Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“You’ll have to trust me, Lexi,” he said. “I know it’s hard. But you will have to trust me.”
“I’ve been burned before. I thought I knew someone, I believed his promises, and—”
“I won’t lie to you.”
I tossed my arms in the air. “This whole thing is a lie!”
“When it’s just you and me, I won’t lie to you. I swear it.” He came forward and took my hands. His blue eyes brimmed with sincerity. “It’s everyone else we need to fool.”
I swallowed. “Starting when?”
“Tomorrow. We’ll fly to Vegas.”
“Tomorrow!” I snatched my hands back. “So soon?”
“We don’t have a lot of time,” he said. “Black Diamond is getting impatient. The guy taking over the account is a smooth-talking bully, and he’s not above misleading people to get what he wants. He could swindle your grandmother in minutes.”
“Gran only gave me to the end of the month to find another buyer,” I confessed. My stomach was roiling, and I placed both hands over it. “I’ve gotten nowhere.”
“Let me help you,” he said urgently. “Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“No. I’m off Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I worked double shifts all weekend so my cousin Tabitha could go out of town, so she owes me.”
“Perfect. I’ll pick you up at six a.m.”
I looked down at my bare feet, toe to toe with his sneakers, and considered my options. I could turn him away and keeping praying for a miracle. Or I could take a chance on him. Become his wife and put my fate in his hands.
He wasn’t the love of my life, but right now he was my only hope.
“Okay. I’ll be ready.” I looked him in the eye again. “Where are you staying tonight?”
“My dad’s house, I guess. It’s about an hour from here.”
“It seems silly for you to drive all the way there and come back here again so early. Just stay over.”
His dark eyebrows rose. “Here? Really?”
“On the couch,” I clarified. “Not in my bed.”
“Couch is fine. I can do couch.” He tilted his head. “You sure you want me to stay?”
“No, I’m not sure I want you to stay! I’m not sure about anything right now!” I fisted my hands in my hair. “Trusting you could be the biggest mistake of my life.”
“Or it could make all your dreams come true.”
“I know, but . . . I’m scared,” I admitted. “I hate saying that to you, and there aren’t many things in life I’m afraid of, but if this goes wrong, I stand to lose everything.”
“Here.” He removed the bracelet from his wrist and slipped it onto mine. “Look, it says fearless. Look at it when you need a little reminder of your strength.”
“Thanks.” I looked down at it. “Will Sara mind that you gave it to me?”
“I think she’d be fine with it. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll check with her.”
“Okay.” I met his eyes, and it struck me that in less than twenty-four hours, this man would be my husband. “I cannot believe I just agreed to marry you. How did you talk me into it so fast?”
That grin appeared, along with a lift of his shoulders. “It’s a gift.”
While Devlin went out to the car to get his bag, I grabbed an extra pillow and a blanket and placed them on the couch. He came in a minute later, locking the door behind him.
“I’ll just be a minute in the bathroom, and then you can use it,” I told him. “There are extra towels in the hall closet.”
“Thank you.” He set his bag down next to the couch and whipped off his T-shirt, revealing his bare chest and ripped abs.
My eyes bugged out. “Hey!”
“Hey, what?” He tossed the shirt aside.
“No undressing out in the open!”
“You want me to sleep in my clothes?” He unbuckled his belt.
“Okay, we’re gonna need to lay some ground rules,” I said, unable to stop staring at his naked skin. “All removal of clothing must be done behind a closed door.”
His fingers hovered around his zipper. “So I shouldn’t take off my pants right now?”
I stuck my hands on my hips. “This is the problem with you.”
“What, that I’m funny?”
“No. That you cannot be trusted.” I spun around and marched down the hall to the bathroom.
“Goodnight, wife!” he called.
“I am not your wife!” I shouted back, slamming the door behind me. Then I braced myself against the sink and stared at my red face in the mirror. Fanned it. Splashed cold water on it.
Fuck, he was hot.
But if we were going to go into business together—and that’s what this marriage would be, a business deal—we had to keep things professional.
There could be no sex.
I brushed my teeth, darted across the hall, and slipped beneath the covers.
Sex would only cloud the judgment, I told myself. Sex would muddy the waters. Sex would just make it difficult to stay focused on the goal at hand.