Page 40 of The Acquisition

She sighed. "I can't believe I'm going to do this. Part of me thinks you're certifiably insane, but I'm actually rooting for you."

"Thanks, Care," I said and ended the call.

* * *

Caroline texted me around nine, only a couple hours after we spoke.

Paperwork is in order. Meet me at my office in an hour.

Jana still hadn't stirred, but at least now I had an excuse to go and wake her. She was curled up in bed, her long blonde hair fanned out around her, and she had a pillow clasped tightly to her chest.

"Jana," I announced. She continued to sleep soundly, so I sat next to her on the bed and gently shook her.

One cornflower blue eye pried open. She rolled to her back and stretched, pushing out her luscious tits. I forced myself to look away before all the blood traveled south to my dick. Now was not the time to think with my cock. She was likely going to be pissed when she learned of the prenup, and I needed all my wits to handle her mercurial temper.

"Colt?" She looked around the room. I watched while the previous day caught up to her.

"Hey, brat. Time to get up. Caroline got in touch with me and wants us to meet her at her office."

She sat up immediately. "Did she find my grandfather's will?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. She, uh…" I took a deep breath. "She's prepared a prenuptial agreement for us to go over and sign. We can get you your own lawyer to go over it if you'd like."

Jana blinked a few times. "Oh. Of course. I mean, you know I'm not after your money, don't you?"

Not able to help myself, I brushed her hair out of her face. "I know. This is for you. We don't know what you are going to inherit, and there's no way the trustees on your accounts wouldn't demand your assets be protected."

"I trust you," she murmured.

My mouth fell open, and I quickly hid the reaction to her statement. I couldn't deny that hearing those words hit me straight through the chest though. The truth was, I was keeping something from her, and I didn't want to lose the trust she didn't easily give.

I licked my lips. No doubt Caroline would out me anyway, so it was better if she heard it from me. "I do want one thing."

She rolled her eyes again, and I narrowed mine in response. "I swear, I'm going to take you over my knee," I threatened her.

"Just spit it out, Colt. You've already made it clear you expect sex from this arrangement. What else could have you walking on eggshells?"

"I told you. I am not going to have a sham marriage so that you can get your inheritance. If we do this, it's going to be real."

She looked down at her lap, studying the way her fingers twisted the blanket. "Until you get bored."

It was on the tip of my tongue to refute her claim, but only time would prove that to her. Which brought me to the exact thing I needed to fess up to.

"I want a year."

Her brow furrowed. "For what?"

"You can't leave me for a year. I want that time to prove to you we can make this work," I replied.

"I thought you said if we did this it was forever?" She did love tossing my words back at me.

"I did say that, and I still mean it. That doesn't mean a court wouldn't let you out of the marriage if you wanted to end it. So, if we do this, I want you to promise me you'll try. That you'll give me a year to show you what we can be."

"What happens if I were to leave?"

My heart sank. She'd already made up her mind we weren't going to work. Why was I pushing so hard to have her?

I shrugged. "We'll have to go look over the paperwork to know for sure. My guess is that we'd each agree to forfeit a certain amount of our assets in the event either of us ended the relationship before the end of the year."

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