The Marriage Portrait by Pamela Bauer

Author:Pamela Bauer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“You’re joking, right?” Cassie thought her heart had moved into her throat.

“No.” The look on his face said he was very serious.

“I can’t pretend to be someone’s wife!” The words came out a frantic whisper. “It’s not right.” She reached for her purse. “I’m going to go now and forget we even had this conversation.”

His hand came across the table to stop her, resting on her forearm. “Please, will you just think about it for a few minutes before dismissing it as ridiculous?”

“It is ridiculous,” she told him, her body trembling with emotion. He noticed and released her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m not doing this for me. If I wasn’t so worried about my mother, I’d never consider such an idea, either. Do you know how much I hate the thought of her being distressed over something so unimportant as my love life?” His voice rose in frustration.

When he noticed her shifting uncomfortably, he lowered his voice and said, “This is the one thing I am convinced would put her mind at rest.”

Cassie didn’t question his motives. She’d known Tessie long enough to know that her relationship with her son was an extraordinary one. If there was anything that had changed her opinion of Michael in the past few weeks, it was the respect he had for his mother. She knew he would do practically anything to make her happy, but pretend to be married?

“I’m sorry, but it just seems too dishonest,” she told him, her legs itching to get up and out of the pie shop. But something stopped her. Maybe it was because she knew what he said about Tessie was true. She was distressed about his single status.

“A few minutes ago you admitted to me that the reason you flirted with me at dinner tonight was for Tessie’s sake,” he reminded her.

She could feel her skin flush. She’d only been partially truthful when she’d said it had been for Tessie’s benefit. As much as she hated to admit it, she’d enjoyed flirting with him. Actually, she was discovering that she enjoyed quite a few things about Michael McFerrin.

“And didn’t you say that sometimes a little pretense is good?” he continued to try to persuade her.

“A fake marriage is not a little pretense,” she said dryly.

“I didn’t say I wanted it to be fake,” he said quietly.

Cassie’s mouth went so dry she could barely get her next words out. “You just said you wanted me to pretend to be your wife.”

“Yes, pretend to love me. The marriage itself would have to be real. I guess it would be what they call a marriage of convenience. Real in terms of the law, but fake in terms of emotions,” he answered.

She held up her hands. “Wait a minute. I have no desire to get married again.”

“I understand that. That’s what makes this the ideal situation,” he said, his eyes brightening with enthusiasm. “Cassie, I don’t want to be married any more than you do. Don’t you see? We’re the perfect candidates for this type of situation.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.