Million Dollar Christmas Bride - Holly Rayner Page 0,26
get too deep on you, but I want you to understand. It’s like—it was broken up when I was just a kid. Shattered to pieces. And now, I feel like I have a chance at putting some of those pieces together again. I can’t say I know how it all is supposed to fit together. All I have is this sense—this kind of urge—to keep going with this.”
Bianca waited for more. She knew he wasn’t through yet.
Jackson took a deep breath, and she watched his blue eyes scan the water, watching the dogs play, but not watching at the same time. His mind was on the inner struggle that he was trying to put into words.
“It’s like… being in a dark cave,” he said. “There’s a rope inside that leads all the way to the cave entrance. I have my hands on the rope, and I have to keep following it. I can’t drop it. I can’t let it go.” He turned to her. “Does that make any sense at all?”
Bianca nodded. “Yes,” she said softly. She knew, deep in her bones, what Jackson was talking about. “You want to repair your past. That house was significant to you, and you don’t want to lose it, and now you’re following your intuition about how to convince your mother to leave the house to you.”
Jackson grinned and nodded. “That’s it. Intuition. I didn’t have a word for it, but that’s exactly right. It’s a sense I have, about my mom and how she works. I don’t even think she’d come right out and tell me that she’d only give me the house if I tied the knot, but that’s just how she is. Complicated, right?”
“Most families are,” Bianca said.
Jackson chuckled wryly. “Indeed.”
Bianca turned over Jackson’s statements in her mind. Then, while a breeze rustled the leaves on the trees above them, she said, “But Jackson, if you intend to keep this up, that means your mom is going to expect a wedding.”
Jackson nodded. “That’s right,” he said. “The real deal. White dress for you, tux for me. I was thinking we could stage the whole thing to happen on Christmas day.”
Bianca’s eyes widened. She hadn’t really expected Jackson to go this far. In her mind, she’d begun working up possible alternatives—perhaps Jackson could tell his mom they’d had a quiet elopement, or something of that nature. Putting on a fake wedding felt entirely too risky.
“You’re serious?” she said, raising her brows.
Jackson nodded. “And in addition, we’d have to keep up the act for the rest of my mom’s life. Then, once she passes on, we’ll file for a divorce. Go big or go home, as the saying goes.” He raised a corner of his lip in a half-smile. “The universe favors the bold, Bianca. What do you say—will you help me?”
Bianca was just about to shake her head when Jackson spoke again. “And in exchange for your help, I’ll pay you a million dollars.”
The words made Bianca freeze. Her refusal died in her throat. In a flash, her mind was filled with fantasies of what it would feel like to have a million dollars.
I could pay off my house and get a home for Mom to boot.
I could provide Mom with twenty-four-hour care. Both our lives would be transformed. No more fretting over bills. No more tossing and turning at night before the mortgage is due. Mom and I would both be happier…
Her heart beat quickly in her chest. She could feel Jackson’s eyes on her, waiting for a response.
The breeze that stirred the air died down, leaving a stillness that also seemed to be waiting for Bianca to speak.
“Yes,” she said, with her next breath. “Yes, I’ll do it. I’m in.”
“Great,” Jackson said. He smiled, and the corners of his eyes creased. “Perfect. I’m so glad. I’ll have my lawyers draw up the paperwork, and we can meet at my office in a few days and get everything squared away. Would Tuesday work for you?”
Bianca felt as though she was dreaming as she uttered a reflexive response. “Yes… Tuesday. Tuesday should be fine. I’ll be working a night shift that evening, so late afternoon would be best.”
“Late afternoon it is,” Jackson said. “We’ll shoot for about four.”
This is so surreal, Bianca thought, as she took out her phone to make a note on her calendar, hardly able to believe that she was making an appointment to see Jackson Wylde with regards to becoming his fake wife.
Chapter 9
Bianca
“Let me get you