Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
I curl up in my favorite old recliner. “I was such an idiot. But now you know why Carter offering me five hundred thousand dollars for this marriage really would change my life. My credit is destroyed. The loans are the reason I’m working two jobs, but I can barely keep up with the payments.”
Mara leans forward, picking up a plate to load up with appetizers. “I don’t know if this helps or not, but I’d do it. Carter is gone most of the time and you love those girls. So it’s basically just a massive raise for the next year of work. I owe about ninety-five grand on law school and college loans, and if I could pay them back by marrying a pro athlete for a year, I’d do it in a second. As long as he doesn’t abuse you or expect sex, you’ve got nothing to lose.”
“I’d do it, too,” Dex says.
I look at Harry, who shrugs. “I don’t know. You know me, I’m a romantic.”
He really is. Harry is tall and blond with a killer smile. He’s a chef and an artist who doesn’t jump in and out of relationships. He and Dex were a couple for around five months a few years ago before deciding they were better off as friends.
“I’m already at his house a lot, but moving in feels...” I can’t even finish the sentence, because I don’t know how to describe the way it feels. “And I’d have to make it look like I’m in love with him.” My laugh is tinged with disbelief. “How could I possibly sell that? He’s the opposite of my type.”
Mara says, “Well, your type did fuck you over and leave the country, so...”
I wince at the sharp reminder of my stupidity, then shake my head. “Tyler wasn’t my type, either.”
Mara laughs--a hard, long laugh that ends with her wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. “He was exactly your type. Charismatic, charming, making everything, including himself, sound better than it really was--”
“That’s not my type.”
She looks at Harry and Dex. Dex widens his eyes and Harry stares intently at his nails.
“Harry?” I give him a look, expecting him to jump to my defense.
He starts coughing. It’s clearly fake, but he scrunches up his face and pats his chest, standing up from the couch. “Sorry, I need to get some water.”
I turn to Dex. “Well?”
He blows out a long, dramatic exhale. “I love you, but you do tend to go for charming liars.”
I glare between him and Mara, getting up to make a plate of carb-loaded comfort food. “You guys, it’s not like men introduce themselves by letting you know they’re liars. How is anyone supposed to know that up front?”
“Tyler was slicker than my cooch anytime Jeffrey Dean Morgan was on The Walking Dead,” Mara says.
“Girl.” Dex puts his palm up for a high five without even looking at her. “The things I would let that man do to me.”
I’m not even done loading up my plate, but I set it on the table and stand up. “Once again, this is not a joke and it’s not about you. We’re supposed to be talking about whether I’m going to get married. Married. I’ll be a divorcée for the rest of my life when it’s over.”
“A debt-free divorcée with a nice fat bank account, though,” Mara says.
“Right. Is that enough of a reason to do it?”
Harry answers as he walks back in from the kitchen. “That’s for you to decide, babe. Mara and Dex would do it and I...don’t know about me. I might, but I can’t be sure.”
I sigh softly. “The money would be amazing, but I’m also really attached to the girls. If I don’t do this and they have to move to Alaska and live with their dad...it would be really hard on them.”
“But there’s no guarantee of anything,” Dex reminds me. “You don’t know for sure that if you do marry him, they’ll get to stay here, and you don’t know that if you don’t marry him, they’ll have to go to Alaska.”
“But what do you guys think?” I look between Dex and Mara. “As attorneys, do you agree with the advice Carter’s attorney gave him?”
Mara shakes her head. “I’m not qualified to give you an opinion on that.”
I laugh. “But you have an opinion on literally everything else? Even my socks.”
She shrugs.
Dex considers before answering. “Michelle Maroni is the best family law attorney in the Cleveland area. She’s an absolute legend. If she thinks it’s a good move for him, it is.”
“But that doesn’t mean you have to be the one he marries,” Harry points out.
I walk across the small room and back again, thinking. “I don’t want to be in debt for the next decade or more. And if I don’t do it, I’ll lose my job as Carter’s nanny. If he has to show the girls aren’t being raised by nannies, he can’t keep me.” I take a breath in and out, my heart racing as I realize which direction I’m leaning. “I love the girls, too. I can’t stand the thought of some stranger marrying him for the money and treating them like crap. So I guess...”