sought a solution. “And I’m not saying no straight out. I just need to hear what would be expected of me.”
“You’re not saying no?” she asked, eyebrows shooting up as she froze with her arms above her head, tightening her hair thing.
“No, I’m not saying no.” He wasn’t. Insane or not, she had just dangled a hundred grand in front of him. Not to mention, he’d been looking for a good excuse to get to know her better, both with clothes on and off, and what could be a better excuse for that than marriage?
Was marriage a huge commitment that he shouldn’t take lightly? Yes. But this wasn’t a real marriage. He didn’t think. “What does this marriage mean exactly? Is it paper only? We would never see each other?” He wasn’t down with that. He couldn’t walk around and be secretly married, shagging other women and taking money for something he hadn’t really
done
. It all just seemed too dishonest to him. He liked his cards out on the table. If he was going to be fucking anyone, it was going to be Shawn.
His wife.
Oh, damn. He should walk away. This was dicey.
Yet, he wasn’t. He flagged down the bartender and said, “Can we get two more shots of Jameson? Skip the Guinness this time.” This was a straight-up liquor conversation.
Shawn took a huge breath. “The deal is this. We have to be married for a year, but we have to live together at least for the first six months. So you would have to move in with me. I have a guest room that you can use, and I suppose the positive is, you’ll be saving on rent for six months.”
That was an attractive thought, he had to admit. He’d only been in Nolan’s old apartment for five months, and while he loved the freedom, the rent was kicking his ass. “Guest room, huh?” So he wouldn’t lose his own space, exactly. But he wouldn’t get the ultimate benefit of marriage—having a warm woman in his bed every night.
“Yes. If we get married before February fifteenth, the will states I get the funds to hire a full-time marketing director for the upcoming season, which would really be helpful, so that would be my preference. To get married before then, I mean.”
Rhett watched her face carefully. She seemed to have shifted into efficiency mode.
“I can have my lawyer draw up a contract outlining what I just described and that you’ll receive payment upon completion of the year. I will pay for the divorce. I will pay for the initial marriage license fees and all of that. So there is no risk, no hidden cost to you. We both enter and leave the marriage with what we came with, save the hundred grand fee.”
No hidden cost?
Just a year of his life.
Could he commit a whole year to a woman who didn’t really want to be involved with him, even for money? Or did she?
Those were the real questions on his mind.
“I’m not the tidiest person, I’ll admit, so if you’re a neat freak, that is something to consider,” she added.
That wasn’t a factor he cared about it. He had more important concerns.
“I wouldn’t want it to be a secret,” he told her. “I can’t live like that.”
“It has to be a secret,” she said. “No one can know about the money. My grandfather’s lawyer said I can’t marry an actor, a stripper, or a criminal, and he’ll be doing a background check. We can’t let anyone know we’re faking it, that it’s not a real marriage, or it’s null and void.”
“A background check? I don’t have anything to hide.” Rhett took the whiskey from the bartender with a murmured thanks, and threw the shot back. It burned going down, and he welcomed the distraction. “I meant, I can’t keep the marriage a secret. I wouldn’t be able to date and tell women I’m free and available when I’m not, regardless of the circumstances.”
“Oh.” Shawn lifted her own shot glass and bit her bottom lip. “I guess I just assumed we wouldn’t . . . see other people. But now that you say that, I realize that’s a lot to ask. I
“You’re not saying no?” she asked, eyebrows shooting up as she froze with her arms above her head, tightening her hair thing.
“No, I’m not saying no.” He wasn’t. Insane or not, she had just dangled a hundred grand in front of him. Not to mention, he’d been looking for a good excuse to get to know her better, both with clothes on and off, and what could be a better excuse for that than marriage?
Was marriage a huge commitment that he shouldn’t take lightly? Yes. But this wasn’t a real marriage. He didn’t think. “What does this marriage mean exactly? Is it paper only? We would never see each other?” He wasn’t down with that. He couldn’t walk around and be secretly married, shagging other women and taking money for something he hadn’t really
done
. It all just seemed too dishonest to him. He liked his cards out on the table. If he was going to be fucking anyone, it was going to be Shawn.
His wife.
Oh, damn. He should walk away. This was dicey.
Yet, he wasn’t. He flagged down the bartender and said, “Can we get two more shots of Jameson? Skip the Guinness this time.” This was a straight-up liquor conversation.
Shawn took a huge breath. “The deal is this. We have to be married for a year, but we have to live together at least for the first six months. So you would have to move in with me. I have a guest room that you can use, and I suppose the positive is, you’ll be saving on rent for six months.”
That was an attractive thought, he had to admit. He’d only been in Nolan’s old apartment for five months, and while he loved the freedom, the rent was kicking his ass. “Guest room, huh?” So he wouldn’t lose his own space, exactly. But he wouldn’t get the ultimate benefit of marriage—having a warm woman in his bed every night.
“Yes. If we get married before February fifteenth, the will states I get the funds to hire a full-time marketing director for the upcoming season, which would really be helpful, so that would be my preference. To get married before then, I mean.”
Rhett watched her face carefully. She seemed to have shifted into efficiency mode.
“I can have my lawyer draw up a contract outlining what I just described and that you’ll receive payment upon completion of the year. I will pay for the divorce. I will pay for the initial marriage license fees and all of that. So there is no risk, no hidden cost to you. We both enter and leave the marriage with what we came with, save the hundred grand fee.”
No hidden cost?
Just a year of his life.
Could he commit a whole year to a woman who didn’t really want to be involved with him, even for money? Or did she?
Those were the real questions on his mind.
“I’m not the tidiest person, I’ll admit, so if you’re a neat freak, that is something to consider,” she added.
That wasn’t a factor he cared about it. He had more important concerns.
“I wouldn’t want it to be a secret,” he told her. “I can’t live like that.”
“It has to be a secret,” she said. “No one can know about the money. My grandfather’s lawyer said I can’t marry an actor, a stripper, or a criminal, and he’ll be doing a background check. We can’t let anyone know we’re faking it, that it’s not a real marriage, or it’s null and void.”
“A background check? I don’t have anything to hide.” Rhett took the whiskey from the bartender with a murmured thanks, and threw the shot back. It burned going down, and he welcomed the distraction. “I meant, I can’t keep the marriage a secret. I wouldn’t be able to date and tell women I’m free and available when I’m not, regardless of the circumstances.”
“Oh.” Shawn lifted her own shot glass and bit her bottom lip. “I guess I just assumed we wouldn’t . . . see other people. But now that you say that, I realize that’s a lot to ask. I
Similar Books
