Page 11 of A Convenient Ring to Claim Her

Either way, he had blamed himself when Quinn initially hesitated at coming to Greece. It turned out she was prepping for her master’s degree. Eden had persuaded her to take a week away and Micah had hoped they would get back to the relaxed dynamic where Eden teased him into lightening up and her chatter with her friend made his home less tomblike.

It wasn’t like it had been, though. His sister had been an adult moving into a position of responsibility at her father’s corporation. She’d been somber, beginning to feel the weight of it.

As for Quinn...

He blew out a constrained breath. Quinn had not been a child, either. She had had at least one boyfriend by then, or so he’d heard through Eden. The earnest biologist had had a manageable amount of debt and a passion for conservation, according to the dossier Micah had commissioned on him.

Much like the handful of men Eden had dated, Micah had shamelessly checked up on him. He didn’t think the man was good enough for her, but without any serious red flags, he had had to let her find that out for herself.

Quinn must have come to that realization, because she had broken up with him by the time she touched down in Greece.

Micah had recently ended an affair himself and, given their respective singlehood, Eden had gotten the idea they should become a couple.

“Quinn would make the best sister-in-law you could give me.” She had played it off as teasing, but Micah knew that, deep down, she really wanted it.

Quinn knew it, too, and addressed it head-on when they had a moment alone a few days later.

“Where’s Eden?” he had asked when he found her reading on the terrace.

“Salon. Getting her vacation braids.” She set down her book, expression serious. “Can I speak to you about something?”

“Problem?” He settled across from her, trying not to notice the way her freckles went down past the scooped neckline of her top where it exposed her upper chest, or the way her legs uncurled as she brought her feet to the paving stones, toes painted neon pink.

“I would do almost anything for Eden, you know that, but I won’t marry you,” she had announced. “It’s not personal. I doubt I’ll ever marry anyone.”

Micah was used to women presuming they had a shot with him, so he couldn’t resist drawling, “You could wait until you’re asked.”

“That’s why I find it so objectionable.” Her mouth stretched into a humorless smile. “Why must a woman wait until she’s asked? It’s a patriarchal institution that only benefits men.”

God, he enjoyed when she got all superior and pushed back on him like this. She was the tennis adversary who forced him to work for every point.

“You’re making a vast overgeneralization.” He deliberately dug into a contrary position. “I’m filthy rich. A woman would gain a very comfortable life, marrying me.”

“Doing what?” Her tone was scathing. “My independence is priceless. Can your wealth and wedding band give me that? On the contrary, I bet you’d insist on a prenuptial agreement that would actually constrain your wife even if she left you. Don’t pretend that marrying you would gain a woman anything when it starts out with concessions.”

“A prenup is a sound precaution. That’s a fact. Many would argue it’s a chance for both parties to protect themselves.”

“It’s a contract. Don’t call it marriage if it’s a business deal. I am happy to consider a business partnership where I’ll be treated as an equal, but I won’t give up my freedom so I can fulfil an outdated domestic role that immediately gives you the advantage simply because I’m the woman and you’re the man.”

“Really, Ms. Gender Studies? People aren’t locked into such rigid roles anymore. What about same-sex marriage?”

“What about it? Even when there are two husbands, it’s still the norm for one partner to become a caregiver while the other is the breadwinner. Marriage promotes inequality. Therefore, no thank you.”

“You really believe that? You don’t see it as two people bringing a broad array of resources to bear, providing their offspring the best chance at thriving?”

“If you think marriage is the only way babies are made, I have a picture book you’ll find very enlightening. Look, if you want to get married and have children, go right ahead. I’m only saying I don’t plan to do either.”

“You don’t want children?” That did surprise him.

“Wantis the wrong word. I don’t intend tomakechildren. There are plenty in existence who need a parent. I’ll choose fostering or adoption when I’m ready.”

Ah. “Sometimes I wonder how someone so analytical and, dare I say, cynical, could be such good friends with a romantic like my sister. Then you say something like that.”

“Call me a bleeding heart. I dare you.” She narrowed her eyes.

“A soft heart,” he amended. “Behind the thick wall of thorns.”

“It’s a thick wall of cast iron, Sir Kettle.”

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