“Good. Get out of bed and get to the front door.”
Her scalp tingled and a wave of goose bumps shimmered over her arms. “Why?”
“Because I’ll be there in about thirty seconds and I want to get this thing settled tonight.”
“Can’t we discuss this over the phone?” she asked, throwing back the covers and scrambling out of bed. Holding the phone between her shoulder and ear, she frantically searched for her robe. Where on earth had she put the thing? She rarely wore it because she never had overnight visitors.
“No, I’d rather talk in person,” he said as the doorbell rang. “Now, open the door and let me in, Haley.”
At the sound of him ending the call, she tossed the phone on her bed and, giving up on finding her robe, pulled her raincoat out of the closet. “All right, I’m coming,” she muttered when the bell rang again. Shrugging into the coat, she hurried down the hall to the entryway. “Somebody needs to remind Mr. Luke Garnier that patience is a virtue.”
When she opened the door, Luke walked right in as he’d done the day before. “Are you going out?” he inquired, turning to eye her coat.
Pushing the door closed, she pulled the coat’s belt tight around her waist. “I couldn’t find my bathrobe and you wouldn’t stop ringing the doorbell.”
“You don’t keep your robe handy?” he asked as he walked into the living room.
“I live alone and if I want to walk around without a robe, there’s no one here to care,” she replied, wondering why she bothered to explain herself. It was her business, not his. “Now, what do we need to discuss that can’t wait until tomorrow morning, Luke? I thought I made my position quite clear at dinner.”
“You did,” he said, nodding. “And I’ve given it a fair amount of thought.”
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his expression, but knowing him, he was there to get her to come around to his way of thinking. “I’m not changing my mind, Luke.”
“I didn’t think you would.” Staring at her, he took a deep breath.
Here it comes, she thought, anticipating his rejection of her requirements.
“I’ve decided that the terms you laid down tonight are within reason and I’m willing to accept them,” he stated as if closing a business deal.
Her heart felt as if it lodged in her throat at the same time her knees gave way. Sinking down on the couch, she could have sworn that the walls started to move in on her.
“W-what did you say?”
“We’ll get married this weekend right after you sign a prenuptial agreement covering the protection of my assets, shared custody of my heir and a fair settlement for you if and when the marriage ends.”
“But…we…I mean, you—”
“I assume that since you haven’t indicated otherwise, you’ll be in the office tomorrow morning?” he interrupted.
Unable to find her voice for the second time in as many days, all she could manage was a short nod.
“We can discuss the details and refine our agreement then,” he continued. “Now, get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us.”
Haley watched him walk to the door, then close it with a click that seemed to echo throughout the room. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak and rational thought was completely out of the question.
What on earth just happened? Had her commitment-phobic boss really just informed her that they would be getting married for the sole purpose of having a baby? And this weekend, no less?
Knowing that sleep would be out of the question, she took off her raincoat and tossed it on the back of the couch. As she prowled the room like a caged tiger, she tried to arrange her tangled thoughts into some semblance of order.
The man of her dreams, the very man who clearly stated he had no time for love and marriage, was willing to become her husband. And his only purpose for making her his wife wasn’t because he loved her and wanted to raise a family with her. He was willing to marry her in order to have her bear him an heir.
She stopped in the middle of the room and barely suppressed a scream. Every one of her dreams was well on the way to becoming reality and for all the wrong reasons.
She wanted love and all the bonding that went with it. She wanted a lifetime emotional commitment, not a prenuptial agreement. But to Luke, their union would be just another business arrangement.
As she stood there, she couldn’t help but wonder where her plan had gone wrong. And what had possessed him to agree to her demands?
But most important of all, how in the name of all that was holy was she going to talk him out of following through with it?
The next morning, Luke slid a folder across his desk for Haley’s perusal. “I’ve taken the liberty of having an attorney who specializes in family law draw up a prenuptial contract for you to sign.”
“How did you manage to get this done so quickly?” she asked, looking a lot like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights of a car.
“You can get just about anything done in a short amount of time for the right price.” He nodded toward the document she hadn’t yet touched. “I think you’ll find the agreement spells out what is expected from both of us when it comes to joint custody and parenting the boy. It also covers what we’ll both keep and what compensation you’ll receive when the marriage is dissolved.”
She looked a little distressed. “And when will that be?”
“Whenever we both agree that we’d like to move on with our lives.” He shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll know when the time comes.” Leaning back in his chair, he motioned toward the folder. “Take your time to read over the contract, then sign it and have it back on my desk by the end of the day.”
“It’s so generous of you to give me an ample amount of time to think over what I’ll be signing,” she said, her tone sarcastic.
He stated what he saw as obvious. “I don’t intend to drag my feet on getting this finalized. You laid down the terms, I’ve made the decision to comply with them and we’ll get married on Saturday morning. But between now and then we have a lot to do.”
“What’s the rush?” she asked, hiding a yawn behind her delicate hand. She looked thoroughly exhausted and he’d bet his next multimillion-dollar deal that she hadn’t slept a wink the night before. The thought that she’d soon be in his bed caused his heart to stall and a slow smile to tug at the corners of his mouth.
“Why wait?” he responded, answering her question with one of his own. “I want to get started making you pregnant as soon as possible.” That instantly brought her fully awake and added quite a bit of color to her unusually pale cheeks.
