Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
The longer the silence stretched, the more he wanted to bang his head against the door. But finally, there was a low creak of the floorboards in the bedroom, a shifting of shadows. He exhaled inaudibly and closed his eyes, the pressure ebbing slightly from his chest. He needed to tell her the rest. Confess why his CO had called. But he needed to clear up one thing first.
“Did you think I was on the phone with another woman or something?”
That would be the day. Other women might as well be invisible since he’d met this one.
“No,” she said right away, and he relaxed his shoulders. “I didn’t think that.”
He dropped his forehead against the door. “Good.”
“Although technically . . . we’re only married on paper. I-I guess you’re allowed, right?”
His shoulders bunched right back up, accompanied by a sharp twist of denial in his middle. “Wrong. There’s only you for me.” God, saying that out loud was like free falling and landing on a cloud. “And there’s only me for you.”
“Until this is over.”
“Right,” he said, grinding his jaw. “Please open the door.”
Seconds passed. “I’d rather not.”
August inhaled slowly through his nose, then let it back out. “Babe.”
Was that her breath catching? “Is that a code word now or something?”
“Yeah. It is. Because we probably both think it’s a stupid endearment, am I right?”
She hummed in the affirmative.
“So if I’m willing to humble myself enough to say it, I’m serious. And vice versa.” A heavy beat passed. “Babe.”
“Oh, for crying out loud,” she grumbled, opening the door and thrusting his phone out at him, which caused her to nearly drop the sheet keeping her modest. She gathered it back up with hasty movements, but he wasn’t really registering anything but the paleness of her face. Something had changed. She wasn’t as comfortable with him as she was before. Even if she was trying to pull together a casual air. “Look, I overreacted.” She pushed five slender fingers through her hair. “Morrison used to be secretive, and I guess it’s a sore spot. We were hired by the firm at the same time, so we were in competition a lot in the beginning. It never really went away. He liked to compare portfolios, but only when he was ahead. When his numbers were down, he hid it. Hid money. Insisted on keeping separate finances. Anyway . . . it’s not important.”
The floor had turned into quicksand, and he was sinking. Some of this sounded sickeningly familiar. “It sounds important.”
“Maybe it is. Yeah.” She thought for a few seconds. “My father has been holding money over my head, too. Maybe I do think it’s a red flag when people use money as a weapon. Or hide their financial status. What else are they hiding, you know? I just think being up front is a sign of good character.” She waved a hand. “Like I said, I totally overreacted. You were just having a phone call.”
His stomach felt like a tomato that had been left out in the sun for a week. Holy shit. Natalie’s ex had played mind games with money. Her father continued to do the same. Now he was hiding a two-hundred-thousand-dollar chunk of green from her? Also known as the supposed reason he was marrying her in the first place. She’d gotten married based on how he’d represented himself—a winemaker who’d run out of capital.
That hadn’t been true for nearly a week.
Prior to their whole-ass wedding.
What would she do if he told her the truth now? Nothing good. She was already threatening to fly three thousand miles away and he hadn’t even confessed yet.
“What’s this bullshit about you going to New York?”
“There’s an investor who is willing to meet with me.”
August reared back slightly, taking note of the way she held that sheet like a shield and hating it. “Why do you need an investor when your trust fund is being released?”
“My trust fund is a good start, but additional funds could make us more viable from the jump. A notable investor would make us competitive and attract more of them.”
“So six days after our wedding, you’re going to bail. How’s that going to look?”
He didn’t give two craps about how things looked, but he was willing to say just about anything to prevent her from leaving St. Helena when they weren’t yet on solid ground.
“I’ll only go for one night. No one will notice I’m gone.”
“I will.”
Lips parting, she searched his face. “Right. I’m sure you want to get the ball rolling with the small business loan. I’ll call on Monday morning and set up a meeting.”
“No,” he said too quickly, clearing his throat. Hand me a shovel so I can dig myself deeper and deeper. What else could he do but keep his true reasons for marrying her to himself? It was more than obvious she was about a hundred steps behind him in the love department, not even close to drawing even. The truth might knock her off the track completely. “I mean, we’re having dinner with Meyer at your mother’s on Monday night. I can set it up then.”