by Ember Flint
“Jamie?” I ask, shaking my head. I’m starting to get fed up with his shock.
“I just, I mean… we are friends aren’t we, Cash?”
I sigh. “We are, yes… but I’m not having a chat with my friend here, Jamie, I’m assigning a task to my lawyer.”
“I know that, but can I speak plainly?”
“No, but I’m sure you will anyway. Go ahead, get it out of your system. You have a minute and then I want you to start putting the prenup together.”
Carson smirks at me.
Jamison flounders about a bit and then he starts to talk again: “It’s just that, this Miss Murphy… you don’t know her. I think you should re—”
I interrupt him. “Thank you for stating the obvious. I appreciate your concern on this as a friend, Jamie, but as I said I’m speaking with my lawyer now, I’ll talk with my friend tomorrow, alright. Now get to work, you know I hate to repeat myself over and over. I will call you back later for the details,” I order and I cut the call.
I don’t have time to discuss it any further, plus there’s no point: my mind is pretty much made up.
I also have to talk with Jerry and ask him to clear my schedule for the next few days.
I start to deal his number, when Carson speaks up again.
“Are you sure she’ll go for this?”
I sigh, dropping my cell on the seat. “Of course she will.”
My old friend nods, his lips in a hard line. “Because everybody has a price?”
I shake my head. “Because everybody has a heart, Carson. The money is what will make it sound the rational thing to do for Aria. That’s why I’ll put lots of it in the contract, but that’s not why she’ll say yes. She’ll say yes, because when you have no family left and you’re alone, the last thing you have of them becomes your heart, the thing you love the most. No one can live without a heart and I’m offering to keep hers safe and then give it back to her at the end of this. Of course she’ll say yes: that’s what I’ll do for Stone Ranches if it ever came to that.”
Carson puts his fist in front of his mouth. “And this is going to be good enough for you, son?”
I nod and open the door as the limo slows to a stop.
This will be more than good enough for me.
Who says I have to be alone?
Who says I can’t have happiness?
I have money, I will buy a big chunk of it for myself.
Chapter 6
ARIA
I’ve walked back and forth for so long I can almost make out the ruts I’ve left on the priceless-looking oriental rug, but I can’t help it: I’m too nervous to sit.
I’ve been here over four hours now and Cash could walk in from the door I keep on staring at any minute now.
His lawyer told me he would meet me here in the late afternoon, at around seven —so I have only twenty minutes left to understand what’s going on and what he wants from me.
I’ve thought about leaving at least ten times since I got in this suite, but I dismissed it every time: first of all, I’m really at the end of my rope here, if I leave now I’ll lose the only chance I have left to retain Silver Bridle, second I have nowhere to go here and it’s already too late to get back to Silverbrook City, especially considering that I’m not all that familiar with Austin and life in a big city in general so it wouldn’t be a wise choice and third I really can’t erase that kiss from my memory, I’m too attracted to Cash to just leave without at least seeing him up close one last time, but I’m also very anxious about this meeting.
How does he plan to help me exactly?
What does he want from me?
I’m not that naive, in this world no one does anything for nothing after all.
I look outside the large wall-wide window at the beautiful garden surrounding the resort, at the sky now turning into a deep shade of orange, the sun burning low in the horizon through pink threads of clouds and I sigh, thinking of the many sunsets I watched sitting on Grams rocking chair on the porch, a tall glass of icy peach tea in one hand, my sister playing guitar with her back against the wall.
I feel a tear slide on my face and I wipe it away angrily. I can’t be sad, not now. I have to stay strong.
I blink away the tears and the memories and turn around just in time to see the doors of the suite burst open and Cash imposing, tall frame striding in.
He says my name softly, giving me a smoldering look and comes to stand in front of me in the middle of the sitting room, the personification of tall, dark and staggeringly handsome towering down on me.
His eyes are pressing into mine and I can see millions of things in them, but he doesn’t say a word when he cups my face in his large hands, his lips colliding with mine, ripping a surprised moan from my throat, turning me in a bundle of excited nerves and making my heart stutter.
He breaks the kiss almost too soon for my taste —leaving me definitely wanting more— and smiles at me.
“You were crying,” he states, his bright blue eyes studying me intently.
I look to the side and down, trying to escape his scrutiny, but he takes a gentle hold of my chin and makes me look up and in his eyes again.
“It’s going to be okay, Aria. You’ll see… everything is going to be better now,” he assures me, his voice husky and low.
“How?” I ask in a small voice.
Cash kisses my forehead softly.
“I will take care of you, baby. Make everything right again. You won’t have to be alone anymore, I’ll make all the pain go away, I’ll make you happy. Your ranch will be fine, you’ll study animal science in the best university. I’ll take care of you.”
I’m too astonished to speak, but even if I had something to say to that, Cash doesn’t leave me much time to reply before his lips once again seek mine and he kisses me until I can’t breathe anymore, his tongue twining with mine, his arms enfolding me in a big hug and pressing me against his muscular torso; his scent surrounding me and drowning my senses in want and peace.
I push him away a little, when I feel I’m becoming dizzy and I grab both of his forearms to keep myself steady as his fingers caress up and down my shoulders.
My brain is so scattered and I have so many questions that I perhaps blurt the least important one first. “How… how do you know what I want to study for a degree?”
He gives me a crooked grin and shrugs his broad shoulders.
“It’s not very difficult to find this kind of information about someone when you know the right people.”
I nod, laughing a little.
“Especially if your name is Cash Stone, right?” I tease.
“Right,” he says smiling, but it doesn’t look sincere, as if with that harmless jab I hit him where it really could hurt and he doesn’t want me to see that, but it can’t be like that, right?
It can’t be so easy to hurt a man as powerful as him.
Before I can say anything more, he takes my hands and guides me toward the sofa, gesturing for me to have a seat and then he does the same, splaying himself and his large body practically over three-quarters of it, until I’m perched on the edge.
He is so big and yet so elegant and gentle in his movements that the thought for some reason makes me smile.
I like that he is so manly and huge, as much as I like the way he looks at me, the way he kisses me and the way he calls me ‘baby’ or even ‘sweetheart’.
No one has ever called me ‘sweetheart’ since grandpa Dom died. Grams was very loving, but endearments weren’t exactly her thing.
I see him leaning forward and turning to the side to take one of my hands from my lap.
I look down for a moment drawn by the little circles his thumb is tracing over the back of my hand, making me feel hot and cold and absolutely confused.
“You will learn in time, Aria, that I’m a very straightforward kind of guy. I like to get to the core of the matter pretty fast and that’s what I’m goi
ng to do now, I hope is alright with you. I can see that you’re nervous and I think it will be better if I just explained everything now. Wouldn’t you agree, baby?”
I take a huge gulp of air and nod. “I would. I do…”
He smiles at me. “I have a proposal for you tonight, Aria. One that I think you should consider carefully. As things stand right now, you have been a very unlucky young woman, your life marred by one too many tragedies. I understand what that means more than you could ever know and I want to help you.”
I nod, looking him straight in the eyes. “But you said you have a proposal for me. So I’m not your little charity project, right? You want something in exchange for your help. Don’t you, Cash?” I ask, trying to be as direct as he just was.
He chuckles. “You are, of course, perfectly right.”
I take my hand away from him and I stand up. “So go ahead, I’m listening.”
“Alright, then. I will save Silver Bridle Ranch if you consent to be mine.”
“Fuck!”, I roll my eyes at him.
“I should have known,” I mutter shaking my head.
Cash doesn’t seem too discomposed by my reaction and remains still and poised.
“You should listen to all I have to say before jumping to conclusions, Aria, that’s a bad habit in the business world.”
I laugh incredulously. “This is not business.”
He smiles at me, crossing his legs. “Of course it is. Come, sit down.”
I do as he asks with a little huff, throwing daggers at him.
I am so stupid. I can’t believe I thought he liked me.
“So let me get this straight, you’ll save my ranch from those nerdy vultures if I let you fuck me? Listen, pal: I don’t know who you think you are, but just because you were born in a freaking golden crib and I’m a normal person, that doesn’t give you the right to think I’m a whore or something or to treat me like one,” I splutter feeling my face go up in flames and I turn to give him my back.
Cash gets up and comes to stand behind me.
His hands on my shoulders make me gently turn around and I hate myself a little for how my body just does what he wants even when I don’t want to.
“I don’t think you’re a whore, Aria and I’ll never treat you like one. I didn’t even get to illustrate my proposal yet, you keep interrupting me and quite rudely I might add,” he remarks smugly, one eyebrow arched, a smirk on his full lips.
I glare at him. “So you don’t want to fuck me then? What, you’re too good for me?”
I don’t know why the thought disappoints me. I want both for him to want me and for me to be wrong about his intentions at the same time.
Yeah, very logical. I know.
He laughs outright. “I like your style, Aria. I think my proposal could work amazingly well. We can be a good team and I definitely want to, as you so elegantly put it, fuck you, only that’s not all that I want.”
I shake my head. This guy is unbelievable.
I move around him and go sit down again, ostensibly because I want to talk serious business again, but really the truth is I can’t be that close to him and hope my legs will hold me up for long.
Cash turns on one of the lamps, casting a low white glow on the large room and sits close to me, taking my face again in his hands. “You are really something special, Aria. I don’t know you that well yet, but I can tell. That, besides, being absolutely fucking delicious,” he murmurs, his lips scattering little kisses on my forehead, before he buries his face in my curls.
He pulls back, breathing unevenly, his eyes several shades darker.
I don’t know what’s going on here precisely, but he is as much effected by this as I am.
It will be too easy to fall into his caresses and kisses and lose myself, but like he said we have a proposal to discuss and I need to keep my head about myself so I move back slightly, breaking our connection and making him groan.
I cross my arms in front of my chest and I follow his line of sight as his eyes fall on my big breasts.
I bend my head down until I engage his gaze once more and raise both my eyebrows till he leans back and focuses solely on my face again.
“I have big boobs, I know. Let’s move on, shall we?”
For a moment he just stares at me, mildly shocked I think, but then he laughs.
The sound running through me and making my clit start to beat in Morse code how much I should just shut up, climb on his lap and kiss him some more.
I catch sight of tears on his face and I smile.
He actually cries when he laughs!
Aww, could he be any more adorable?
Stop it, girl.
He might be all kinds of hot, adorable, sweet and man all at once, but he still is here to get under my skirt —literally.
I really should not make things easier for him, by gazing adoringly upon him.
“So this proposal?” I ask.
I want to conduct this conversation, have the upper hand in this.
Cash shakes his head and then he straightens his dark blue tie.
“Aria, I want you to marry me. I don’t want to wait long. A week at the most. You’ll have to stay with me and be faithful to me for five years and provide me with an heir.
In the meantime, I’ll put Silver Bridle Ranch under the umbrella of Stone Ranches, I will keep it safe and restore it to its full prosperity.”
I stare at him blankly, my mouth slightly hanging open as I mentally wave goodbye to my upper hand.
Cash doesn’t pay much attention to my general state of shock and keeps going: “Your debts are being settled as we speak and my lawyer has already started the acquisition process with the bank for your ranch. Like I said, I will attach it to my holdings, but I won’t dismantle it. You will retain visiting rights on the property and of course you’ll have a say in its management. During our marriage, you are required to just give me one child, but you know accidents can happen so if you get pregnant again near the end of our contract, you’ll have to stay with me until the second child is at least two years old. We’ll both share custody of any children we have after the dissolution of our marriage. At any rate, when the fifth year elapses, you’ll have your ranch back, five million dollars —one million for every year you were with me—, of course it will be more, if there’s a second child. Besides that, I will also provide child-support after our divorce. If you do fall pregnant again after the first baby is born, we’ll have my lawyer renegotiate the terms of the prenup to include that baby. Do you have any questions, Aria?”
I just stare at him a little longer, but then I force myself to speak. “Y-you want to marry me?”
Cash nods, taking my hand. “Yes.”
“Like for real? Like real husband and wife, live together and everything and you want me to have your baby?” I ask, just to make sure I heard him right.
He kisses my temple. “Exactly. It will be a real marriage until it ends. We’ll live together, sleep together, you’ll let me fuck you every time I want and you’ll be my wife in every sense. I’ll make you very happy, you’ll see… and you won’t have to put your life on hold for me, I could never ask you that. You’ll be giving us both what we want, what we need, a family, but you’ll be free to go to university as long as it is in Texas and you keep living with me while attending it.”
I bite my lip. I should be running out of here, laughing or maybe screaming, shouldn’t I?
His words float in my head.
Silver Bridle safe, all my debts gone, the chance to go to college, five fucking million dollars and I’ll get to be with this hunk for five years and end up with a family of my own, instead of being alone, broke, homeless and mired in debts?
This is fucking crazy sure, but not so bad after all, plus it’s not like I have many chances.
I feel my heartbeat speed up.
I turn my eyes back to him.
He said he already started the process of
buying my ranch, what a cocky jerk!
I can’t say yes, can I?
I’ll have to… with him?
Every time he wants me?
What if he is into weird kinks?
What if he harms me, what if—
“I’m a pretty normal dude, Aria, don’t worry. You can put any article in the prenup that you wish for. I’ll do anything to make you feel safe,” he reassures me, almost reading my mind.
I clear my throat. “Anything?”
He nods. “Sure.”
I take his hand. “You said it would be a real marriage, right? I’ll have to be with you and only with you, correct?”
Cash frown, his body stiffening. “And that’s a problem?”
I shake my head. “No, I just want to put in the prenup that this rule applies to you too. No fooling around with other women and I want you to be tested before we…”
I lower my eyes, feeling my cheeks burning.
“Of course, baby, the validity of that rule for both of us was implied. All that stuff is already in the prenup.”
I take a big breath. “Good.”
He takes both my hands in his. “So, is that a yes?”
Before I can stop myself, I nod.
“It is. I will marry you.”
The smile that was already dancing at the corners of his sexy mouth broadens to its full extent and he crushes me into a big bear hug.
I look at him pointedly.
“Is a hug appropriate, shouldn’t we shake hands instead?”
Cash laughs and captures my lips with his, until I nearly melt into a puddle on the sofa.
He takes his cell out from his jacket’s pocket and I can see he is sending a text.
A couple of minutes later I hear a knock on the door.
“Come in, Jamison,” Cash says toward the entrance.
“It’s my lawyer, he has a draft of the prenup ready for us to go over and if it’s okay with both of us, we can go ahead and sign it,” he explains to me as he switches on the lights.
I see the guy that accompanied me earlier get in and take a sit in the beige, high-back armchair on the other side of the low, mother-pearl inlaid, walnut coffee table in front of us.
