The Accidental Countess (The Aristocrat Diaries 3)
He said I had time.
As long as I needed.
No obligation to say yes.
“Matthew, wait!”
So why the bloody hell was I chasing after him?
He stopped in front of the door with his hand wrapped around the handle. “Did I forget something?”
“Yes. My answer.”
“Eva, I told you, there’s no rush to—”
“Yes. I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll marry you, keep your family line going, and you’ll save my parents’ livelihood.”
He released the handle and stepped forwards. “You don’t have to do this. I mean that, too.”
“I know, but I want to. At the very least, I hope I’m not making a stupid decision, but I always was the impulsive twin,” I replied. “We’ll have to convince everyone we’ve secretly been in a relationship, and I’d like to get all the testing and agreements done prior to the engagement. Then we’ll send invitations on the day of the announcement, saying we kept it quiet until everything was confirmed. The last thing I need is to be the talk of the town with people saying we’re only getting married because I’m pregnant.”
His lips twitched up. “Of course.”
“And we need to get together to hammer out the finer details of everything,” I continued. “Because we will need to make sure absolutely everything is covered.”
“I completely agree.” He walked over and cupped my face. “Are you free next weekend?”
“I am.”
“I’ll arrange something for us.” He slowly lowered his hands. “Think on it this week, though, Eva. You can still change your mind.”
I nodded. “All right. I will, I promise.”
“Good. Are you packed? I’ll take your things down for you.”
“Give me five,” I said with a smile, touching his arm and turning back to the bedroom.
Hoo, boy.
I’d lost my bloody mind.
CHAPTER THREE
EVA
“I’m marrying Matthew.”
The sandwich my sister was holding fell out of her hands and to the floor, splatting the contents all over the rug. I dropped my gaze when their new Jack Russell, Betsy, darted over and inhaled the entire thing, seemingly without chewing.
Impressive.
“You’re what?” Adelaide choked out.
“I’m marrying Matthew,” I replied simply, making sure to keep my gaze on her.
I wanted her to know that I wasn’t lying.
Quite insane, but not lying.
“That’s the most random thing you could have said. You’re marrying Matthew? As in Matthew Bennett? The Earl of Anglesey Matthew Bennett?” Her eyes were one millimetre away from bugging out.
“Do you know any other Matthew Bennetts?”
“No.”
I held out my hands. “There’s your answer.”
“Okay, I have questions.” She put her plate on the table in front of us and leaned forwards, raising her eyebrows. “Why?”
Oh, boy. She wasn’t going to like this. Could I bluff my way out of the truth? Unlikely, but worth a shot.
I threw my arms out to my sides. “Why not?”
“That’s not an answer, Eva.”
Yep.
Unlikely.
Darn it.
I sighed. “Fine. All right. Mum and Dad are still struggling with the hotel. I met up with Matthew in London two weeks ago—I was upset, I told him what was going on, and he proposed a deal.”
She scoffed. “He proposed, all right.”
“No, listen to me.” I held up my hands. “I don’t want to get married, Adelaide. I never have. I’m not like you. I’d be quite happy to be single for the rest of my life. Matthew feels the same way. He has no desire to have a serious relationship, but… if he doesn’t get married and have a son, the earldom dies out.”
No need to bring up the cousin of apparently questionable parentage.
Adelaide swallowed, and I saw the flash of doubt that briefly darkened her gaze.
She did not like this at all.
Well, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, either, but here we were. A girl had to do what a girl had to do.
“He needs a wife and heir, and the hotel needs money,” I continued, driving the point home.
“Eva—”
“It’s simple.” I cut her off before she could go any further as I was almost certain I knew what she was going to say. “We’ll both get fertility tests, if they come back good, then it goes ahead. We’ll stay married for a certain amount of time, and I’ll produce him an heir, and then we’ll divorce amicably.”
Adelaide’s nose twitched. “Several questions. I’ll start on the first one: where does the hotel come into this?”
“As my husband, he will speak to Dad about it and offer to take part ownership, injecting the money into the business that it needs. As far as Mum and Dad will be aware, we’ve been in a secret relationship and have decided to take it to the next level.”
Mum, Dad, and the rest of the bloody world.
“All right, fair enough. What if you don’t have a boy?”
“Two children. If both are girls, we choose the divorce route. If the firstborn is a boy, then we’re grand.”
Come on, the male swimmers.
Really, compared to horse racing, it was favourable odds.