it is only your time and your status as my wife that I
shall require. Your presence in my bed will not be
part of the arrangement.'
'You’re crazy,' Jodie told him flatly. 'I Don’t know
anything about you, and I—'
'You know that I am prepared to pay you a million
pounds to be my wife. As for the rest…' He gave an
arrogant shrug of his powerful shoulders, and told her,
briefly and dismissively, 'There will be time later for
me to explain to you everything you need to know.'
By rights she ought to be scared to death, Jodie
decided. But, despite the fact that she was obviously
in the presence of a madman, for some reason the
main emotion that filled her was not fear but bemusement.
Bemusement and a certain sense that fate
had listened in to her secret thoughts and decided to
take a hand in her life. Here was the opportunity—
the man — her pride had ached for…
Was she mad? She surely couldn’t be thinking of
accepting his ridiculous proposition?
'If you want a wife that badly, surely there must
be someone—'
'Many someones,' Lorenzo stopped her sardonically.
'Unfortunately they would all want what I do
not want to give — it is amazing how easily your sex
claims undying love when money and social position
are involved.'
'You mean you would be targeted by fortune-
hunters?' Jodie guessed shrewdly. It was obvious, after
all — not just from his car and his clothes, but more
betrayingly from his manner — that he was wealthy.
'Is that why you want to marry me, because a fake
marriage will keep them at bay?'
'Not exactly.'
'Then why?'
'It’s a condition of my late grandmother’s will that
I either marry within a certain time of her death or I
forfeit…something that means a great deal to me.'
Jodie’s forehead crinkled into a small frown.
'But why on earth would she do that? I mean, either
she wanted you to inherit whatever it is or she
didn’t.'
'The situation is more complex than that, and involves…
other issues. Let us just say that my grandmother
was persuaded to do something that she
thought was in my best interests by someone who was
following their own agenda.'
Jodie waited for him to continue, but instead he
reached for her hand. 'Give me your car keys and—'
She gave a small, determined shake of her head.
'No.' If she wasn’t already totally off men for life,
this man and his unbelievable arrogance would surely
be enough to put her off them, she decided angrily.
But at the same time an insidiously tempting possibility
had begun to form inside her head. What if
she were to agree, on condition that Lorenzo escorted
her to John and Louise’s wedding? With the whole
village invited, two extra guests wouldn’t cause any
problems…and, yes, she admitted it, there was a part
of her that was sore enough and woman enough to
want to be there, showing the world and the newly
married couple that not only did she not care about
their betrayal, but that she had a new partner of her
own. wasn’t there a saying, 'Living well is the best
revenge'? And how much better could a discarded
and unwanted fiance.e live than by showing off her
new, better-looking and far more eligible man? A
man, moreover, who desperately wanted to marry her!
She was wrenched out of this mental triumphant
return to the scene of her humiliation by Lorenzo’s
arrogantly disbelieving voice. 'No?'
It was ridiculous that she could even contemplate
doing something so shallow, and it showed the effect
that just a few minutes in the company of a man like
Lorenzo was having on her. She was not going to let
herself listen to the urgings of her pride. Leaving it
and her conscience to wage war on one another with
an undignified exchange of inner accusations, she
tried to do the sensible thing, and told Lorenzo firmly,
'Even someone as…as arrogant and used to getting
what they want as you seem to be must see that what
You’re suggesting just isn’t—'
'A million isn’t enough? Is that what You’re trying
to say?'
Her face burned. 'The money has nothing to do
with it.' The cynical look he gave her at that made
her burst out angrily, 'I can’t be bought. Not by John,
and certainly not by you.'
'John?'
He hadn’t pounced so much as leapt on her small
betrayal, and now he was looking at her as she imagined
a large sleek cat might look at a mouse it was
enjoying tormenting.
But she was not a mouse, and she wasn’t going to
be either bullied or tormented by any man ever again.
She lifted her head and told him coolly, 'My exfiance.
He offered me money, too, but he was offering
it out of guilt, because he didn’t want to marry me,
not as a bribe because he did. He wanted me to be
