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Electricity seemed to crackle in the air between us, and I felt my core clench. There were so many ways I could answer his question, dirty words that I never even imagined actually saying out loud to this man, despite the thoughts of him that filled my mind in the dark of night when I used my vibrator beneath the sheets.
“I…” I blinked and forced myself to remember what I had planned to say when I came in here. “I want…a car.”
“A car?” he repeated in surprise.
I nodded. “A brand new one. Today.”
Logan barely paused to think about it. “Okay. We’ll go get one this afternoon. Anything else?”
Once again, I was thrown off track. This time, the distraction came from his easy agreement. It struck me just how wealthy this man was. Of course, I always knew his family was filthy rich, but I never thought about it much in terms of being able to afford, well,anything.
Now, looking at him in his expensive tailored suit and Patek Philippe wristwatch, and remembering the Audi R8 Spyder sports car he drove, I couldn’t help thinking that it was amazing that he could so nonchalantly agree to spend thousands of dollars on a car when my mom had been so worried about it just last night. There was such a huge financial gap between us, and it was mind boggling.
“Mia?” Logan’s low, husky voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Anything else?”
“Uh…yeah.” I put on my business woman hat, since this was a contracted negotiation and I needed specifics. “I want to know how much money you plan to offer me for this. I mean, you’re asking a lot of me. Months of acting like a happy, doting wife around the clock, even living with you.”
Logan steepled his fingers together as he thought about it for a moment. “How about two million?”
My lips parted in shock, but I couldn’t seem to breathe for a moment.Two million dollars?Holy crap!
“That’s too much,” I said when I found my voice. I was just participating in a fake marriage for a few months. I couldn’t take that much money from him.
“I’m abillionaire,” he reminded me. “Trust me, a couple million dollars isn’t too much for me in exchange for what I’m getting in return.”
But that amount would change my life, and my mother’s. I fought back the urge to hyperventilate.
“Any other conditions?” he asked when I was too stunned to speak for a moment.
I thought about what else I needed to make this work for me. “My mom needs to know the truth about our arrangement. I’ll pretend whatever you want me to with your family, but I won’t lie to her.”
“I don’t want to lie to my family either, but I have to,” Logan said, suddenly defensive. “I won’t lose the company just because my grandpa decided he wants me to magically fall in love in a few short months.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” I assured him.
Logan dropped his head back and sighed. “I know. I just…I don’t want to do this, to be honest. I feel like I’m jumping through hoops to get something that I’ve already earned.”
This was the first time Logan had ever opened up to me in such a personal way. It was small, but I felt an unexpected connection to him because of it. Would being his wife bring more moments like this, where he’d let down his guard and share deeper pieces of himself?
“I just have one more condition,” I said, moving on from those thoughts. “I want to keep working here at KeenTech until we’re divorced and I have my money.”
“Why? You don’t need to do that.”
My chin lifted in a stubborn manner. “I won’t be dependent on myhusbandwhile we’re going through this charade,” I explained. “That’s not the kind of wife I am or want to be portrayed as, and you might as well learn that right now.”
“Okay,” he said, smiling slightly. “Is that it? Any other conditions?”
I thought about addressing our physical relationship during the marriage, knowing that I should probably draw a line that would keep us from going too far, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was reckless, but a part of mewantedto see what would happen between us.
So, I shook my head. “No, there’s nothing else.”
He sat up in his chair. “Then, I think we have a deal. I’ll have my lawyers draw up the contract.”
He held out his hand and I shook it, feeling a tingling sensation run up my arm as we touched. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I realized that this was just the first of many touches between us. This man was going to be my husband.
It was hard to believe that I was doing this, but we’d just come to an agreement, and I wasn’t going to back out, no matter what.
CHAPTERFIVE
