Bought by The Billionaire Rancher

Summoning a smile, she greeted him brightly, “Hello.”

“Hello.” The billionaire’s tone, on the other hand, was cool and impersonal, and Tilly’s courage wilted a little.

Husband, she reminded herself desperately. Even if the ink on the marriage contract had yet to dry, this alluringly beautiful man in his mind-bogglingly expensive suit was still her husband for the time being, and she mustn’t forget that if she wanted her visit to come to something.

Tilly took a deep breath.

Take 2: Ready, set, action.

“I texted you earlier,” she began.

“About Devon and Harry picking up Liam for his playdate with their son?” Logan inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I got it.”

“Oh. I was kinda looking forward to you texting me back.”

Her lower lip went out in what seemed like an unconscious pout, and the sight caught the billionaire off guard.

“It would’ve made a nice souvenir,” Tilly was saying, “since it’s probably the only text I’ll get from my husband.”

Logan’s gaze narrowed at the way she made quotation marks in the air with that last word. “You’re making it sound like we’re on the brink of divorce.”

Tilly cleared her throat. “Well, about that…”

The uncomfortable expression that flitted over her face didn’t sit well with Logan, and he could feel his entire body coiling tightly in a tangle of restlessness and aggression as she started fidgeting and was for once unable to directly meet his gaze.

“I’ve been thinking…”

Of divorcing him.

The words came out of nowhere, but with his guts having never been wrong before, Logan was grimly certain it was what Tilly seemed to be working herself up in a lather to speak of.

Tilly, divorcing him.

He knew she had no fucking money to pay the penalty if she were to renege on their contract, which had a strict clause for them to stay together for at least a year before calling it quits. But he also knew that Charlotte had come for a visit yesterday, along with Harry. That damn woman had always been the contradictory sort, and so she might’ve said something, might have even told Tilly that she would foot the bill if his wife wanted out for whatever reason.

“This marriage…”

If they divorced, it might mean never seeing her again. Of risking that she would find another man to date, maybe even marry, and her desirable little body would be for someone else to touch and possess, her virginity taken away by some other asshole—

“Fuck no.”

Tilly jumped in surprise at the way the billionaire suddenly and forcefully spoke. “No…what?”

A deep flush underscored the sharp panes of the billionaire’s high-boned cheeks as he saw the startled look on Tilly’s face. He started to speak, thinking he would simply lie, say he was thinking of someone else, when he suddenly thought…fuck it.

He had always despised men who resorted to pussyfooting when confronted by the truth. He had always thought them weak and spineless, and no fucking way was he going to be one of them, just because his wife had come here to talk about leaving him.

“You’ve come here to speak about our marriage,” Logan charged tautly. “Correct?”

Tilly was dismayed. “How did you know? Did someone tell you?”

“Forget about how I knew,” he said irritably. “What does interest me is finding out what you have to possibly complain about—”

“No, no, it’s not that!” Tilly vehemently shook her head, horrified that the billionaire would even think such a thing. “It’s the opposite, actually,” she explained in a rush. “Charlotte told me about your parents, you see…”

Logan stiffened.

“And I just…” Her hands moved in a gesture of unconscious appeal. “You’ve already given me and my sister so much, and after what I learned, I couldn’t make up my mind if it was still right that I could continue as your wife—”

Her dark eyes were full of earnest entreaty as she gazed up at him. “I’ve tried to keep up with the news about you and your work since I found out—” You were my husband, she almost said, but it no longer felt right. “Since I found out about you,” she said lamely instead.

A nerve began ticking in Logan’s jaw. That last-second change hadn’t slipped by him, and he fucking didn’t like the way she seemed to have made her mind up about no longer thinking of him as her husband.

“I know you’re working on this super important deal,” Tilly felt the need to admit, “and if we push through with the timeline we’ve set for our…” Marriage, she almost said but once again caught herself in time. “For our plans,” she said instead, “It means that you’ll have to introduce me as your wife by the time negotiation starts, and I…” She looked at him helplessly. “I don’t want to risk messing it for you.”

Logan knew he had to speak at this point, but he was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around the truth. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?