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‘Is that meant to be some sort of joke?’ Expression stony, she pointed to her face. ‘Not sure if you’d noticed, but I’m not laughing.’
‘Eighteen months of your life.’
‘Eighteen months doing what?’ she tossed back.
‘Being my wife.’
The moment of dumbstruck silence was followed by her shaky laughter as she said in a flat voice, ‘I think you have a fever.’
‘Not every woman in the world would consider being my wife such a horrifying prospect.’
‘Can’t imagine what the attraction is unless...oh, let me think...maybe the life of luxury, the private jet, the holidays...not that I’m judging.’
‘Yes, I can tell.’ He smiled as the sarcasm earned him another flash from her magnificent emerald eyes. ‘Look, just hear me out, and then make an...objective decision based on the facts and not on your emotional reaction. As for marriage, we are both on the same page—I don’t want to be married any more than you do.’
Her delicate brows arched. ‘Not ever?’
As his eyes swivelled her way it was clear that she regretted having betrayed her curiosity.
‘Not ever,’ he said flatly. ‘However, my situation requires that, as my father’s heir, I am married. In this situation, custom would normally dictate that after my brother’s death my bride would be his widow.’
It took her a few seconds to process this information. ‘That’s positively...’ The idea of asking a grieving woman to be passed on like a worn-out pair of shoes evoked a response strong enough to lend a sheen of emotion to her eyes. ‘Oh, my God...poor woman.’
‘Exactly.’
‘But you won’t, will you...do that to her?’
‘I will do everything within my power to prevent this from happening, but it’s not just about me; the solution is in your hands.’
‘Mine...?’
‘Well, if I am already married, Kayla will escape this terrible fate.’
‘That’s not fair,’ she protested at his not at all well-disguised display of moral blackmail.
‘Life is not fair; however, I am offering a practical solution, not asking you to bear my children.’
She flushed and pushed away from him.
‘I never thought you were,’ she assured him with a disdain that didn’t fully hide her embarrassment.
‘You’re not the first person to be taken in,’ he began, responding to a need to offer her some comfort that was alien to his nature. ‘You really shouldn’t beat yourself up about what happened to your grandparents.’
She read the pity in his comment and reacted with anger. ‘Like you’d know anything about it!’
‘Fine, carry on berating yourself.’ He gave an offhand shrug, unwilling to admit even to himself that the conflict shining in her beautiful eyes stirred something inside him. ‘Or, alternatively, you could swallow your pride and accept this offer.’ Zain watched as she stiffened and bit down on her full lower lip, her teeth digging into the soft, pink plumpness. Her lashes brushed her smooth cheek as she glanced down but he could see the resentment sparkling through the dark filigree.
* * *
‘Offer or ultimatum?’ she charged, thinking temptation might be a more accurate description.
‘It benefits us both.’
‘It would change my life.’ It would also change her grandparents’ lives—could she ever look at them knowing that she could have given them back the retirement they had planned and saved for and hadn’t?
Could she look at herself?
He didn’t bother denying her assertion. ‘Yes, your life will change.’
