Aurelie’s knees knocked together, pounding out her nerves in rapid fire.Her chest rose and fell in quick bursts of breath that struggled to get through her clamped throat.
Or on the other hand, marrying a stranger might be the perfect solution.
“You’re crazy.It’s impossible.”Aurelie sat down on the couch, the infant in her arms.Her legs no longer had the capacity to hold her up, and with the way her heart pounded against her chest, she wondered that the baby didn’t feel the tremor and wake up.
“No more crazy or impossible than you going back to that monster.And don’t forget, it was your idea in the first place.”
“It wasn’t so bad.I loved living there, Jace.And I waskidding.”
Was she, though?Wouldn’t it solve everything if the right person were there to help her answer all of her needs?Love, companionship, passion, and a chance to stay in Banberry?
“Fine.But what about your father?He’s plenty of reason not to go back, no matter how damn good it was.Is he still in prison?”
Aurelie shook her head.If he were, the decision would be easier.As it was, she not only didn’t want to leave, she couldn’t go back, either.Jace was right about that, but surely that didn’t mean they had to getmarried.She barely knew his last name, let alone build a relationship with him.She’d just go about the normal reapplication process and hope for the best.
Even if the best is months down the road and you’ve lost everything by then?
As if he had read her mind, Jace chimed in.
“It doesn’t need to be a real marriage like the one you just described, Aurelie.It just needs to keep you here.When you’ve got a more permanent situation with a green card, we can reassess where we’re at.”He was talking faster now, his hands in a flourish.His reaction was so raw, so authentic, Aurelie was certain his acting skills weren’t being used to manipulate her.It sent a wave of pure gratefulness coursing through her.
He cared about her, plain and simple.But it wasn’t enough.
In some ways, it was everything she’d ever wanted: someone who would put everything before her, be willing to put his life on the line to keep her safe.At the same time, it was too easy and too much, too fast.
She wanted the slow burn of a relationship that came about organically, leading to an inevitable progression of feelings.She wanted to marry someone because she couldn’t live without them, not because of circumstances.She wanted arealmarriage and everything that came with it.
Jace’s offer to turn her joke into a solution was almost perfect, but at the same time, not even close, because he wasn’t the right person.So this couldn’t be the answer.
He isn’t now, but maybe he could be?By the time she figured that out one way or the other, though, the ink on the marriage certificate would be dry, and she’d be stuck.He’dbe stuck.Somehow, that seemed worse to her.Her mother had been trapped on an island by a partner she thought she loved, and it had killed her, Aurelie was sure of it.Trapping Jace to a life he thought he wanted right now wasn’t right, even if it helped her start a clinic that would be an asset to Banberry.
“Jace,” she began, but he cut her off by sitting down beside her, cupping her face in his hands, and planting his lips on hers.
“You have so much to live for here, Aurelie.Look at that baby,” he said when he lifted his lips.
Aurelie did, and her throat constricted.She couldn’t imagine flying away from there, not knowing when she would feel the soft skin of Maddie’s cheek against hers, when she could inhale the inimitable scent of baby shampoo on Maddie’s fine, sparse tuft of hair.Any shred of her resolve crumbled around her thumping heart.
Jace continued, “Think about the clinic, about the women and children who need you and Paige.Theyneedyou, Aurelie.It’s selfishnotto stay, don’t you see that?”
His breath was warm on her cheek.He’d saidtheyneeded her.Didhe, though?Call her crazy, but she thought that should bear some importance when a marriage proposal was on the line.Not to mention his reputation, career, and so much more.
“What about you?You’re a movie star, Jace.You can pretend you’re here for good to fix up your dad’s ranch, but you left this life once.Why would you want it back now?And what happens when you marry me and your life back home calls to you?”
In the half-beat of silence that followed, Aurelie imagined the truly impossible: that he would declare his love for her, proclaim that he was doing this because she was what he’d been missing.When he cleared his throat, though, she realized she wouldn’t have believed the words even if he said them with the same sincerity with which they’d started this insane conversation.
“My agent said I should settle down, find a nice girl.She thinks it’ll clean up my image, help Hollywood take me seriously as an actor, not just a typecast playboy.You’d be doing me a favor, too, Aurelie—if I ever go back to acting at all—by helping shape that image into who I want to be.As for ranching, I’m not sure what it will or won’t be in terms of my future, but I do know that it’s the only thing I want to do in the present.Aside from helping my childhood friends by helping you.See?We’d be doing this for each other.”
Knowing he’d be getting something out of the arrangement eased her closer to ayesthan she had been moments before.But…
She measured her next words carefully.
“What about love?”
“What about it?”
“Don’t you think love should be part of a marriage?”
“I do, and we can separate when you’ve got your green card.We’ll still be young, you can still have a family and all that.”
