Just Between Friends (O'Rourke Family 4) Read Online Free Page A

palm of his hand with her teeth. He yanked his hand away with a low growl.
    “So you want to save your pride with a pre-nup,” she snapped. “Announce to the whole wide world that you don’t think our marriage will last. Shall we publish the details in the Seattle Times classifieds, or do you think a simple announcement to our friends and families will be enough?”
    Frustrated, Dylan ran his fingers through his hair. “It wouldn’t be a real marriage, so what does it matter what everyone thinks?”
    She gave him a baleful look.
    If Dylan didn’t already know what mattered, he probably wouldn’t ever know. It wasn’t just wounded pride—though her pride was already plenty wounded—it was something more fundamental. Dylan was her best friend; she trusted him in ways she’d never trusted anyone. She didn’t want a prenuptial agreement because legal agreements were for people who didn’t trust each other.
    Unfortunately, she needed a reason that a pragmatist like Dylan O’Rourke would accept.
    “It has to look like a real marriage,” she said. “Or the lawyers will make trouble. A pre-nup might seem suspicious.”
    Dylan frowned. “Won’t they want to protect you just in case? At the very least your father will insist on me signing something. I don’t think he likes me that much.”
    A pang went through Kate. Her father wasn’t the protective type—sometimes she wondered if he remembered her name.
    “I doubt it,” she said dryly. “Father and Mother are in Europe for a few months. I doubt they’ll even come back for the wedding.”
    “Katy—”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Kate said hastily, not wanting Dylan to feel sorry for her. “But you should know that Grandmamma’s will says we have to live on the property for a year as husband and wife.” It was the truth, and she was quite certain her grandmother’s snooty lawyers would scrutinize the situation like a gaggle of gossiping old biddies.
    “You mean we have to live in that mausoleum?” Dylan groaned.
    Kate’s heart jumped because it sounded as if he’d decided to help her. “The will just says we have to live on the property, so I thought we’d stay here in my place.”
    “Here?”
    “It seems easiest, especially since the big house needs a huge amount of work to be comfortable,” she said, trying to sound practical. Dylan was the kind of man who’d want a practical wife, and she had every intention of being the best wife in the world. “We’ll just be housemates. Of course, everyone has to believe it’s a real marriage,” she added hastily.
    He glanced around her kitchen with an unreadable expression. “Your place is a little small,” he murmured.
    Well, duh.
    The last thing Kate wanted was to move into Nanna Jane’s mansion with its dozens of cold rooms and echoing space. She wanted them to live in a place where Dylan couldn’t avoid her, no matter how hard he tried.
    It wasn’t as if she was being terribly deceitful, or anything. If he really thought about it, he’d realize how she’d been in love with him forever. And if he still didn’t feel the same about her after being married for a year, she’d agree to an uncontested divorce.
    But Dylan was still looking thoughtful, so she pushed aside the possibility of failure and leaned forward. “What’s wrong with my place? It’s not that small and your company did the work to modernize it, so you know it’s in good condition.”
    “Hmm…yes.” He scratched the side of his face. “But this is a great old building and there’s a lot of room for expansion. You’ve talked about enlarging—so this would be a good time to get it done. I really think it’s best.”
    Kate shrugged in defeat. “All right. Draw up the plans and send me the bill.” So much for a crowded living space pushing them together. The forced intimacy would have helped—now she’d have to think of something else.
    Dylan looked scandalized. “I couldn’t do that.”
    “Why not? It’s just