Contract Marriage with My CEO Boss (Kylan and Katrina) novel Chapter 5

Katrina stared at Kylan, her mind whirling at a rapid rate, and her hands becoming clammy in her lap. She noticed that Kylan was watching her carefully, but she couldn’t fix the expression on her face, even if she wanted to.

“I don’t… What is this, Kylan?” you asked quietly.

Kylan rolled his eyes. “I thought the header would make it fairly obvious,” he said, now sounding rather bored. “After you and Ryan cornered me yesterday, I began to think about the proposal. And then it seemed rather obvious to me, really.”

He took a second and scanned her face again. "I don’t have the time to find anyone to offer such a dumb set-up. Not only that, but I find most women to be rather… difficult to connect with,” he continued on with a wave of his hand, “when we were at dinner with Keith last night, I was reminded of how easily you seem to connect with people. You’re talented at making someone feel comfortable, and even I don’t detest your presence, in small doses.”

Katrina knew she should be offended by the way he spoke of her, but she was far too confused and even more shocked, for it to register to its full extent.

She had encouraged Kylan to marry someone, sure. She had even droned on about why it was a good, and even practical idea. But she hadn’t intended that he would approach her to fill such a role. It was highly inappropriate, for several reasons.

“I met with Ryan late last night, and then Max early this morning. While it’s technically a breach of company policy normally, Max is willing to make an exception. Everyone sees the stocks dropping, and we all want to fix it,” Kylan spoke curtly now, and it was clear how annoyed he still was about the current situation the company was in.

“There will be rumors, no doubt. But dealing with those is part of your specialty, correct? We’ll ensure to publicly state that we’ve only become my fiance for a few months and that you didn’t climb to your position by sucking my cock, or anything like that,” Kylan prattled on with a shrug.

Katrina’s face flushed crimson at the casual mention of his freaking... sex organ. What the hell was this conversation? He couldn’t possibly mean what he was suggesting.

“Kylan… You can’t possibly be serious. I can’t… I can’t… marry you,” she practically squeaked. Her imagination was running wild, and she was spiraling.

Kylan huffed and shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous, Katrina. This is all purely for show. I thought that much was also obvious.” He indicated the contract with the tip of his pen. “It’s quite simple. May I go over it with you?” he asked with a glance up at her.

She swallowed hard, willing her heart and mind to calm down. “I… Sure,” she finally relented as she breathed.

Kylan nodded and cleared his throat. “Right, as I said, it’s simple. There are only a few rules, and there are several benefits involved for you.” He pointed to a section appropriately titled “rules”, and she leaned down to follow along apprehensively.

“First, the duration of the contract will be a year after the fake wedding, with the option to extend it, if necessary. We will hold the wedding as soon as Ryan and Max deem it okay for us to “settle down”. Second, we need to go on at least one date a week, and it must be somewhere public. Having the paparazzi taking a few photos is imperative.”

Kylan was looking at her to ensure she was paying attention, and she gave him a weak nod to indicate she was. Sort of, anyway. Her head felt light and airy.

“Third, you need to accompany me to any galas, business dinners, and trips during the whole period. You will maintain your duties as my assistant, but you’ll have the additional responsibility of acting like my fiance, to the public anyway. Fourth, you need to be prepared to hold my hand, hug me, or kiss me, if the situation calls for it,” Kylan spoke clinically, and it only added to her lightheadedness.

Kissing? He was talking about kissing her, and she felt like she was going to pass out. This was not what she thought this conversation was going to entail. She was incredibly surprised Ryan and Max had both cleared the idea already, but Katrina supposed she couldn’t be all that confused if she thought about it enough. The company’s standing was dire, and all of them knew it.

“How is all of this sounding, so far?” Kylan paused to ask her.

Katrina took a deep, shuddering breath, and then she laughed nervously. “May I speak candidly?” she asked the CEO.

Kylan simply nodded in response, and she licked her lips.

“I’m so confused, Kylan. How are you… How are you okay with this? With me?”

She searched Kylan’s face for anything that might help her understand, but his usual stoic mask was firmly in place.

“I told you, Kate. Your personality fits our objective needs. And I can stand to be near you. Also, you’re an attractive woman, and I recognize that there are worse options out there for me to consider.” Kylan gave another shrug of his shoulders.

She was used to Kylan’s callousness, whenever he spoke. But the way he was talking about her, both confused her and made her feel… weird.

“What are the other rules?” she asked quietly.

Kylan looked back down at the contract before he continued to read. “Neither you nor I may sleep with anyone else, or date anyone else, during this time period. On that note, we are not permitted to sleep with each other, either,” he explained to her.

She was still struggling with the idea of kissing Kylan, let alone sleeping with him. She very nearly sank through her chair, and onto the floor of his office. “What else?” she managed to choke out.

“Above all else, you are not to fall in love with me,” Kylan told her, suddenly incredibly intense and serious.

She shrank back at his gaze slightly and took another deep breath. “That… I can’t imagine why that would be an issue, Kylan. You’re not exactly an approachable person, to begin with,” she said with sincerity.

Kylan rolled his eyes at her words. “Would you like to hear what you get out of this arrangement?” he asked you flatly.

Katrina could only nod weakly, while her mind struggled to keep up with the velocity of the conversation.