Page 70 of Out of Bounds
“Don’t you want to talk?” I ask playfully when her gaze drops to the table top.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m confused.” Her gaze meets mine. “You confuse me like you always have and I like this version of us. Today’s Wednesday Ethan, aren’t we supposed to sign those annulment papers?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you feel weird?”
“Yes. I do.”
This is a good start. Maybe. I’ll see.
“Hear me out. Do you remember what I said about my grandfather and the business?”
She nods slowly. “Of course I remember.”
“Well, I have an offer for you.”
Interest flickers over her face. “An offer? What kind of offer?”
I pray she doesn’t get mad at me, because she could and slap me again.
“I met with him the other day and his terms have slightly changed. Of course he thinks our marriage was real and wishes us well, but he wants to be sure we’re the real deal. So he said he’d transfer the business to me in six months, basically if we’re still married.”
“Six months?” she mutters cautiously.
“Yes, six months. My offer is this: if you stay married to me for six months, I’ll give you that house.”
Her mouth drops open and she sucks in a breath.
“What! You’ll give me the house? Give?”
I smile and nod. “Yes. I’ll give it to you and I’ll fix it up. It might take around that time anyway to fix up because the floor is quite bad and that has to be done before you can turn it into your spa.”
She stand and gazes at me. “Ethan is this for real? You’d give it to me? It was worth a million dollars to you.”
“Bree, my family business is worth a billion dollars and with the things my grandfather has set in motion, I see that expanding. Of course the other thing is, because we’d be married for longer and I’d acquire the assets during the course of our marriage you’d own half of what I own at the end.”
Her hand flies to her heart. “Jesus. I couldn’t do that to you.”
“It’s actually fine. The problem is getting there. To that point where we can even talk about that. That’s if you want to.” I nod. “I also thought… well I like this version of us too, Bree. I’m not just saying that because I want my family business. I’m being serious and I think it would be foolish if I didn’t take the chance to explore whatever this is. If only for six months.”
Saying all of that to her is harder than I thought it would be.
She stares at me and I’m not sure what she’s going to say. Then she pulls in a breath and looks less confused.
“Yes,” she breathes.
I push to my feet. “Really?”
She smiles. “Yeah. I want to. I think the crazy version of me in Vegas would kick me if I said anything other than yes.”
I kiss her quickly. “Thank you. It looks like we have a plan.”
“Oh my God. What do we do now?”
