Bride For A Year

Paige couldn’t find her voice to say anything for just a moment. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he had come over here to tell her the whole idea was a mistake; that he hadn’t been serious about his proposal. She shook her head, trying to dismiss the notion that she was relieved he hadn’t changed his mind, trying to clear the madness of this whole thing from her heart. ‘How come you think it would be a folly for me to rush up to Seattle while I’m, as you and Rosie like to put it, “not thinking clearly”, but it would be OK for me to rush into a marriage with you?’ Her voice was dry.

‘I’d rather you made a mistake with me than with somebody else.’ There was a gleam of humour in his dark eyes, a lopsided tug of a grin on the firm line of his lips. Something about it made her heart twist painfully. Brad’s droll sense of humour had always struck a chord inside her; she loved that wry glint, the effortless ease with which he could make her smile back at him. She fought the impulse now; this was too serious a discussion to laugh away lightly.

‘At least you honestly admit it would be a mistake,’ she said with a shake of her head. ‘I can’t believe you aren’t joking. So you honestly think my options are to stay here and have you take advantage of me, or go to Seattle and have someone else exploit me?’

‘I’m not about to take advantage of you, Paige,’ he said slowly. His eyes were perfectly serious now. ‘But I can’t vouch for the other guy—can you? Who is it, anyway? Not that guy you brought back here in the summer holidays last year?’

‘I’m not about to discuss my boyfriends with you.’

‘Spoilsport.’ He leaned back against the counter top. His eyes lingered on the softness of her lips. ‘I suppose what you’ve got to ask yourself is, do you want to keep your family home or is the guy in Seattle worth giving everything up for?’ he drawled lazily.

‘Oh, this is ridiculous.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m not listening to another word. We can’t get married; it’s preposterous.’

‘I think it would be a good deal for the both of us.’

‘A good deal!’ She was outraged. ‘How can you talk about marriage in those terms?’

‘If I talked in other terms...talked about love... would you be interested?’ he asked calmly, a hint of mocking sarcasm in his voice.

‘I’m not interested in any terms.’ Her heart slammed against her chest.

‘So you are going to run away to Seattle.’

‘I’m not running away.’ She denied that firmly. ‘I’m starting over again.’

‘You can start again here,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘I know how much this place means to you. You can have it all back in twelve months.’

Her skin flared with heat.

‘You’ll feel a lot better and clearer in twelve months.’

‘Or a lot worse.’

‘It’s a calculated risk. At least you’ll have your home back. You can’t lose.’

Paige doubted those words very much. ‘On the contrary, I think I could lose a great deal. My freedom...my sanity.’

One dark eyebrow lifted at that. ‘I don’t think living with me will be that bad!’ he said dryly.

‘That’s a matter of opinion.’ She glared at him.

‘Well, if that’s how you feel I’ll just ask someone else.’

The audacity of his words made her heart thump wildly. ‘Yes, you do that. What about Carolyn?’ She flung the words at him, wanting to see his reaction, wanting to know how he felt about Carolyn finishing with him.

‘I told you. Carolyn no longer figures in my life at all.’

His words were firm, the darkness of his eyes showing no hint of indecision or emotion on that point.

She pushed a hand through the length of her hair. ‘Are you by any chance on the rebound, Brad?’

He looked surprised by the question, then he laughed. ‘Certainly not. Carolyn wanted more from me than I was prepared to give.’

Paige thought about that for a moment before she said softly, ‘But she finished with you...didn’t she?’

‘Does it matter who finished with whom?’ he countered. He glanced at his watch. ‘Look, I haven’t come over here to discuss my past affairs. I was wondering if you would have lunch with me? I think it would help if we could sit down and discuss things in a mature manner.’

She shook her head. ‘I can’t honestly believe that you think we have anything to discuss. You know how I feel about you.’

‘You and I have always got on extremely well.’

‘Until I found out what you are really like.’

He shrugged. ‘I’ve always thought very highly of you, Paige. I like your sparky manner...’ His eyes slipped down to her figure. ‘Among other things.’

‘Don’t try to flatter me, Brad,’ she told him shakily. ‘I mean it. I’m not going along with this business deal of yours. I’m a romantic. When I many, it will be for love, not business.’

‘I can send roses,’ he said casually.

‘It would take more than roses to win me around now,’ she said bluntly. ‘After the way you treated my father.’

‘Let’s not go through that again. Your father’s problems were of his own making,’ he said derisively.

‘I’m sure you would like nothing better than for what you did to be forgotten,’ she said abrasively. ‘But that isn’t going to happen. I’ll never forget nor forgive how you stabbed my father in the back. He died a broken and bitter man and you contributed to that... I hate you for it—’

‘For hell’s sake, Paige, grow up.’ He cut across her words with contempt. ‘Your father was a foolish man; he ruined himself...’ He leaned across the table, meeting the fierce glitter of her eyes. ‘Shall I tell you why his finances were in such a bad state? Shall I tell you the truth?’

She frowned, her heart thudding overtime. ‘What do you mean? I know everything there is to know.’

For the briefest second she saw indecision in his dark eyes. Then he shrugged. ‘Your father was weak, Paige, and the sooner you face up to that the better.’

‘He didn’t have very many good words to say about you either,’ she said succinctly. ‘He said you were hard and ruthless. And, judging by the offer you are making me, I’d say he was right.’

His eyebrows rose. ‘If offering to write off the money still owing to me, offering to rebuild and invest in this vineyard then hand it back to you in twelve months is your opinion of cold and ruthless, then there is no point in us talking any further.’ He put his coffee cup down on the table.

‘Just tell me this, Brad.’ She stopped him as he made to move towards the door. ‘How come you can afford to write off my father’s loan now and yet when we begged you for some extra time to pay you back you refused flat?’

He stopped and looked at her. ‘I had very good reasons for doing what I did, Paige. I’m asking you to take my word for it.’

There was something about his tone that rang with sincerity. She felt confused suddenly.

He saw the shadows in her eyes, the grief, and he moved towards her.

‘Don’t, Brad.’ She moved back from him. ‘Don’t touch me. I mean it when I say I hate you.’

‘No, you don’t.’ He shook his head. ‘You’re scared of the future and you are desperately grieving for your father, but you don’t hate me.’

‘I’m not scared of anything,’ she told him staunchly.