At least this marriage is going to have some real pluses and some challenges.”
“And you like a challenge?”
“Of sorts. I’m not happy about being pushed into marriage.”
“You’re not being pushed. You can say no. You pointed that out to me on your offer.”
“Dammit,” he said quietly while he glared at her, and she knew even though he had accepted her proposal, he wished he didn’t have to marry her. “We might as well get the questions answered and settled.”
He sipped his coffee and looked at the notepad he had placed on the table beside his plate. While she ate a delicious bowl of peaches, she watched him scribble notes. The waiter brought golden omelets, but Olivia’s appetite had vanished. So had Matt’s because he didn’t even attempt to eat, merely reading and writing notes and sipping his coffee.
Determined to avoid letting him know what butterflies she had and how uptight she was, she forced herself to take bites of her breakfast and try to get it down.
“It won’t go in the prenup, but once we’re married, I expect you to stay faithful. I’ll do the same.”
She nodded. “Our vows will cover that one.”
“You said we’d dissolve our marriage after you get your law degree. As far as I’m concerned, this marriage, if we do enter into it, might as well be permanent.”
“Permanent! And what do you mean—if we enter into it? I thought we agreed this is what we’re doing.”
“We did, but a lot of things can happen between now and weeks or months from now.”
She wondered what he had in mind and was there something he was going to do to try to get her to back out of the marriage agreement. And permanent was mind-boggling. “I never planned on permanent!”
“If we’re getting married, then a lasting marriage is a good business arrangement. I’ll get to raise Jeff’s baby, and you’ll be educated and provided for and have a family for your baby. Neither of us wants an emotional entanglement, yet we’ll have sex in our lives. Who knows—by then, we might be in love.”
Setting down her fork with her omelet only barely touched, she drew a deep breath, suddenly feeling as if walls were closing in on her. “I can’t envision being married to you for the rest of my life.”
“You can always file for divorce if you want out. You know that.”
“Yes, but I had no intention of going into this with permanency in mind.”
“Can’t you see where that would be best for your baby?”
She stared at him. Marriage to Matt Ransome. Permanent as in forever. Endless with no emotional entanglement, according to him. Impossible to her.
“You can’t do forever?” he asked quietly, and she suspected he was pushing this condition to get her to back off from the whole marriage concept, which she had no intention of doing.
“Yes, I can do ‘as long as we both shall live’,” she answered, stiffening her resolve to see these nuptials through, “if everlasting is what you want.” She would deal with that one as time went by.
“I would like to adopt the baby so it’s mine and there’s none of this stepdad stuff,” Matt declared.
Joy bubbled in her over the adoption suggestion that she hadn’t dreamed he would make. She nodded. “Great! That’s gratifying to hear.”
“I think we said the sum I’ll settle on you will be one hundred thousand.”
“I told you that you can cut it in half if we marry.”
He shook his head. “No. We’ll leave it at one hundred.” His blue eyes got that piercing look that drove into her like knives. He leaned closer over the table. “One hundred thousand is enough money for you to marry, get the Ransome name and then take the money and run. You could disappear.”
“I won’t do that.”
“Damn straight, you won’t! I’ll find you,” he said with steel back in his voice. She had no doubt that he would do exactly as he said, but she had no intention of running out on the deal he was offering. “Part of our bargain is that you don’t run out on me. My mother did that to her family. My first wife all but did that with me.”
“If I repeat vows, I’ll live up to my promises,” she said and gazed back at him unflinchingly. He gave her a long, hard look with icy blue eyes, but instead of chilling her, she faced him and noticed his long, thick eyelashes, bedroom eyes. A lock of black hair fell on his forehead. He had thick hair that held a slight wave and a firm jaw that gave him a rugged appearance, yet at the same time, he was handsome with his straight nose and prominent cheekbones.
She wondered if she was sinking herself in a quicksand of heartbreak. How easy it was going to be to fall in love with him! For all his gruffness and reined-in anger, there had been flashes of charm when they had been out on the town last night, as well as a few minutes ago when he was flirting with her. She had vowed she would never again trust a Ransome or get involved with one, yet here she was committing to the closest possible relationship with a Ransome who had his heart locked away.
“I’ll draw up a will. I own the ranches with my father, brother and sister and we want them to stay in the family. If something happens to me, my share will go directly to the baby when he or she reaches twenty-one. The money I have will be divided between you and to the baby. Fair enough?”
She nodded. “For a man not in love with me, you’re making another generous offer.”
As he inhaled deeply, she wondered what was running through his mind because she couldn’t possibly guess. Somehow she suspected he was wishing he could have the baby and get rid of her, but then she might be wrong.
He shifted and his knee bumped hers. His eyes narrowed while she felt a tingle from the contact.
“I need to meet your family,” she said.
“I know. I’ll get them together.”
“You’re not touching your breakfast,” she said quietly.
“I don’t have any appetite,” he replied, biting off the words abruptly. He fluctuated between flirting with her and then giving way to his suppressed fury over having to acquiesce to her wishes. In the moments when his charm and appeal surfaced, she found him irresistible.
She suspected after marriage he would accept their bargain and then she would have his charm and sex appeal to deal with daily, a possibility that gave her a tingly anticipation and at the same time, sent warnings of heartbreak pounding in her mind.
Where Matt’s brother had been an engaging fun-filled boy, Matt was a devastating man with charm and sex appeal that overwhelmed her.
“I don’t think we’ll have an issue about the baby’s education since you fought so hard to get one,” Matt said, scribbling more notes while she nodded.
“I’ll still open an account for you with the one hundred thousand in it. That is your money. I’ll pay the ranch expenses,
