Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
I laugh and loop my arms around Legend’s neck. “I can walk, you know.”
He grunts but doesn’t put me down as he ascends the stairs.
With heavy steps, he pushes into the first guest room and kicks the door closed. The room is empty. Emerson and Roman have only lived here a short time. He’s not even breathing heavily when he places me on my feet. I watch him as he rakes his hands through his hair and paces across the room.
“Legend.” I whisper his name into the quiet room.
He stops pacing and his ice-blue eyes lock on me. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you doing this? Why offer up potentially two years of your life for me?”
“You’re a good guy. I hate what your grandparents did to your mother, and I hate what they’re doing to you. They’re trying to control you. I want what’s best for you, and with that money, you’d be set for life, Legend.”
“I do well for myself now. Money changes you.” He crosses his arms over his chest. It’s a protective stance, but he doesn’t need protecting. Not from me. I know what this is, or what it will be, rather. An understanding. An agreement between two friends.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
“I agree with you. It does change some people, but I can’t see it changing you. You’re such a down-to-earth person, and you’d do anything for your friends and family. I know how you helped Roman and then again when you talked to Forrest once he found out about them. You care about those who are close to you. You would never let something like the balance in your bank account change that.”
“Will it change you?”
“Considering I’m not making millions on my dental hygienist salary, I’m going with a no. Even if I were making millions, the answer would still be no.”
“I won’t let you do this for free.”
“Then no deal.”
“Monroe.” He sighs. “If we do this, you’re giving up so much for me. I have to pay you for your time.”
“Let me ask you something. If I were to call you in the middle of the night and tell you I was stranded in another state—let’s say Kentucky—on my way home from school. What would you do?”
“I’d get to you as fast as I could.”
“Would you charge me?”
“No. Of course not,” he scoffs.
I give him a pointed look.
“It’s not the same. This is giving up your life for over a year. Probably a year and a half because we’ll have to date, get married, and then be married for a year.”
“I’m aware of the timeline. We won’t have to do much dating. Just be seen together, holding hands or whatnot, and announce the engagement. It’s plausible that we’ve been dating secretly, given how much time we are together. My only stipulation is that my parents be there.”
“You can’t tell them the truth. You’d be lying to them.”
I shrug. “It’s a little white lie. I’m going to be marrying a good man. A man who will make sure I’m taken care of and protected long after we’re divorced. I want them there because life is messy, and sometimes things don’t work out. I might never find my one true love, and I’d like for my parents to witness me getting married. This might be my one and only wedding, and I’d hate for them to miss it.”
“So, no guilt?”
“We’re going to be married, Legend. I care about you. We’re friends. There have been marriages based on less. We’re both going into this with our eyes wide open. It’s not going to be miserable. We’re not tied together by obligation. I’m offering to do this of my own free will. We get along well. It could be fun. We can look at it as an adventure.”
“You’d have to move in with me.”
“Most married folks live together,” I tease.
“I live in a tiny one-bedroom house. Well, there are two bedrooms, but as you already know the second was the size of a closet, so I tore out the walls and made a larger living area. It was just me, and works for me.”
“What size bed?”
“What?” He tilts his head to the side.
“What size bed do you have?”
“California King.”
“Perfect. That’s big enough for both of us. You can stay on your side, and I’ll stay on mine. What else you got for me?” I raise my eyebrows in question.
“You want to sleep next to me every night?”
“Do you have cooties?” I chuckle. “Legend, come on. We’re adults. We can do this. Does it suck hairy donkey balls? Yes. Absolutely. I hate that they’ve put you in this position, but that’s okay, because we have a solution. We’ll announce that we’ve been dating, then our engagement, and then the wedding.”
“What kind of wedding?”
“Honestly, Em and Rome’s was perfect. Small and intimate. Huge weddings are more for the guests than for the couple. Our friends, our parents, and we live happily married for the next year. We get your inheritance, and we get divorced. Easy.”