“You want to marry me?” she repeated incredulously. Her pulse, apparently unaware that the proposal merited anger, not consideration, took off as if this were a declaration of true love. “Six years without a word, and now you want to marry me? Just like that?”
“Just like that,” he agreed, as calmly as if the suggestion weren’t totally absurd.
“Have you lost your mind?”
He seemed to consider the question thoughtfully, then shook his head, his expression thoroughly serious. “Nope. I don’t think so.”
“Then I think you need a second opinion.”
“Katie, I’ve given this a lot of thought. It makes sense.”
She regarded him blankly. “Why?” she asked, when she should have been shrieking to the high heavens about the gall of any man who would walk back into a woman’s life after six years and drop a marriage proposal on the table as if it were a simple hello.
“Why?” she asked again, wondering if there was a snowball’s chance in hell that she would get the simple, three-word answer she’d always dreamed of hearing cross his lips.
“My son needs a mother. You need somebody to put this place on a sound financial base again. We always got along. I think we could make it work.”
Not three words, but a litany, Katie noticed in disgust as Luke ticked off the reasons matter-of-factly. He’d probably made a damn list of them. His businesslike tone made her grind her teeth.
“You sound as if you’re negotiating for the merger of two companies with compatible products,” she accused.
The idiot didn’t even have the decency to deny it.
“That’s one way of looking at it, I suppose,” he agreed, looking pleased that she had grasped the concept. “We both get something we need. I knew I could count on you not to get all sloppy and sentimental about this.”
Katie was just itching to reach for the cast iron skillet that was sitting atop her twenty-year-old stove, when she made the mistake of looking again into Luke’s eyes for a second time. Those blue eyes that had once danced with laughter were flat and empty now. Lonely. Lost.
Katie had always been a sucker for a lost soul. And from her twelfth birthday, when he’d brought her a wilted, but flamboyantly huge bouquet of wildflowers, she had been a sucker for Luke Cassidy. Regrettably, nothing in the past six years they’d been apart had changed that.
She drew in a deep, steadying breath and realized that she was going to do it. She was going to say yes and damn the consequences.
“Oh, what the hell,” she murmured, furious with herself for not having the willpower to resist this man or the son he’d just turned up with. Maybe she’d just been a spinster too darn long. More likely, she’d just missed Luke too much, something she wouldn’t tell him if he hog-tied her and dragged her through town in full view of every single person who’d watched the two of them grow up. Cursing herself for being a pathetic, love-starved wimp, she tried valiantly to list all the reasons to say an emphatic no. There were dozens of them, but she couldn’t seem to force her lips to form the first one.
At her continued silence, a faint suggestion of a grin tugged at Luke’s mouth. “Was that a yes?”
It was and they both knew it, but she wouldn’t make it easy on him. Katie knew she didn’t have Luke’s business acumen, but she did have an instinct for self-preservation. She couldn’t just cave in and accept his first offer. If he wanted a coldhearted business deal, then that’s what he’d get.
“We need to discuss terms,” she said, keeping her voice as matter-of-fact as his, even though her heart was thundering wildly.
She couldn’t believe what she was about to do. She was standing in her own kitchen, negotiating with a man she’d loved forever, about a blasted marriage of convenience. She ought to have her head examined. She was apparently every bit as loony as he was.
Then again, as everyone who knew her well would understand, her head had never had much to do with her feelings for Luke. It was her heart he had stolen and apparently intended to claim now as his own.
Still, there was a definite call for putting some emotional distance between them, for hanging on to a shred of dignity. She would not rush into his arms, allowing herself to think for one single instant that he actually cared a whit for her. He wanted a mother for his child. She would be a baby-sitter with unusual benefits. That was it. She supposed people had gotten married for less rational reasons, but she’d never met any of them.
A few centuries back marriages like this had even been arranged by doting, practical fathers. She’d always considered such arrangements barbaric. Now she found herself in the unique position of working out such terms for herself. Well, Luke could be darned sure that she was going to adequately protect herself from any more of his foolish whims.
She went to the kitchen counter, picked up a pad of paper and a pen, then sat down at the table, pen poised. “I’m ready. Let’s talk.”
“Okay,” he said, suddenly cautious. “What did you have in mind?”
“A contract with everything all spelled out on paper. Didn’t you remind me just a few minutes ago that that’s how business is done?” she asked sweetly.
“Katie,” he began in a warning tone.
She ignored the warning. “This is my boarding house. I run it as I see fit.” She jotted that down before he could say a word.
“Now, wait a minute,” he protested. “Running it how you see fit is what got you into this mess.”
She looked him straight in the eye. “I run it. I deal with the guests,” she insisted. “You can handle the business end of things, if you want.”
“Thank you so much,” he said.
She frowned at his mocking tone. “This won’t work, if you’re going to be surly.”
“I am never surly.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “You haven’t changed that much, Luke Cassidy. You were always surly, especially when you weren’t getting your way.”
She studied him consideringly. He wasn’t exactly dressed for success today, but she wasn’t fooled by the faded, skintight jeans, the rumpled yellow shirt or the battered sneakers. She knew the kind of money the man had made. She’d saved every one of the clippings from the local paper enumerating his financial achievements. Luke might not have been back in Clover for years, but his press releases had been.
“I’d say an investment in the Clover Street Boarding House would be appropriate, wouldn’t you? Say ten thousand,” she said and wrote it down. “That will take care of the roof and a few odds and ends I haven’t been able to afford, plus some of that balloon payment that’s due in September.”
“You want ten thousand dollars in return for agreeing to marry me?” he repeated, his neck turning a dull red. “Selling yourself cheap, aren’t you?”
She nodded as the shot hit its mark and crossed off what she’d written. “You have a point. Make that ten thousand a year for the first five years. Guaranteed,” she added, “even if the marriage falls apart.”
This time, he was the one who looked as if she’d tried to flatten him with a two-by-four. Katie was rather pleased with herself.
“You can’t be serious,” he said.
“Oh, but I am. Putting this place on a sound financial base is what this deal is all about, right? From my point of view, that is.”
She beamed at him. “Now, then, as far as me being a mother to Robby, we make decisions about him together. You don’t just start bullying me around or pull rank whenever I do something that doesn’t suit you. A child’s parents should present a united front. Squabbling will just confuse him.”
“What the hell do you know about raising a child?”
“I’ve watched all those baby doctors on TV. Besides, you’re the one who picked me to be a mother to your son. Are you changing your mind?”
Based on Luke’s stunned expression, Katie had the feeling she’d finally turned this stupid game of his to her advantage. The fact that he hadn’t stormed out the door was a testament to how committed
he was to this plan he’d dreamed up.
“Okay,” he said, his teeth clenched. “You win.”
“Good.” She nodded approvingly as she made a note. “Just one last thing.”
“Only one more?”
Katie glared at him. “We have separate bedrooms. You can have the one that’s empty right now, as soon as the roof’s repaired, of course. I wouldn’t expect you to sleep in it while the rain is pouring in. And we want to give Robby a few weeks to get to know me before we set the date.”
“Now wait just a minute,” he protested. “What the hell kind of marriage is that? Husbands and wives do not sleep in separate bedrooms.”
“That’s true enough for ordinary husbands and wives.” She shrugged. “You’re the one who established this as some sort of business arrangement. I have no idea what your code of ethics is like after all this time, but I don’t sleep with business partners. I wouldn’t think you’d want any messy emotional entanglements, either. Sex has a way of muddying things up.”
“How would you know?” he muttered, scowling at her.
She could tell that she had taken him by surprise with her list of demands, especially this last one. She couldn’t imagine what Luke had been thinking by making this ridiculous proposition to her this morning. But if he had expected her to fall into bed with a man who could suggest this cold, calculated arrangement, then he was sadly mistaken.
She might love him to distraction, but she would never let him see her vulnerability. She knew that if Luke so much as touched her, she would go up in flames. It had always been that way. She doubted that time had dulled the effect. Time obviously hadn’t done a thing to correct her inability to think straight around him. Just look at the crazy agreement she was about to enter into. She suspected it was like making a bargain with the devil. No matter how many concessions a person gained, there was no way to win in the long run. But she intended to give Luke Cassidy a run for his money.
“Those are my terms,” she repeated, meeting his gaze evenly. She held out the tablet on which she’d written every last detail of their agreement. “Sign it.”
He seemed a little bewildered by her stance, but he nodded finally, scrawled his name across the bottom, then held out his hand. “It looks like we have a deal.”
“So it does,” she said, avoiding his hand as if it were contaminated. One touch, she reminded herself. Just one and this cool attitude of hers would be ashes.
“I’ll be in touch to work out the wedding plans,” Luke said, sounding satisfied—or relieved?—now that the deal was concluded.
As he left, Katie clutched the signed contract and fought to contain a sigh of regret. So much for moonlight and roses and a proposal that came from the heart. That was just one more silly yearning she would have to pack away. After being a bridesmaid more times than she could recall for Hannah, Emma and all the others, she would finally have her wedding. She’d finally have the only man she’d ever loved.
But it would all be a sham.
CHAPTER ONE
The upcoming wedding of Caitlyn Jones and Luke Cassidy was the hottest topic at the Clover Beauty Boutique on the first Monday morning in June when Lucy Maguire Ryder, just back from her own honeymoon, divulged the news. When she discovered she’d scooped the bride and groom, Lucy rushed to Peg’s Diner to apologize.
Naturally Lucy’s apology and the reason for it were overheard and within seconds the news had spread from one end of the diner to the other. Katie could barely squeeze through the center aisle to deliver the rush of morning orders of eggs and grits for all the well-wishers stopping her to offer congratulations and best wishes. Periodically, as she poured cups of her Aunt Peg’s potent special blend coffee, she paused long enough to glare at Lucy.
“I’m sorry,” Lucy said again when Katie was finally able to take a break. “I thought for sure you would have told everyone by now. The wedding’s this Saturday, for heaven’s sakes.”
“You sound just like Luke. He’s getting impatient, too.”
“Well, I can’t say that I blame him. You’re acting as if this is something you’re ashamed of. What does Peg say about it? Is she thrilled about the wedding?”
Katie winced as guilt sliced through her. “I haven’t told her yet. Thank goodness she’s off this morning. If she found out like this she’d never forgive me. And I’d have you to blame for spilling the beans.”
Lucy was clearly aghast. “Katie, at this rate you would have been celebrating your tenth anniversary before anyone was the wiser. People were bound to wonder why you kept the news secret. I know there are...”
Lucy hesitated, then visibly made a decision to speak her mind. “I know there are circumstances here you don’t want to discuss with just anyone, but wouldn’t it have been better to announce the engagement formally and get on with the wedding plans as if this were your ordinary, garden-variety, happy occasion?”
“I wasn’t ready to say anything,” Katie said stubbornly. She hadn’t known what to say, if the truth be told. She was afraid she’d give away every blasted detail of her contract with Luke if she opened her mouth at all.
Lucy studied her worriedly. “Katie, maybe you shouldn’t go through with it. Obviously you have serious reservations about marrying Luke. It’s written all over your face.”
“I have no reservations. I love him,” Katie said grimly. “That’s all that matters.”
“No, it’s not and you know it,” Lucy countered. “You deserve more than some weird business bargain. Katie, you’re the most honest, most straightforward person I know. You won’t be able to live with yourself if you have to lie to everyone. It’s no way to start a marriage.”
“This arrangement is between Luke and me, no one else. We’ll make it work.”
“How?”
Katie lost patience. She was doing her best here. She didn’t need her closest friend trying to sabotage her efforts. “Dammit, Lucy, I’m beginning to be sorry I ever told you the truth.”
Lucy promptly looked chagrined. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry. I just want you to be as happy as I am.”
Katie hugged her. “I will be. You’ll see. Now scoot on out of here before Peg gets in. I have to tell her before the lunch crowd shows up and starts blabbing about the news.”
“Good luck. You’re going to need it. I remember when we were kids Peg could always see straight through you.”
“Then I’ll just have to do the best acting job of my entire life.”
Unfortunately, she never had the chance. Within seconds after Peg’s arrival—in fact while she was still tying an apron around her waist and Katie was gathering her courage—Luke strolled in the door of the diner. Katie guessed at once from his smug expression that he had heard that the news of their engagement was finally out. He was bound to figure that Peg would have heard it as well. In fact, he was making a beeline straight for her aunt. Katie rushed to intercept him.
Before she could get in a cautionary word, he smiled broadly at Peg, slipped an arm around Katie’s waist and said, “So what did you think of our news?”
“News?” Peg had said, looking suspiciously from one to the other.
Katie jammed an elbow into Luke’s side, but he kept that smile and his arm firmly in place and said, “The wedding, of course. You will be there, won’t you? I know Katie’s counting on you.”
He dropped a perfunctory kiss in the vicinity of Katie’s mouth, something he’d gotten into the habit of doing despite her protests.
“Gotta run,” he said, still oblivious to the fact that he’d just dropped a bombshell. “I’ll leave you two to finalize the rest of the plans.”
He was gone before Katie could muster the strength to murder him, before she could recover from that slap-dash kiss, for that matter. Still a little weak-kneed, she turned to Peg, who was regarding her with an expression filled with hurt and dismay.
Before Katie could open her mouth, Peg shook her head, then whirled and went into the kitchen, where she stubbornly remained for
the rest of Katie’s shift.
Faced with her aunt’s obvious disapproval and consumed with guilt, Katie didn’t have the courage to force a confrontation. She slipped away from the diner as soon as her replacement came in and drove out to the beach. It was where she’d always gone when she needed to think.
She headed straight for her favorite secluded bench, drew her knees up to her chest and huddled there trying to figure out how to handle the mess she seemed destined to make of her life.
Today, though, the soothing sound of the surf, the scent of salt air and pine, was lost on her. She kept thinking of the hurt in Peg’s eyes, the worry in Lucy’s expression, and her own terrible doubts, which were mounting with every hour that passed.
It wasn’t as if anything had changed during the past few weeks since the decision had been made. She and Luke still maintained a cautious distance. Their conversations about the wedding were so matter-of-fact she’d found herself grinding her teeth every time she thought about them.
How could something she’d prayed for most of her life be making her and everyone around her so thoroughly miserable? Was Lucy right? Was marrying Luke for all the wrong reasons the worst mistake she would ever make? Could she survive day after day, living a charade with Luke and hiding her true feelings from him?
So far, he’d certainly lived up to his part of their bargain. He’d deposited ten thousand dollars into her bank account the very afternoon they’d reached an agreement. He’d negotiated a price on the new roof with Ron and had somehow managed to get workers on the job within days.
Maybe it would be good to have a brisk, no-nonsense financial whiz in charge of the business aspects of running the boarding house, she told herself consolingly. She had never been wild about maintaining the books, anyway. She was better at creating a homey, welcoming, family atmosphere. It seemed, in that regard at least, that she and Luke were a match made in heaven. And Robby, well, Robby was the bonus, the icing on the cake. Kate already knew that being his mother was going to fulfill all her fantasies. He was a terrific little boy and he’d accepted her more eagerly than she could have hoped.
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