“No buts,” I say quickly. “Logan Wild is off-limits. And what does that mean for me? It means little staredowns like we just had can’t happen anymore.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Logan
Thank God, the party is over. But I still can’t get off this damn stage because Gigi’s family has me surrounded.
When I turn at Ben’s whistle, his sister is all I see.
Macey shines in the crowd like a beacon of light. I lock eyes with her. She looks back at me, looking half-pissed and half-turned on. And I’m right there with her. After waking up with her in my arms this morning, I’ve had a hell of a time getting her out of my mind.
“Is everything all right, dear?” Gigi’s mom asks me as she stops cooing over the presents with Gigi. “You’re looking into the crowd very intensely.”
I wrest my focus away from Macey and force a grin. “Sure, I’m great.”
“Good.” Her expression changes as she glances at Gigi. “My daughter is head over heels for you, you know.”
“Yes. Our feelings for one another are mutual, I assure you,” I say.
Gigi nods and tries to intercede, but her mother has involved Gigi’s father now.
“Do you think Gigi and Logan are rushing things with this wedding?” she says abruptly, nearly taking the air out of me. “Maybe we should have insisted on a longer time for them to get to know one another.”
“Mom!” Gigi stomps her foot, and I fight the urge to smile. “Logan is the only man I would marry. Leave it, please!”
“It’s just…” Her mother glances out into the crowd again. “His background is so different than yours. Maybe you both need time to adjust to all the changes.”
“No, we don’t,” Gigi says immediately. “Do we, Logan?”
I shake my head. “The quicker we get married, the better,” I say with complete genuineness.
Gigi’s mother smiles. “Well, that I can believe. You nearly shook with sincerity when you said that, Logan. I think it’s darling how anxious you are to tie the knot with my daughter. And I heard about how you two are waiting to share a bed.”
“Right,” I say.
“It’s very upstanding to insist on marriage nowadays.”
All I can do is nod in agreement.
When this whole thing started back in West Texas, Gigi’s father was stunned when she asked him if she could go out on a date with the painter guy. He grilled her seven ways from Sunday, but Gigi pulled out all the stops. She played it perfectly—from the way she looked at me to the descriptive manner in which she told him of her attraction to my artistic side—and her father agreed they could stay in the park for another week so she and I could get to know each other.
During that time, he pressed me from every angle on if I was interested in his daughter just for her money. And this was my chance to play my role—convincing him I didn’t want her money was the easiest part of this whole charade. I sounded genuine and truthful because I was. And he believed me.
Still, he thought our relationship was an infatuation that would blow over. But six days later, Gigi took him aside and said I’d be coming with them to New York.
And four days after that, we went to him and said we were engaged. He wanted proof. A ring. I had nothing.
I was sure it was over.
But turned out that Mr. Phillips came from nothing too, and he felt for me. He handed us his credit card and told Gigi to pick out the engagement ring of her dreams. Her mother and sisters fell for the whole “love at first sight” storyline, and everything was set.
Gigi’s last step was to wait for her father to bring up two things. One was that I couldn’t have any access to her funds while we were married. He would delegate a generous separate account for me, but I couldn’t touch the rest.
Fine by me.
Satisfied, he then broached the prenup. His first demand was that I agree not to fight Gigi for any of her money if we divorce. This was the part she knew was coming.
But I didn’t want her money, and she trusted me to go through with the divorce.
