Page 17 of The Billionaire's Marriage Dare

“Are you not being yourself with me?”

“I am, but...” She wrinkled her nose. “You’re more an exception than the rule. I was able to be myself with you because we weren’t supposed to meet—-” She broke off.

“The workings of destiny,” Christian murmured.

“Or maybe fate just had a bad case of diarrhea and thought it would be fun if it threw us together for a loop.”

Christian chuckled. “I’ve never had this much fun with a woman.”

“I’ve heard that from other guys, too,” Jane shared. “But guess what? It’s Merry who—-” She broke off again and stared at her now half-empty cup. “What the hell is in this?” She had never been this talkative with anyone outside her family and closest friends.

“Truth serum,” Christian volunteered.

Jane glared at her macchiato. “I knew it.”

Christian suddenly reached for the cup, and before she knew it, her fingers were following its ascent as she found herself helping him take a sip.

“There,” Christian told her when they put the cup down. “We’re even.”

Oh.

“Do you care to ask me anything then?”

She drank the last of her coffee as she mulled his question over. Finally, she asked, “Why do you need a fake fiancée?”

“I don’t.”

Christian bared his teeth in a smile that somehow made Jane want to lean away.

“What I need is a wife, and the fake part is negotiable.”

Jane blinked, but Christian calmly returned her gaze.

“I think I need another cup of coffee,” Jane said faintly, “and this time, black will do.”

“Coming right up.” But when Christian returned to the table, he had presented her with another macchiato, and it was decaf.

Jane gave him a dour look. “Really? What am I? Five?”

“Too much truth serum will kill you,” was the placid reply.

She gave the coffee a sip.

Mm.

Not as bad as most decafs, she acknowledged reluctantly.

“Good, isn’t it?”

Jane shrugged. Bad behavior was never to be reinforced with positive words. Christian Ravenhearst had to learn early on that she did not do decaf. “Anyway...we were talking about—-” She suddenly couldn’t say it.

“My fake wife?”

She nodded.

“It’s mainly due to the fact that I’ve become inundated—-”

Jane coughed.

---