Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Triumph started to course through me and I struggled to hold back a smile. “Millions.”
His expression tightened. “For eighteen months of marriage?”
“Yes.”
“And we’ll have to live together?”
“To make it believable, yeah. And we’ll have to, you know, get to know each other. I’m sure Immigration might have questions.”
“So, I’ll have to commit fraud and lie?”
I swallowed hard. “In exchange for whatever you need to get the farm back on track, yes.”
“They’ll know we’re lying.”
“No, they won’t. I’ve been staying here for years, Jared. On and off. We could have been secretly seeing each other all that time. You’re hot, I’m hot, shit happens.”
“That shit won’t be happening just because we’ll be living together.”
I tried to focus on the fact that it sounded like he was giving into the idea, and not on his continued rejection of me. It stung too much, considering Jared McCulloch was a flirtatious manwhore with a reputation. Why I was the only woman alive he didn’t want to touch was something I didn’t want to contemplate.
Shrugging nonchalantly, I replied, “Of course not. Like I said earlier, we can both see to our needs elsewhere after two months. Can you go without sex that long?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not a fucking sex fiend.”
“All evidence to the contrary.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you have a reputation. And the sex thing was the first thing you asked about.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t marry me,” he bit out.
“I’ll be marrying you, Jared, not sleeping with you.”
Jared’s eyes darkened as they dropped to my lips for a second too long.
My breath caught as awareness quivered through me. Needing to break the electric moment, I infused boredom into my tone. “Look, do we have a deal or not?”
After a beat or two, he huffed, “I must be out of my goddamn mind.”
Seven
Allegra
I’d visited Inverness many, many times. In fact, I was in the process of showing my glasswork at the finest art gallery in the city. Michelle, the owner, had been selling a piece here and there for the last few years, and last year she finally talked me into doing an entire show. The big event was just a month away.
In being fairly familiar with the capital of the Highlands, I’d somehow assumed that the registry office we’d marry in (goodness, just thinking that thought knocked the breath out of me) would be in an older building within the city center.
Instead, Jared had brought our long (it was only an hour but it felt like forever) and tense car journey to a halt outside the city center. We’d traveled down a road along the River Ness, passing a football field and a skate park before stopping in front of a building of contemporary design.
We’d called ahead yesterday to book an appointment to get married.
Now here we were, standing next to each other as a kind-faced registrar married us and two staff members acted as witnesses. The registrar eyed me with concern and I tried to smooth the nervousness off my face. Jared didn’t look nervous. Nor did he look ecstatic or excited.
So far, we were not doing a very good job of pretending.
I kept thinking about the wedding party that departed the room before us. The bride wore a beautiful white gown, the groom a gray kilt, and they had bridesmaids and groomsmen. They had guests. And more importantly, they looked so happy together.
The weather agreed with the previous couples’ mood, the sun shining brightly through the large windows of the ceremony room. I’d dressed in an off-white summer dress with a simple silhouette and thin straps and I’d worn my long hair down in its usual beachy waves. Bright pink platform Mary Jane shoes completed my attempt to look somewhat nice for my wedding.
Sweat slicked my palms as I held the small bouquet Jared had surprised me with that morning. They were wildflowers he’d picked from his own fields and bound in twine. Little did he know how perfect they were for me. I was not the fancy flower type.
I’d spent the night at his place because I didn’t want Sloane or Aria to discover what I was up to. Jared let me sleep in Sarah’s old room. It had been weird and tense between us at the farmhouse and a prelude, I imagined, to how it was going to be living together.
Jared showing up in his living room that morning in his three-piece suit did make me question all my life choices. My bridegroom was hot. Jared looking like a movie star instead of a farmer in his sexy suit was actually of great concern. I did not need to lust any harder for my fake husband. Thank God he hadn’t worn a kilt.
“Jared, please repeat after me,” the registrar said. “I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I, Jared McCulloch, may not be joined in matrimony to Allegra Emma Howard.”