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‘No, I’m not. What’s that got to do with a phone charger?’

He straightened to his full height. ‘I’ll give you whatever money you want to keep the home running for as long as you need it. On one condition.’

Libby couldn’t contain her surprise. ‘And what’s that?’

‘You marry me.’

* * *

As he expected, her eyes went wide with shock, and of course they would. A marriage proposal wasn’t what she was here for, and it had come out of the blue. Then again, the idea of asking her had come to him out of the blue, too.

It wasn’t something he’d ever have thought of, especially not after that dinner. He shouldn’t have persisted in grilling her about her reasons for approaching him in such an invasive way, but he’d wanted to know why she’d assumed she could come here. There had been a bit of spirit in her eyes when he’d asked why she hadn’t picked up the phone, and he supposed she was right in that getting to talk to him personally was very difficult. His business was very large and there were a lot of layers between him and someone walking in off the street.

He was suspicious of her motives still. People approached him for money all the time and Neve had always told him to be on his guard with people who might take advantage. Nothing ever came for free, she’d said, and everything she did was proof of that. Certainly, his whole life had been proof of that. Even her will was proof of that.

Yet when he’d happened to mention that perhaps Liberty had been planning to come here for some time, because of his money, she’d looked incredibly offended. Which was strange since that was the reason she was here. But then she’d yet again mentioned that they’d been friends once, and that had annoyed him. He didn’t like being reminded of something he had few memories of, and clearly whatever friendship they’d had, it had meant more to her that it had to him. There’d been a certain wistful look on her face when she’d talked about it, and a certain note of warmth in her voice, and again that had made him uncomfortable. He didn’t remember being the kind of person who’d encourage ties like friendship. Perhaps he had been like that once, but he wasn’t anymore and he never would be.

Anything kind or soft in him he’d cut out long ago. He’d even said as much to her, when he’d mentioned having no ties, but then she’d reached out and inexplicably put her hand over his.

He’d gone rigid in that moment as the warmth of her skin sent a burst of heat through him. Her eyes had widened as her gaze had met his, and he could have sworn he’d seen a golden spark leap in the amber depths. As if she’d felt that heat, too. A heat he didn’t want.

He’d pulled his hand out from under hers in instinctive denial and had stalked from the room before he’d been able to think better of it, full of sullen fury.

Automatically he’d headed to his office, trying to shake the heat of her touch from his hand. It was as if she’d scalded him, as if she’d directly channeled whatever heat was inside her into his veins, waking him up in a way he hated, a way he’d once felt a long time ago and never wanted to feel again.

He’d decided to stay in his office for the evening, only to then find an email from his legal team in his inbox, pushing him on the contents of Neve’s will and how he had to make a decision about whether he was going to marry or not.

He’d put it off, it was true, and it had only been in the past six months that he’d started seriously looking at options. The options being various women who seemed to be suitable wife material. Neve had stipulated that the marriage must be legal and last at least five years.

His legal team had looked for loopholes on his instructions, but there were none. Neve had been nothing if not thorough. If he wanted her companies, and her legacy, he was going to have to marry and there was no way around it.

His fury had burned hotter at the sight of the email, and he’d half-decided that really, it didn’t matter who he married, only that he marry someone and remain legally married for five years. So he’d gone through the will yet again, plus the list of names and pictures of women a matchmaking firm had sent him. They were all women of a certain physical type—tall and slender, with an icy demeanor—since if he was going to marry anyone, it may as well be someone like the woman he’d once loved. Someone who wouldn’t want warmth or sentimentality. Except he couldn’t choose, since he had no particular preference for any of them. Tossing a coin would have been easier in many ways.

But as he’d been studying the pictures of the women on his screen, their faces blending together until he couldn’t tell one from the other, suddenly an idea had popped into his mind, seemingly from out of the blue.

He had a woman here already. A woman who seemed to be genuine in a way that was foreign to him, not that it mattered, but it would certainly help when it came to signing pre-nups and NDAs. A woman who needed something from him, which meant he was likely to get her agreement without too much trouble. A woman who looked nothing like Neve, and now he thought about it, that was what he actually preferred.

But it was what she needed from him that was the biggest plus. There were plenty of other women who would line up to be his wife, their eyes full of dollar signs, but Liberty didn’t want the money for herself, she wanted it for her home, and there was nothing like having leverage over an unselfish person. A good person. Neve had once said that there was no right or wrong, only what made excellent business sense, and this made excellent business sense.

So he’d sent an email back to his lawyer telling him that he’d made a choice, that the marriage would be made as soon as possible so the will could be executed as soon as possible.

Getting Liberty’s agreement would be easy, he was sure. Once she was over her shock, and once his offer of keeping her home running indefinitely had been processed, she wouldn’t be able to agree fast enough.

‘Marry you?’ Liberty said blankly. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

He leaned back against the desk and gripped the edge of the desktop. ‘I need a wife,’ he said. ‘And you fit the bill.’

‘That still doesn’t tell me what you’re talking about.’

It was irritating having to explain himself, but he supposed she did need to know the reason he was asking her. Even if it did involve talking about Neve. ‘Neve Aarsland,’ he said. ‘She left me her business empire in her will. However, I’m unable to inherit until I marry.’

Liberty frowned. ‘Um… How does that involve me?’

‘I need to marry soon, and if I don’t, I’ll lose the inheritance.’

‘I see.’ It was very obvious from her expression that she didn’t see at all.

‘You’re here,’ he said impatiently. ‘You need something from me and I need a wife.’