Read Online Change of Heart by Jude Deveraux - Free Book Online Page B

showed every curve of her upper body. But Frank didn’t seem to notice, as his eyes were intense.
    “Ordinarily,” he began, “the things you said to me would have no effect on me. My relatives have said everything you have and more. However, it seems that when a man reaches forty and—”
    “A billion,” she interrupted.
    “Yes, well, there does come a time when a man begins to consider his own mortality.”
    “Midas,” she said, referring to the story of the man who turned everything, including his beloved child, into gold.
    “Just so.” He hesitated, glancing down at her bosom for the briefest second. “Contrary to what people think, I am human.”
    At that Miranda pulled the covers up to her neck. She was not a one-night-stand type of person. In fact, she wouldn’t even read romances in which the heroine had a multitude of lovers. “Mr. Taggert—” she began.
    But he put up his hand to stop her. “You do not have to concern yourself about me. I do not force myself on women.”
    She knew he was telling the truth and let the covers go. Besides, she didn’t see herself as a woman who drove men to uncontrollable acts of lust. “What is it you’re trying to say to me?”
    “I am trying to ask if you’d consider marrying me.”
    It took her a full minute to recover herself enough to speak. “Marriage?” she asked, her eyes wide. “To me?”
    “Yes.” He was serious. “I can see that you’re shocked. Most of the women I meet are tall, statuesque blondes who train horses and wear couture. I don’t usually come across short, plump—”
    “I understand,” she said quickly. “So why aren’t you married to one of these horsey women who spends her life trying on clothes?”
    Her cattiness was acknowledged with a tiny bit of a smile. “I’m afraid that it’s as you say—they care only for my money.”
    “Mr. Taggert,” she said, looking at him hard, “I’m not interested in your money or you.”
    He gave a little smile. “Surely there are things you want that money can buy. I would imagine you live in a house with a mortgage, and I doubt that your car is less than three years old. Does your ex-husband pay you any support? You’re the type who would never take a person to court for nonpayment of debt. How long has it been since you’ve had any new clothes? There must be many things besides an education that you want for your son.”
    That he’d described her life perfectly made her angry. “Being poor is not a social disease. And since slavery was outlawed some years ago, I don’t have to sell myself to get a new car.”
    “How about a white Mercedes with red leather interior?”
    She almost smiled at that. “Really, Mr. Taggert, this is ridiculous. What’s the real reason you’re asking me to marry you? If you still are, that is.”
    “Yes. Once I make up my mind, I never change it.”
    “I can believe that about you.”
    Again he gave her a bit of a smile, making her wonder if any of the tall blondes in his life had ever contradicted him. “My life is too perfect,” he said, “and it’s beginning to bore me. Everything is perfectly in order as my servants are the best. There’s never so much as a hairbrush out of place in any of my houses. For some time now I’ve thought it might be pleasant to have a wife, someone familiar to me. I like familiarity, which is why the contents of each of my houses are exactly the same.”
    Blinking, she thought about this for a moment. “Same towels, same—”
    “Same clothes in exactly the same arrangement, so that no matter where I am I know what is where.”
    “Oh my. That is boring.”
    “But very efficient.”
    “Where would I fit into this efficiency?”
    “As I said before, I have considered a wife, and the women I generally meet would be as perfect as my life already is.”
    “Why not marry several of them?” she asked helpfully. “One for each house. For variety you could change hair color, since I’m sure it wouldn’t be