Page 20 of Somehow You Knew

“Not cynical. Just realistic.”

She sits there, studying me, and something passes behind her eyes that I can’t pinpoint. Challenge? Determination? Understanding?

“You can try to figure me out all you want, Spitfire, but you’ll never get just how serious I am about this.”

“Who says I want to figure you out?”

“Your body is saying it.” I drop my eyes down her torso, watching her nipples pebble beneath her skintight pink shirt.

She crosses her arms over her chest, trying to hide the way I affect her. And hell, if this weren’t already complicated, I might just focus on the physical attraction between us and explore that connection—how those legs would feel wrapped around my shoulders and hips, how those lips would look wrapped around my cock, her reaction when she finds outallthe places I have tattoos and piercings…

“So we agree then,” she says, bringing me back from my dirty thoughts. “We’re just marrying for the money?”

I reach across the table with an outstretched hand. “Marrying for money, not love.”

She hesitates for a moment but eventually shakes my hand. “And Diane,” she adds. “I’m going to give half a million of my share to COPD research because I know that would make her happy.”

“Suit yourself.” I lean back again in my chair. Truthfully, I was already planning to donate some too. Weird that we both landed on the same number.

“And even though I think she was insane to think you and I would be a good match, going through with this is a way to show her just how much she meant to me.”

“You believe in life after death? That she’s gonna sit back with a bowl of popcorn and watch us try not to kill each other?”

Her eyes widen. “You don’t?”

I shrug. “I don’t know what I think, but I do know that my life is being put on hold while we take care of this, and I’m not exactly thrilled about it.”

Hazel tilts her head. “It’s only six months. That’s nothing in the grand scheme of things.”

“I have a life down in Florida, okay? A job, friends, an apartment. Having to move here is going to put a wrench in all of that.”

She sighs. “Well, I guess that answers my next question about where we will live given that wehaveto live together.”

“Contrary to what you might think of me, I’m not a complete asshole. I know you have a life and business here. It’s easier for me to come up to Carrington Cove because my job is flexible with relocation, so that’s what I’ll do. Plus, I have some things to take care of with my aunt’s estate, including selling her house.”

“Oh. You’re selling it?”

“Yes. That’s what she wanted.”

She clears her throat and actually flashes me a tiny smile. “I guess you can live in my apartment with me, then.”

“Better than sleeping on the street.”

Hazel studies me again. “You know, for how close you two were, I wondered where you were those final days. I mean, I thought you of all people would have dropped everything to be here.”

Fuck. It’s already starting—the inquisition, and now the lies.

But that’s just how it has to be.

“Something came up and I couldn’t be here.”

“Like what?”

I clench my jaw. “It’s personal.”

She crosses her arms over her chest again. “You know, if we’re going to get married, there are certain things I should probably know about you.”

“Our relationship will be on a need-to-know basis, Hazel, okay? And that detail is something you donotneed to know.”

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