Purchased Husband

On a Wednesday afternoon, I ask Damian Winters to marry me. To be clear, it's not a proposal. It's a business transaction. I have a sticky family situation, and the simplest way to deal with it is to pay him to be my husband for six months. Damian used to work as an escort so he knows how to keep things professional. We don't have to be friends. We don't even have to get along. I need someone fill a husband role, and he'll do just fine. It doesn't matter if he's the hottest man I've ever met. Work takes up all my time and energy, so I don't have room in my life for complications. I'm not going to fall into bed with him. And I'm definitely not going to fall in love. I hope.

An early work of Ayn Rand. At age 21 in 1926, Ayn Rand wrote her first short story in English. Here is the fruit of her labor.

On a Wednesday afternoon, I ask Trevor Bentley to marry me. He might be the most arrogant, obnoxious man I know, but I need him to be my husband for a year. There are reasons. He's not going to be a real husband. Just part-time. Yes, I have to live with him. And, okay, I also have to share his bed. And, sure, he's the sexiest and most exciting thing to ever happen to my controlled, organized life. But still... It's only a part-time marriage. I'm not going to give him my heart. I know what I'm doing, and I'm too smart to fall for my husband. I hope.

Janice Lieberman brings her vast shopping expertise as well as her personal knowledge of the dating marketplace together to tell you how to shop for the most important "purchase" of your life—your spouse. How to Shop for a Husband uses smart shopping principles to formulate rules that will help women select a spouse and "close the deal." This savvy shopper's guide provides a checklist all women can use in their hunt for the ultimate bargain, and also highlights potential pitfalls.

The art of being a good husband is not an easy one. This little guide was written for the middle classes of the 1930s who were reading one of the first modern self-help books. Illustrated with contemporary line-drawings, it contains advice by turns delightfully arcane and timelessly true, for example:Don't squeeze the tube of toothpaste from the top instead of from the bottom. This is one of the small things of life that always irritates a careful wife.Don't think that your wife has placed waste-paper baskets in the rooms as ornaments.Don't tell your wife terminological inexactitudes, which are, in plain English, lies. A woman has wonderful intuition for spotting even minor departures from the truth.Do cultivate the habit of coming down to breakfast with a smile. Remember that as the head of the house, it is your duty to see that everyone starts the day in an atmosphere of happiness.Don't criticise the food at your own table when you are entertaining and especially refrain from doing so before the servants.