Page 16 of Married to Murder
He slumped a little, looking relieved. “I’m glad.” He stood and came closer. “I know this is unorthodox. I mean, I do know that.”
“Why me?”
“Well…” He wrinkled his brow. “Why not you?”
If you only knew.
“People only do stuff like this in movies,” I said.
“Most people don’t have eccentric grandmothers who set up seventeen-million-dollar trust funds for them, with ridiculous stipulations.”
I studied him, still having trouble believing he actually wanted to marry me. “I’m not saying I’m interested… but what would this marriage look like?”
He perked up. “You’d have a say in that, of course. But I see it as a marriage of convenience. We’d live together, but we would lead mostly separate lives.”
I frowned. “I can’t move to San Luis Obispo.”
“No. Of course not.” He captured his lower lip with his teeth. “I could rent a house here in Montecito. That way you would still be close to your shop. I travel a lot anyway. It doesn’t really matter if my home base is Montecito or San Luis Obispo. Either one works for me.”
“We don’t have to put on some big fake act for your family, do we?”
“Not to family, but strangers, yes. My grandmother is way too proud to be okay with people thinking my marriage is fake.”
“I don’t know, man. I’m not good at faking shit.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I wasn’t looking to get married. I don’t know that I want to be married ever.”
“Seth, I don’t want to be married either. But if I don’t follow through with my grandma’s wishes, I’ll lose my inheritance. I turn thirty in three months, so I’m running out of time. To be honest, I thought I was fucked. Then I met you.” He gave a gruff laugh. “I think I could be around you and it wouldn’t bug me.”
“What if you’re wrong? Suppose it turns out we don’t enjoy being around each other? Maybe we’ll get on each other’s nerves.”
“I don’t think that will happen.”
“You mentioned wanting an heir… I’m not sure I even want kids.”
“I don’t either. Not until I’m older. You wouldn’t have to be concerned with that. I have no intention of having kids just for my grandmother.”
“Hmmm.” My stomach clenched with stress. “How long would we have to stay married?”
“Three years.”
I winced. “Jesus. Three years? What if we meet someone and fall in love?”
He wrinkled his brow. “Um… I didn’t think of that.” He scratched his jaw. “Well, they’d have to understand you’re not able to divorce for three years.”
“I guess.” Was I actually considering his offer? “What happens to me at the end of three years?”
“We would divorce and you’d get some money of your own… say four million dollars? You’d be set for life, Seth. You’d only be twenty-eight and loaded. Think of what you could do with all that money. And during our marriage, all my money is at your disposal. Hell, maybe you’d be able to open a chain of surf shops all along the coast.”
I frowned. “I don’t want a chain of shops. I just want to run this one more efficiently.”
“That’s fine. Maybe you could hire a few employees so you could give surf lessons more often. Whatever you want. But the point is you’d be able to do anything you wanted. Not having enough cash flow has held you back, but if you were my husband, that wouldn’t be an issue ever again.”
“I don’t like lying to people’s faces.” I grabbed my shirt and tugged it over my head. I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling his gaze on me.
“Do you like scraping by all the time?”
“No.”
“Then take this chance with me.”
