“Go ahead with your story,” she said, suddenly tingling with awareness. She knew whatever he was going to ask her, it had nothing to do with the office. Not with the look she had just received from him.
He took a deep breath and nodded. “Now that my grandfather is ill, he’s worried about my grandmother. She wants to stay on the ranch and live out her life there, but—this is where I come in—she can’t run it or deal with it herself. And this is where you come in.” He paused and nodded at her plate. “Maybe you should enjoy a few more bites of dinner before I continue.”
She shook her head. “My curiosity will overcome me.” She wondered if he was thinking about trying to hire her as a companion for his grandmother. “What on earth is it, that I won’t be able to eat after you tell me?”
“I think I’m going to shock you. Frankly, I’m still reeling in shock myself,” he said, forcing a smile at her. “My grandfather wants me to move to the ranch and I have to agree to stay at least one year. That way I’ll be there to see that my grandmother is all right.”
“You’re leaving the company for a year?” Lara asked. “Or will it be longer?” Was she losing her boss permanently? She felt a pang at the thought and immediately thought of his vice presidents, wondering whom she would work for.
“It’ll only be a year. I know my grandpa and how he thinks. He thinks if I live out there a year, I’ll never want to leave.”
“I can understand what he wants, but is that what you want to do?”
“He’s given me an offer—actually, it’s more an ultimatum. I live there a year and I inherit the ranch, also one third of the mineral rights and one third of the producing wells on the ranch. My mother will also inherit a third, the same as I will, and the remainder of the estate will go to my grandmother.”
“I see.” She put down her fork and wiped her lips on her napkin. “You wanted to tell me that I’ll have a new boss.”
“Oh, no. I’m not through. I love my grandfather too much to refuse to do what he wants. Even if I didn’t feel that way, this offer is too big to turn down. And I love that ranch. As I said, I love Grandpa and I want his last days to be happy. I want to do what he wants and make him happy.”
“That’s wonderful, Marc. I can understand. I loved my mother, and at the last, I did everything I could to make her happy. I’ll miss working for you,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound too depressed, but she would miss him terribly. She liked working for him. He was a fair, considerate boss and a handsome, appealing man, so it was nice to be around him.
“There’s more, Lara, but I’m trying to wait until you’ve had enough of your dinner that you won’t go home hungry.”
She picked up her fork again, to placate him, and smiled up at him. “I’m eating, okay? But you’ve told me your news—that you’re leaving.”
“I haven’t reached the part that includes you,” he reminded her.
Startled, she stared at him as curiosity gripped her. Maybe he wanted a secretary on the ranch. Was that it?
“Lara, I’ve only told you part of my grandfather’s demands. There’s another part. Besides living on the ranch for a year, I’m to marry this month.”
He reached across the table to take her hand, which was something so unlike him that she nearly gasped. For a few seconds, she couldn’t speak. She could only stare at him.
“Don’t say anything until I’m through. You’re surprised, just as I was.”
While she heard his words, she was still focused on his hand wrapped around hers. His hand was warm, his grip light, yet the instant they touched she tingled from head to toe. Somehow, she felt the touch of his hand had changed their relationship in a subtle way. She was certainly more aware of him as a man. And that awareness made it impossible to respond.
“I need a wife for a marriage of convenience, possibly for one year, possibly much shorter,” he continued. “In order to inherit, I have to marry this month and live on the ranch for one year. That is what my grandfather has in his will. I want a wife as long as my grandfather is alive, which doctors have only given him a few months. I want his last days happy. After he is gone, I will stay on the ranch that full year, but there is nothing in his will about how long I have to stay married. When he is gone, I will end the marriage—that’s a promise,” he said. “I want to see if I can make a deal with you. Make you my wife.”
Stunned, she stared at him, looking into unfathomable brown eyes that hid his feelings so well. Marry Marc and then dissolve it? She couldn’t imagine doing such a thing. Those dark eyes so intently focused on her took her breath away. Marry Marc. Without love. A marriage for convenience. Her heart raced at the thought.
“Marc, that’s very flattering, but I can’t do that,” she said, her pulse pounding. Marry Marc? For a moment she felt light-headed. She couldn’t agree to what he was proposing.
“Wait a minute. Just listen to the whole thing. What’s in this for me, and more importantly, what’s in this for you. Please, just listen.”
“I am,” she said. Breathless, still in such shock, she could only stare at him, trying to hear and process what he was saying.
“You haven’t heard my part of this bargain. I stand to get big financial gains if I do what my grandfather wants. And I’ll inherit his ranch—a fine, working ranch. But, Lara, I intend for this deal to benefit the woman I marry, also.”
She gazed into eyes so dark they were almost black and knew that, whatever the outcome, she would remember this moment and what he had just said to her for the rest of her life. She had a feeling that her life might be about to change in a manner she had never envisioned. If she married him. She couldn’t imagine that happening.
“You and I are compatible,” he said. “We’re able to be together and we know we can work together. I want to help you in your endeavors and help you take care of your baby. I want to give you and your baby a great start in your new life. I want to give your baby security and legitimacy—my name. If you’ll marry me in this marriage of convenience, I’ll draw up the papers and give you two hundred thousand dollars when we marry and two hundred thousand when we divorce. After my grandfather is gone, I want us both free.”
“That’s staggering, Marc,” she whispered, so stunned by his offer that she could only stare at him. “That’s almost half a million dollars,” she whispered. “I can go to school and I won’t have to work in the office.”
“That’s right. As much as I hate to lose you as a secretary, I need you more in this.”
“But you go out and have women friends. Why are you asking me? We haven’t even dated.”
“This isn’t a marriage made from a romance. It’s a marriage of convenience and my grandfather just required that I live on the ranch for one year. When my grandfather is gone, I want to return to my single status—and I will,” Marc said, giving her a direct look that spoke volumes about his determination to do just that. “The women I take to parties and concerts and shows—I don’t think any of them would go into a marriage with the agreement that it would be over, maybe in several months.”
“I can see that,” she said without thinking, and his lips curved in a faint smile.
“You, on the other hand, have an agenda. You plan on medical school and you’ll have a baby. I think you’ll be willing to walk away from this when we divorce.”
“Will we...will we live as man and wife?” she asked. “Including sex?”
“If that’s your preference, yes, we can. If it’s not—and since this marriage is definitely temporary—I think we can manage. We did well