The Bride's Choice. Sara Orwig

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       Three

      As Juliana walked away, Cal was at her side instantly, moving into the dining room with her.

      “Wait a minute,” he said, his hand touching her arm lightly. “Just listen. Sit down.”

      It was worse in the light where she could see him in total clarity and his brown eyes compelled her to do what he wanted. Amounts of money danced in her head. The man proposing marriage wasn’t a three-headed, drooling mon- ster and his proposal was tempting.

      “Think of your boys and sit down,” he said more force- fully, giving her the full impact of his dark gaze and pulling out a chair from the dining table. As she sat down, he moved another chair close to sit and face her.

      “How could Elnora have done this?” Juliana said, run- ning icy fingers across her forehead. She shivered in spite of the warmth of the room.

      “I agree entirely and would never have drawn up that will. Which is why she went to Willard Mason.”

      Juliana looked at Caleb, feeling the tension spark be- tween them and the clash of wills. “You still haven’t an- swered me. You have a nice home. You have a good business, I imagine. Why do you have to be so greedy?”

      He gave her an impassive stare as he reached out to tuck a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. She felt the warm brush of his fingers and a tingle radiated from the contact of his hand with her skin.

      “Mr. Duncan—”

      “I’m talking about a marriage in name only,” he inter- rupted quietly. “There wouldn’t be anything physical—” He paused, his dark eyes boring into her. “Unless you want a physical relationship,” he amended matter-of-factly.

      Juliana’s mouth dropped open as she stared at him, and Cal had to bite back a laugh.

      “In name only?” she repeated.

      He was in deep now and he clung to the remembrance of the amount of money each one of them would inherit. “As beautiful as your body is, I know we’re strangers. I’m sug- gesting in name only. I like my solitary life and peace and quiet and I am not a marrying man.”

      “It doesn’t sound that way,” she said dubiously.

      “In name only for one year. You have three boys to raise and send to college. I don’t know how well-fixed your grandmother or your mother is, but I imagine you may have to help them, too. And you have to take care of yourself. That’s a lot of people to be obligated to, and even if your mother and grandmother are self-sufficient, you have the responsibility for the boys. Think what you could do with half of Elnora’s estate.”

      He knew when to rest his case. He became silent, wait- ing, his gaze on her, while she seemed to stare through him into some distant place. Idly, he wondered again how she would look with her hair falling free. He resisted the im- pulse to reach out and tug loose the golden locks. Her skin was as smooth as silk and her lips full, looking tantaliz- ingly soft. What would it be like to kiss her?

      He shoved the question from his mind instantly. Keep re- lations distant and professional. Yet, when he gazed into her blue eyes, his good intentions evaporated and a little warn- ing of danger popped into his mind. The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into a relationship with her. Three boys, a mother and a grandmother—Juliana Aldrich came with large responsibilities. Now she was staring outside, her wide forehead slightly furrowed. He wondered what she was thinking.

      Thoughts tumbled in Juliana’s mind, and like an annoy- ing insect buzzing around her head, his words seemed to jam her rational processes. As beautiful as your body is…. How many men had ever told her she was beautiful? Barry hadn’t even told her that. Did Caleb Duncan really find her beau- tiful? More than likely, he was trying to spin a web of charm to get his greedy hands on Elnora’s estate. Yet, when Ju- liana weighed the possibilities of inheriting enough money to take care of the boys, she almost wanted to weep with re- lief. All her scrimping and saving was never enough. Her preschool business might have to close in the next few months because they were barely making enough to cover costs. And every month now, she was sliding a little more deeply into debt with all the expense of raising the boys.

      “In name only,” she repeated softly and looked at him. “You’ve thought this over.”

      He nodded solemnly. “We would get Green Oaks and could move there.”

      “And in a year, we divorce and split the money?”

      “Yes, if it’s necessary to divorce. Perhaps we can have the marriage dissolved because it was never consummated.”

      She studied him, wondering what such an arrangement would be like. His whole aim in life must be to acquire money. He was accustomed to living alone and doing as he pleased, to working for himself. He seemed strong-willed, stubborn, determined. Would he make a shambles of their lives if she agreed to his proposal? “I still don’t think—”

      “Don’t reject the idea too swiftly. Think what that money can do for your boys,” he repeated.

      She СКАЧАТЬ