“What does that even look like?” he asked, then scowled. “Fuck! Why am I asking? Clearly this is insane.”
“No, it’s not.” I took a few steps toward him and he retreated like I might bite or something. Grimacing, I stopped moving. “Jared, this would solve our problems. I’m not suggesting a real marriage. Of course, it has to look like a real marriage or I think there are fraud implications?—”
“You think? You do realize youareasking me to do something illegal?”
“No one else will know that, though. We’ll get married, I’ll move into the farmhouse, and for a while, we’ll make it look real but, obviously, we’ll just be roommates. I’m not suggesting anything sexy here.”Though I wouldn’t be opposed to it.
“Our friends and family will know the truth.”
“Yeah, but they won’t tell anyone.”
“Allegra,” Jared growled, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
I took heart in this overwrought response.
It meant he was contemplating it!
“Just marry me and stay married to me for eighteen months. No matter if I get my gallery up and running, I will grant you a divorce in eighteen months.”
He glowered for what felt like forever. Then, “And am I expected to remain a monk for eighteen months?”
A sharp stab of something I didn’t want to call rejection panged in my chest. “No. Men cheat.” I shrugged.
Jared’s nostrils flared. “So, I’m to look like the arsehole who married a wealthy Hollywooder to secure his farm and then cheated on her?”
“Well, I’m not going to be a nun, so they’ll think we’re both assholes. I think we can both agree to not have sex with other people for two months to sell the lie. Then whatever happens after that, happens.”
Something flickered in his eyes before he looked away. He watched Georgie move the tractor up the field before turning back to me. “How much money are we talking about here, Allegra?”
Triumph started to course through me and I struggled to hold back a smile. “Millions.”
His expression tightened. “For eighteen months of marriage?”
“Yes.”
“And we’ll have to live together?”
“To make it believable, yeah. And we’ll have to, you know, get to know each other. I’m sure Immigration might have questions.”
“So, I’ll have to commit fraud and lie?”
I swallowed hard. “In exchange for whatever you need to get the farm back on track, yes.”
“They’ll know we’re lying.”
“No, they won’t. I’ve been staying here for years, Jared. On and off. We could have been secretly seeing each other all that time. You’re hot, I’m hot, shit happens.”
“That shit won’t be happening just because we’ll be living together.”
I tried to focus on the fact that it sounded like he was giving into the idea, and not on his continued rejection of me. Itstung too much, considering Jared McCulloch was a flirtatious manwhore with a reputation. Why I was the only woman alive he didn’t want to touch was something I didn’t want to contemplate.
Shrugging nonchalantly, I replied, “Of course not. Like I said earlier, we can both see to our needs elsewhere after two months. Can you go without sex that long?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not a fucking sex fiend.”
“All evidence to the contrary.”
“What does that mean?”
