Read Online $10,000,000 Marriage Proposal by James Patterson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: James Patterson
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in the process. If he were a playboy, making a game out of picking a wife—then he would never have picked Janey. Or Suze or Caroline, for that matter. They were all, in their own ways, down-to-earth. Surely a man who chose them could slum it here in her pad. He would have to, she told herself. She wasn’t going to mold herself into his world.
She could see herself having that conversation with him, the one where he’d chosen her, and she was reminding him that she had a career to think of, and he would have to respect that.
“Of course,” he would say, taking her hand in his. They would be out on his patio, appreciating the sweeping views over a bottle of wine. “I’ve been wanting to downsize to someplace more cozy.”
Janey would hold up her hand to stop him. “Let’s not jump the gun here,” she’d say. “ We have plenty of time for all of that.”
“Only the rest of our lives,” he’d say, and lean in to kiss her.
Janey rolled over, knocking two pillows off the bed. She looked at the clock. It was 1:30 and she still hadn’t slept. She had to get up in five and a half hours! She couldn’t function on that little sleep. She reached over and reset her alarm to 9:00 a.m. In her new job, thankfully, she set her own hours.
She pulled her laptop out from under the bed and opened it up. The studies said that looking at a screen in the middle of the night was the worst thing for insomnia, but she didn’t care. If this bachelor was going to keep her up all night, she would at least use the time productively. She addressed an e-mail to herself and gave it a subject line: Story Ideas.
Chapter 22
The yard behind Caroline’s mother’s house was brown in the porch light. As the person who’d insisted her mother turn off the sprinklers and apply for a water-saving rebate from the city, Caroline couldn’t complain, but it was still depressing.
With a furtive look over her shoulder to make sure her mother and sister were asleep, Caroline lit a cigarette. It was an old bad habit, and really her mother couldn’t fault her for it, since her own insistence that Caroline be skinny had driven her to cigarettes as a teenager. Now she indulged only once a month, max, and only in moments of stress.
Caroline exhaled. It was ridiculous that she was stressed out about this crazy love contest when she had so many other things to worry about. Admit it, she told herself, you’re looking for an easy fix. She didn’t want or expect a gallant stranger to sweep her off her feet, solve her housing and other financial woes, and leave her to pursue a life of charitable work. In fact, that was the opposite of what she wanted. If love was entwined with salvation, could it be trusted?
For the umpteenth time Caroline resolved to pull herself out of the running.
But what if she actually liked him? What if they liked each other? What if they were soul mates?
As weird and unlikely as this whole rigmarole was, Caroline couldn’t help but harbor a small, irrational hope that everything would work out. He would pick her, and he would pick her because he saw her for who she really was, and they would live happily ever after. It was unlikely, but it wasn’t impossible. No matter what else had gone on and would go on surrounding their meeting, they were still just two people who hadn’t met each other, and in that simple equation there was a whole world of possibility.
What if she never heard from him again? How long would he leave her in this maddening state of limbo?
Chapter 23
Suze was googling Mr. Moneybags. She knew it was a useless exercise—she had already googled him, the contest, the corporation that had purchased his house, to death. She’d even checked to see who had registered the domain of the website that was hosting the contest. Her fantasy was to find him on social media or, failing that, perhaps to stumble on a sibling who’d blabbed about the contest. But it was not meant to be. He had total control of the
She could see herself having that conversation with him, the one where he’d chosen her, and she was reminding him that she had a career to think of, and he would have to respect that.
“Of course,” he would say, taking her hand in his. They would be out on his patio, appreciating the sweeping views over a bottle of wine. “I’ve been wanting to downsize to someplace more cozy.”
Janey would hold up her hand to stop him. “Let’s not jump the gun here,” she’d say. “ We have plenty of time for all of that.”
“Only the rest of our lives,” he’d say, and lean in to kiss her.
Janey rolled over, knocking two pillows off the bed. She looked at the clock. It was 1:30 and she still hadn’t slept. She had to get up in five and a half hours! She couldn’t function on that little sleep. She reached over and reset her alarm to 9:00 a.m. In her new job, thankfully, she set her own hours.
She pulled her laptop out from under the bed and opened it up. The studies said that looking at a screen in the middle of the night was the worst thing for insomnia, but she didn’t care. If this bachelor was going to keep her up all night, she would at least use the time productively. She addressed an e-mail to herself and gave it a subject line: Story Ideas.
Chapter 22
The yard behind Caroline’s mother’s house was brown in the porch light. As the person who’d insisted her mother turn off the sprinklers and apply for a water-saving rebate from the city, Caroline couldn’t complain, but it was still depressing.
With a furtive look over her shoulder to make sure her mother and sister were asleep, Caroline lit a cigarette. It was an old bad habit, and really her mother couldn’t fault her for it, since her own insistence that Caroline be skinny had driven her to cigarettes as a teenager. Now she indulged only once a month, max, and only in moments of stress.
Caroline exhaled. It was ridiculous that she was stressed out about this crazy love contest when she had so many other things to worry about. Admit it, she told herself, you’re looking for an easy fix. She didn’t want or expect a gallant stranger to sweep her off her feet, solve her housing and other financial woes, and leave her to pursue a life of charitable work. In fact, that was the opposite of what she wanted. If love was entwined with salvation, could it be trusted?
For the umpteenth time Caroline resolved to pull herself out of the running.
But what if she actually liked him? What if they liked each other? What if they were soul mates?
As weird and unlikely as this whole rigmarole was, Caroline couldn’t help but harbor a small, irrational hope that everything would work out. He would pick her, and he would pick her because he saw her for who she really was, and they would live happily ever after. It was unlikely, but it wasn’t impossible. No matter what else had gone on and would go on surrounding their meeting, they were still just two people who hadn’t met each other, and in that simple equation there was a whole world of possibility.
What if she never heard from him again? How long would he leave her in this maddening state of limbo?
Chapter 23
Suze was googling Mr. Moneybags. She knew it was a useless exercise—she had already googled him, the contest, the corporation that had purchased his house, to death. She’d even checked to see who had registered the domain of the website that was hosting the contest. Her fantasy was to find him on social media or, failing that, perhaps to stumble on a sibling who’d blabbed about the contest. But it was not meant to be. He had total control of the
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