The Wedding Wager Read Online Free Page B

asked Megan, nodding at the envelope. “Do you have that much money? Or is this all a scam to get a girl in bed?”
    “It’s not a scam.”
    “Good. Because there will be no sexual contact until or unless I say so. After all, rape is rape, even when people are married, and since we are conducting a business deal here and you need your father to believe we are deeply in love and legitimate, it would ruin everything if I had to report you for rape. Details about our meeting today might get out.”
    Kevin felt a cold knot form in his gut. He hadn’t seen that coming. If he didn’t pay her medical bills and legally marry her, she would go to his father. He hadn’t realized how attractive he thought she was until she shattered his growing fondness for her.
    But he couldn’t show her the door. If she was willing to blatantly blackmail him, he didn’t dare kick her out. Besides, this was what he wanted in the first place, right? He had to agree to her terms in order to secure his siblings’ future.
    She was a smart blackmailer, he had to give her that. She wanted a legal marriage and a prenup. Well, fine, he’d give her a prenup. He pulled himself together and turned the most businesslike face he could manage in her direction.
    “All right,. Do you want that in the prenup? No sex against your will? Or is my word enough?”
    Megan could feel him drawing back. She wasn’t sure why. She was just trying to help him out of his dilemma while helping herself out of hers. Wasn’t that what he wanted? A fake marriage to guarantee he would inherit?
    She found herself irrationally irritated by his sudden cold shoulder. “You have to be a better actor than that if you want to pull this off. If we’re supposed to be in love, you can’t be distant.” She tapped the envelope. “Can you do it?”
    Kevin nodded. “It won’t be a problem.” He tried to ignore his disappointment and restore the easy banter they had shared earlier, but he couldn’t think of anything witty to say. “You were right,” he said sadly. “Repartee is not the same thing as rapport.”
    Megan found her resolve weakening. She put a hand to her mouth, searching for the right words. “You were ready to have me sign a contract,” she said. “Now you’re acting like my request for a prenup is all hard and cold. I don’t understand. The legal safeguards are okay for you, but they’re wrong when they’re my idea?”
    That hit Kevin between the eyes. He sat stunned for a moment.
    “Fine,” said Megan. “I knew it was too good to be true.” She stuffed the medical bills back in the envelope and shoved everything into her purse. The fruit she’d taken from the limo got in the way. She dumped it on the desk. “This was supposed to be my dinner, but I don’t want you to think I’m cheating you out of anything. So you keep this. It came from your mini fridge. Wish I could say it was nice meeting you.” She stood up and headed for the door.
    “Wait!” Kevin shot out of his chair and beat her to the door. He blocked her path, his hands up in surrender. “Please, don’t leave.”
    Megan pulled up short and waited for an explanation.
    Kevin spread his hands. “I didn’t realize I was doing that,” he said. “What you said. Wanting legal safeguards for me but not wanting any for you. I never looked at it that way. Please. Let’s be businesslike. You need your medical bills paid, and I need your help.”
    Megan’s shoulders loosened. “Okay, then. Let’s make a list.” She returned to her chair at the desk.
    Kevin followed her. Whatever she had in mind, he could deal with it. He just had to get through that wedding and the transfer of the family trust into his hands. He would pay whatever price he had to pay to secure the future for his brother and sister. He didn’t have to live with this arrangement forever.
    Megan waited for him to sit before she asked, “When can we get this agreement written up? How soon will it take effect?”
    Kevin