A small growl escaped Thea's lips as her alarm blared loud angry beeps. The day ahead was going to be long and trying. She felt it in her bones. Something bigger than the typical annoyances of her mother was going to be thrown at her.  Which at the thought of her mother's classic crusade, Thea felt the urge to burrow herself even further into the comfort of the luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets surrounding her.

‘Your hair is still short I see.'

‘No husband either? Not even a possible boyfriend? Your twenty-five dear your biological clock is ticking.  And are you gaining weight? Really, Thea watch what you eat, you'll never get a husband with love handles.'

‘Why you decided to go into sports law is beyond me, do you even like sports? You never played one a day in your life!'

With her mother's voice ringing loud inside her head, Thea ripped her covers away and jumped out of her bed. 

As she slid her balcony door open her senses were hit with the pleasantries she knew awaited her outside.  Warm sunlight had her skin sizzling with pleasure. The slightly salty air produced a calming effect as she slowly inhaled in and out.  These were just two of the small things she felt made life worth living. Her hands gripped the metal railing as she watched downtown Miami slowly come alive. A few runners were out for a morning run, tourists were getting in their last few pictures, a few overachieving business people heading to their offices to get a jumpstart on the work week ahead, and over in the distance the port was full of morning commotion.

The tension in Thea's face began to return. Procrastination wouldn't get her anywhere, being late for brunch would only make things worse.  

As she entered her bedroom a picture on her dresser caught her attention as she passed on her way to the bathroom. It was of snap shot from her graduation from Harvard Law School. She stood beaming between a stone faced James and Caroline, who wore something that resembled like a genuine smile. She slammed the photo faced down on her nightstand before attacking her morning routine with vigor.  

Clad in her lucky underwear set, Thea stood in front of her closet carefully selecting each item of clothing. Her choice of a simple white Stella McCartney blouse, her favorite dark washed Joe's skinny jeans, and black Louboutin pumps would keep her off of her mother's fashion police tirade. She kept her make minimal and natural, she wasn't looking to get called a prostitute. Lastly, she put a few extra curls into her hair before realizing there was nothing more for her to do unless she wanted to be tardy.

After leaving the safety of her condo, Thea slid into her most prized possession, a charcoal grey M6 BMW convertible. Feeling ready to face whatever it was life was going to force upon her, she put the car in drive and began to cruise as Beyonce's voice crooned through the speakers.

The journey to the Viceroy Hotel proved to be easy and traffic free.  This good fortune made Thea wonder if the day really was going to turn out as horrible as expected. But, her feelings of serenity seemed only to last as long as the elevator ride to the restaurant.  As she exited, Thea caught a glimpse of a familiar figure she hoped was only a figment of her imagination. Her steps were cautious as she approached the restaurant's reservation desk.

"Hi, I'm here for the Malebranche party."  She told the young Hispanic girl.

The hostess nodded, "Ah you're the last of the party.  Everyone else is already seated. This way please."

Tension filled her body. With each step it was nearly crippling. Once the table came into view she instantly knew it would have been right to stay in the bed.

Without telling her, it would seem that her parents decided to invite extra guests. Two of them she had to admit she was pleased to see, her father's best friend and Co- CEO Gabriel Garner and his lovely wife Rebecca. It was the third guest that made her feel sick to her stomach.

Julien Garner.

Her breath hitched at the sight of him but it had nothing to with his neatly styled black tresses, piercing blue eyes, perfect tan, and pair of the most kissable lips ever. No, that had nothing to do with her reaction, rather it was mere surprise followed by instant rage. He sat in all of his arrogant glory between her mother and his own, telling the women something that sent them both into a fit of giggles. She hoped he choked on the water he sipped. Steeling herself for the encounter she greeted everyone.

"Good morning everyone." She chirped giving both of her parents a light kiss and slight hug then took a seat between her father and Mr. Garner.

"Oh how nice of you to finally join us." Her mother began.

"Nice to see you too mother." She mumbled under her breath.

Rebecca Garner gave her a reassuring smile, "How have you been Thea I haven't seen you in so long."

She liked Mrs. Garner. Rebecca was the anti Caroline in every sense. 

"I've been fine just working on contracts and such for clients." She replied before signaling the waiter over. "Could I get a screwdriver please?" Thea's eyes flitted over to Julien. 

"Alcohol so early in the morning dear?" her mother commented though a Bloody Mary sat in front of her. She almost burst out in laughter at her hypocrisy, but it was truly typical of Caroline Malebranche.

Suppressing a retort, she turned to her father and asked how business was going. He and Mr. Garner were the heads of an aerospace and Defense Corporation that rivaled Boeing.

"Business is business I suppose. With both of the wars going on we're getting a number of contracts from the government." He answered though he shot Mr. Garner a strange look.

Thea only nodded giving him a soft smile, which he returned. Though he wasn't around much when she was growing up, she always felt a special connection with her father. Perhaps she was just a natural born daddy's girl.

The waiter returned with her drink and then took everyone's order. Thea decided to go with a healthy option picking the option with Greek yogurt, fruits, and whole wheat toast. She had a feeling she was going to need the comforts of greasy comfort food and ice cream later on.

Once everyone had ordered her father cleared his throat. "Gabriel and I have something to share with you two, Thea and Julien."

 Thea took a large gulp of her screwdriver. Anything having to do with her and Julien collectively couldn't be good. Her normally stoic father looked weary and upset as well. This was not a good sign at all. 

"I suppose I should start considering this is mostly my doing." Gabriel Garner began. "As you all know I have been offered a fairly high ranking position at the Department of Defense.  And while James is fully capable of running the company himself, it is my wish that Julien is able to step up and fill my position as the 2nd CEO. James and I have both discussed this and we believe wholeheartedly that Julien will be able to execute his duties as a CEO with ease. However, we have some concerns about his public image. In the papers he is a notorious playboy that even has a few false rumors of rape and illegitimate children floating around. Therefore, to ensure the confidence of our company's employees, shareholders, investors, and the board that his image will not tarnish the company's good name, Julien will marry in order to gain his title."

Thea felt sincere pity for whoever had the misfortune of being stuck with the blue-eyed demon. But the question remained, why did she need to hear this?

As if reading her mind her father spoke. "Thea I know your wondering where you come into all of this but we have decided that you would be the perfect woman for Julien. You two are to be married in three weeks." His voice strained more and more at each word coming out of his mouth.

Thea sat in utter disbelief before she was able to form a slightly coherent thought.

"Daddy I must have heard you wrong but did you just insinuate that you have placed me into an arranged marriage with him." She snarled the last part pointing at Julien who sat cool and unaffected.

Her father looked at her helplessly. "And if I don't cooperate?" she challenged.

"I dissolve my half of the company." Gabriel answered smoothly.

‘Apparently bastard is genetic', Thea mused sienlntly. 

A small part of her heart tugged as she looked over at her father who looked like he was in a true bind. She knew that company meant everything to him, and truth be told it meant everything to her. If it weren't for Garner & Malebranche she would not have had a lot of the experiences she had growing up that made her the woman she was today. But an arranged marriage to a man she deemed Satan incarnated? She just didn't think it was possible. However, she looked at her distressed father once more and felt a tiny crack in her fierce opposition to the situation.

"I'll think about it," she said quietly.

"You'll think about? Think about what? You have no love life, no men banging down your doors, what on earth could you possibly have to think about." Her mother commented harshly. Thea went to give her mother a piece of her mother but her dad beat it for once.

"Caroline not right now. Not. Right. Now." James said quiet but firm.

Gabriel gave a small smile, "Thea how about this, I'll give you a week to think things over. But in the mean time you two live together, effective immediately, in order to maybe resolve any outstanding issues you two seem to have."

A whole week with Julien? Someone was going to end up dead. By homicide or suicide, she wasn't sure which just yet.

However, she didn't really have a choice. Thea looked at Julien who was staring at her. He still had yet to say anything about this arrangement.

"Fine." She said evenly as a plate was placed in front of her. Suddenly she was so hungry anymore.  

Observing her through his cool collected eyes, Julien watched as Thea's face change emotions much like Violet's face changed colors after eating the gobstopper in Charlie's chocolate factory. Surprise, ire, annoyance, confusion, sympathy, livid, and disgust appeared in a rotation.  

The news shocked him as well, but for some reason he remained unaffected. His father clearly meant well. And he was well aware that he was going to have to shape up eventually if he wanted to take his father's place one day.

However, the challenge his father placed before him was going to be, well he hasn't sure what the result was going to be.

As their food came Thea agreed to stay with him for the week, as well as, consider the proposal their fathers had presented. Their eyes connected for a second before she looked down at the plate placed in front of her.  The hatred and abhorrence held in her eyes was more than enough to pierce his very core.  

After staring at her plate for no more than five minutes she pushed her chair back abruptly causing it to screech and excused herself before running out of the restaurant. The parents all looked at each other worriedly. 

"Excuse me," he muttered throwing his napkin onto his chair. 

Thea wasn't hard to find. He could hear the rapid staccato of her heels heading towards the elevators. She was already pressing the close door button as if her life depended on it as he reached her. He wedged himself through the closing door.

The elevator dinged.

They eyed each other wordlessly. If looks could kill Thea would have reduced Julien into a pile of ashes. Julien spoke first.

"So Thea it's been a while eh?"

 His lame attempt only seemed to cause her glare to harden.

Julien turned forward and sighed, "Right, well I know this isn't exactly the most ideal situation in the world but it could be worse."

"Tch, what on earth could be worse than your father blackmailing my father into making me marry you just because you can't keep your dick in your pants?" she sneered.

"You could stay single and have to constantly hear your mother's mouth. Not to mention you could quite possibly wind up alone forever and become a bitter cat lady." He offered.

"I like cats more than I like you, and I'm allergic."

"Noted. But seriously I can't be that bad I mean you can't still hate me or hold me responsible for what happened to..." he trailed off silenced by the sharp pain that seared through his shoulder thanks to Thea's fist. Acting rashly she pulled the emergency gear causing the elevator to heave and stop suddenly.

Julien eyed her with caution. He silently prayed she wasn't the type of woman who kept weapons in her purse incase of an attacker.

"Don't you dare say her name. You have no right to even bring her up. She was my best friend, the sister I never had, the girl I looked up to and you destroyed her. Chewed her up and spat her out for the amusement of you and your friends. I haven't forgotten and I never will. You broke her beyond repair."

Thea pushed the gear back allowing the elevator to resume its course and causing Julien to feel a sense of tentative relief.

 "Don't think if I say yes to this arrangement it has anything to do with you, because it doesn't. It will be for my dad and my dad only because if anything happens to that damn company he'll be devastated, and I can't have that. I won't let you and your family have the satisfaction of ruining someone else close to me."

One of the managers was waiting in front of the doors when they stepped out. To Julien's surprise it seemed the manager knew Thea.

 "Tee is everything alright?" the tall brunette asked with concern.

"Everything's fine, just had to um...take care of something," She finished with a scandalous wink. 

The man let out a knowing chuckle as he looked between the two.  "Ohhhhh, I got you, I got you. Tell Effie and Kara I better be seeing you three lovely ladies at my party next weekend."

She smiled and nodded "For sure Randy!"

Julien watched the exchange in disbelief. How she had gone from bitch to nice and flirtatious in 0.5 seconds flat was impressive.

"You shouldn't leave your mouth hanging open like that, flies will fly in and choke you" she told him before thinking better of her statement "actually on second thought keep it open." He watched her walk towards the valet to get her car.

She really hated him. He didn't think it was possible for one person to hold so much loathing for another. She didn't have to say much for him know it either, her fiery glances were proof enough.

However, his overly confident side began to rear it's ugly head and bolstered his ego.  There hadn't been a single lady he couldn't charm the pants off of. Yeah she might dislike him more than a bit over some stupid bet/prank that got out of hand in high school, but she had to let go of it sometime.

 Right?

 He pondered that as he headed towards her car. Visibly upset and behind the wheel, was not a comforting sight. However, his newfound confidence pushed him to lean against her car.

"Can I help you Mr. Garner?" she asked scrolling through her iPod.

"Why yes, what time will you be coming home sweetheart?" he said with a sickeningly sweet voice. For some reason the more her anger showed him the more he was turned on.

"Well buttercup I don't know, how about never?" she said matching his tone.

"But you told my dad you'd..." he was silenced yet again but at least this time it wasn't a glare just her hand.

"I know what I said. But let me assure you, I have no intentions of staying with you. Honestly, it'll only end with one of us in prison and the other dead. And lets be truthful here, I'm too pretty to go to jail."

Julien smirked at her arrogance. "Look my dad is going to figure out your little scheme. I can guarantee that he will send people over to check on us so you're going to have to stay with me. But I can promise you, your own wing and your space."

Thea eyed him suspiciously. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head.

"I'll be by tomorrow morning with my stuff, happy?" she said sardonically.

Julien nodded with enthusiasm "Very, see you then sweet...cheeks"

His sweet cheeks commented warranted him to almost be run over by her back tire as she sped off without a word.

Julien scratched the bad of his head. What was he getting himself into?

Breaking him of his thoughts his phone began to vibrate. A wicked smile played on his lips as he read the name on the screen, Mandy Collier. He answered the phone without hesitation as he slid into his car that had been brought out by valet.

"You better be naked and in my bed by the time I get home. See you in fifteen," he told the more than willing girl. She was one of many groupies he was going to have to let go.

"Of course." She barely managed to say before he hung up.

If he was going to betrothed to Thea, he was going to need one last night of raunchy mind blowing sex to last him however long it would take to get into Thea's pants. And though he wasn't above cheating, he didn't for see cheating on Thea as something she would take lightly. 

By the time Thea made it back to her Condo she was sure the heavens were out to get her. In the fifteen minutes it took her to get home she encountered nearly every situation she hated about driving. Children without parents running in the streets, some douche bag tailgating her, and then for the icing on top of the proverbial cake some jerk cut of her off nearly causing her to crash right into his Lamborghini. Had she not thought of the huge lawsuit that would come against her, she was tempted to do just that, smash her car into his just to relive some of the pent up tension coursing through her veins.

She was in dire need of relief.

Thankfully after one frantic conference call her two best friends, both girls agreed to be at her door when she got home armed with tequila, margarita mix and comfort food. And as promised, they stood waiting for her when she reached her door.

"You look like hell." Effie Garcia, her right hand girl commented before giving her a hug.

Thea sighed and welcomed the embrace, "You have no idea."

As they let go, her left hand girl Kara Khait came in for a hug as well.

"What on earth happened? You sounded so crazed on the phone." Kara said worriedly with her slight Russian accent.

Thea unlocked and pushed her door open. "Julien Garner is what happened."

As she dropped her keys in key bowl, Thea began to feel some of the tension leaving her body. She was safe in the confines of her home surrounded by two of her loved ones.

After getting settled she and her friends spread out in her living room. She filled them in on her situation as they sipped Kara's famous killer margaritas and munched on Effie's famous chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.  Though she was feeling less distressed than she had about an hour ago, the tequila had yet to completely rid her of her mass of confused emotions.

Effie scratched her brow, still fairly in shock at Thea predicament. "I can't believe your parents would put you in such a position. I mean that's like child abuse. Though, you're an adult now you're still their little girl. They should be fighting for you not that damn company.  My papa wouldn't sell me out if it meant a guaranteed senate senator or I don't think he would."

Thea chuckled, "But that's because Senator Garcia actually loves you and your family. I swear my family is solely based on the faux appearance of happiness they need for the company press release."

"Then why even go through the marriage? You hate Julien, You dislike your family, what obligation do you have to even go through with this?" Kara inquired.

For a moment Thea gave the questions careful thought. Yes she hated Julien. Yes she disliked her family, though her father was her favorite parent of the two. However, she a felt this sense of duty towards the company. If she really got down to what made her feel obligated, it wasn't James or Caroline.

"The workers who would possibly lose their jobs if Gabriel dissolved his half of the company. Garner & Malebranche has thousands of employees who had families that depended on the paycheck every two weeks." Thea reasoned.

"You truly are a saint," Kara stated with mock admiration.

Thea chuckled, "Shut it. I'm just saying it's for the greater good. Not to mention I've been thinking of writing up a contract for this little arrangement, and you better believe there is a divorce clause."

"A divorce clause?" Effie inquired.

"I'll marry the asshole but only for five years. In five years I'll be thirty. By that time I'll still technically be young enough to find a guy I actually love, get married and have at least two kids before thirty-six."  Thea explained as she downed the last of her second margarita.

Effie nodded in agreement with her plan. "That's actually really smart. And by then Julien's reputation should be more in tact."

"But won't the divorce hurt his image?" Kara asked thinking of how most high profile divorces have shady rumors surrounding them.

Thea thought for a moment before shaking her head, "No, everything will end amicably. We'll just say we fell out of love or something. No scandals or anything crazy like that."

"Well it seems you have everything planned out." Effie said with an assuring smile.

Kara raised her hand shaking her head in protest, "No, no, no, no you forgot something."

Thea and Effie stared at the Russian in curiosity. "What about sex? You're going to live five years like a nun and you expect him not get any as well? Seems a bit unrealistic if you ask me."

Lack of sex, well that definitely put a damper in her agreement to the preposterous predicament she was in. She wasn't a sex addict or anything, but a girl had needs that needed to be met. And Julien Garner, no matter how fine and supposedly skillful, was not going to be getting anywhere near her to help fulfill such needs.

"You know word on the street is Julien makes the top five for best in bed by women in the greater Miami metropolitan area ages nineteen and older," Effie offered.

Thea visibly cringed, "For him to be awarded such a title, just think of how many females he's had to have slept with. And let's not even begin to count the overseas trysts and orgies I'm sure he's had."

Kara sighed, "But five years Thea? Unless you're going to make a clause that he can secretly screw someone on the side. And you find a guy who will be ok with the fact that you're technically a married woman. I don't see you guys lasting without a few hot hookups, even if you do hate the prick."

"Julien Garner's P is not getting anywhere near Thea Malebranche's V," Thea muttered.

This whole situation was getting complicated, too complicated. She was going to need another drink or seven...

Eight hours, twenty or so boxes, and too many to count margaritas later a very hung over Thea was awaken by the sun shining into her apartment. Groggily, she massaged her temples as her head felt like someone had pour hot lava over her brain.  She was going to have to find a new way of dealing with her problems, as it was apparent they were not going anywhere and possibly were only going to get worse.

Looking around she noticed that besides the mountain of boxes she and the girl had taped up, she was alone. However, a yellow post it not on the box across from her caught her attention. Effie's girly scrawl covered the small paper.

"Hey girly! It's 9 am and we had to jet! We would have woken you but you need the rest.  Call us later! Xoxo E&K"

A smile ran across her lips as she thought of her friends. Though, they did bring up some very valid and concerning points to her plan that made her feel more than overwhelmed. She knew their concern was only because they loved her dearly.

With a little effort Thea picked her self off the floor and stretched. Taking a glance at her stovetop clock, Thea swore out loud.

It was one in the afternoon! The movers were supposed to be at her place by one thirty, meaning she only had half an hour to shower and become presentable. Quickly, she raced to her bathroom and began going through the motions of good hygiene.

In exactly thirty minutes she was dressed and ready to help the movers relocate her life to a place of uncertain territory. With efficiency, she and the moving company packed away everything she was going to need in a timely fashion. As she pulled her door closed she felt a pang of sadness. Moving in with Julien brought her one step closer to being legally chained to one of the earth scum. 

‘I'm doing this for my dad and all of the families who will be affected.' She reminded herself quietly before heading to her car.

The ride over to Julien's Coral Gables mansion wasn't too long considering, traffic. She was sure in a pinch she'd be able to flee back to her place in at least twenty minutes if things got too heated between the two.

Pulling her BMW into the driveway with the moving truck behind her, she noticed her car wasn't the only one. She left her car behind a black Acura RSX, mildly curious as to whom the owner was. The only person she knew to drive such a car was her younger cousin Kali who had just gotten her license had her parents were too afraid to buy her anything more expensive.

Once she got to the door, a petite Hispanic woman who identified herself as Beatriz the housekeeper met Thea.

"Mr. Garner Is somewhere in the house but informed me of your arrival and left me in charge of getting you settled."

Thea grinned, "Nice to meet you Beatriz. Everything should be pretty straightforward. The movers will move my things to wherever you tell them.  And I don't mind brining my own suitcases in myself. But first would you mind if I looked around the house and find Julien?

The older woman gave her a warm and welcoming look, "Of course Miss Thea. This is your home now as well. But if you need anything it all come find me."

Thea patted the woman on the shoulder before embarking on her search for Julien.

The massive house would take some getting used to. As a child, Thea's older cousins and friends subjected her to watching one too many horror films. This left her to be a jumping adult who preferred comfortable condos with few places to hide and attack someone over large luxurious mansions with ample places for an assailant to plot her death. She strolled along the second floor hallway peeking into each room.  So far she had found an office, a small library, and a guest room.

Suddenly a noise caught her attention. It was fairly faint at first but it grew louder and louder as she neared the door at the very end of the hall.

As she was no stranger to what goes on behind close doors, especially in the house of a notorious manwhore, she felt like gagging. However, the sight in front of her when she opened the door really made her want to vomit.

A redhead and brunette were showering Julien with sexual attention. The three didn't even realize she had entered the room. After a moment of being unsure what to do, she let her presence be known.

"Oh honey, I'm home. I didn't realize we were already having guests over so soon. Really, Ju bear you need to let me know these things. I'm feeling rather overdressed for my welcome home celebration." 

Two days had passed since Thea moved into Julien's home. It had also been two days since she spoke to him.

After finding him in the throws of passion with two women, she'd be lying if she said she wanted to deal with him. In fact she felt like she needed a shower after laying her eyes on him even though a couple of days had passed.

"You know you can't ignore me forever. We're going to have to talk eventually." The voice she had been avoiding sounded in her ear.

Wasn't he supposed to be at work? She would have been, if she weren't using up her sick days due to an episode of acute severe emotional distress.

"I wouldn't get so close to me if I were you, " she said dryly, brushing a few stray crumbs from her sandwich off the contracts she was proof reading.

Julien titled his head smirking, "And why is that?"

Thea eyed the steak knives in front of her then glanced back at him.

He erupted into laughter at her insinuation. "I thought you said you were too pretty to go to jail."

"I've been thinking over my options and I'm pretty sure I could get creative with a self defense story. Yale Law graduate remember?"

"You practice sports law," he countered.

Thea grinned, "So? I still know my way around the legal system. And have some very talented friends."

If he was rattled, Thea wasn't able to tell. Though, he did seem a little less confident than usual which was good enough for her.

Julien rolled his eyes. "Whatever. By the way, we're expected at my parents' house tonight for dinner. My father wants to see how our relationship is progressing."

"Of course, I talked to your mother about it last night. She expects us at six thirty." Thea said sliding off her stool to dump her dirty dish in the dishwasher.

"Are you going to give my father an answer on...our predicament?" Julien asked.

Thea closed the black machine gently before letting out a sigh. "I'm going to agree to your father's proposition."

She wasn't looking but she was sure Julien had a stunned look on his face. Facing him, she confirmed his surprise. "Why?"

Shrugging she pushed off from the counter. "If he dissolves his half of the company a lot of people could lose their jobs. It's hard times in this country job wise, why contribute to the problem? Not to mention, the children that could be affected. Kids and teens have enough problems to deal with these days, whether people realize it or not."

Julien gave her a thoughtful look. It made her feel uncomfortable, like she had revealed too much of herself. Quickly she pulled up the sheets of paper she had been reading.

"I've got to finish these before dinner. I'll meet you in the foyer at quarter to six."

She hurried out of the kitchen and up to her room. Not feeling up to reading about how many millions undeserving basketball players were going to make she dropped the contracts on the floor and plopped on her bed.

This was all just too much for her too handle. The marriage. The unspoken history between them. The guilt...

She sat up in frustration. Before all of this life was so simple. She went to work, hung out with her friends, and went on casual dates with the few males circulating in her life. But now she was supposed to be some Joan of Arc taking one for the Malebranche team.  Life was too ridiculous.

Glancing at her nightstand, she caught a glimpse of what was making all of this so difficult. Sticking her hand out, she brushed the photo of a younger version of herself and a smiling blonde who she had held near and dear to her heart. She couldn't help but wonder how life would have played out differently had things not gone down the way they did all those years ago.

Would she hate Julien? Would Julien be a different person today? These types of thoughts were useless. The present was what it was. Daydreaming of what could have been was pointless.

She fell back into the soft comfort of the bed. A nap was in order. Thea always felt better after getting in a mid day siesta.

Julien paced the foyer. Thea said she'd meet him at quarter to six, and though she still had a minute to arrive he felt nervous. He hadn't heard a sound from her since they parted ways in the kitchen earlier in the day. It was silly, but he was afraid she had slipped out and ran. Not that he'd blame her.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he thought of her reason for going along with his father's outlandish plan. She was a better person than he'd ever be.

Women liked to think that the bad boys in their lives are as the stories portray, wild but tamable with the right woman by their side. It was a load of crap. Julien no matter the female would always be the same.  There were a few who had tried to change him and were very close to succeeding, however his thirst for more was always left unquenched. He got bored easily even if the girl posed a challenge. There was just no satisfying him.

He was the same in that way about other aspects of his life as well. Working for his father's company was nice, but the feeling of adrenaline that went through him when his father said he'd be taking over was nearly better than sex. He'd finally have the power that he craved and dreamt about. It's why he agreed to this ridiculous scheme. Which brought him back to his thoughts of Thea and her reasons for saying yes.

Julien turned ready to run up the stairs, but was stopped by the sight of Thea coming down the stairs. Not prepared for the vision in front of him, he felt his jaw drop a little.

She wore a simple yellow cocktail dress that clung to her curves and ended just before her knees in a sophisticated manner. Her makeup was minimal except for the muted cherry coloring of her lips. The matching yellow pumps she wore accentuated her already long legs.

Did they really have to go to his parents' house?

Clearly irritated by his scrutiny, he watched her throw a hand through her loosely curled hair.  "We need to make some ground rules."

He smirked at her words. "Rules? Rules for what?" Julien didn't do rules.

She narrowed her eyes. "I know what's going on in that dirty little mind of yours mister and I want to make sure none of these thoughts get encouraged."

"My dirty little mind? How do you know my thoughts were dirty? I could have simply been thinking you look stunning, nothing more nothing less."

Thea snorted. "Whatever, my point is no touching me."

Julien chuckled taking a step forward, "And if I do?"

Her glare hardened, "I'll cut you."

Julien just shook his head as he made his way to the door.