Nina Milne - Rafael's Contract Bride

‘Won’t that look a little odd?’

‘Not if I handle it right. I don’t want to risk Don Carlos selling it to someone else. This would be a very temporary marriage of convenience. The whole charade should only last a month, tops. Hopefully way less.’

‘There would be nothing convenient about us being married.’ This she knew.

‘What about the money? Most people would agree that is a pretty convenient amount to have in the bank. Plus you’ll be able to enjoy a few weeks of luxury.’

Cora closed her eyes, grasped the back of the wooden chair and tried to fend off temptation. An image of her parents’ faces when she repaid them the worth of the Derwent diamonds seeped into her retina—surely that would win her a modicum of approval, a way back into the fold?

The price to pay: a temporary marriage. A few weeks, ‘tops’, with Rafael Martinez.

Opening her eyes, she regarded him, saw the incipient victory in his dark ironic gaze. ‘And where would you be whilst I lolled about in the hypothetical lap of luxury?’

Perhaps sarcasm would hide the fact that she was still standing there, a participant in a conversation she should have closed down long ago.

‘Lolling right alongside you. This marriage would have to look real. The world will have to believe that we were swept off our feet in a romantic storm.’

For reasons she did not want to look into a small shiver ran through her whole body at his words. Absurd. The need to hang on to reality was imperative.

‘As if anyone would believe that.’ Good. That had been exactly the right mix of scoffing and disdain.

One dark eyebrow rose. ‘Why wouldn’t they? It’s plausible enough—we met at Cavershams in the line of business and bam.’

The snort that escaped her lips might not have been ladylike, but it was way more ladylike than the words on the tip of her tongue. ‘Get real! You’ve admitted yourself that you don’t do romance—you do fun.’ With women so different from her it was laughable.

‘So you’re saying marriage can’t be fun?’

The question stopped her in her tracks. Her parents’ marriage was one of duty, not fun. Their commitment to the Derwent estate and the family name was unquestionable, and that was what their life revolved around. Fun wasn’t part of the programme.

Rafael’s lips curved up into a smile that turned all her thoughts into a fluffy white cotton ball. ‘I promise you as much fun as you like in our marriage.’

Irritation permeated the after-effects of the Martinez smile. How could he sit there as if the whole idea of a fake temporary marriage was commonplace? Was he flirting with her, mocking her, or just having a good old laugh at her expense?

‘No one in their right mind will believe the “romantic storm” theory.’

‘Everyone will believe it. I promise.’

And suddenly the heat that surrounded her was nothing to do with the Spanish sun. Because Rafael rose, stepped around the table to within touching distance, where he halted.

‘The world will believe that I have eyes only for my wife. That I am head over heels in love.’

The words were like molten chocolate—the expensive type...the type that tempted you to believe you could eat it by the bucketful and it would be positively good for you.

No. Chocolate—expensive or otherwise—was only good for you in moderation, and it seemed clear that this man didn’t do moderation. Whereas ‘Moderate’ was Cora’s middle name.

‘It won’t work.’

Thud, thud, thud. Any minute now her heart would leave her ribcage as he took another infinitesimal step towards her, his eyes resting on her face with a look so intense it took all her backbone to stay upright and not ooze into a puddle at his feet.

‘Care to bet?’ he drawled.

Right that second it was hard to care about anything but his proximity, the citrus clean scent of him, the sheer beauty of his lips and the look in his eyes as they darkened to jet-black pools of desire. Her lips parted and she released the back of the chair to bring her hand upwards—and then reality, mortification and the prospect of humiliation had her stepping backwards.

What was she thinking? Acting. The man is acting, Cora.

Something flashed across his face and was gone. ‘We can pull this off.’

His words were a shade jerky and Cora forced her breathing to normal levels, prayed he couldn’t sense the accelerated rate of her pulse.

‘Your choice. Marry me...help me persuade Don Carlos it’s a real union. In return you get a shedload of cash’

Cora tried to think. ‘Then what happens? A few weeks after a massive high-profile wedding we announce our divorce?’

‘Yup. We can make it an amicable split—say that we rushed into marriage and realised we weren’t compatible. There will probably be a tabloid furore, but they usually die down.’

The idea made her insides curl in anticipated humiliation. As if anyone would believe the incompatibility story—the world would think that she hadn’t measured up, hadn’t been able to hold the attention of a man like Rafael Martinez. She would be able to add ‘failed wife’ to the résumé that already charted her failure as a daughter.

His dark eyes surveyed her with a hint of impatience and she shrugged. ‘My tabloid experience is nil, so I’ll bow to your better knowledge.’ For that fee she could withstand a few days of paparazzi attention—the pay-off in parental approval would be worth it.

‘Good. After that you could afford a career break, but if you’d rather return to work I’m sure the Caversham-Martinez venture could use an administrator when it launches.’

‘That won’t be necessary.’ Because if all went to plan she would win back her job at Derwent Manor.

‘Or, if you preferred, I’m equally sure Ethan will take you back.’

Her ahead awhirl with the surrealness of the situation, Cora tried to think. ‘Hold on. Ethan. I can’t leave Ethan and Ruby in the lurch. They took a risk taking me on in the first place, and...and they don’t even know I’m Lady Cora Derwent... He and Ruby think I am plain Cora Brookes.’

‘Once Ethan and Ruby are back we can explain our engagement and tell them who you really are. You can finish up this week in Cornwall and after that Ethan was going to send you on secondment elsewhere anyway. So you aren’t deserting the Caversham ship. They’ll understand. After all, their courtship was pretty whirlwind itself.’

‘Can’t we tell them the truth?’

‘No.’ Some reporter might get hold of them and Ruby couldn’t lie her way out of a paper bag. ‘Plus, the fewer people to know the truth the better.’

‘OK.’

‘So, any more questions?’

‘What if it doesn’t work? What if Don Carlos still won’t sell you the vineyard?’

‘You still get your money.’

As her thoughts seethed and whirled she studied his expression, the tension to his jaw, the haunted look in the dark depths of his eyes that spoke of a fierce need. This meant a lot more to Rafael than a mere business deal. Because no matter how reasonably he was spinning this idea—so much so that for a moment Cora had been caught up in the threads of the tale—it did not make sense.

‘This is about more than a vineyard.’

‘This is all about the vineyard. But my motivations are irrelevant—I am offering you a job, an opportunity. The question is, do you want it?’

For a long moment she stared at him, felt the sun soak her skin with warmth, and somewhere deep down inside her soul a remnant of the old Cora surfaced—the impulsive Cora, who still believed it was possible to even out the playing field with her siblings and win some love from her parents.

‘Yes,’ she said, and pulled out the chair, her tummy tumbling with a flotilla of acrobatic butterflies.