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Emmie took her time, licking a fingertip as she turned the pages, occasionally marking something in a margin for her own memory.
“It’s fine for you to get your own attorney to look it over, if you wish,” Theo said finally.
“It’s not exactly hard to understand,” she said and continued to placidly read in the shade of the pergola as Theo got up and paced the terrace. Finally, she looked up.
“All right. I’ll sign it.”
He returned quickly to the table, his handsome face relieved. “Good. I’ll get Wilson to witness, and we can have a judge here to perform the ceremony in—”
“But I have a few conditions of my own,” she said.
Theo sat in his chair, leaning back to cross his ankle over his knee, his body language relaxed, friendly now he’d gotten his way. He smiled. “I would expect nothing less.”
“Just three small things.”
“I’m all ears.”
Emmie took a deep breath. “First. Our primary domicile will be in New York City.”
He tilted his head with a frown. “I travel constantly for work. You know that better than anyone.”
She looked at him evenly. “And the baby and I may travel with you...sometimes. But I want to raise our child in one place, a real home. Not drag him from place to place living out of a suitcase like some backpacker on a gap year.”
Theo set both feet back on the floor, sitting up straight, all his earlier casual friendliness gone now that there was a threat to his future convenience.
“Why here? Why not Aspen, St. Moritz, London?” he asked, listing the settings of his other multi-million-dollar residences. “Or even Greece? I just bought something there today...”
“You might own houses in those places, but they’re not home.”
“Home can be anywhere we are,” he challenged. “We could live happily in five-star hotels in Paris, Tokyo, Sydney. Why not—” his dark eyes lifted to hers “—Rio?”
She shivered. No. She wasn’t going to think about that night in Rio.
“New York is my home,” she said quietly. She clasped her hands in her lap so he couldn’t see them trembling. “My family is thirty minutes away. My friends live here. Mybestfriend. And yours,” she added, thinking of Honora and Nico.
His jaw tightened. He was clearly irritated at her persistence. As his secretary, she’d always done what he wanted.
“Fine,” he bit out. “Your second condition?”
Emmie lifted her chin. “I want your permission to help my family as I see fit. Don’t worry, nothing crazy,” she rushed to say as he raised his eyebrows. “Just enough to replace what I do in Dad’s business and at home. Some money for his retirement. Maybe some of my brothers could go to community college or learn a trade, since I’m not sure they’re all interested in plumbing.” Another reason the business had been doing so badly the last few years.
“Very well.” Theo’s handsome face was cold, unreadable. “And the last condition?”
This was the hard one. Emmie took a deep breath.
“I release you from all the adultery clauses in the prenup.” She drummed her fingers nervously over the pile of papers. “As far as I’m concerned, you can sleep with whomever you want.”
Theo gasped, his eyes wide. She’d never seen him look so shocked.
“What?” he stammered. “Why?”
“Marriage lasts a lifetime. Or it should. And it would be unreasonable for me to expect you to never have sex again. So my final condition of marrying you is—sleep with anyone you want.” Emmie lifted her gaze to his. “As long as it’s not with me.”
Be married to Emmie and never make love to her?
Had she lost her mind?
Theo set his jaw. Taking a deep breath, he tried to control the pounding of his heart and make his voice sound reasonable. “You’re angry I want you to sign a prenup.”
