7

Jack faced Kelly again. He was now fully back in his element. He took control of the negotiations now that he had made the decision to run with this. He didn’t really have any other option and she didn’t appear to be a lunatic. In fact, as he watched her quietly come to grips with what she had done and get her confidence back, he marveled at her. It had really taken guts to walk into the room and pull off what she had. And she’d done it with such grace and confidence. She owned his office as if it were hers and there weren’t many people who could pull that off. He found himself a little in awe of the gorgeous creature who now sat quietly on his couch.

“Okay. One year of marriage. You’ll sign a prenuptial agreement. You get your law school tuition and you’ll have a credit card for expenses while we’re married. You’ll have to attend occasional dinner parties and fundraising events, that sort of thing, so you’ll need appropriate clothes. Some of them will be black tie. Put anything you need on my card. After the divorce, I’ll get you a condo in New Haven and some spending money for the three years you’ll be at law school. After graduation you’ll be on your own. You’ll move into my house in Fairfield while we’re married. At the end of the year, we cite irreconcilable differences and end the marriage.”

“I hadn’t really thought I’d need to move in with you. I-I thought this would only be on paper,” Kelly stammered while Andrew watched the scene play out, with a look of shocked amusement on his face. It was more than obvious Andrew didn’t know who this woman was or how Jack had found her – and that he couldn’t wait to hear the details.

Jack shook his head. “Uh uh. My Aunt Mabry and my board of directors will need to be utterly convinced this is a real marriage. We need to live together. Don’t worry, there are nine bedrooms so we won’t need to sleep together. I have a housekeeper who lives in an apartment over the garage but she’s very loyal and discreet. She won’t say a word if we aren’t sharing a bed. The house is on the water so you can spend the summer relaxing and hanging out before school.”

Kelly blushed at his mention of shared bedrooms. Jack found himself intrigued as he watched Kelly’s cheeks flame red. She was gutsy and courageous one minute and sweet and innocent the next. It was a captivating combination.

Wait.

Jack shook his head to clear his thoughts.

What am I thinking? Focus on the big picture, Jack. She’s a means to an end.

Nothing more.

Andrew piped back in. “I left you alone for three hours and you found a wife?”

“She found me,” Jack answered in a distracted manner, not bothering to elaborate.

Andrew raised his eyes to the ceiling and muttered to no one in particular. “Whole industries are built on helping men and women try to find someone and Jack has women walking in off the street to marry him. Wait, why did she walk in off the street?” Andrew asked as he directed his eyes back to Jack. “She just happened to know you were in the market for a wife? This is like an episode of I Dream of Jeannie.”

Jack ignored Andrew’s questions and kept his focus on hammering out the details with Kelly. “We’ll have to spend some time getting to know each other, go out to dinner and things occasionally, maybe kiss once or twice in front of the right people,” Jack continued.

Now Jack could really see the heat climbing its way up Kelly’s cheeks. Jack was almost enjoying this and wanted to see how red he could make those cheeks burn. Her eyes had gone big and round at the mention of a kiss. What would those doe eyes do if he told her what else he was thinking of doing as he watched her now?

Jack glanced over at Andrew and saw Andrew had one eyebrow raised as he regarded Jack and Kelly. He leaned a shoulder on the wall, crossed his arms, and watched the scene unfolding before him. Jack knew he was going to catch a lot of flack about this from Andrew but he needed to focus on Kelly for now. Andrew shook his head and muttered something about a bottle and Jeannie and Captain Nelson. Andrew looked amused now, but Jack knew once he heard the full story, Jack was going to catch hell for what he was planning to do.

 

*

Kelly watched Jack as he detailed the terms of their deal. She hadn’t really thought through the actual implementation of her plan. Her palms were sweating and her cheeks flaming as she listened and considered the implications. She wasn’t a virgin but she certainly hadn’t thought through the possibility they would need to share a bed, so she was relieved to hear that she would have a separate room.

She could handle being housemates if necessary, but the thought of kissing Jack made Kelly feel like an inexperienced 15-year-old. In a normal world, she wouldn’t dream of kissing a man like him. He was powerful and striking, with a

chiseled body and eyes that felt like they could melt her with a glance. When she was with Jack, she felt like a whole swarm of butterflies had been let lose in her stomach. Her breath came faster and shorter. She felt like she might pass out when he looked at her with that steady, sensual gaze as if he could look right into her and read her thoughts.

Kelly felt a tightening in her stomach and wondered for the fiftieth time that hour just what she had gotten herself into.