Millionaire Mavericks: The Oilman’s Baby Bargain. Michelle Celmer
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was at her door in fifteen. When the bell rang, she waved the butler away and answered it herself.
She’d almost forgotten how beautiful he was, how tall and dark and imposing. How delicious he smelled. Some small part of her ached to be close to him, to touch him again, to vault herself into his arms. Probably thanks to the pregnancy hormones that had been wreaking havoc with her emotions the past few weeks.
The easy smile Mitch usually wore was absent. His jaw was set and his expression serious. In fact, he looked almost…nervous. She didn’t think men like Mitch ever got nervous.
“Thank you for agreeing to see me,” he said.
She folded her arms across her chest. “What was so important that it couldn’t wait?”
“Is there somewhere we can speak privately?”
She nodded, and he followed her across the foyer to the study. When they were inside, she shut the door. “Well?”
“First, I want to apologize again for my brother’s behavior.”
“Don’t bother. He did me a favor. We would have been miserable together.” She paused, then asked, “How is Lance?”
“Great. Very happy.”
“I’m glad. But that isn’t what you came here to talk about.”
“No, it isn’t,” he said, looking troubled. “As you probably know, Lance and I are still in need of your father’s support.”
“Good luck with that.” Her father had been furious with the Brody brothers, and still was, as far as she could tell.
“I had a meeting with him today.”
Her eyes widened. “He actually agreed to meet with you?”
“I can be very persuasive.”
He didn’t have to tell her that. Had he not been so persuasive, she wouldn’t be in her current dilemma.
“The senator and I have reached an…understanding.”
Why did she get the feeling that she wasn’t going to like this?
“What kind of understanding?”
“Your father has promised his support if you marry me, instead.”
Marry him? After what had happened with Lance, would her father honestly force her to marry the other Brody brother? And why hadn’t he said anything to her? Why hadn’t he warned her?
“Another business arrangement?” she asked, and Mitch nodded. “Do I have a choice in the matter?”
“In fact, you do. The stipulation was that I have to convince you to marry me.”
Her mouth fell open. “He actually said that?”
“Essentially, yes.”
She could see that the prospect of having to beg Lexi to marry him made Mitch uncomfortable. As it should, after the way he’d used her. Score one for good ol’ Dad. And she knew exactly why the senator had agreed to this arrangement. He’d mentioned more than once that he believed Mitch possessed presidential-size political potential. Social status meant everything to him and he would love nothing more than to see his precious daughter serve as first lady to the nation.
Whether or not Mitch was the least bit interested in a political career, Lexi didn’t have a clue, and the idea of spending the rest of her life married to someone so coldhearted and manipulative—too much like her father—turned her already questionable stomach.
Yet she couldn’t deny that this could be the answer to all of her problems. Marrying Mitch would give her child legitimacy. Although people—her father in particular—might get suspicious when she gave birth to a full-term-size baby two months early. But she could figure that out later.
The real question was, could she stand to be married to Mitch for the rest of her life?
Even if she did decide to marry him, she wouldn’t let Mitch off the hook too easily. She was going to make him work for it.
“After the way your brother humiliated me, what makes you believe I would even consider marrying you?” she asked.
“Because I have a plan that will leave my brother looking like the humiliated one.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, unable to resist taking the bait. “How will you manage that?”
“It will be leaked that you and I have been secretly seeing each other, and that I seduced you away from my brother that week in D.C. People will be led to believe that you were planning to break the engagement, only Lance did it first, before you had the chance.”
“And what will make them believe that? What if they think it’s just gossip?”
“My brother and I will have a very public argument to drive the point home.”
Reputation was everything to men like Lance and Mitch, so she couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit touched. “Lance would do that for me?”
“We’ll do anything for the sake of our business.”
So, they weren’t doing this for her. They were doing it for their business. Her vindication was just a convenient side effect. She should have known.
Ironically, their so-called plan wasn’t that far from the truth. Mitch had seduced her, and for a short time she had seriously considered choosing him over his brother.
“Does Lance know what happened?” she asked.
“You mean that night at the hotel?”
She nodded.
“Of course not. As far as he’s concerned, this is a total fabrication.”
And she could see from Mitch’s demeanor that he intended to keep it that way. That would be tough when news of the baby broke. Lance was eventually going to find out.
The truth was, she cared little about her humiliation, and what people might think of her. For the baby’s sake, however, she would be a fool to turn down Mitch’s offer. A marriage to him would grant the kind of life that the baby deserved.
“My answer is yes,” she said. “I’ll marry you.”
He looked surprised that she would acquiesce so easily. “We should do it soon. I was thinking a small civil ceremony at the courthouse.”
The sooner—and the simpler—the better as far as she was concerned. So much for the extravagant and blissful white wedding she had always dreamed of. “Fine.”
“And we should plan a honeymoon. To make it look more authentic.”
She thought of the nonrefundable trip she had just booked. “I’m leaving for a seven-day trip to Greece the day after tomorrow. Would that be authentic enough for you?”
He nodded. “That would be perfect.”
“I’ll have my assistant book you a seat.”
“And I’ll have mine make the wedding arrangements.”
“All right.”
“While we’re away, I’ll arrange to have your things moved into my townhouse.”
She hadn’t given any thought to the fact that he would expect her to live with him. But of course he would. Married couples lived together. Although the idea of living under his roof made her feel vulnerable. Would he try to run her life, controlling her every move the way her father had? Would she be moving from one prison to another?
And if so, what choice did she have?
Mitch must have read her expression. “You’ll have your own room,” he assured her. “You’ll want for nothing.”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t