The Arrangement (Available in paperback & eBook-SAMPLE)

Prologue

Welcome to my new story. I hope you all will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. :)

(Derek)

Whistling softly, I bounded up the steps and rang the doorbell. While I waited for my grandfather's butler to answer the door I checked my phone for messages. I had several. Before I could reply to any of them the door opened.

"Good evening, Mr. Richmond," the butler greeted me, moving aside to make room for me to enter the mansion.

"Hello, Maxwell." I slipped my phone back in my pocket, as I crossed the threshold. "How's your granddaughter? Granddad told me she's been ill."

"She's doing better," he replied, closing the door. "Thank you for asking. Your grandfather is in his office."

I thanked Maxwell and made my way to the office. Finding the door open, I stepped into the room. Grandfather was sitting behind his desk, his focus on the laptop open in front of him. I cleared my throat and he looked up. Hazel eyes studied me behind a pair of eyeglasses.

"Have a seat," he told me. "I will be with you in a second or two."

I unbuttoned my suit coat and took a seat on the black leather couch in the corner. "You told my secretary it was important that you talk to me. What about?"

Granddad pressed a button on the laptop and then wheeled himself around the desk. He came toward me, stopping the wheelchair a few feet from the couch. He ordered me to turn my cell phone off so there would be no interruptions.

"You have my undivided attention," I said, once my phone was off.

"Tell me something," he said. "Is there anyone special in your life?"

"No," I answered. "I haven't been dating much lately. I've been busy with work."

"You are always busy with work." Granddad sighed, running his hand through his thinning gray hair. "You are thirty, Derek."

"Your point is?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"My point is, it's time for you to find someone and settle down," he responded.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. This wasn't the first time I've had this conversation with him. He's been after me to get married for a few years now.

"Granddad, you know I'm dead set against marriage." I passed a hand across my face. "I hear my married friends talk about how they have no life of their own. I hear them complain about how their wife constantly nags at them and tries to control them. I don't want a nagging woman, trying to run my life. I'm content with how my life is."

"That's because you don't know what you are missing." Granddad leaned forward in his chair. "Did you think of your grandmother as a nagging and controlling woman?"

"Of course not," I said. "Gran was a wonderful woman, but they don't make them like her anymore."

Granddad smiled crookedly. "She was definitely one of a kind."

"That's my problem," I said. "If I could find someone like her, I would get married in a heartbeat."

"There are good women out there, Derek." He adjusted his glasses. "You just have to look for them."

"I'm not interested in looking," I muttered.

"Get interested," he said firmly. "Life is about more than work and making money. The life I had with your grandmother meant more to me than the money and the company I created. Coming home to her at the end of the day was the best part of my day. All of my worries and headaches would disappear the moment her arms wrapped around me. I could talk to her about anything."

"That's nice and-"

"I don't want you to wake up one day and regret that you didn't take a chance at love." He paused for a moment. "What I am about to do will seem cold and heartless to you, but I am doing this because I love you and I want you to experience more in life."

"What are you-?"

"You have six months to find a suitable woman and marry her," Granddad stated. "If you refuse to do as I say-if you fail, the company will be handed over to your brother when the time comes."

"You can't do that?" I growled.

He glared at me. "Oh, but I can. I own the company. Until I'm dead in the ground I can do whatever I want with it. Your father, by the way, is in favor of you marrying."

"He was probably afraid he would lose his job if he didn't get on board with your ridiculous plan," I uttered coldly.

Granddad removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sighing heavily, he put the glasses back on and said calmly, "Once you find someone, I want to meet her before you propose marriage to her."

My blood boiling, I got up from the couch. "I'll find someone you approve of, Grandfather, and I'll marry her. What I won't do is love her. What I won't do is give you great-grandchildren."

"Hopefully, in time you will change your mind," he said.

"Don't count on it," I snapped, making a beeline for the door.

"Drive safely," Granddad said softly.

I didn't respond.