The Tie That Binds: A Marriage of Convenience Novel

“What’s going on?” Linda whispers to Luke as she eyes me. Luke shakes his head with wide eyes, silently telling her to shut up. I’ve been in a bad mood today and I’d like to say that I’m better than taking it out on my colleagues, but I’m not. I feel terrible for snapping at them, but I can’t help it. Every time Kate giggles or Daniel smiles at her, my mood worsens. They’re more chatty today than they previously were, so it looks like they had a great time at the bonfire. They must have, since Daniel didn’t come home until well into the night and then disappeared for the rest of the weekend, coming home only to go straight to bed.

Daniel walks out of his office with a stormy expression on his face. “Alyssa, I asked you for the info on Takuya. Why is not on my desk yet?”

I lift my head and twist my desk chair towards him. “You asked for it fifteen minutes ago, Daniel. Do I look like a robot to you?”

He glares at me. “I didn’t ask for sass. I asked you to do your damn job. I should’ve had it on my desk five minutes ago.”

He storms back into his office and I try my best not to throw my apple at his head. Such an asshole.

The entire office is silent, and I sit up, staring them down. “What the hell are you all looking at? Help me get this shit done, damn it.”

They all turn back to their screens and start typing as furiously as I am. I’m enraged. Every little thing that comes out of his mouth makes me even more angry.

Twenty-five minutes later, I have the report in my hands. It required four people to get it done, so how he expected me to do it by myself in ten minutes is beyond me.

Jake hesitates and then looks at me. “I can go give him the report if you want.”

“Yeah, that would be great.” I smile at him gratefully, relieved I won’t have to face Daniel again. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get through a meeting with him without resorting to violence at this point.

I focus on the rest of my work as Jake walks into Daniel’s office. Within three minutes I hear Daniel shouting. Jake walks back out, his face scarlet. He looks like he might burst into tears any second. I inhale deeply and massage my temples. I should’ve expected that Jake wouldn’t know how to answer Daniel’s questions.

“Alyssa!” he shouts.

I pull a hand through my hair to compose myself before I walk into Daniel’s office, shutting the door behind me.

“You called for me?” I say. He’s standing by the window and turns to face me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look this angry. He never used to show any emotions at all, making it impossible to guess what he’s thinking. He’s got no problem showing his emotions today though. He’s snapping at me one minute and smiling at Kate the next.

“Explain to me why Takuya is threatening not to sign with us after all the effort we went through.”

So he asked for a five-page report and didn’t even bother to read the first couple of sentences? Fucking fantastic.

“Their R&D is through the roof and they have nothing to show for it. Their profitability has been decreasing every quarter since Mr. Takuya’s son took over. Looks like they’ll run into liquidity issues soon. They need us to save their company. They definitely won’t be able to do it themselves. We just need to convince them they need us. I suggest going in person. The issue will be more that Mr. Takuya’s son won’t want to admit to his failings, and he probably knows hiring us will result in that.”

I walk up to his desk and grab the report to show him my calculations and forecasts. I turn around as Daniel walks up to me. I take a step back until my hips hit his desk. He leans in and cages me in with his arms.

My heart starts racing at his proximity and I try my best not to show it. “What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Tell me why you’ve been so mean to me all morning,” he replies.

I place my hands against his chest to push him away but end up sliding my palms up to his shoulders.

“I’m not being mean.”

I didn’t realise it wasn’t just my colleagues I’ve been snapping at. I’ve been trying my best to keep things professional between Daniel and I, but I’ve been irrationally angry and jealous. Pretending to hide it has just resulted in me being irritable.

“You are. What’s got you so worked up?”

I shake my head and grab his tie, straightening it out. He’s so close. What would he do if I leaned in and kissed him? My eyes drop to his lips and I subconsciously lick mine.

I drag my eyes away and shake my head. “It’s nothing. I’m sorry. I didn’t realise I wasn’t behaving professionally, but then neither are you.”

He raises his brows and looks at me.

“You keep smiling at Kate and she keeps giggling at you. Do you think flirting at the office is appropriate?”

His eyes widen and I worry that I just gave myself away. “I’ve been treating her the same way I always have,” he says. He takes a step closer to me, closing the remaining distance between us. My body is pressed up against his and I love the way he feels against me so much that I struggle to hold on to my anger.

“So you’ve always been flirting with her and I only just noticed? No wonder you said you didn’t need to amend our rules to win the bet.”

Daniel buries a hand in my hair and shakes his head. “I’m not flirting with her, Alyssa. It’s just friendly banter.”

I laugh humorously and try to pull my hair out of his grip, but he won’t let me.

“Speaking of our rules. Sounds like you had a great time with Liam Evans.”

I glare at him. “It was for work. It wasn’t even just the two of us. Jake was there too.”

Daniel smiles. “Yeah, but you agreed to go out with him again, didn’t you? How are you going to accomplish that while still abiding by our rules?”

I push him away and walk to the window. “The same way you seem to be getting away with it. Asking Kate to the bonfire. Letting her put her arm around yours and sharing cotton candy? All the while making it obvious that your own wife is the third wheel. If you can do that, then why can’t I? Seems like your definition of not cheating is just not having sex with someone else. I’m pretty sure I can manage that.”

Daniel joins me by the window, an amused twinkle in his eyes that pisses me off more.

“Come to think of it. Where the hell have you been all weekend?” I snap.

He bites down on his lip and it looks an awful lot like he’s trying to hide a smile. He slips his hand in his pocket and takes out his wallet.

“I’ve been at home, sweetheart. In my own home, my apartment. Being at my mum’s is overwhelming at times. I needed a bit of rest and some time to clear my mind. I came back to sleep at my mum’s so we don’t breach the terms of the will. We can only stay away from each other a total of fifteen nights a year, so it’s best if we keep those for emergencies.”

He hands me a keycard with his apartment building’s logo on it. “You can keep this. It’s the access card for the building. The entrance to the apartment itself is through biometrics. Security is the same firm as your house and the Devereaux mansion, so I asked them to transfer your existing biometrics to my apartment as well.”

I waver, suddenly second guessing myself. He’s just been at home all weekend?

“Were you alone?”

Daniel nods and brushes a strand of my hair behind my ear before cupping my face. “Yep. You can check the guest log if you don’t believe me. There are cameras by the entrance as well. I registered your name to my residence so you’re formally a co-habitant of my apartment. You have access to all the same security feeds that I have access to.”

I shake my head. Like I’d ever go as far as checking camera recordings. I exhale in relief. At least he didn’t spend all weekend with Kate.

I lean into his hand and Daniel moves closer to me, his hand sliding over my skin until he’s holding the back of my neck.

“I didn’t realise living at your mother’s house would be tough on you. I guess it makes sense. You haven’t called it home in so long. Maybe we should stay at your apartment during weekdays at least? It’s closer to the office, anyway. We could stay at your mum’s on the weekends.”

Daniel looks at me gratefully and nods. “I’d really appreciate that, Alyssa. Let’s give that a try, and if you’re not comfortable there, we’ll move back.”

I nod and clear my throat, hesitating before I speak. “I think we should add some more details to the rules. Cheating from now on includes anything ranging from flirting to sleeping with someone else.”

Daniel grins and looks away. He looks shy and cute, and I hate how much I love his expression.

“Very well. If you say so, Wifey. Those rules apply to you too, though.”

My heart skips a beat at the endearment he uses and I blush. “I evaded Liam’s request by saying he couldn’t ask me out while he’s got a contract over my head, but it’s been signed now and he asked me to go celebrate with him. I thought of saying I’m seeing someone… but if in a few months I’m clearly not dating, then he’ll just think I was lying all along.”

Daniel takes a step closer and presses his body flush against mine. He looks down at me with an intense gaze that has my heart beating wildly. “So just date me, wife.”

I bite down on my lip and look away. “I — I guess we can think about our options when the time comes,” I stammer.

“Hmm, yeah. Think about that, Alyssa,” Daniel says.