Читать книгу One Hot Texan - Jane Sullivan, Jane Sullivan - Страница 11

THE MOMENT Cole said the word marry, whatever fuzziness Virginia still felt from her encounter with three bottles of beer last night was knocked right out of her. She sat up suddenly, staring at him with utter disbelief.

“What did you say?”

“It’ll be a business arrangement. That’s all. None of this till death do us part stuff. We stay on the ranch six months, I get the deed, then we get a divorce. That’s it.”

It was as if Cole were speaking a foreign language. The words themselves came through clearly, but she was having a really hard time comprehending them.

“And there’s something in this deal for you, too,” Cole went on. “Good thing, considering how broke you are.”

Virginia’s brain went on red alert. How did he know that? “Broke?” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. “I’m not broke.”

“Your bank balance is approximately sixty-seven dollars. You’ve got bills up to your eyeballs and a landlord breathing down your neck. And I don’t see you getting out anytime soon on that lousy salary they pay you at the bank.”

“How do you know—?”

He gave her a knowing look, and all at once she thought about the stuff on her kitchen table, the bills, her check stubs. And then there was her purse. He’d already helped himself to that at the bar. Apparently he didn’t think twice about rummaging through it again, and the thought of it infuriated her.

“You went through my things? While I was in here passed out, you looked through my whole house?”

“Not the whole house. I’m still not sure whether you wear briefs or bikinis.”

Virginia gasped even as her face reddened with embarrassment. “Get out!”

Cole didn’t budge.

“Get out of my house! Now!”

He regarded her for a long time, his dark eyes grim and calculating. Finally he held up his palms in resignation.