With trembling limbs, I pushed open the car door and jumped out. Jared crossed the space between us to meet me. I was a jumbled mess of “Oh my God, I can’t believe what I’m about to propose to this guy” and “Maybe proposing to a guy this hot is a bad idea.”
And he was hot.
So freaking hot.
Even in a dirty long-sleeved tee, old jeans, and mud-splattered work boots.
The sun glinted in those startling jade-green eyes. I could drown in them.
This is a bad idea.
A frown marred Jared’s brow as we stopped before each other. He wasn’t overly tall, about five eleven. But he was so broad of shoulder it gave him the sense of being taller. I hadn’t inherited my mother’s height, but I was five foot eight, which wasn’t exactly short.
Somehow I felt dainty standing before Jared, looking into that handsome, scowling face.
“You all right?” he demanded. “What’s happened?”
Those butterflies suddenly swarmed up into my throat, making my pulse throb. I squeezed my hands against the nerves. Whoa, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt like this.
Jared ducked his head slightly to look me directly in the eyes. “Allegra? What’s going on?”
At the note of genuine concern in his voice, I shrugged my shoulders back and took a deep breath and slow exhale.
Jared straightened as he watched me, his gaze unreadable.
“I have a proposal to make to you. About the farm.”
Something about my words put him visibly on the defense. Jared crossed his arms over his broad chest and widened his stance. “What do you want with the farm?”
Prickly, prickly. So far this was not going well and I’d barely said a word. The tractor growled in the distance, distracting me. “Can we go somewhere to talk?”
He gestured around us impatiently. “This is as private as it gets.”
“Right.” I licked my lips nervously, and Jared’s gaze dipped to my mouth.
His expression tightened, a muscle in his jaw flexing as he looked away.
What happened at the airport with Immigration abruptly spilled out of me. Jared studied me with that same unreadable expression as I told him about my fight with Aria too. “So you see, when I leave Scotland, they’re not going to let me back in. For who knows how long.” I shrugged helplessly, hating that I was here, putting my fate in the hands of a mere acquaintance, being vulnerable with him, but doing it, anyway. “This is my home now, Jared. I … if I’m forced back to the US … I was never happy there. I’m afraid what will happen to me if I go back there permanently. Anyway, I need time to figure out how to get a business visa. More time than I currently have. And you …” I gestured to him and then the surrounding land. “You need someone to invest in this place.”
Jared shook his head slowly. “Where are you going with this, Allegra?”
I ignored the thrill that coursed through my body at the sound of his voice wrapped around my name. “I came into my trust fund when I turned twenty-one. There is more than enough money to invest whatever you need into the farm. And …” I drew myself up, shrugging on a confidence I did not feel. “As my husband, I would grant you access to those funds.”
The words hung between us for what felt like forever. Then Jared blinked a few times and shook his head almost comically. “Wait a minute … Are you … What the fuck?”
My lips twitched with nervous amusement. “I am proposing a marriage of convenience. As your wife, I get to stay in Scotland. As my husband, you get the capital you need to turn the farm around. To turn your grandfather’s farm around. I know how important it is to you. And I know you want to do it yourself, but this is a solution, Jared. To both our problems.”
He turned away, scrubbing his palms down his face before blowing out a loud whoosh of air.
I fidgeted nervously behind him.
“I think you’ve seen too many of your dad’s movies,” he scoffed.
“My dad doesn’t make rom-coms.”
“You know what I mean.” He stared at me incredulously. “A marriage of convenience?”
“Y-yes.”
