Read Online A Marriage Between Friends by Melinda Curtis - Free Book Online

building, her jeans snug across her hips. Her hourglass figure would have most men itching to trace those curves with both hands. Most men. Not Vince. He’d become immune to her charms the night she’d walked out of his life. All that was left now was a detached appreciation of her figure.
    “Did you bring the paperwork?” Jill asked. “You must have been thinking about this for a long time.”
    “It’s too soon.” A contract with the tribe would need to include specific financial agreements and obligations. He and Arnie were still talking big-picture numbers as they danced around approvals.
    Vince saw that words had been painted on the boards, but from this angle he couldn’t read them. Jill and Teddy must have gotten up early. Another step, maybe two…
    “It’s been more than ten years, Vince.”
    Now Vince could see the big, bold red letters. He stopped, staring at the spray-painted phrase—NO CASINO. This was a problem. An amateurish, grassroots problem, to be sure. Still, if Jill teamed up with the mayor Arnie had warned Vince about, she’d be trouble. Vince didn’t have time for trouble.
    “I helped you paint those,” Vince said, jabbing his finger at the signs. “I thought you said it was Teddy’s school project.”
    Jill shook her head twice, so slowly her ponytail barely moved. “You assumed—”
    “Oh, come on, Jill. You could have set me straight last night.” Vince glanced back at the painted boards, torn between the need to shake Jill and kiss her senseless.
    Wait a minute. Kiss Jill? Vince frowned. Jill was maddening. Jill was amusing. He stared at her.
    Yes, he wanted to kiss her.
    “What?” Jill’s brow creased.
    “Nothing.” Kissing would be a big mistake. He wanted to bring her into the casino deal, not scare her away.
    “I hope you’re not arguing with that nice man again,” Edda Mae called, crossing the lot to her cottage.
    “You’re talking about me as if I’m not here.” Frowning, Vince swung around. “Again.”
    “Apologies.” Edda Mae laughed, Moonbeam a poofy white ball bouncing at her feet. “But you had your coffee.”
    Shaking his head, Vince returned his attention to his wife, who looked nervous. “What were you going to ask me before?”
    “I…uhh…” Now that he’d seen the signs, Vince knew bringing Jill into the casino deal was a long shot. “It was probably the same thing I was going to ask you.”
    Jill walked up the hill away from Vince. “I meant to do this a long time ago.”
    “What?” Vince’s gaze had swung back to the boards. He’d helped her paint them. He’d helped her—
    “Divorce you.”
    What the—!
    Vince spun around, his knees jerking unsteadily as his world tilted and fell out of focus so that all he could see was his long-lost wife. Jill hadn’t come to her senses. She’d totally lost her mind. Divorce her? Why? This marriage was the perfect setup.
    “Vince?” Jill circled the small rise, the sun casting filtered light through the tall trees behind her.
    Vince couldn’t find his voice.
    “You’re not divorcing me?” There was a wobbly note of hope underlying her words.
    “No,” Vince blurted. “Why would I?”
    “Maybe because we’re not really married?” Jill gave him a soft, sad smile, looking more like the girl in school who never quite fit in than an accomplished businesswoman. “You live your life and I live mine.”
    “Yes. It’s perfect.” He was starting to sound like a total idiot. But Vegas was full of women looking for a meal ticket, and without his wedding ring his life would be…complicated. Or at least more complicated than it already was.
    “It’s not a marriage, Vince.”
    “Is this about money?”
    “I don’t want your money.” Jill’s smile became more animated. “Well, that’s not quite true. When you sell the house my parents gave us, I’d like my share.”
    Vince took a few steps closer so that he could see her face, gauge if she’d fallen for another man. “Is there