Say You'll Marry Me

“We can…play along with her.”

He stared at her as if she’d grown a second head. “You mean pretend to be engaged?”

“Yes.”

His expression said no.

Not only no, but hell no.

“I’d pay you, of course. Enough to save your farm.”

That got her a humorless laugh. “Yeah. Sure. It would take a half-million dollars to save this farm.”

“Okay.”

His head dipped and eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “You have that kind of money?”

“I do.”

“To be clear, we’re talking about you, not your grandfather.”

“Yes.” She shrugged, suddenly embarrassed at the amount of money sitting in her accounts when he was faced with foreclosure in the near future. “My parents had a large life insurance policy,” she explained. “It sat in a trust from the time I was two until I was twenty-one, and I don’t spend much.”

He stared at her a moment more, then swung away, toward the hay bale where his guitar rested. “Un-frickin’-believable.”

“What?” She took a couple steps closer. “I’m offering you a chance to save—”

“I don’t want your charity,” he ground out.

“It’s not charity. If it makes you feel better, consider it an exchange of favors.”

He spun back around and stalked toward her. His expression clearly conveyed that had been the wrong choice of words.

“Or…ah…a job,” she amended.

The intensity of his dark glare made her heart skip a couple beats before thudding hard and heavy in her chest. She took an involuntary step back, and a grim smile curved his lips as he closed the distance between them. This time she held her ground.

“An exchange of favors?”

She nodded, her throat tight. “You help me with my grandma, I help you with your farm.”

“A half-million dollars to pretend to be your fiancé?”

With him standing a mere twelve inches away, all she could manage was another nod.

“Who exactly would we be pretending for?”

“Besides Grandma?”

“Yeah, besides Grandma.”

She thought of the pitying looks if the truth got out. “Um, everyone…I guess.”

“For how long?”

She winced, but forced the words out. “As long as it takes to plan the wedding.”

His eyes widened a tiny bit. He drew in a controlled breath and let it out again. “And will I be expected to actually participate in this wedding?”