Page 23 of Trust

“Agreed.”

“But if I say anything, it will put me at odds with my brother. Thankfully, I got him to agree to a prenup.”

“He was going to marry her without one?”

She nodded. “But I got them both to sign. Still not as strong as I would have liked. It was better than nothing.”

“How did you get that woman to agree to it?”

“I said she was protecting her assets, like her endorsements.”

The Kingston Surfing empire was massive. “She believed you?”

She shrugged. “She’s not smart.”

He threw his head back and laughed again. “See, that’s what is amazing about you. You get people to do things they normally wouldn’t. And I bet you made her think it was her idea.”

Then he sobered. “We can let people draw their own conclusions about us, but I’m not playing a game.”

She stepped back from him. He wanted to advance and pounce, but he held onto his control—barely.

“Are you going to turn on me?”

“Turn on you?”

“You’ve been…rude to me for years.”

It was the only way he could keep his hands off her. Neither of them was ready for that revelation.

“I was a dickhead.”

“Uh…agreed.”

He nodded. “And right there. I’m so sick of the bullshit that goes along with my job…with my family name. I know that you’ll be honest with me. Ben used to be like that, too.”

Her smile faded. “Yeah.”

“Either way, it would be nice to be with the one other person who understands what a FUBAR this marriage will be.”

She blinked rapidly, her eyes glistening. Jakob had never seen her cry, and he did not like it. His chest hurt at the site of her unshed tears. Then, before he could say anything, she straightened her shoulders.

“Okay. You got a deal.”

“But just in case…”

Wariness clouded her eyes. “What?”

“Maybe a kiss…you know, just in case.”

“In case of what?”

Good question. She was frowning at him, but he still wanted to jump her.

“Those girlies…they are tenacious. I heard Lucas Reynolds had one of them sneak into his house once. She was filming herself in his kitchen cooking like he had invited her there.”

Her eyes widened. “I hadn’t heard about that.”

“He made sure it didn’t make the news. Our agents work for the same agency.”