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“Hi. It’s nice to meet some of Jasper’s family.” She glanced at him with a smile lighting her slate-blue eyes. “You didn’t tell me the Irish side of your family was devilishly handsome.”
Josh tossed his head back and laughed. “Oh, I like her. If you decide you want to toss this one over, I’m sure we could have a grand old time together, honey.”
“Get your own woman.” He scowled, wondering if Josh was more her type. And wanting to rip his cousin’s arms off and beat him with them.
In all his life, he’d never experienced jealousy over a woman. He’d been jealous of his cousins’ ability to find love and experience the emotion, but not of the women themselves. Although they were lovely women and suited his cousins to perfection. He enjoyed women immensely, but he’d never felt the thing, that spark that made him want to lay waste to anyone who came near his woman—until now.
Bleeding Christ! They hadn’t even slept together. They’d shared two kisses. Two world-altering, he couldn’t stop thinking about them, kisses. But they were only kisses. What would his reaction be when they finally had sex? Because it was inevitable. He would have her in his bed.
Josh shot him an arched glance, then laughed at him, like he saw Jasper’s desire to clobber him for flirting with his woman.
“We’ve got a long drive and a toddler that needs to eat dinner soon. If we could get this out of the way, I’d appreciate it.”
“Certainly. Why don’t you have a seat.” Josh gestured to the leather chairs in front of his desk.
When they were all seated, he withdrew copies of the contract. “Everything you wanted included is listed within the contract.”
“I need to read it first before I sign it,” Freya stated mulishly.
Stubborn woman. But he understood her hesitancy. He didn’t need to read it because he trusted his cousin fully. “Go ahead. We’ve got the time.”
When Maddie started squirming in her lap, distracting her from reading the contract, he held out his hands. “Let me take her. Come here, little lassie.”
Maddie grinned, her blue eyes shining in excitement, and reached for him. He scooped her up and held her. She snuggled up against him and yawned. “There now, little lassie, close your eyes for a bit. I know it’s been a long day for such a wee lass. But I’m proud of you.”
She giggled, but did as he commanded. Maddie snuggled against his chest, and he felt his heart expand. Jesus, he wanted to be her stepfather for real, be the one who guided her into adulthood.
“This isn’t what we agreed upon. This amount…it’s,”—she glanced his way, her eyes wide with disbelief— “too much.”
He had emailed Josh this morning and asked him to change the amount from twenty to fifty million. It was a drop in the bucket for him. Jasper had more money than he could spend in multiple lifetimes. “I say it’s not, and it’s nonnegotiable. Just sign it already, and we can be done for the day.”
“But—”
“Freya,” he said sternly. The woman was arguing because he was giving her more money than they’d agreed upon. Any other woman would be dancing in their seat, but not her. Unbelievable.
And yet, it also warmed his heart. He wasn’t marrying a fortune hunter. He’d bet she’d pass out if she knew he’d spent more than a hundred grand on her new wardrobe today.
She flushed beneath his stare. Then she sighed and begrudgingly picked up a pen. He watched her sign the contract. Her graceful scrawl had his gut tightening. This was really happening. She would belong to him.
When she was done signing the contract, he affixed his signature.
“Can I get a copy of the contract?”
“Certainly. Just let me notarize it to make it official.”
“Were you able to get us an appointment with Judge Bert Cartright?” He was the judge his brother used when he married Emma.
“Yes. That was the next order of business once the contract was out of the way. He can fit you in on Friday at ten o’clock. He only has an hour, so you can’t be late. I want you to meet me at the courthouse at nine forty-five. Then we’ll go to his office and have him conduct the private ceremony. His secretary and I will be your witnesses.”
“Perfect.” It meant in two days’ time, Freya would be his wife. Surprisingly enough, he wasn’t averse to it.
Josh took their photos against the wall backdrop for their passports and had Freya sign the applications for her and Maddie.
By the time they left the office and headed back to his cabin, he knew three things. One, he was head over heels for his new stepdaughter. Two, he wanted his future wife with a desire that bordered on obsession. And three, it’d been forty-eight hours, and he was already thinking up ways he could keep them both.
12
The drive back to the cabin flew by. But then, she’d been stuck inside her head, pondering the implications of everything that had transpired today. It was their last stop that had been the total mind trip. Jasper increased the amount she would receive at the end of their marriage to fifty million dollars. A year from now, she would have fifty million big ones in the bank.
