Falling For Her Fake Fiancé (The Beaumont Heirs 5) by Sarah M. Anderson Read Free Book Online Page B

Ethan.
    She felt as if she was on the verge of passing out, but she refused to betray a single sign of panic. She did not breathe in deep gulps. She did not drop her head in her hands. And she absolutely did not fiddle with anything. She kept herself serene and calm and did all her panicking on the inside, where no one could see it.
    “Well?” Ethan asked. But it wasn’t a gruff demand for an answer. His tone was more cautious than that.
    And then there was the man himself. This was all quite noble, this talk of no sex and no emotions. But that didn’t change the fact of the matter—Ethan Logan was one hell of a package. He could make her shiver and shake with the kind of heat she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
    Not that it mattered, because it didn’t.
    “I don’t believe in love,” she announced, mostly to see what kind of reaction it’d get.
    “You don’t? That seems unusually cynical for a woman of your age and beauty.”
    She didn’t try to hide her eye roll. “I only mention it because if you’re thinking about pulling one of those ‘I’ll make her love me over time’ stunts, it’s best to nip it in the bud right now.”
    She’d seen what people did in the name of love. How they made grand promises they had every intention of keeping until the next pretty face came along. As much as she’d loved her father, she hadn’t been blind to his wandering eye or his wandering hands. She’d seen exactly what had happened to her mother, Jeannie—all because she’d believed in the power of love to tame the untamable Hardwick Beaumont.
    “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Ethan’s hand still hung in the air between them.
    “I won’t love you,” she promised him, putting her palm in his. “I’d recommend you not love me.”
    Something in his eyes tightened as his fingers closed around hers. “I hope admiration is still on the table?”
    She let her gaze drift over his body again. It wasn’t desire, not really. She was an art connoisseur, and she was merely admiring his form. And wondering how it’d function. “I suppose.”
    “When do you want to get married?”
    She thought it over.
Married.
The word felt weird rattling around her head. She’d never wanted to be married, never wanted to be tied to someone who could hurt her.
    Of course, her brother Phillip had recently had a fairy-tale wedding that had been everything she might have ever wanted, if she’d actually wanted it. Which she didn’t.
    No, a big public spectacle was not the way to go here. This was, by all public appearances, a whirlwind romance, starting yesterday when she’d sashayed into his office. “I think we should cultivate the impression that we are swept up in the throes of passion.”
    “Agreed.”
    “Let’s get married in two weeks.”
    Just saying it out loud made her want to hyperventilate. What would her brothers say to this, her latest stunt in a long line of stunts? “Frannie,” she could practically hear Chadwick intone in his too-serious voice. “I don’t think...” And Matthew? He was the one who always wanted everyone to line up and smile for the cameras and look like a big happy family. What would he say when she up and got herself hitched?
    Then there was Byron, her twin. She’d thought she’d known Byron better than any other person in the world, and vice versa. But in the matter of a few weeks, he’d gone from her brother to a married man with a son and another baby on the way. Well, if anyone would understand her sudden change in matrimonial status, it’d be Byron.
    Everyone else—especially Chadwick and Matthew—would just have to deal. This was her life. She could damn well do what she pleased with it.
    Even if that meant marrying Ethan Logan.

Six
    E than didn’t know if it was the wine or the woman, but throughout the rest of dinner, he felt light-headed.
    He was going to get married. To Frances Beaumont. In two weeks.
    Which was great. Everything was going according to plan. He would