Page 18 of Husband to Go

“Did you come here for a reason?” he asks with an amused expression on his face.

“Um, yeah. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“And that would be..?” He waits patiently.

“Um, about us,” I say, feeling foolish.

He doesn’t move an inch.

“Us?” he asks, that amused expression still on his face. I sigh. He’s being a little annoying, and it feels like it’s on purpose.

“I mean, you can’t do this.Wecan’t do this. It’s wrong.” I had hoped to say it more eloquently, but at least I got my point across. I just need him to understand we’ve created this mess, and it’s time to clean up.

“Everything seems okay to me,” he says with just a hint of a smile on his lips.

What? Is he insane? He has to care a little, right? I mean, I’m shocked. I hadn’t expected Tanner to be so dismissive, and this is going beyond the pale.

“What do you mean? Youhaveto care. Don’t you want to be a good person? Do what’s right in life?”

He shrugs and shoots me a half-smile.

“Life often works out for me just fine. At least most of the time, that is.”

I stare at him. Who is this man? How can he be this way? He has to know he sounds like a jerk of the highest order.

“So you don’t see a problem with what happened between us?” I ask, staring at the handsome man.

“Like I said, life often works out for me,” he shrugs. “Things will be fine.”

I take a step back. Should I have even come here today? I can hear the thoughts in my head going around in circles.

“Why are you even marrying my mom then?” I demand. That’s the real question. At the engagement party, he barely seemed interested in Veronica, and at first, I thought it might be because he’s like me and not into a big party scene. Or maybe having a random hookup turn out to be your fiancée’s daughter might have dampened his mood. All are plausible explanations. But given what’s happened so far, maybe he doesn’t even love Veronica. So why are they getting married?

He gets comfortable in his chair.

“I actually have quite a few reasons for marrying your mom. Your mom’s attractive, the type of woman a lot of guys enjoy looking at. Also, I’m a successful developer, and your mom is a powerful real estate agent in the city. If we combined out business connections, it’s compelling enough on its own.”

Combine their business connections? That’s so medieval.

“Do you hear yourself? That’s not a good reason to get married. You’re getting married to combine your empires? The way nobility would marry their sons and daughters to one another so they could keep their land in the family?” Seriously, this is so antiquated. Does he even understand the implications of what he’s doing?

But he just shrugs again.

“It’s a transaction. You’re too young to understand, sweetheart.”

Oh, how insulting! I understand exactly what’s going on. He’s marrying my mom just so he can make more money. Veronica can be callous and insensitive and selfish at times, but that doesn’t mean he can play with her feelings like that. He needs to understand that.

“Does my mom know about this?” I ask slowly.

He shrugs.

“Veronica Mitchell is a very smart woman,” he says. “Very canny and calculating. In fact,sheproposed tome, and not the other way around. Let’s just say, she’s relishing being the queen of our combined business empire.”

Holy cow, this is not really happening.

“So you’re expecting a marriage of convenience.”

He shrugs, looking unconcerned.