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“It’s not. You can marry or pretend to marry anyone you want so long as you’re not close blood relatives.” He sighs. “Think of it as a business transaction. We do this, we get that. No one gives a shit as long as you pay your taxes.”

That’s probably true. “But it feels … wrong. I mean, do the companies that pay you know that it’s not true?”

“Come on. They’re there to use us. As long as we ride the wave long enough for them to exploit it, they don’t care.”

“And how long would that be—hypothetically, of course?”

He shrugs. “It would be in the contracts. Not our engagement, of course, but they’d have campaign and deliverables dates, stuff like that. We’d have to keep this going through whatever we agreed to.” He thinks for a moment. “If Chuck got everything moving pretty quickly, and they’ll want to strike while the story is hot, then I’d bet we’d be done by the end of the season.”

Okay. So, seven months or so? That’s doable.

“But what if one of us wanted out?” I ask, thinking of contingencies. Nothing is as simple as this seems. “What if you decide you can’t stand me or I get on your nerves? What then?”

“Not going to happen—not on my part, anyway.”

“But it might.”

He sits back, sighing, and it’s about as serious as I’ve seen Finn for a while. There’s no smirk, no mischief in his eyes. Just determination … and something else I don’t know how to label.

“I’ve been following your lead for a long damn time. If I’d had my way, I would’ve been seeing you every chance I could. The only one of us who might want out is you.”

His features darken, and his lips twist together. There’s a flash of annoyance, or maybe pain, across his handsome face. The sight of it causes my heart to squeeze.

“If you want out, it’d be over,” he says.

“What about the contracts?”

“There are always clauses that deal with situations in which one side doesn’t see it through. I’d cancel the contracts and pay the cancellation fees myself.”

I narrow my eyes. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I’m not trying to ruin your life or trap you into something. I genuinely think this could be good for both of us. If you disagree, I’ll never bring it up again.”

My breath is shaky. I don’t want him to walk away from this. I really don’t want him to walk toward it with someone else. But despite being the easy answer right now, I’m not the answer in the long run.

“Have you thought about asking someone else?” I ask as my heart pounds out of control.

“Nope.”

I exhale slowly.

“I’m not saying this to put pressure on you,” he says sincerely. “It was just an idea I had for the two of us. But if you’re not into it, I’m not into it. This isn’t something I’d entertain with anyone else.” He swallows, his eyes searching mine. “If you think I’d even pretend to be with another woman, you haven’t been listening to a thing I’ve been saying.”

Finn.

My shoulders slump as his words prick my heartstrings.

There’s too much energy building inside me to sit still, and I can’t sit across from him and let him keep reading my features like I’m an open book. I just need some space to think without his presence and cologne filling the air.

I rise, heading to the kitchen. “Want a drink?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

What do I do?

I can’t believe I’m in this position—being offered a life-changing amount of money to … what? Hang out with Finn? It’s more money in one swoop than I can wrap my head around.

It would save me a trip to Antarctica, too.