The Texan's Contract Marriage - By Sara Orwig Page 0,23
biting back the words that if she did, he would break her heart.
His dark eyes widened and then narrowed as he gazed at her, a look that became more intense. She felt as if he was seeing her as a woman for the first time. He inhaled deeply, and a hard look came to his features while a muscle worked in his jaw.
“Forget what I said,” she said, stepping out of his embrace, walking away from him to put distance between them and to keep him from seeing the flush of embarrassment in her cheeks. “My heart is in my career and Noah, and, right now, I can’t imagine us being together a lot of the time.” Her words spilled out, sounding rushed to her, and she felt foolish. Trying to get a grip and be less emotional, she finally faced him.
“Thank you, Camille,” he said, looking composed again. “We can start working out details, put down what we want in a prenuptial agreement that we can turn over to our lawyers to finalize. How’s that?”
“Sounds fine.” She returned to get her glass of wine and sit in a green-cushioned teak lawn chair. He sat facing her and sipped his drink. “I’ll get a tablet to make notes as we talk about what we want.” He left to get papers from a cabinet and returned to hand a tablet to her. She looked down at proposed schedules.
“I have schedules worked out, but you know your bookings and shows. This is just something to start from. Also, as soon as we sign the papers, I’ll have money transferred to you.”
“That’s sort of staggering,” she said, unable to imagine that she would soon become a millionaire. Her gaze ran over him, his broad shoulders, his capable, well-shaped hands.
“We’ll be married, Camille. As far as I’m concerned, your money is yours to do with as you please. I’ll pay your expenses and your housing, all that sort of thing. Just get Stephanie to keep accurate records.”
“That’s very generous considering how much money you’re giving me. I earn a good living so far.”
“I’ll treat you the same as I would a wife in the fullest sense of the word as far as finances and that sort of thing are concerned. How are your sisters and your parents with this arrangement?”
“Ashley is worried about Noah. The money means a lot because she’s saved and scraped together for her education. Stephanie is practical enough to accept this. She does not like sharing Noah, but she is going to like the money immensely. She sees the possibility of having her own business, perhaps picking up more clients than she has now.”
“Good. What about Ashley staying on as nanny?”
“Ashley will be nanny at first. Later, if you can find a good nanny, she would like to go to college full-time and finish her education.”
“Sure. Tell her to let me know when to start looking for a new nanny.”
“I haven’t told my parents yet about the money. I’d rather they meet you first and feel this is a marriage of two people in love. Otherwise, they may not get past the money and may never be able to see the reasons I want this for Noah as a tie to his father.”
Stretching out his legs, he looked relaxed, as if they were discussing the latest movie or electronic breakthrough. Watching him, no one would guess he was making life-changing decisions. The evening had become surreal. She couldn’t imagine the changes, yet they were happening. Even more impossible to imagine—she would soon marry a man she didn’t love and barely knew. She let her gaze roam down the length of him, and her pulse raced. He appealed to her, and she hadn’t really had a man in her life in a long time. To her regret, she had a strong physical response to him. Already, if he came close or if there was physical contact with him, her pulse jumped. With her life focused on her career, she didn’t want complications by becoming emotionally entangled with Marek.
“Well, what we’ve both avoided and what we have to work out is how will we share Noah? I’ve thought about all sorts of ways to divide the time. I’ve come up with something that’s a start. We can change it completely so that each of us finds it workable.”
“Right now, this part is difficult to imagine,” she admitted, fighting back tears because she felt as if she stood on the verge of losing