Page 17 of The Playboy's Most Unexpected Baby

“It’s good enough,” he said. “I think it will convince Rogan — or, at least, it has as good a chance as anything else does. He won’t be able to disprove any of it, and it sounds like the kind of thing that might have really happened. It just didn’t really happen to us — but I think we stand a good chance at convincing him it did.”

Olivia nodded.

The rest of dinner proceeded in relative silence. Olivia was too lost in her own thoughts to find very much to say to Charlie.

He just seemed to take all these things in such stride. Surely that couldn’t be normal. Was it possible he had been married before?

No, of course he hadn’t been. That would have come up at the wedding. His brothers and sister hadn’t hesitated to say disparaging things about him. If this had been a second or third marriage, there would have been wisecracks.

No, it was just that he was so… so unserious when it came to the idea of relationships and commitment. That was what made him seem as if he didn’t notice what was going on around him, as if none of it mattered to him very much. He didn’t care about this marriage because soon enough it would be in the past. He didn’t care about Olivia because she was nothing more than a means to an end.

She had to ensure that she continued to think of him in the same way.

CHAPTER7

CHARLIE

“You’re late,” Cait said.

Charlie raised his eyebrows. “Why are you even here?” he asked his sister. “You’re not required to be at this.”

“Yeah, well, John and Scott are inside with Rogan already. We all wanted to see the show,” Cait said, crossing her arms.

“The show?”

“You know how much we love a bit of theater. We’re actually taking bets on whether or not you two are going to be able to convince Rogan that this is a real marriage.”

“It’s a real marriage,” Charlie said. “We’ve got the documentation to prove it. Everything is legal and aboveboard.”

“You know that’s not what today is about,” Cait said. “Nobody doubts that you’re legally married, Charlie. The question is whether there’s any emotional validity to it. That’s what Aunt Marge wanted you to prove. That’s why you’ve got to attend these meetings.”

“Right, well, don’t worry about it,” Charlie said. “I’ve got all the proof I need.”

Cait smiled smugly. “We’ll see.”

She turned and led the way into Rogan’s office. Olivia hung back, and Charlie fell into step with her.

“She really doesn’t want this to be real,” Olivia observed.

“She absolutely does not,” Charlie agreed. “If we’re lying, it’ll be all she needs to have the house taken away from me.”

Olivia squared her shoulders. “That isn’t happening.”

“I like your confidence.”

“I might think this arrangement is ridiculous, but I’m not about to let that arrogant woman tell me what to do.” She pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry. She’s your sister. I shouldn’t have?—”

“No. You’re absolutely right. An arrogant woman is exactly what she is, and she deserves to be called out for that. I’m glad you see it.” He grinned. “It’s nice to have someone on my side in these family things for once, even if it is a weird situation.”

“It’s definitely a weird situation,” Olivia agreed. “But if that’s the way your family is going to act then I can see why you wouldn’t want them to get a share of the house. Let’s get in there and pull this thing off, shall we?”

She led the way into Rogan’s office. Charlie followed, feeling a rush of adrenaline, excited by the knowledge that she really was on his side, that they were taking this on together. Suddenly, that seemed much more important than the fact that they’d come up with a convincing backstory for their relationship.

Rogan rose to his feet when they entered, though Charlie’s siblings did not. He extended his hand to Charlie, and then to Olivia. “I have to say,” he said, “I never believed this would actually happen. The marriage stipulation in the will — I mean, I’ve seen things like that before, but they’re very rare, and the terms usually aren’t met. When I saw that part, I frankly assumed that the house would just be sold collectively among the four of you.”

“Oh, it will be,” Scott said with a little laugh. “There isn’t a doubt in my mind that this is a temporary thing, Mr. Rogan. There’s no chance my brother is going to make a marriage stick. Even if he had married under completely ordinary circumstances, I would be saying the same thing. Charlie is not marriage material.”

“I’ll second that,” John said. “That’s why I wanted to be here today. It’s like looking at the northern lights or something. A natural phenomenon that’s sure to be gone by morning.”

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