her honesty.
The benefits would be very real.
What he was offering would tick off the boxes of the shopping list of wants she’d scrawled before jilting Eli.
By marrying Rakin, she’d be actively fulfilling more of her dreams. At the same time, she’d also be able to source leads for new business to refer to her brother, Matt. That way she’d also be working actively on No. 9 on the List: Help save TKG. Rakin would be getting something he wanted—needed—out of the deal, too.
She had nothing to lose.
At the marriage license bureau it took only minutes of standing in the queue before Laurel found herself signing the application in the space beside the bold slash of Rakin’s signature. She stared at the word printed in bold type below her signature: BRIDE.
Bride? For one wild second panic surged through her. A month ago she’d been engaged to her best friend. Someone she knew. Someone she was fond of. Someone she understood. She’d certainly never had any intention of marrying a man she’d only just met—and a sheikh at that.
Then her nerves steadied.
She liked Rakin. She trusted him. He needed a bride; the Kincaid Group needed more business. And he was going to help her become the woman she’d always wanted—secretly—to be.
Her pulse slowed down as the panic subsided. Behind the counter, the clerk handed Rakin a duplicate form.
“Cheapest place to get married is the Office of Civil Marriages. It’s on Third Street, on the right-hand side, only a short walk away.”
“We’ll do a bit of research—but thank you for your help.” Rakin flashed her an easy smile.
“Some of the hotels on the strip are mighty expensive.” The clerk gave Rakin a once-over. Then she gave a wistful sigh. “But maybe that won’t matter.” The look she cast Laurel held a glint of envy. “Have a wonderful wedding … and good luck.”
Laurel smiled back. “Thank you.”
They exited through smoked glass doors.
Laurel caught sight of the signboards for lawyers and paused. It started her thoughts down a path not easily stopped. What would her family make of her impulsive wedding? Before she’d told Eli she couldn’t marry him, she’d spent months talking to her family’s attorneys negotiating a prenuptial agreement that the lawyers were confident protected both her and The Kincaid Group. Eli’s lawyers had worked equally hard to ensure that the prenup was fair to him, too.
If her father were alive, he’d be having a stroke at the thought of any of his daughters marrying a man the family hadn’t inspected, without a prenup, exposing The Kincaid Group to all manner of risks. No prenuptial agreement was a sin worse than unprotected sex—and that was calamity enough—in her father’s opinion.
So she slid Rakin a sideways glance. What did she really know about him—beside the fact that he was Eli’s friend? And she liked him. A lot. He could be a gold-digger—a gigolo—for all she knew. Quickly, she checked her thoughts. Told herself she was being ridiculous.
Rakin Abdellah was clearly a very rich man. Even the clerk had noticed the patina of wealth that glossed him, separating him from the average romantic swain who turned up in the marriage license bureau.
But the lessons of a lifetime caused her to say, “We should’ve signed a prenup. My family will kill me when they find out….” Her voice trailed away as Rakin took her elbow. “Where are we going?”
“To see if we can find a lawyer. I don’t want you having any sense of guilt, or any reservations about this.”
“I must sound like the biggest party pooper ever.”
“Never.” He was smiling down at her, and it eased the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. “How could I think that? I admire you for being so clear-sighted—for thinking about protecting your family—and their livelihood.”
In some childish, hidden corner of her heart, Laurel wished that he’d dismissed the caution she’d voiced, and swept her up in his arms, then charged into the Little Red House of Love to rush through their temporary vows.
At least, that way, she wouldn’t be held accountable for what happened next…. That way she could blame him for whatever the outcome was.
And maybe the disturbing little niggle of doubt that had taken hold would’ve evaporated in a puff of smoke….
They caught the lawyer closing up his offices.
The slight, dark-suited man started to object, but one glance at Rakin’s determined face convinced him to welcome them instead. A raised hand stayed the last-remaining paralegal who was about to slip out a side door.
With the recent negotiations with Eli so fresh in her mind, it didn’t take Laurel long to explain what she needed. Rakin took even less time to get his requirements across. It reinforced what Laurel was starting to realize—under the handsome, charming facade lurked a tough negotiator.
A tiger, rather than a pussycat. With a tiger’s feral instincts. Something she would do well to remember.
“You need to be aware that a prenuptial agreement entered so near in time to a wedding date can be held to be void for duress,” the lawyer told them once they were seated around a conference table with plush, padded chairs in the privacy of his offices.
It was hardly the time for Laurel to confess that Rakin had proposed a temporary marriage—a mad adventure for her with some fringe benefits for her family’s business thrown in—and a sane solution to Rakin’s problems.
Laurel got the feeling that if the lawyer knew about the reasons for their marriage he’d consider them both a little mad—and advise them they were headed for trouble.
“Do you want to wait?” Rakin’s murmur, loud enough for her ears only, broke into her speculative thoughts. She turned her head and looked into eyes that mesmerized her.
“Wait?” She raised her eyebrows.
“Take some more time to think it through.” He gave her a tender smile that probably convinced the lawyer seated across the polished conference table that this was a love match.
Laurel almost grinned back. The misgivings that had settled over her began to lift. In their place, recklessness danced a wild waltz through her. She’d made her decision—she was ready for the adventure of a lifetime.
She was done being careful.
“No need to wait.” Who was this stranger who had taken up possession inside her skin? With a defiant toss of her head, she spoke directly to the lawyer, “No one’s forcing me to do anything I don’t want.”
“Laurel wants to make sure we both understand exactly where we stand—especially given that we both have family businesses to consider,” said Rakin.
“Very wise.” The lawyer pulled his yellow legal pad closer and uncapped his pen. “It may not seem like a very romantic thing to do, but it certainly shows you both agree on many basic things—very important for building the foundations of a lasting marriage.”
When
