Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Mack rubbed his chin, saying, "I don't know, Mrs. A. It does seem like this happens too often."
"Mack!"
She turned to the rest of Rowland's staff, and the way they were all nodding in agreement was appalling.
"Guys! Seriously?"
Laughter filled the stable, and it was while his wife was still protesting her innocence that Rowland received a call from his secretary.
Emmy saw the look on her husband's face as he finished his call. "Another emergency?"
"Unfortunately yes," Rowland said with obvious displeasure, "and I'll need to fly out to Dallas for it." He took her hand as he led her out of the stable, and a grimace crossed his features when she looked up at him questioningly.
"I hate having to leave you, dammit."
Emmy's heart skipped a beat at Rowland's evident reluctance to part from her. She had gotten close to Mack and Anita in the past weeks, and both of them had told her how her husband had only stopped being a workaholic when he married her.
Rowland suddenly stopped walking to turn to her, asking, "Would you like to fly out with me? I can show you around once I'm done with the meeting..."
"I...I want to," Emmy answered hesitantly, "but do you think it's wise? We've already broken so many rules, and I know the company you're trying to buy out in Dallas is also the reason why no one can know about our marriage."
Rowland bit back an expletive. How the hell had he forgotten about that?
Emmy saw the glint in her husband's gaze and mistakenly assumed her refusal must have hurt him. "I'll...I'll m-miss you a lot," she forced herself to say even as every word made her squirm. "So please come back soon—-" Her voice trailed off when she saw her husband's gaze narrow.
"Are you offering me a reward if I get things done more quickly?"
She wasn't actually, but she found herself nodding all the same...and started feeling nervous as soon as she saw his dark eyes gleam down at hers.
Uh oh...
"What kind of reward?"
"Um..."
Emmy, you idiot, this is what you get for lying.
"It will have to be a surprise?" And so it should, since she still had no idea what reward one would give a man who already had everything.
"Kinky..."
Her eyes widened, but before she could say a word, he had already cupped her face and covered her mouth with a quick hard kiss.
"You've got yourself a deal, Mrs. Asherfield," her husband whispered against her lips.
I'm so, so doomed, Emmy thought as she watched him walk away.
She was not the kind of girl who was capable of preparing a 'kinky' surprise, but...
I'll do my best, Emmy vowed.
One way or another, she would come up with something to surprise her billionaire husband, but when he returned to Evergreen, it was Rowland who ended up surprising her instead...by breaking her heart.
Chapter Seventeen
CHARLOTTE STUDIED HER client as her secretary came in to serve them coffee. He looked just like any other billionaire she had done business with. Perfectly composed, self-assured, and undeniably cynical when it came to love.
But proud and stubborn as they all were, these men still insisted on engaging her services despite the very name of her agency explicitly suggesting that her principles were the complete opposite of what they believed in.
Charlotte wasted no time with small talk as soon as her secretary stepped out of her office. "May I be blunt, Mr. Asherfield?"
"I don't believe you can be anything but."
"Touché," Charlotte acknowledged with a brief smile. "But I believe you're the same as well.
"It depends on the situation."
Charlotte raised a brow, and a sardonic smile crossed the billionaire's lips.
"It seems you were mistaken about me. I've never professed to be the honorable type."
It did seem she had the wrong assumptions about certain aspects of his personality, but fortunately for him, it was still not enough for Charlotte to deem him a lost cause.
"Your silence is starting to worry me, Mrs. Carmichaels."
Charlotte almost snorted. Only an idiot would believe Rowland Asherfield to be the easily worried type but on the other hand...
"Does this mail-order marriage mean that much to you?" Charlotte asked. "Or is it Ms. Watson that's your primary objective?"
"The latter."
His straightforward reply surprised her, and Charlotte frowned. "Why bother with my agency then? Why not simply ask her to marry you?"
"Because I know she'll turn me down."
"You sound remarkably certain about that."
"You're not the only one capable of ordering a background check."
Charlotte smiled. "Touché again, Mr. Asherfield."
"Shall we cut to the chase then? What will it take for you to choose me as her husband?"
"Oh, just one thing," Charlotte answered with absolute truth. "All you have to tell me is that you're in love with her. Do you?"
The billionaire's lips tightened, and she nodded thoughtfully.
"I see."
"Ask me anything else," the billionaire said abruptly. "Anything else but that."
"Then...if I were to choose you as her husband, how long do you see two married?"