My slack jaw snaps closed and my wide eyes narrow. His laugh deepens. It’s warm and rich and delicious, and frick sakes, I prefer it cold and disjointed for the health of my own limited sanity.
I lean in and hiss, “People are looking.”
“I want them to look. Want them to see how enamoured I am with my beautiful soon-to-be wife.”
My blush only turns hotter. “I haven’t agreed to marry you.”
“You will,” he says confidently. Too confidently.
“The pros and cons, Briggs,” I remind him dryly.
“The pros are obvious. The townsfolk will warm to me with you at my side. The people trust you, trust your opinion of people.”
They shouldn’t. They wouldn’t if they knew of Michael.
Briggs continues, “You will help me ease this town into the future it faces, because without this future a slow death is inevitable. You’ll not only stand as my wife, but as the face of this project. You’ll make the transition of Sunset Falls from barely a blip on the map, carried only by a struggling, hovering-on-bankruptcy winery—” I gasp in surprise at the revelation.
Briggs continues, “to a thriving town with more than fresh paint on stressed businesses. With the development of Fire Falls Estates, the migration of people with money seeking a slice of something slower and sweeter than the city has to offer is inevitable.With that migration and precision ads, the news of Fire Falls Ranch and Resort will spread. It will bring tourism and wealth to Sunset Falls, and that will give this town that pretty dot on the map you want, Lilah.” His eyes never leave my face as he speaks. “All this is made exponentially easier with you at my side, making the town see me not as the outsider who is changing everything, but as the man so enamoured with one of their own, he’s dumping loads of wealth into the town she loves.”
“You’re a little scary, Briggs,” I say quietly.
His brows pull together, head notching back in surprise. “Why?”
“Just the way you’ve thought about going about this, manipulating the town.”
“I don’t view it as manipulation. I’m going to do what I’m going to do regardless. In fact, I view it as saving the people money. Jim Santiago is threatening legal measures to stall production. I can assure you it will only stall it a short time, but in that time, he’ll lose the home he’s had in his family for three generations, as well as the small savings he’s amassed for his retirement. He will leverage all he has in a battle he can’t possibly win. There are many Jim Santiago’s in Sunset Falls, Lilah, and not one of them is capable of facing off with me.”
The way he says that, with such cool confidence, like he really doesn’t care either way—it’s unsettling.
“Because you have money?”
He blinks once. “I do.”
“And a legal team?”
“Highly capable and on retainer.”
I swallow hard and nod once. “I know the town needs this. If I didn’t believe that with all my heart, I would be standing with Jim, fighting you.”
“The only reason Jim wants to fight this at all is because he’s afraid of change.”
“Change is scary.”
Goodness, his green eyes are sodeep. “Change is necessary for growth.”
His eyes dip to my frown as I study him. I tell him, “You’re kind of cold, you know?”
“I’ve been told.” There’s something in the flash of his eyes that tells me this man isn’t cold at all. That he’s a blazing fire under a carefully constructed sheet of ice.
I pull in breath that trembles in my lungs. “Say we do this; how does it work?”
He has the answer ready. “We’ll have a short but intense courting. I’ll put a big ring on your finger that no one can miss, and I’ll do it publicly. Our romance will be the talk of the town. Because we’re so in love and just can’t wait, our wedding will be a whirlwind affair. We’ll be married before the end of next month. You will move into the Alder house with me. However, within those walls we’ll be free to drop the act. I won’t stop you from doing the things you like, although I do require you to work for me—for us—during theconstruction of Fire Falls Ranch and Resort, and Fire Falls Estates.”
“You’ve really thought this whole thing out, haven’t you?”
“I’ve explained that I don’t do things by half-measure. When I act, I act because I’ve thought about the results of acting. I’ve weighed?—”
“The pros and cons,” I cut him off.
