Free Considerations by Alicia Roberts

 
Chapter One
    As soon as I stepped out of the office, I spotted the limo parked by the curb. I knew it was Brad, even before he rolled down his window to wave me over.
    I sighed and walked to the car , sliding in when he opened the door.
    "We're going straight to the airport," he said.
    "No," I shook my head, "I should pick up some things from home , first ."
    He'd suggested the trip today at breakfast. Afterwards, we'd stopped for five minutes at my apartment; he waited in the car as I fished out my passport, put it in my bag and ran back to the car to get a lift to work . I didn't even have a toothbrush on me.
    "They have shops there, you know," he sounded amused, "You'll get whatever you need from there. We don't have time to make detours right now."
    "Ok." It was just as well, I supposed. I didn't want him to come inside my tiny apartment - it was probably the size of one of his bathrooms. He knew I was broke, but I didn't want to rub it in his face.
    As if he'd heard the niggling doubt in my mind, Brad said, "Your contract will cover all your expenses, of course."
    Yes, the contract. It was going to be called a pre-nup, but we both knew that if we got married it would just be a sham - if we stayed married for a year, Brad would inherit Reinehart Industries outright , and I'd get a cool million dollars as my divorce settlement.
    I felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing. I desperately needed money, I needed to pay off my student debt and the remainder of my mom's medical bills, and the kind of money Brad was offering would allow me to get back to college, get a degree and hopefully get a job I liked.
    However, I really did feel something for Brad. The moment I saw him my stomach had done flips. It wasn't just his sculpted face, gorgeous eyes or chiseled muscles - I felt something in the air between us, a kind of friction that made me want to remove any distance between our bodies. I'm sure Brad felt it too.
    Brad could have any girl he wanted, so I didn't want to get my hopes up about "the two of us", but at the same time I didn't want to destroy the slim chance of something real happening between us by getting into a fake marriage. To add to my inner conflict , I wasn't sure if I could stomach the pretense for an entire year, and if I could tolerate feeling like an expensive hooker.
    I settled back in the plush leather seats as the limo sped forward. Brad was busy reading something on his tablet, and I wondered if I should buy a magazine for the flight.
    "I have to get through some emails," he said , when I looked at him quizzically . "I always fall asleep on flights."
    I nodded like I understood, pulled out my old iPod and closed my eyes as the music washed over me.
    It was a long drive, and by the time the limo pulled up, it was dark outside. I hadn't paid any attention to the route, and now I noticed we hadn't gone to JFK Airport , and had instead arrived at the smaller Teterboro Airport in New Jersey .
    The door opened and Brad helped me out. We sped through security, crossed the small waiting area and were taxied across to our waiting flight.
    It came as a small shock to me when I realized we'd be getting i nto Brad's private jet, and not a commercial flight. I should've expected this, but in my world, people shared a massive plane and cramped their bodies into tiny seats. Obviously, th at was unheard of in Brad's world. I climbed up the narrow stairs, and looked around as the pilot came out to speak with Brad.
    The inside of the jet was decked out like a modern hotel, lit with small overhead lights which gave the sitting area a warm glow. The seats themselves were cream leather, and wide enough for two people to share. There were only a few seats, and I could tell by the distance s between them that they reclined completely.
    A fter we sat down, the pilot disappeared into the cockpit, and the plane began to hum to life. Brad and I sat across the aisle from each other, and we did up our seatbelts as the plane