Scott - If you were to do this, you would hire this person as a temp and indicate that in the offer letter.

I strongly advise against this approach. I don't know what you gain by doing this and you have a lot to lose. If you're not fully committed to this employee, they may not even accept your offer, and even if they do, you're likely to not be getting the best from them because of this arrangement. If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out, but in my opinion and experience you're starting at a significant disadvantage by doing this.