Twelve months with him

Sebastian Colton's office occupied the entire 42nd floor of the newest glass tower in downtown Seattle, and Harper Vale felt out of place the moment she stepped off the elevator.

Everything was steel and glass and expensive minimalism. The reception area featured furniture that looked like abstract sculpture, the kind of pieces that probably cost more than Harper's annual income. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of the city that made Seattle look manageable and organized, nothing like the chaotic reality at street level.

Harper's Honda had finally died that morning…actually died, not just made threatening sounds…so she'd taken two buses to get here. Her jacket was damp from the walk between stops, her boots were scuffed, and she was acutely aware that she looked exactly like what she was: someone who didn't belong in this world.

"Ms. Vale?" A woman appeared from around the corner, tablet in hand and an expression that suggested she'd already cataloged every way Harper failed to meet standards. "I'm Mr Amanda Chen, Mr. Colton's executive assistant. He's just finishing a call."

Not related to her lawyer, Harper noted. Different Chen.

"Thank you for seeing me," Harper said, even though technically Sebastian had been the one to request this meeting.

Three days after she'd turned down his offer, he'd called her directly. Not through lawyers, not through intermediaries, but personally. His voice had been smooth and professional with an edge of something Harper couldn't quite identify. Curiosity, maybe. Or irritation that someone had actually said no to him.

"Ms. Vale, I'd like to discuss the Adriatic situation in person. Would tomorrow at two work for you?"

She should have said no. Should have insisted on communicating through proper channels. Instead, she'd agreed, because desperation made people do stupid things, and she was running out of time.

Amanda gestured toward a seating area. "Please, make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? Tea?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

Harper sat on a chair that was somehow both beautiful and deeply uncomfortable, clearly designed to discourage people from staying too long. She pulled out her phone, more for something to do with her hands than any real need to check it. A text from Jessie waited: “Don't sign anything without reading it first. And if he's as hot in person as he is in photos, do NOT let that influence your judgment.”

Harper smiled despite her nerves and typed back: “I'm a professional.”

“You're a disaster. Call me after.”

The office door opened and a man emerged older, maybe sixty, with silver hair and an expensive suit that screamed old money. He had the kind of face that had probably been handsome once but had hardened into something calculating over the years. He glanced at Harper as he passed, his gaze dismissive and assessing at the same time, then disappeared into the elevator without a word.

Something about him made Harper's skin crawl, though she couldn't have explained why.

"Ms. Vale?" Amanda stood by the now open door. "Mr. Colton will see you now."

Harper grabbed her bag and followed Amanda into an office that was somehow even more intimidating than the reception area. More glass, more steel, more evidence of wealth so vast it became abstract. A desk that looked like modern sculpture. Art on the walls that Harper recognized from a museum exhibit she'd attended last year, pieces that probably cost more than the Adriatic's entire property value.

And behind the desk, Sebastian Colton.

Jessie hadn't been wrong about the photos. He was objectively attractive in that way. Certain men were mid-thirties, dark hair that was slightly too long for corporate standards, a sharp jawline, the kind of bone structure that belonged in fashion magazines. He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and no tie, and he was clearly annoyed with whoever he was talking to on the phone.

"I don't care what Thompson thinks. The environmental impact study needs to be completed before we break ground." His voice was cold, controlled, the tone of someone used to being obeyed. "I'm not cutting corners on this." A pause where someone on the other end was presumably arguing. "Then we delayed the project. I'll deal with the board." Another pause, his jaw tightening visibly. "Fine. Schedule the meeting for Monday."

He ended the call and turned to face Harper fully. For a moment, they just looked at each other across the expensive desk.

Harper had expected him to be intimidating, and he was. But there was something else too, something in his eyes that didn't quite match the ruthless CEO image the business magazines painted. Exhaustion, maybe. Or the particular weariness of someone who'd been fighting battles for too long and wasn't sure why anymore.

"Ms. Vale." He didn't stand, didn't offer his hand. "Thank you for coming."

"You said you wanted to discuss the Adriatic." Harper kept her voice steady despite the way her heart was hammering.

"I did." He gestured to the chair across from his desk. "Please, sit."

Harper sat, setting her bag on the floor beside her. The chair was more comfortable than the ones in the waiting area, which felt somehow significant, like the furniture itself was part of some corporate hierarchy she didn't understand.

"I understand you've declined my offer," Sebastian said. It wasn't a question.

"I have."

"May I ask why?"

Harper had prepared for this question. Had practiced what she'd say during the long bus ride over. Something professional and diplomatic about historic preservation and community value and architectural significance. Instead, what came out was simply: "Because you want to tear it down."

Sebastian's eyebrow raised slightly. "I want to develop the property to its highest and best use."

"You want to demolish a ninety-year-old Art Deco building and replace it with generic luxury condos that no one who actually lives in the neighborhood can afford."

"I want to provide housing in a city with a critical shortage."

"Housing with thousand-dollar-a-month parking spaces," Harper leaned forward slightly. "That's not solving the housing crisis. That's gentrification with better marketing."

A muscle in Sebastian's jaw twitched. "You've done your research on my projects."

"Of course I have. You're trying to buy my building."

"Your building is structurally compromised, financially insolvent, and in violation of multiple safety codes according to the last inspection." Sebastian's voice remained level, factual. "I'm offering you a way out of an impossible situation."

"By erasing it from existence."

"By being realistic about its viability." He leaned back in his chair, studying her with an intensity that made Harper want to look away but didn't. "Tell me, Ms. Vale, what's your plan? How exactly do you intend to save the Adriatic?"

Harper's fingers tightened on the armrest. "I'll find a way."

"That's not a plan. That's hope. And hope it doesn't pay contractors or replace forty-year-old electrical systems or fix water damage."

"Neither does demolition."

"No, but 8.5 million dollars does. Which is what you'd walk away with if you accepted my offer."

They stared at each other across the expensive desk. Harper could feel her heart pounding, adrenaline and frustration mixing into something volatile. This man represented everything she hated about the modern developing world, the kind of developer who saw buildings as nothing more than obstacles to profit, who valued progress over preservation, who looked at history and saw only inefficiency.

"Why did you ask me here?" Harper demanded. "To try to convince me again? To explain in small words why I'm being irrational?"

"No." Sebastian's voice was quieter now, less combative. "I asked you here because I wanted to understand who you are."

"What?"

"In my experience, people always take the money. Always. Sentiment is expensive, and everyone has a price." He tilted his head slightly, still watching her with that unsettling intensity. "But you looked at 8.5 million dollars and said no. That's either incredibly principled or incredibly foolish, and I haven't decided which yet."

"Does it matter?"

"It might." He stood then, walking to the windows overlooking the city. His back was to her, shoulders tense beneath the expensive shirt. "I'm going to make you a different offer."

Harper's stomach dropped. "I'm not interested in…"

"Marry me."

The words hung in the air between them, so absurd that Harper was certain she'd misheard.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Sebastian turned to face her, and his expression was completely serious. "A legal marriage. Twelve months. You keep the hotel, I keep my inheritance. We both get what we need."

Harper actually laughed. The sound came out sharp and disbelieving, echoing slightly in the large office. "You're insane."

"I'm pragmatic." He returned to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a thick document that looked like it had been prepared by an entire legal team. He slid it across the desk to her. "My grandfather's will stipulates that I must be married to inherit full control of Colton Industries. The exact wording is 'demonstrate commitment and stability through marriage.' He was traditional in his views."

"So get married. Find someone who actually likes you."

"I need someone who won't develop unrealistic expectations. Who understands this is purely a business arrangement? You need capital to save your hotel." He tapped the document with one finger. "I'm offering five million dollars upfront, plus complete funding for the Adriatic's restoration. Full architectural control stays with you. All decisions about the building's future remain yours. In exchange, you agree to a legally binding marriage for a minimum of twelve months."

Harper's brain was trying to process too many things at once and failing spectacularly. "This is insane. This is actually insane."

"It's a solution to both our problems."

"It's fraud."

"It's a contract." His voice was matter-of-fact, like he was discussing a standard business transaction rather than proposing a fake marriage. "Everything would be legal, documented, transparent where it needs to be. The marriage would be real in the eyes of the law. What happens after twelve months is up to us."

"Why me?" Harper demanded, her voice rising slightly. "Why not someone from your world? Someone who knows how to play these games? Someone who'd actually want to marry you?"

Sebastian was quiet for a long moment, his gaze steady on hers. "Because everyone in my world wants something from me. Connections, status, access to wealth and power. You're the first person I've met in years who looked at eight million dollars and chose a crumbling building instead."

"That doesn't make me a good candidate for fake marriage."

"It makes you someone who won't try to turn this into something it's not." He leaned forward slightly. "I need someone I won't accidentally care about, and you clearly despise everything I represent. That's perfect for what I need."

Harper should have stood up. Should have walked out. Should have told him exactly where he could put his proposal. Instead, she heard herself ask: "What's the catch?"

"We'd have to make it convincing. Public appearances. Shared residence. The appearance of a real relationship." His expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. "My grandfather's former business partner is looking for any excuse to challenge the will. If this looks fake, we both lose everything."

"So you want me to lie to everyone I know."

"I want you to save your hotel." Sebastian's gaze was steady, unflinching. "You have forty-eight hours to decide. After that, the offer expires and we return to my original proposal. I buy the property, you take the money, and the Adriatic becomes luxury condos. Your choice."

Harper stood on shaky legs. She grabbed the contract without looking at it, just needing something to hold onto. "This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"Perhaps." Sebastian stood as well, tall enough that she had to look up to meet his eyes. "But it's also your only viable option, and we both know it."

"You don't know that."

"I do. I've seen the bank's timeline. I've reviewed the cost estimates for necessary repairs. I know exactly how impossible your situation is." His voice softened slightly, just a fraction. "I'm not trying to be cruel, Ms. Vale. I'm offering you a way to save what matters to you."

"By pretending to marry a man I don't even know."

"By entering into a mutually beneficial business arrangement with clear terms and defined parameters."

Harper clutched the contract to her chest. Her hands were shaking, and she hoped he couldn't see it. "Forty-eight hours."

"Forty-eight hours."

She turned toward the door, then paused with her hand on the handle. "Why are you doing this? Really. You could find another way to meet your grandfather's requirements. Why this?"

Sebastian's expression shifted, something raw flickering across his features before the corporate mask returned. "Because despite what you think of me, Ms. Vale, I understand what it means to be backed into a corner. To have to choose between losing everything and compromising who you are."

"And which did you choose?"

His lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "I'm still figuring that out."

Harper left without another word, Amanda offering her a tight, professional smile as she passed through the reception area. The elevator ride down felt like falling, forty-two floors of her brain trying and failing to process what had just happened.

She emerged onto the street and stood there in the drizzle, staring at the contract in her hands. The document was heavy, substantial, real in a way that made her stomach turn.

This was insane. Impossible. Absolutely out of the question.

But it was also five million dollars. Full restoration funding. Architectural control. A way to save the Adriatic without watching it become another glass tower in Sebastian Colton's portfolio of development projects.

Harper pulled out her phone and called Jessie with shaking fingers.

"How'd it go?" Jessie answered immediately, clearly having been waiting by her phone.

"He proposed."

"What? Like romantic…"

"Not like that. He proposed a contract marriage. Twelve months. Five million dollars upfront. I will stay at the hotel."

Silence on the other end of the line. Then: "I'm coming over right now. Don't make any decisions until I get there."

"Jessie…"

"I'm serious, Harper. Don't sign anything, don't commit to anything, don't even think too hard about anything until we've talked this through properly."

"Okay."

"And Harper? Breathe."

Harper realized she'd been holding her breath. She let it out slowly, watching her reflection in a shop window across the street. She looked exactly like she felt overwhelmed, confused, and completely out of her depth.

Forty-eight hours to decide.

Forty-eight hours to choose between losing everything and marrying a stranger.

Harper started walking toward the bus stop, a contract tucked under her arm like it might explode, and tried to figure out which option would destroy her life faster.