Yours for the Taking Read Free Page B

I already know a good amount about you or you wouldn’t be here.”
    She turned again and paced the length of his living room. She was not happy sharing. “I’d like something similar to Rosalie’s brownstone apartment.”
    Ben had been to Rosalie’s apartment when her sister, Annabelle, lived there before she married Dr. Wonderful. It was quaint and charming and in a trendy yet affordable section of Brooklyn’s Park Slope. “Isn’t that a little small?”
    “It’s plenty big for me. It’s a two-bedroom and has a beautiful garden. I don’t need much.”
    “You don’t have very high expectations.”
    She stopped dead and faced him. “You have no idea who I am or what I want, and you’re in no position to make judgments.”
    Maybe not. But he knew where she came from, and although she’d come a long way, he figured she’d want more. “I’m sorry, you’re absolutely right. Forgive me.”
    For a second Ben thought she would leave. He stood and moved close enough to stop her in case she did, but she stayed. After a moment, she gave him an almost imperceptible nod.
    Relieved, he took his keys out of his pocket, flipped them into the air, and caught them. “My grandfather just turned eighty and it sounds a little crazy, but he’s holding my ranch hostage. If I don’t do what he wants, he’s going to sell it to the highest bidder.”
    “What does this have to do with me?”
    “He wants me to get married.”
    “You still haven’t answered my question.”
    “I need a woman to marry. Someone who won’t see the marriage as anything more than a business deal. In return for marrying me, I will give you an annual income and buy you the home of your dreams—within reason.”
    “You want to buy me?”
    “No. I’m willing to pay you to facilitate the acquisition of my ranch. Much like a homebuyer pays a Realtor.”
    Gina sashayed across the room. “What do you consider reasonable?”
    Ben watched as she paced, wishing he could read her mind. “Excuse me?”
    “You said you’d buy me the home of my dreams within reason. Give me a dollar figure here because I have a feeling my definition of reasonable and yours are light years apart.”
    “How does something in the neighborhood of ten million sound?”
    Gina turned on her heel and placed her hand on her cocked hip. “Ten million dollars? What, are you nuts? Get a clue, cowboy, you could pay a woman a whole lot less than ten mil to pretend-marry you.”
    “Yes, but should you accept, you will legally be my wife—”
    “Wow, Ben, you’re making it sound like Marriage Impossible.” Gina hummed the theme to Mission Impossible , which really got on his nerves.
    “Hardly. I’m a wealthy man and as my wife, you’ll be due no less. Any lawyer worth his salt will tell you as much.”
    Gina didn’t even blink.
    “I don’t want to take the chance of my grandfather discovering through the prenup that this is a hoax. It has to be legitimate in every respect. For a man of my net worth, this is a fair prenup. I’ll make monthly deposits into your account equaling a half million dollars annually for the duration of our marriage. After the uncontested divorce, you will receive alimony payments in the range of a quarter of a million a year for a period of five years for every one year of marriage. All of this is negotiable, of course.”
    “Of course. Just so I understand this, you want to pay me to be your wife?”
    “Exactly.”
    “I’m assuming you don’t expect me to sleep with you. I mean, why would you? You’re gay.”
    Ben stared at her back as she paced away from him and choked on the tart he’d just stuffed in his mouth. She thought he was gay? What is it with women? They think every man who dresses well and doesn’t burp and fart in public is automatically gay. It took him a moment to keep from choking to death, and once he took that first precious gasp of air, he remembered the only hole in his plan—the hole Karma pointed out. If Gina