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“The prize money is half a million dollars,” he called from behind her.
Beth knew, and she couldn’t even imagine what that kind of money could do for her and TJ. She shook her head at her idiocy. She’d allowed herself to dream, and she shouldn’t have done that.
Trey caught up to her again, and Beth cut a glance at him. He seemed thoughtful, and she didn’t want to interrupt him.
At the same time, she needed to get these words out before they poisoned her. “I was thinking you and I could enter.”
“We’re not married,” he said.
“We could get married,” she said, her whole face heating with just those words.
“The deadline to enter is November first.”
“Yes.”
“That’s what? Seven weeks from now?”
“How long do you think it takes to get married?”
Trey put his hand on her arm and said, “Can you stop? I need to get something straight.”
She stopped, her heartbeat pounding furiously fast in her chest. She looked everywhere but at him, and he simply waited for her to meet his gaze. When she finally did, she saw his carefully masked face and had no idea what he was thinking.
“Start at the beginning,” he said.
She looked away, and he reached up and gently guided her face back toward his. “Look me in the eye and tell me what’s going through your head.”
She appreciated the soft quality of his voice, because he’d just made a pretty hefty demand. She cleared her throat again. “I need the money, Trey. Plain and simple.” She’d only ever told her father about the financial situation on the ranch. “My horses won’t win derbies or stakes. Somebody’s Lady can win this, and I want to enter. One of the requirements to be able to enter is to be married and own the horse together.”
She shrugged. “I know a few cowboys, but I know you the best. I figured…we could get married real quick. You give me a dollar for Somebody’s Lady, and I put your name on her certificate. We enter her. We win.” She looked away again, despite his demand. “I could give you some of the money, if you want.”
“I don’t want or need the money,” he said.
She knew he didn’t. The Chappells had more zeroes in their bank accounts than royalty.
“Then what?” he asked.
“Then what?” she repeated, looking at him again.
“Yes, Beth. Then what? We enter her. We win. Then what?”
“Then…you can file for divorce. It’s five months, Trey. Only five months. For five hundred thousand dollars.”
Trey exhaled and looked up over her shoulder, toward the northern sky. “You want us topretendto be married.”
“Yes.”
“Do I have to live here?”
“I don’t see why you’d need to,” she said. “It’s really just a piece of paper. In and out at City Hall. No one would have to know.”
Trey chuckled, the sound dark. It grew into a full-blown laugh, and Beth didn’t like it.
“Sweetheart, they’ll know,” he said, focusing on her again. “You enter that horse with my name on it, and your name on it, and people will know.”
She lifted her chin, disliking how he made her feel small. “Then we pretend it’s real. So what if people know? We’ll be like, yeah, we got married. We’re making it work.”
“Then Iwouldmove in here.” He wasn’t asking this time.
