri.”
    “Is something wrong?”
    “Yes. I have decided that I can’t allow you to continue living in Brooklyn. I have arranged for you to move into my place immediately.”
    She shook her head. “We’ve had this discussion.”
    “Exactly the problem. You need to be living with me.” The engagement was working exactly as he’d hoped it would. The tabloid press was being very kind to Sheri and everyone he knew was excited for him. For the first time since Cecile had died, he felt as if his life was on the right path. He wasn’t just running and trying to keep distance between himself and his life. And Sheri had given that to him.
    And their conversation earlier had made him realize that he hadn’t done the same for her. And that was not acceptable to him. Though he would never admit it, he liked the feelings she evoked in him. He knew they couldn’t be love, because they felt nothing like the emotions he’d had for Cecile. But he did care for Sheri, and her happiness was important to him.
    She nibbled on her lower lip. “What did I