Page 26 of A Prescription to My Heart

I exhale slowly. “You’re over-exaggerating.”

“Oh, am I? You’ve been cold and broody since the day I moved next door.” She jabs a finger at my chest, eyes flashing. “You slammed the door in myface.”

I resist the urge to smirk. “Okay, I admit that I went a bit overboard with that. But even you have to see that this is not a real marriage in any sense. Loving or otherwise. Marigold is my only concern, and she… trusts you.”

I see her emerald eyes widen in surprise. Surprise that I admitted my daughter trusts her, I’m sure.

“We will a find a judge,” I go on, “spread the word around so the right people will overhear, and stay together just long enough to get my in-laws off my back.”

Her mouth opens, then snaps shut. I can see her scrambling for another reason, another excuse, but I don’t give her time. I step closer, just enough to invade her space, to make her notice how little room there is between us.

I lower my voice. “Marigold likes you. Trusts you.”

She exhales, annoyed. “That doesn’t mean—”

I tilt my head, watching her closely. “You’re good for her.”

Her brows pull together. For the first time, uncertainty flickers in her eyes.

I push harder. “You’re good forus.”

Talia blinks.

I know I’m fishing now, but I recognize that she’s an empathetic person. She puts her all into her patients. She’s a good nurse. She cares. I’m trusting that will convince her to help me with this.

Of course, Talia’s more than her work.

She challenges me. Frustrates me. Makes me feel things I shouldn’t.

Her throat moves in a slow swallow. For a brief second, I think she might actually consider it.

Then she huffs out a breath and steps back. “No.”

I grit my teeth. “Talia—”

“No,Soren.” She crosses her arms again, jaw tight. “I am not ‘fake-marrying’ you.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s insane! And unnecessary—”

I pin her with a look. She must know how absolutely necessary this is. I can’t simply turn around a find a wife tomorrow. Bring a stranger into my home. Into Marigold’s life.

Talia hesitates. Her defenses crack for a split second, but then she’s shaking her head again, eyes flashing.

“I don’t want to get caught up in your mess, okay?” she says. “I have my own life. My own plans. I’m in the middle of switching specialties! I am not playing house with you just to fixyourproblems.”

It’s a gut punch. Not because she’s wrong. But because for a moment, I forgot that this is my problem. And mine alone.

That no matter how much I want her to help me, she doesn’t have to.

Still, I can’t give up.

I drop my voice lower. “What if I make it worth your while?”

She arches a brow. “Like what? A raise?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

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