“Then that settles that question. We’ll continue in a friendly manner the way we did at the office. This way, we won’t have emotional complications,” he said, smiling at her, and she smiled in return. “It’s not something that can’t be changed if we decide we want to change it,” he added, and she nodded.
“Marc, I have to admit I’m stunned. I can’t believe what you’re offering.”
“Think about it, Lara. You’re alone now, but you won’t be if you take this offer. I can help you so you can take care of yourself and your baby, get that education you want so you can save some lives or help others in some way. You’ll be helping my mother and me get this inheritance. It’s mutually beneficial and I hope changes your life for the better.”
“Of course it will,” she answered. She stared at him and he gazed back in silence. Could she live under the same roof with him without falling into bed with him? Could she live with him and not get emotionally involved? He was a sexy, desirable man. And she knew he could do far more damage to her heart than she’d experienced this past year, and that had been terrible.
“Lara, I’m sure people at the office have talked to you about my wife. You’ve seen her picture on my desk. She was pregnant with our baby when she was killed in a plane crash after we had been married three months. We had been married three months, four days, fourteen hours to be exact.” He looked away, and when he talked, his voice was flat.
“I’m sorry, Marc, for your loss.”
“I loved her,” he said quietly, and Lara wondered if he had forgotten her presence and was caught in memories. She sat quietly as he drew a deep breath.
“Enough of that, except to say, I will not make this marriage permanent, nor will it become personal. I still love Kathy and miss her with all my being. I know I need to get over my loss, but that hasn’t happened and I want to be up front and honest with you.”
“I understand. My broken engagement hurt me and left me not trusting my judgment in men. I get it. But I also know you well, since we’ve worked closely together for the past year.”
“I want to help you, especially since you don’t have any family,” he said. “In addition to what I’ve offered, there are some other things.”
“There’s more?” she asked in surprise.
“Oh, yes. In addition to giving your child my name, I’ll set up a two-hundred-thousand-dollar trust fund for your baby.”
“Whoever agrees to this marriage will become wealthy. You’re willing to give me a fortune and my child your name?” she repeated, knowing she had to accept his offer.
“Yes, I am, because of what I’ll inherit from my grandfather. It’ll make his last days happier ones, and it will change my mother’s life for the better. And I hope it will change yours, as well.”
“That’s incredibly generous.”
“I’ll be on the ranch, but when the year is up, I’ll have someone else run the ranch and have a companion and help for my grandmother, and I’ll return to Dallas and the corporate world. I’ll retire later to the ranch.”
Still in shock, she sat quietly, her head spinning. “Marc, I can’t even absorb this. My life will change totally.”
“Yes, it will.” His hand tightened around hers. “Lara, I want the ranch and my grandfather’s inheritance, and I need this marriage. And I don’t want him to be unhappy in his last days. I love him,” Marc said gruffly, and impulsively, she squeezed his hand.
“I’m sorry. It hurts to lose someone you love. I know,” she said quietly.
She started to pull her hand away, but he held it. “You have soft hands,” he said quietly.
She realized they had been circumspect at the office, never even touching. But now his hand on hers was electrifying. For a moment she forgot his proposition, her dinner, everything else except his hand holding hers.
His gaze met hers. “We’ve worked together well. We can do this. Your engagement is broken. You have your plans for your future. We can help each other.”
Her insides trembled again. She was intensely aware of him, yet still trying to grasp the amount of money that could be hers if she accepted his offer. The temptation was great to accept instantly, yet years of caution and self-control caused her to remain silent.
“I’m surprised I didn’t faint. I have to think about this.”
“How many times in your life have you fainted?”
“None,” she answered, startled by his question until she saw his smile.
“I didn’t think so. Look, Lara, I know it’s a shock. I’ve been in shock to find out I have to marry this month. I want you to think this over.”
“I’ve worked with you for almost a year now and I’ve seen you in a lot of different situations. You’re one of the good guys, Marc. I feel I can trust you.” She diverted her gaze a moment, then looked back into his eyes, deeply and sincerely. “Since I feel that way, with the offer you’ve made, I can’t possibly turn it down. Yes, Marc, I’ll marry you in a marriage of convenience that we know will end.”
“I’ll still give you a little time to think about this and back out if you want. I hope you don’t back out, but I don’t want a quick decision when this is a life changer. You don’t know what I’m like away from the office. We should go out together a few times before we’re locked into this.”
He released her hand and she wondered if he had given the contact any thought. “All good ideas, Marc.” Her mind reeled with questions. “Your grandmother has a house there, right? Or will she live in the same house with us? Oh, my heavens! With us—that sounds so impossible,” she said breathlessly while she gazed into his eyes. I’m going to marry Marc. I’m going to be his wife. The thoughts swirled and she could feel her face flush. “I can’t imagine any of this.”
“See why I wanted you to eat some of your dinner?” he asked. “You haven’t eaten a bite since I told you why I asked you out.”
“You were right. My appetite is gone. The dinner is delicious, but my head is spinning and my stomach is churning.” She grasped his hand again. His hand was warm and solid, and her reaction to the physical contact was just as electrifying as before. She was conscious that his fingers closed gently around hers.
“Damn, your hand is cold as ice,” he said and clutched it between both of his.
“I’m in shock and nervous and excited. This is something I never dreamed would happen. I’m excited, scared, flattered—countless reactions that keep shifting and changing with each breath I take. Right now, the money is dazzling, but I know I have to look beyond the money. The prospect of us being married—that’s shocking and something I’ve never considered.”
He leaned closer across the table. “I understand some of your feelings. That’s exactly why I said you should take some time to think about your answer,” he said, brushing loose strands of her hair away from her face. His touch was feathery, except it was Marc and she was acutely aware of him. He gazed at her intently and his steady look took her breath away. What were these intense reactions she was having to him? She didn’t have those at the office. But at the office, she had never had to consider marriage to him, even if it wasn’t forever, wasn’t out of love and wasn’t even real.
“I’ll do that if you want, but the offer you just made to me—I don’t have to think about what I want to do. You’ll solve so many of my problems for me,” she said, leaning closer to him and lowering her voice. “I’ll say goodbye to you when we divorce, so I can go on with my dream to become a doctor and to go into medical research.”
They both leaned over the table, till mere inches separated them. She searched his gaze, yet his eyes revealed nothing of