The Marriage Sacrifice Read online

  She loved all kinds of animals. Dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs. She wasn’t big on the whole reptile thing, but no one had brought any of those to be rehomed.

  The animals just wanted to be loved, and helping them, showing them love, taking them for walks, it made her feel happy.

  “You know I can’t believe this,” her mother said.

  “What? This is the dress you picked,” Sage said, pointing at the length. If she wasn’t careful when she walked down the aisle, she’d trip and end up faceplanting the floor. That would be a great picture moment as she approached Dom.

  Why are you even thinking this wedding is going to go through?

  She had a plan to actually not attend her own wedding. She’d arrive, and while she was alone, she’d run away, getting as far away as possible so no one could drag her back to the church.

  But now, after spending some time with Dom, she could imagine herself falling flat on her face at her own wedding. She needed to get her head examined or something if her thoughts were going in that direction.

  “Yes, and I notice you’re not sticking to the diet. I told you only raw foods, and you’re not losing weight as fast as I told you you would.”

  “Mom, I don’t care about counting calories.” Sage was used to her mother’s complete lack of love and understanding. For her mother, she expected a slim daughter, and what she got was Sage. For herself, Sage loved her body and who she was. Not in a conceited way, but she had accepted who she was a long time ago. To have her mother constantly put her down annoyed her. So her weight was several pounds heavier than the average woman’s. Her tits were in double letters, and her hips were considered “child-bearing.” Not to mention her thighs, which liked to rub together if she wore a skirt or dress. It didn’t matter. Her mother would want one thing, while she was happy to be another.

  “You certainly don’t care about creating the right image either.” Her mother held up a newspaper.

  Sage couldn’t get a good look at it as she pulled the paper down.

  “How do you think this makes me and your father look? It’s good you and Dom are finally getting along, but to do this to your parents, I don’t know what we did wrong in raising you.”

  Sage rolled her eyes. This was how her mother went. It didn’t matter that her parents didn’t raise her. Nannies did, and the television. She couldn’t recall spending that much time with her mother.

  If she had, she probably wouldn’t have turned out this way.

  “Instead of berating me for all the bad things I’ve done to you, why don’t you tell me what it is you’re actually holding?”

  “This.” Her mother held the picture up. “Look at you. No makeup. Covered in cream. You’re not following the diet. You’re supposed to present a certain air of sophistication, Sage. You’re a Boyle, and as such you should be taking that into account when you go off and do these silly things.”

  Sage was hurt.

  The picture her mother had was of her and Dom, moments before, and during, and after the kiss. The pictures were like a movie wheel on the front page of the newspaper. It had been a long time since she’d been on the front cover of anything. The picture itself, in all of its unflattering glory, didn’t bother her.

  The moment she shared with Dom, the same one she’d been thinking about, time and time again—that was what bothered her.

  “Get me out of this.” She started to pull at the bodice of the dress.

  “Don’t. Be careful. There are pins.”

  “Get me out. I don’t want to be in this. Get me out.”

  Finally, seeing her panic, the woman helped her out of the dress. She slid out and rushed toward her own dress, quickly pulling it over her head.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to go and kill my fiancé.”

  “Sage, don’t be so dramatic.”

  “You better hope he’s in hiding because there won’t be a wedding.”

  She rushed out of the wedding shop without a backward glance. There was already a cab waiting for her, and she quickly got into it. She gave the driver the address to Dom’s building. On the way out, she snatched a copy of the paper.

  While she waited to go and commit murder, she stared at the picture. She had thought the moment they shared was real. Between just the two of them without any interference from the press, from their family.

  Dom had to have known they were there. Why would he have kissed her otherwise? She felt like a complete and total fool. Here she was, replaying the kiss in her head, and the whole time it had been a giant fucking lie.

  It pissed her off, and made her even more angry than before.

  Taking a deep breath, she tried to think past the pain.

  This was why she avoided the press. No, not avoided, she had simply never given them anything worthy to print.

  She paid the cab driver and entered Dom’s office building. She walked straight past the main desk, going to the elevator. No one stopped her. She wondered if they had seen the paper as well and knew who she was.

  She wasn’t in a good mood, or a happy one.

  The elevator seemed to be taking its time, and she watched as the lights moved across, heading on up to the top floor. Each one that flashed let her know she was getting closer and closer to killing him.

  The fair was her thing. It wasn’t a place to have the press invading.

  The elevator doors opened, and she stepped off.

  Holding the newspaper, she ignored his PA and went straight into his office. Even as she slammed the paper down on his desk, she saw he did have a client.

  “Sage? What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Care to explain this?” She pointed at them, smooching, for all to see.

  “Sir, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, Alice. Could you take Mr. Booker and show him some of the artwork we already have drawn up?”

  “I’m sorry. I may be killing the guy you want to do business with,” she said.

  The man she spoke to was tall, with grey hair, and he was smiling.

  “We’ll talk soon, Dominic,” the man said. “Take care of family first. It’s what is important.”

  By the time she was through with him, he wasn’t going to be able to father a family.

  His PA and Booker left.

  “Sage, that was an important meeting.”

  “This was private. This was not supposed to be the front page gossip of a newspaper. Why did you let them see this?” she asked.

  “You think I let them?”

  “Come on, Dom. You want this wedding. You’re not fighting it. The press wants all the juicy gossip that is coming from us. You’re not going to try and pretend to me this was some kind of accident.”

  Dom laughed. “For the record, I didn’t fucking know anyone was there taking our picture. You think I like this? That was our moment. Our first real one, Sage. I would never have it broadcast. I’m waiting to hear back from the owner of this corporation. I’m demanding a full retraction and a public apology for the invasion of my privacy with my fiancée.”

  “Oh,” she said.

  “Yes, oh. You may think I’m some kind of monster, hungry for attention. I happened to love my time with you. I enjoyed helping those kids, and that kiss, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

  “You can’t?”

  “No, I can’t. You’ve cooked me a meal, and now we’ve shared a moment like this. They may not mean anything to you, but they do to me.”

  “They do?”

  The meal she had cooked for him had been a sun-dried tomato pasta. It had been a nice time with each other, but it had also not been as good as their time at the fair. Dom also had to leave before dessert, and she’d made a quick chocolate mousse. It had been so good, and still, she couldn’t tempt him to stay, so she ate both of them.

  The day together, the one captured for all to see, that had been … amazing. She couldn’t remember ever having such a good time before.

  “Yes, of c
ourse. I want to make this work with us. Don’t you feel it?” He closed the distance between them, and she had no choice but to tilt her head back to look at him.

  “Feel it?”

  “I know you feel something. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me.”

  He stroked her cheek, and there was no denying that electrical shock that fired through her body.

  This was not why she’d stormed into his office. Her anger was starting to vanish.

  ****

  Johnson had been happy about the headline. So had his own father. When Alice brought Dom in the newspaper, and he saw their kiss shared, he’d been fucking livid. Johnson had said everything was on course for the wedding. The countdown Dom had in his head was still going. It was a never-ending clock in his head.

  Only, as he stood right in front of Sage, with her floral scent invading his senses, there was no ticking clock. Their time together wasn’t some fantasy. He had every intention of finding her today and taking her to dinner. It wouldn’t have been in a restaurant. He’d have taken her grocery shopping and brought her back to his place so he did all the dishes for her. She was a pretty decent cook, and he enjoyed the meal she’d made for him.

  As he sank his fingers into her long, black hair, the silky soft locks glided over his hands, and he stared into her eyes.

  Those lips, the ones he couldn’t get out of his head, were calling to him.

  “Dom?”

  He pushed her against his desk and slammed his lips down on hers.

  She grabbed his jacket, and he plunged his tongue into her mouth, gripping the back of her head and taking what he wanted.

  Sage moaned and melted against him. Dropping one hand to her thigh, he lifted her leg up and over his hip, wanting to get as close to her as was physically possible.

  Breaking from the kiss, he trailed his lips down her neck, sucking on her pulse.

  “I didn’t want anyone to know how much I loved that kiss. Seeing that need in your eyes, that was for me and me alone. Not for any other man to jack off, wishing it was them kissing you. You looked ready to fuck, Sage.”

  “Dom,” she said his name on a moan.

  He took a chance, even though it was way too soon. He didn’t have time to waste. This wasn’t about the countdown. This was about pure basic need, and he had it when it came to Sage. She fucking fueled his blood, and all he could think about was sliding between her thighs and taking her. To claim her as his own.

  He’d never felt such overwhelming need with anyone else in his life. This was foreign to him, unheard of.

  In all of his life, he was never controlled by such basic yearnings. Sure, he liked sex, partying, and living it up, but he’d never been caught doing something he shouldn’t. The press liked to follow him in the hope of catching some dirt on him, but he always came back clean. He didn’t do any drugs and had never even dabbled in them either. All he liked to do was party and fuck. The women he had slept with in the past were required to sign NDAs. The reputation of his father’s company had always come first.

  Cupping Sage’s ass, he wanted to do nothing more than to tear her panties off and fuck her right then and there on the desk.

  He had to hold himself back. Their first time together wasn’t going to be in his office.

  Breaking from the kiss, he stared into her eyes, which were just as filled with lust as he felt.

  “I want to take you out to dinner.” He placed a hand over her mouth silencing any protest he knew was about to come. “Before you complain and tell me how you don’t want to do any of that, hear me out. I want to take you to dinner, but I’ve got my own special way planned. For once in your life, trust me.”

  “You want me to trust you?”

  “Yes. I’ve let you down in the past.”

  “The fact we’re getting married is not lost on you.”

  “Also, the fact you’re probably soaking wet and want me to fuck you on my desk when anyone can see, hasn’t slipped my mind either.”

  “That was uncalled for.”

  “But necessary to remind you. I don’t want to fight. Trust me. Don’t leave. I’ve got to deal with Booker. It’s really important that I do, but know all I want is to be with you.”

  “You’re a good smooth talker, Dom.”

  “I’m not trying to be anything. We can pick this right up where we left off.”

  Her gaze went to his chest, and he waited. No woman had ever made him wait like this, and knowing she was the first one, well, it didn’t exactly sit well with him.

  Sage was a means to an end, or that was what she was supposed to be, and yet here they were, being something more with each other, and yes, it unnerved him.

  He’d never had feelings for any woman before, at least nothing past the standard urge.

  “Fine. Fine. You’ve got me all curious now and I hate being that, so we’re going to have to figure something out. I’ll wait outside.”

  “No. Not outside. I don’t want you hounded by any potential lurking press.”

  He took her hand and placed her next to Alice’s desk.

  “My PA will be by to keep you company. Please, don’t go.”

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  He nodded.

  Taking off toward the conference room where he had all the details set up for Booker, he found Alice detailing some of the artwork that had been creating for his brand and the new expansion of his business.

  “I can take it from here, Alice. Sage is going to be here a little while. Will you make sure she’s … happy?”

  Alice smiled widely. His PA had been wanting him to settle down for some time. Sage would be the first woman who had entered his office uninvited that he wasn’t calling security on.

  He could learn.

  “I’m so sorry for the distraction,” he said, looking at Booker as Alice closed the door behind her.

  Booker held his hand up. “Do not for a second apologize for that young woman. Love is an incredible thing. When my wife first created all of this, I thought she was nuts. Beauty, fashion, all of it didn’t exactly speak clearly to me. I always felt it was a fickle market, and well, she always proved me wrong.”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” Dom said. He knew Booker had lost his wife three years ago to cancer. It was one of the reasons this deal was happening. Booker didn’t have the qualities that his wife had and didn’t even pretend to hide behind cockiness. He wanted someone with ethics and integrity to keep his wife’s baby, her company, alive.

  Dom, even though he wasn’t a woman, believed in Booker and the company as a whole.

  This deal would be his biggest yet, and one he intended to keep thriving.

  “Yes, it has been hard without her. She would know what to do. Your woman, keep hold of her, Dominick. You only realize how precious life is when your time with that person is running out. I’d give anything to have my wife back.”

  He had noticed that Booker never mentioned her name, and he chose not to do so either. From the look on Booker’s face, it was still a painful reminder of all that he’d lost.

  “Shall we?” Dominick asked.

  “Yes.”

  For the next hour, trying not to watch the clock and hoping Alice kept Sage in his building, he tried to focus on the deal in front of him.

  “My wife liked women of natural beauty. She always said it was about breaking the mold. The women don’t have to be flawless. I also don’t want any Photoshop.”

  “I’m afraid that is a given.”

  “Then I cannot continue. Check through our old portfolio. No Photoshop. Natural. Real. It’s what made my wife’s product stand out above the rest.”

  “I will do so.”

  “I like you, Dominick. I’m not trying to be difficult.”

  “I understand. I want you to know that I will do everything possible to keep the integrity of your wife’s work. I’m passionate about this.”

  Booker nodded. “You know, a year ago, I wouldn’t have even considered m
y wife’s baby in your hands. You’ve changed my mind. Hearing of your upcoming marriage, seeing your wife and the way you look at her, I know there’s something there, that spark that you can’t deny.”

  “We’re not usually so … confrontational.”

  The man before him laughed. “Don’t knock a bit of passion. It can work wonders in certain areas.”

  “I’ll have the new work in a week,” Dom said.

  “Excellent. I look forward to seeing them.”

  Before Booker will agree to any kind of deal, he wanted to make sure that the company he was handing over his wife’s life dream to was someone he could trust and rely on. The money he was putting into this investment would be more than worth it. The only problem was, Dom was using money he didn’t have.

  Chapter Five

  “This is a surprise,” Sage said.

  “See, I told you.”

  Sage stepped into Dom’s apartment. They had just been to the grocery store when he had told her to buy anything she wanted to make for dinner. As far as a dinner date went, it was different. She didn’t like restaurants. She always worried either the chef or one of the waiters had put something in her food. Cooking for herself was by far one of her favorite ways of spending her time.

  One of her many nannies had taught her how to cook.

  From the age of about five she had stood at the kitchen counter, taking it all in. She figured the nanny knew she’d be alone one day. Her parents were always off doing what they wanted without a care in the world for anyone else.

  Dom’s kitchen wasn’t too large, but a nice-sized space for a couple of people. She opened the cupboards, and now the reason for the purchase of plates and cutlery was made known.

  “Your kitchen is completely bare,” she said.

  “I don’t cook. I order in, and all I have is a coffee.” He put the bags down on the counter and walked to the cabinet near the percolator. Inside was a single cup.

  “Wow,” she said. “I don’t actually figure out how you’ve been able to make this work for yourself?”

  “Easy. I order in a lot.” He opened the fridge, and she saw cartons of leftovers.