doesn’t necessarily buy happiness, but it can buy a way out of problems. And that may be as close to happy as a person can get.”
“Money doesn’t keep your heart from breaking,” she protested.
“Do you love Brady?” He nudged her chin up with his knuckle, forcing her gaze to his. “Don’t lie to me, Maggie. I’ll know if you do. You’re exceptionally bad at it.”
“I guess I missed Deception 101 when I was in the convent.”
“You’re stalling. Do you love my son?”
Judging by the way her heart was breaking, the answer to that question was easy. “Yes.”
“Then don’t go. Stay and help him grow into the best person he can be.”
She shook her head. “My mind is made up. There’s nothing you can say to change it.”
“There must be.” A muscle in his jaw moved as his dark eyes turned almost black with frustration. “What if I asked you to marry me?”
She stared at him for several moments, not realizing she’d been holding her breath until she dragged air into her lungs. “That’s a joke, and I’m not even going to dignify it with a response.”
“Why not? I’m dead serious.”
“Oh, please.”
He rested his hands on lean hips, a challenging stance, as he met her gaze. There was a glitter in his eyes, as if he’d hit on the right button. “Marriage is a serious contract. It would protect your rights, something you never had in the past.”
Her heart was pounding, yet it felt like all the blood had drained from her head. She couldn’t think straight. He must be kidding, toying with her. And yet he looked completely determined.
“Marriage?” She held out her hands, a helpless gesture. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
“You need to come up with an answer, Maggie, because I still need one.” They stared at each other and tension rolled off him in waves. “How much will it take? When you showed up, I couldn’t help thinking I’d hit the jackpot. Nothing you’ve done has changed my opinion. I want to keep you. Name your price. How much will it take to convince you that I’ve never been more serious in my life? You’re the answer to my prayers.”
Prayer. She remembered another motherless child at Good Shepherd Home who prayed for a mother. That home was the only permanent one Maggie had ever known and it was still a haven for children. But not much longer unless Sister Margaret’s prayers were getting results. She’d told Lyssa that God gives you what you need at the appropriate time.
The home needed money. A lot of it.
“Answer me, Maggie. What will it cost for you to marry me?”
She said the first thing that popped into her mind. “A million dollars.”
“Done,” he said without hesitation.
Chapter Five
“I don’t believe you’d give me a million dollars to marry you,” Maggie said.
“You don’t know me very well.” He stared her down. “Believe it.”
When he calculated a nine-month pregnancy as opposed to raising the child for an indefinite length of time, Jason figured it was a bargain. He’d paid Catherine as much just to bring Brady into the world and she’d been giddy at the number of zeros on the bonus check simply for staying out of their lives.
Not that he wanted that greedy, grasping, self-centered woman anywhere near his son, but when he’d made the deal, he hadn’t counted on the complications of caring for and bringing up a child.
Maggie’s protective instincts had kicked in before she even saw Brady. She’d refused to talk until the baby was comforted and content. After Brady’s first nannies, her presence these last few weeks had been like a cooling weather system from the north taking the heat off a desert summer.
Not until Maggie had walked into his life had he understood what a difference the right woman could make, in terms of child rearing. It would be stupid to let her get away, and he hadn’t taken the family company to a whole new level of success by being stupid.
Maggie stared at him as if he had two heads. “I don’t know whether to laugh or be afraid.”
“Why?”
“Why?” she repeated, her voice rising. “You just offered me a large sum of money to marry you. It’s like a scenario for an outrageous reality show. Or Punk’d.” She looked up and around the room’s ceiling. “Do you have cameras on me right now? Is this going on TV?”
“Don’t be silly.”
“Right back at you.”
“On the contrary,” he said, “this is the least silly idea I’ve ever had. It makes complete sense.”
“Not to me.” She folded her arms over her chest, drawing his attention there.
The only part of this idea that was silly had to do with his level of attraction. Instead of decreasing with time as he’d thought, the longer she stayed, the more appealing things he noticed about her—the subtle curves of her body that jeans only accentuated. Her high, firm breasts outlined by sweaters, blouses and T-shirts. His escalating curiosity about how her full lips would taste, how they’d feel against his own.
This was not a good time to let all that considerable appeal distract him from negotiating with her.
“Nothing about this makes sense,” she said.
“Can you be more specific?”
“In this day and age men don’t pay women to marry them.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He held up three fingers. “Three words. Anna Nicole Smith.”
“Oh, please. Completely different situation. The man was ninety-something and she was after his money.”
“How do you know he wasn’t looking for someone to nurture his children?”
“If I remember right, his son was in his fifties or sixties. The guy could take care of himself. By any stretch of the imagination she was a gold digger.”
“Maybe he was interested in companionship and was willing to pay for it. Strictly a business deal. Not unlike what I’ve proposed.”
“How do you know I’m not a gold digger?”
The idea that she could be manipulative and calculating made him smile. “The definition of a gold digger is someone who uses her feminine wiles for gifts or monetary gain. You haven’t done that. And I will have my attorney draw up a pre-nuptial agreement to protect me from any possible challenge to my financial assets. It would just be a precaution. Something a smart man does.”
“At this particular moment, I have some serious doubts
