She pulled back. “You did not! You’re rewriting history.”
He laughed but stuck to his guns and drew her to the couch in front of the fire. “Nope,” he said. “I’d never met anyone like you before. You were startled by the proposition I put before you, but once you were convinced I was serious, you gave it your professional consideration. You had guts and courage, and I admired you.”
She shook her head. “I’m not brave at all. I’ve let fears of emotional involvement and the past hold me back too long.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “I’d say you made major strides tonight.”
“And of course I considered the bargain.” Sierra settled in his arms. “I wasn’t exactly in a financial position to do otherwise, now, was I?”
He laughed. “Do you know how many women I know who would have tried to drive a higher bargain with me than you, given my wealth?”
She gave him a sharp jab in the ribs. “That speaks poorly of the woman you chose to know, not women in general. You should have made an effort to get to know ones who cared more about you than your social position or money.”
He shrugged, at once accepting the accuracy of her words and elaborating. “True. But as Rafe and Gabe both knew, I wasn’t in the market for a long-term relationship. Thank God I met you.”
She snuggled against him. “Can I ask you now about Carol?”
“You could always have asked me about her. Why do you think she’s an off-limits topic?”
“Jen filled me in on some of the old gossip about your mother. She said it was well-known around town that you weren’t about to get saddled with the same kind of wife as your father did.”
“No, I wasn’t. But the more I thought about it and the better I got to know you, I realized I let Connor’s first choice of wife influence me too much. Rafe and Gabe’s mother was wonderful.” His arm tightened about her. “You should have given me more credit for being able to read people’s characters. You’re the furthest thing from my mother than I can imagine.”
Sierra was silent for a moment. “But I did marry you for your money.”
He snorted. “Do you love me for my money?”
She sat bolt upright. “How can you ask that? We had a deal, a business arrangement! It wasn’t exploitation.”
Laughing, he settled her against him once. “My point exactly.” Then he sobered. “But I’d like to think you won’t end our marriage when our deal is up.” He dropped a kiss behind her ear.
“You know I won’t. I’d marry you all over again, even if you had no money.”
“Because?”
“Because you love me, just as I am, fears and all, and…
“And?” His hands moved under her sweater caressing the warm skin beneath it.
“And because I can’t imagine my life without you in it. That’s the only thing that frightens me now.”
Sierra’s last thought as Michael kissed her was she’d have to dig out some of those romances she read when she was younger. Sometimes happily-ever-afters were possible after all.
A word about the author…
Alison Ashlyn lives with her husband and four cats (okay, maybe more) in Northern California. An avid reader of romance since the early age of ten, she is committed to giving her readers contemporary romance in locales where the cities are glamorous, the couples sizzle, and the chemistry is hot.
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Buying His Bride (The Donovan Brothers Trilogy Book 1) Page 16