Girl, your love to me feels just like magic
When you smile you have total control
You have power like nothing I felt before
I've let all of my feelings show
Because I want you to know
That I need you

I need you
For the rest of my life, girl
I need you
Say that you'll be my wife
Oh, I love you
Won't you marry me, marry me
I need you

(Song is I need you by Marc Anthony)

It was supposed to be just another day at the office. A relatively safe one, too. That's how Regina thought of the days when she wasn't going to spend much time with Robin Locksley, her incredibly sexy boss who was too damn tempting for his own good. They'd wrapped up a project the week before, and her focus had shifted to the designs for a hotel that was in the final stages of construction.

For four blissful days, she'd been able to hide away in her office and avoid basically everyone while she immersed herself in lighting plans, fixtures, finishes, hardware, furnishings, textiles, window treatments, paint color, wallpaper and accents. She threw herself whole-heartedly into the project for two reasons. First, she still felt like she needed to prove herself, even though everyone was more than happy with her work over the last couple months.

But she knew she'd been lucky to land the interior designer job at Locksley Construction. She'd only earned her bachelor's degree a couple weeks prior to the job being posted, and they could have gone with a more qualified applicant. They also could have chosen someone who didn't have the complication of needing a work visa to stay in the United States like she did.

Not that it was incredibly difficult to get one since Regina was Canadian. All she'd really needed was proof of a job offer—which Locksley Construction had provided—and to be able to show she had strong ties to her home country. With her parents, her older sister, two older brothers, and a bunch of nieces and nephews living there, that had been easy enough to demonstrate.

The second reason was a tad bit more complicated. Okay, more than a tad, considering Robin was about seven inches taller than her at six foot three. With a lean, runner's body, thick, dark-blonde hair and intense blue eyes, he was a distraction she didn't need, considering he was her boss... at a job she needed to keep if she wanted to stay in the United States. Which is how she'd been able to summon the super-human willpower it had taken, to tell him no each time he'd asked her on a date over the last two months.

Almost every single day since she'd started working here. Quickly heading towards one hundred times.

It was so damn hard to keep turning him down, but she knew it was for the best. Regina loved her job, her cute little apartment, and the freedom she had from her family that living in another country provided. A family who loved her so much, they thought they had the right to interfere in every facet of her life. Regina wasn't willing to risk it all because Robin was sexier than sin. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself, over and over again.

"Damn him for being so persistent," Regina mumbled to herself.

"Did you say something?"

Her head jerked up at the sound of the feminine voice in the doorway. It was Belle, their receptionist and Robin's younger sister.

"Nothing important," Regina assured her.

"Okie-dokie." She walked towards her and dropped a stack of mail on her desk. "Lots and lots of catalogs for you, as usual. But there's an envelope in there you may want to look at ASAP 'cause it looked important."

Regina dug through the pile and found the envelope she was referring to at the bottom. It was impossible to miss with US Citizenship and Immigration Services listed on the upper left corner.

"Crap. Crap. Crap," Regina chanted to herself as she tore it open. Then it turned to "fuck, fuck, fuck" as her heart dropped. Regina read through the letter quickly the first time around, and then much more slowly to make sure she wasn't misunderstanding what it said. Unfortunately, the meaning didn't change the second time around.

"I'm fucked," Regina groaned as she closed her eyes at the situation before her.

"Not yet you aren't," Robin growled from the door as he barged into her office and slammed it shut. "If you were, I'd know it because I'd be the one doing the fucking."

His raspy voice slid over my skin and heated it. Just the sound of him talking had her panties wet, and she'd been avoiding him all this time because she'd thought he'd be the reason why she had visa problems.

"All those wasted opportunities," she muttered.

"Not wasted," he corrected. "Foreplay."

"I don't have time for this right now, Robin. Not when my whole world is falling apart," Regina cried, waving the letter in the air.

"You sound as bad as Belle did when she told me to get my ass in here." He tore it from her hands, and she dropped her head to her desk while he read through the letter.

"It's just an additional interview, Regina," he said soothingly, in a failed attempt to calm her down.

"My visa was approved by an immigration officer at the border two months ago. It was easy peasy. I showed him my TN visa application letter, my bachelor's degree, and my passport. I answered some questions about how long I planned to stay in the country. About how often I planned to go home to see my family. Boom, I was approved. Which means they shouldn't have any additional questions for me," Regina retorted as she jumped to her feet and paced back and forth. "Except, someone apparently has it in for me since they received a tip that I lied about my intent to stay here for only three years. Who would do something like that?"

"Calm down," he ordered, as though it was that simple.

"Calm down?" Regina parroted. "That's easy for you to say since you're not the one in danger of being deported!"

"Neither are you."

"I beg to differ"— Regina stormed towards him and jabbed her finger in his chest, absently noticing how firm it was—"since an appointment at an immigration field office sure sounds like the start to yanking my work visa to me."

"You know what?" he drawled. "Don't calm down. Feel free to freak out because in the end that will work out even better for me."

"What in the heck are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you and me, Regina. You've been denying what's happening between us for two long as hell months," he growled, his eyes lit with determination. "You've used your work visa as an excuse to keep yourself away from me. Well guess what, my majesty? Giving in to me is your way out of this mess."

"I still have absolutely no idea what you mean. Maybe you can dumb it down for me since I'm only a female and all," Regina muttered sarcastically, not a big fan of his nickname for her.

"Fine," he bit out. "I'll make it as simple as one word—marriage."

"What? No," Regina gasped. "We haven't even been out on a date!"

"And whose fault is that?" he countered. "It certainly wasn't for a lack of trying on my part. If I'd had my way, you wouldn't have a single doubt about how damn serious I am."

Gah! He was absolutely right, and it was so darn frustrating. Regina couldn't blame him for their lack of dating history, but he was missing the biggest flaw in his plan. "Nobody is going to believe we got married for any reason other than me receiving that letter. The timing is too coincidental."

"Not if you didn't get the damn thing before we were already married," he suggested.

"That's impossible, Robin. I already received it."

"Nobody but my baby sister knows you did," he countered, moving towards the door and yanking it open. "Belle! We need you in here for a minute."

"What's up?" Her gaze was worried as she peeked her head inside Regina's office.

"If anyone asks, Regina and I were already gone for the weekend when this arrived." He stuffed the letter back in the envelope and handed it to her.

"Anyone, as in mom and dad? Or anyone, as in the authorities?" Belle asked, knowing where her brother was going with this.

"Both."

"You can't ask her to lie for me," Regina objected. "She could get into serious trouble."

"Sure he can. That's what family is for," Belle disagreed, flashing her a smile before turning to her brother with a calculated look in her eye. "It just means he's going to owe me big later on."

"Whatever you want, consider it done."

"Hot damn!" she crowed. "You do know you're probably going to regret it later, right?"

"Regina's worth it."

"Holy crap," Regina breathed out, not even knowing how to respond to the certainty in his voice.

"That she is," Belle agreed. "If I was a nicer person, I'd do this for you out of the kindness of my heart because I want you to be happy."

"But we both know you're too mercenary for that," Robin chuckled.

"Pot meet kettle," Belle quipped. "Where should I say the two of you went when everyone asks?"

"Vegas."

Regina gasped.

Holy crap, he was serious about marrying her to fix her visa problem.

"We don't even know each other, Robin. How would we convince anyone that we were together, much less decided to get married?" Regina squeaked, looking a little shell-shocked.

Robin rolled his eyes. "Just because you've been stubborn and haven't been on a date with me doesn't mean I haven't gotten to know you, Majesty." Robin knew the nickname irritated her and his intent paid off when she went from looking freaked to annoyed. "You hate coffee, even the smell. You drink tea instead, with cream and sugar. You have a weird aversion to certain fruits, particularly peaches—"

"It's the texture," she cut him off with a slightly defensive tone.

"Good to know," Robin grinned and kept going. "You chew on your bottom lip when you're nervous. You love to read and judging from the blushes I see while you're buried in a book, they're steamy romances. You love your family, but they drive you mad. You're incredibly brave. You have the softest, prettiest dark hair I've ever seen, captivating brown eyes, and plump lips that constantly bombard me with images of them under my own."

"At five and a six feet tall, you'll fit just right when I hold you against me. Your gorgeous curves are enough to make me insane when another man looks at you. And, you're sweet as hell"—Robin paused and rose his eyebrows—"Do you need to hear more?"

Her eyes had slowly widened, her mouth opening in a perfect "O" of surprise. "How do you..." she trailed off.

"I can't help but notice everything about you, Majesty." His eyes pinned her down and he didn't even try to hide the heat in them. Robin almost blurted out that she was his, but managed to stifle the compulsion at the last second.

She nibbled on her lower lip for a minute, then sighed. "Okay. If you're sure it won't be a huge inconvenience. I mean, it's two years of a pretend marriage. But, I'd be really grateful to get temporarily married."

Robin barely contained his scoff. Temporarily? Over his dead body. But, he decided to save that conversation until after the ink was dry on their marriage certificate. Instead, he stood from where he'd been sprawled on a chair and walked around her desk. Grasping her hands, he pulled her up and wrapped her in his arms. His head lowered and he closed his mouth over hers. Her little gasp of surprise worked to his advantage and he slipped his tongue inside.

She tasted even more incredible than he'd imagined. His hands dropped to her ass and he squeezed, forcing her closer, letting her feel what she did to him. He'd been a walking hard-on for two fucking months. Constantly dreaming of what it was going to be like when he finally got her under him. Tearing his mouth from hers, he stared down into her cloudy dark eyes. That was about to change, he vowed. Before the night was over, his dreams would become reality.

When he'd woken up this morning, he'd been in a shit mood. Every damn day his bed seemed emptier, something he hadn't even noticed for years until Regina walked into his office. He hadn't been able to come up with a feasible plan for getting her to at least go on a date with him. Other than to tie her ass up and keep her prisoner until she agreed. An idea that still held merit.

Now, the perfect fucking solution had fallen into his lap. More than perfect because this wasn't just dating. He didn't have to go slow and convince her of what he already knew. Regina and he were made for each other. This meant he'd be able to skip all the bullshit and make her completely, officially his. Claimed by law so everyone would know who she belonged to. His blood heated at the thought.

He let her go with another quick peck on her kiss-swollen lips and walked towards the door. "I'll make the arrangements while you go home and pack a bag." Without waiting for her reply, he stalked over to his office and sat at his desk. He quickly sent an email to Belle with a list of meetings that couldn't be handled by his managers and needed to be rescheduled. Then he told her to make sure she cleared his schedule for the next week or so.

Plane tickets were next on the to-do list. Robin wished there was a way to make it appear as though this trip wasn't quite so spontaneous. Then it hit him. Apparently, Lady Luck was rewarding him for two months of patience because he suddenly remembered a conversation with his friend David during their poker night a few days before. He'd planned a trip to Vegas for the coming weekend and was taking his private jet. Hitching a ride meant less of a paper trail.

Robin gave him a call and convinced him to start his trip early. He even agreed to let them use his incredible house in Malibu for their honeymoon, another way to avoid the appearance of impulse. Groveling was involved, along with a pretty hefty discount on his next construction project. But, like he'd said, Regina was worth it.

Regina was unusually quiet from the moment he'd picked her up at her apartment building. He wasn't fond of her neighborhood and wanted to lecture her about her safety habits. It might also have had something to do with making sure she didn't date anyone else. And, he might have warned off a few guys who looked interested in her.

He pulled into the private airport and drove out to hangar ten. David was just boarding and he stopped to wave in the direction of his yellow Ferrari, parked in the hangar next door. Robin maneuvered his much less ostentatious, black Audi right next to it then turned the car off and hopped out. Rounding the hood, he opened Regina's door and helped her from her seat.

She glanced around with an unbelieving expression, taking in the man helping with their bags, before settling her gaze on the jet. "I can't believe we're doing this," she whispered. "It's surreal."

Grabbing her hand, he began to lead her out to the tarmac. "Believe it, Majesty. In a few hours, you'll finally be mine."

"Temporarily," she insisted.

"You keep telling yourself that," he mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, baby." he gestured to the steps leading up the airplane door. "Up you go."

She bit her bottom lip and looked at him speculatively, but didn't say anything more. Holding the railing, she climbed up the steps and stepped inside. She gasped and he couldn't help grinning, knowing exactly what she was seeing. David owned a multi-billion-dollar corporation, making Robin's own millions look paltry. After growing up in poverty, with two shitty parents, he went all out on his possessions, making sure they were always the best.

"Welcome," David's low baritone said, in a tone that was clearly meant to bug the shit out of Robin. Coming up behind Regina, he growled and shoved his hand away before they were able to make contact. David smirked, and he covertly flipped him the bird.

Robin guided Regina to a comfortable bucket seat in the back and sat her down, buckling her in for takeoff. She batted at his hands, grumbling about not being an infant and he let out a bark of laughter. Taking the seat next to her, he leaned over and put his lips against her ear. "Trust me, Regina. I am well aware that you're all woman. And, I'd be happy to prove it in the back bedroom after take-off."

Her cheeks turned a ridiculously cute shade of pink, and that bottom lip ended up between her teeth again. Robin grinned at her flustered state until she said primly, "There will be no proving of anything or any bedrooms for that matter. This isn't a real marriage, remember?"

Robin shrugged and faced forward, but wrapped her hand in his and rested them on his thigh. No use arguing at the moment, she'd figure it out soon enough.

He wasn't letting her go. Ever.