Lu Bielefeld ’s Reviews > The Wedding Charade > Status Update

He got off the bed and snatched up his trousers, his eyes moving away from hers. ‘Yes, it’s a great place to visit. I wish I’d had more time when I was there. You should go. The press wouldn’t know who you were out there. You would have a chance at the fresh start you said you’d like to have.’

‘Will you miss me?’ she said. ‘I mean when we finally part company? I’ll probably go back to live in London or maybe I’ll go to Australia. I’ve always wanted to go. Have you been?

His porcine eyes gleamed. ‘I think I could get you to change your mind.’ He fanned open his wallet in front of her face. ‘Perhaps this is what I should have offered you the first time around, eh? How much, Jade? How much to sample that delectable body of yours?’

Jade felt sick to her stomach at his crude suggestion. She ignored the business card and gave him an icy look. ‘I am not interested in betraying my marriage vows.’

‘Listen, Jade,’ he said. ‘Don’t go getting any ideas about me settling down and playing happy husband for ever. This is the shallow, selfish part of me I warned you about talking here, and it’s the real me. This marriage is solely to access my share of my grandfather’s estate. It is not about building a future together or falling in love. Are we both clear on that?’

‘Dio, I want you so badly,’ Nic said against her mouth. ‘But then you are a witch at making men want you, are you not? A seductive little witch with a mouth of fire.’

His top lip lifted in a snarl. ‘You trashy, deceitful cow,’ he said.

Nic schooled his features into a blank mask. ‘If it happens, it happens. It’s not what I would have wished but I can’t compromise my standards to fit in with an old man’s whimsical fantasy.’

Nic smiled at her imperiously because he knew it would inflame her. ‘Yes, I know it’s hypocritical of me, but there you have it. The double standard—even in spite of enlightened times—still exists. No man wants a tart for a wife.’
She frowned at him. ‘So you’re going to turn your back on your inheritance? ‘

Nic gave a snort. ‘It seems to me you’re always interested. You’re every man’s fantasy. The wild-child party girl who will do anything to be the centre of attention.’
She gave him an arch look in return. ‘You’re a fine one calling me out for being a black kettle when your pot’s been stirred by more women than any other man I know.’