“So, we’re talking about a marriage of convenience. Doubtless, you’ll demand a sizable settlement when we split up?” he said.
“No settlement.”
“Right. A Butler who isn’t after my money. What a refreshing development.”
“I’ll sign a prenup if you want me to. If you help me find a job somewhere … or help me get started in London, that would be wonderful. We … we wouldn’t even have to live together while we’re married either. I just want the baby to feel his father wanted him.”
“So, no sex and no settlement, huh?”
“I told you, this isn’t about sex or money. It’s about what’s best for the baby. I grew up with all the money in the world, but …”
“But with a real bastard for a father, who never gave a damn about you. Poor little rich girl.”
“Please … don’t run him down.” She stopped, feeling bleak at the dark feelings his words too easily stirred within her. Her childhood with her father may have been loveless, but that didn’t mean she could bear other people sitting in judgment of him. Especially not now when he was under house arrest and she herself was uncertain as to his guilt of innocence.
Turning away so he wouldn’t read the longing that welled up inside her, she watched a happy young couple leave the medical building. They were laughing and holding hands. When they reached their battered, compact car, the man pulled the woman into his arms and kissed her fervently. Maybe they, too, had learned they were going to have a baby—only they were both thrilled.
Color me green, she thought.
Watching them, too, Jake stiffened. “Sorry … for what I just said about your dad,” he said in a gentler tone.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Our marriage would hardly be a fairy tale with the promise of happily-ever-after like we both dreamed we might know with someone we would have freely chosen some day. And believe me, my father won’t be happy about any of this when he finds out.”
“If you’re determined to get married, we live together,” Jake growled.
“Why—when you didn’t even want to spend the night with me last night?”
“Who the hell knows? Maybe because I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. As long as you’re my wife, I’ll keep you close so I can keep an eye on you. Besides, who’ll look after you if I’m not around?”
Against her better judgment, at this softer sentiment her heart warmed to him a little.
“My house is big,” he said. “You can use the bedroom downstairs that you slept in last night. I’ll live on the second floor just like always. But while we’re married, you’re to have nothing to do with your father.”
“But Jake ….”
“That’s nonnegotiable. I don’t trust him or you—and I especially don’t trust the two of you together.”
“But, he’s been arrested. He’s alone and in trouble. I know how that feels. I can’t just turn my back on him.”
“No involvement. So long as you’re my wife, you’re not to associate with him. Not even a phone call. You’re to stay away from his trial, too. Do you understand me?”
She turned and stared mutely out the window at the cars speeding by beyond the parking lot. What if her father was innocent and she deserted him?
“Do you want to marry me or not?” Jake demanded, hard finality in his voice.
Uncertain, she froze. Finally she nodded. “But only for the baby’s sake.”
He frowned. “Then you’ll agree to stay away from him while we’re married?”
“Yes,” she whispered in a tone that was so faint it was nearly inaudible.
“There can be no other men in your life while we’re married.”
“What?” she murmured, feeling crushed that he thought her so low. But then, all he knew was that she’d made love to him the first night she’d met him. How could he possibly realize how special he’d been, how profoundly connected she’d felt to him?
“Since our marriage will upset a lot of people, including my clients and employees, I want it to appear respectable. I don’t want to give the press or your numerous enemies anything extra to chew on. So you’ll have to agree not to be seen out with other men.”
“Of course,” she said quietly even as anger began to bubble inside her. “What about you, Mr. High And Mighty? Will the same rule apply to you?”
“I will abide by the same rule—for the same reason.”
“Not out of any loyalty to me. But then, why should you feel the slightest loyalty? You don’t want to marry me any more than I want to marry you.”
“Maybe we’re finally beginning to understand each other. Will you be faithful?”
“I said yes already!” she snapped. “Did you really spend the night alone last night?”
He smiled. “So you care a little, too?”
She shook her head much too vigorously, because his quick white smile, the beautiful smile that had seduced her, broadened, causing her blood to heat.
“Were you really alone?” she persisted, furious at him for being so attractive to her just because of a smile and at herself for being so susceptible to his virile brand of sexiness.
“I was. So, when you’re my wife, a wife who, for the record, refuses to sleep with me, will you expect me to answer questions like that if I choose not to come home some night?”
“Look … I shouldn’t have asked about last night. Forget I did it! I don’t care what you do ….”
“Okay.” Grinning, he held up his hands in a gesture of mock innocence. “But just in case you do care … a tiny bit … I spent the night alone like I said. I was in a houseboat in the swamp behind Belle Rose that I told you about. The only time I left it was when I built a fire on a muddy bank and cooked out.”
“What did you cook?”
“A squirrel. There’s not much to a squirrel. So it was a long, hungry night spent alone.”
She frowned. “You killed a little squirrel?”
“I threw my knife. He died in a flash.”
“I can’t believe you’d be so cruel!”
“What? Do you think I like killing animals? I like to eat. Do you think you’re morally superior because your meat comes in plastic-covered packages in the grocery store?”
Unable to refute his logic but not liking the thought of him eating a helpless, little squirrel any better than she originally had, she began to twirl a strand of her hair and fume as she stared into the distance.
“Look, I had to get away,” he said. “Firing everybody … you showing up saying you might be pregnant … was too much for one day. I didn’t want to be with you … or any other woman. I know it sounds unusual, going off alone into the wilderness on the spur of the moment, but it’s something I do fairly frequently when I need to chill. I’ll probably do it again during our marriage—if we’re married any time. Happy now?”
“I wish.”
“Okay. Back to the plan. We marry. At some point after our child is born, we go our separate ways. No settlement. Just custody arrangements.”
“Fine,” she agreed, feeling dismal at that prospect.
“That’s all you really want?”
“I don’t want any of this!”
“You