Terms and Conditions

Iris and Declan head to the hospital, and on the way, Iris dictates a variety of emails to rearrange both of their work schedules to accommodate the hospital visit. This experience makes Declan see just how much work Iris does, helping him value her even more.

At the hospital, Iris asks Declan to help with the medical forms. At first, he gives her the form to read, but to cover up her dyslexia and the time it would take her to read, she tells him she’s struggling to concentrate and asks him to read the questions to her.

Declan sees the hospital bed where they take Iris and attempts to pay for a better room, not realizing nurses there wouldn’t care about his money. Amused at his lack of knowledge about the real world, Iris laughs at his irritation. The doctor arrives, at first suspicious that Iris’s injury might be Declan’s fault. He then declares Iris has a boxer’s fracture and gives her instructions for care; when Declan becomes overprotective and demands a second opinion, Iris intervenes.

When Iris is taken care of, Declan goes to his father’s home to confront Seth. He recognizes the similarity between Seth’s injury and Declan’s own bent nose due to Seth’s abuse, and he is determined never to become like his father; instead, he plans to win his arguments with intelligence. To prevent Seth from hurting Iris again, he shows Seth a copy of the file Declan keeps on him, with evidence of Seth’s abuse. Declan threatens to leak it to the press if Seth speaks to Iris ever again. When Seth says that doing so would make Declan look weak for having been abused, Declan tells Seth he is the weak one, which took years for Declan to accept.

Frustrated with typing one-handed, Iris calls Cal to help. His flippant comment about his father’s parenting style makes her sad, but he quickly deflects, and they banter before getting to work.

That night, Iris surprises Declan with her “fake dating” plan to help his image. To make the plan truly work, she has also engineered their first date to make sure they are seated next to one of the reporters who shared Seth’s story and said awful things about Iris. Declan hates the idea but agrees to go along with it to save their image.

To Iris’s surprise, Declan takes her order to sell their relationship quite seriously, whispering in her ear as he helps her with her seat and responding to her reminiscing about their honeymoon with a lewd comment. The date continues this way, with the two bantering about family reunions, Formula 1 racing, and Declan’s jealousy over her Formula 1 crushes. Iris, unable to help her physical attraction to Declan, realizes the danger of their ruse turning into something more as they spend more dates together. Her conclusion is that if it does turn into more, it will only lead to “[s]ex. Love. And heartbreak” (240).

Declan regrets getting a drink to drag out their dinner, but another part of him relishes the extra time with Iris. He sees her personality coming through more, and he revels in her conversation. Feeling as if he can no longer ignore his feelings or his increasing dissatisfaction with being alone, Declan reveals to Iris that when he complimented the view, he meant her.

At first, Iris laughs, thinking Declan doesn’t know the reporter is gone. When he admits he does know and that he meant what he said, she tells him that they cannot act on physical desires. He suggests they hook up, but she emphasizes that they can’t risk their plan because of their feelings (which Declan notes includes her own, not just his). He hates how he feels at her rejection, and he is determined to win her over.

Later, he asks his driver, Harrison, if he is married, and Harrison reveals that he knows the truth about Declan’s marriage. Seth offered him money to share what he knows, but he refused, telling Declan he didn’t want to give him another reason to hate the world.

Harrison tells Declan that no matter how things started, he can always go back and start them right again. He tells Declan he sees that Iris has feelings for him, no matter what she says, and he advises Declan to “chase” her.

Declan catches Iris in the kitchen, attempting to drain boiling water from her pasta pot with her one good hand. He helps her and then invites himself to eat dinner with her. When she lies about planning to eat in her room, he catches on that she’s nervous around him now, but he allows her to deny the fact. He challenges her with light touches and laughs at her threat to spear him with a fork.

During dinner, Iris repeats Declan’s words from the engagement party, that special was the last word he would use to describe her. He challenges her to ask how he would describe her, and when she asks, he uses a foreign word. Iris attempts to Google it, but with dyslexia, she struggles with the spelling. She doesn’t want Declan to know about her dyslexia, so she dismisses his words and leaves. Declan tries to stop her, but she escapes to her room, where she cries for all the bullying she experienced, the hurtful words from her father, her failed jobs, and the woman who worked harder than most to make sure she was successful.

She receives a one-word text from Declan that night—the word he had used, with correct spelling. Her search tells her it means “A predestined infinity” (261), and she realizes Declan switches to foreign languages when he wants to avoid sharing his real feelings. She starts searching for foreign words with no English equivalent and sends him a Tagalog word meaning “a feeling of exhilaration or elation caused by an exciting or romantic experience” (262). His response is a Greek word for “to do something with pleasure” (262).

Their language game continues the next day. They don’t speak about what happened, but they send each other suggestive one-word texts throughout the day. Iris realizes that Declan is actually funny, just in a nerdy way. Iris feels herself falling for Declan but continues to insist that they can never be more than friends. Cal catches her smiling and texting and confronts her, expressing his concern that Declan might make her fall in love with him and hurt her.

Iris reflects on Declan’s recent behavior, noting that in the week since her hand brace came off, he has been insistent on spending time together, either wanting to eat together or do work on the couch while she watches TV.

She has another fake date planned for that night: to attend a charity gala. She enters his office to inform him and, in response to his complaints, tells him she’ll make it worth his while. She means by having his grandfather’s lawyer see them together, but Declan is clearly thinking about more lewd rewards.

With the sexual energy between them building, Iris attempts to flee his office, but Declan tells her he wants the conditions of their agreement to change. He kisses her; Iris is shocked but soon responds. Despite her desire, she pushes him away and leaves the office.

Iris prepares for the gala, enjoying the event’s glamor. Having chosen a dress with a zipper, she needs Declan’s help again. He teases her as he zips her dress, and instead of telling her she looks nice, as he did on their wedding day, he tells her she looks devastating. Iris helps with his bowtie, and they share a laugh over his thanking her for everything she has done. As they leave, Iris feels that tonight may change things. As they arrive at the gala, Iris realizes Declan likes her laugh and is intrigued as they join the crowd.

At the gala, Declan and Iris don’t have to wait long for his grandfather’s lawyer to find them. Declan introduces Leo as his grandfather’s best friend, and Leo offers a warm family welcome to Iris. He insists on a drink to celebrate.

Leo heads to the bar for vodka, and Declan, seeing Iris shiver, offers her his jacket. To defuse the tension, Iris comments on Declan being good at the doting husband act, which hurts him.

Leo finds them and insists on giving a toast, where he compares marriage to going on a road trip with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Iris realizes that she is not ready for such a marriage, and she thinks she may have made a mistake in agreeing to marry Declan.

Declan notes Iris’s mood shift: He tries to get her to talk to him, but she pulls away, claiming she needs the restroom. Realizing Leo’s speech may have bothered her, Declan decides to take things slow. Instead of calling Harrison to pick them up, he tells Iris he promised Leo he would stay for the auction.

Declan shocks Iris by willingly requesting a dance with her. They slow dance, and he relishes the physical intimacy. When the music changes to a fast-paced song, Iris asks him to stay and dance with her to one of her favorite songs. Declan struggles with arousal at her dancing, but eventually she urges him to dance with her. They stop dancing only to join the auction, where Declan bids on anything that makes Iris’s eyes light up, outbidding everyone and spending over $50 million because he wants to keep seeing her smile and her joy.

After the auction, they return to the dance floor until they are the last ones left in the room. When Iris complains about her feet after dancing in heels, Declan throws her over his shoulder—to her consternation.

Iris falls asleep in the car, and Declan carries her to her bed. When he tries to wake her, she talks in her sleep, revealing that she is having a sex dream about Declan. Despite his arousal, Declan realizes he shouldn’t wake her. He decides to be patient until “she comes crawling to me” (292).