Read Online His Black Sheep Bride by Anna DePalo - Free Book Online Page B

hear.”
    Tamara steadied herself. “You both know Pink Teddy Designs has been in financial difficulty for some time.” It was a painful admission. Her business was everything to her—her dream, her quest for validation. “But what you don’t know is that recently things have come to a head. My rent is set to increase and I’ve tapped out my credit.”
    Belinda’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re marrying Sawyer for financial reasons?” she guessed. “Can I just weigh inwith the fact that money is on my list of bad reasons to get married?”
    Pia shook her head. “It’ll never last.”
    Tamara pushed at her breakfast plate. “I don’t want it to last!”
    Pia’s eyes rounded. “And what about poor Tom?”
    â€œPoor Tom is on his way to Los Angeles, hot on the trail of a record deal, thanks to Sawyer.”
    â€œWonderful,” Belinda remarked sarcastically.
    â€œI mentioned my father had a long-cherished wish to unite the Kincaid and Langsford families,” Tamara said. “But what I didn’t mention is that he’s made his agreement to Melton Media’s merger with Kincaid News conditional on Sawyer convincing me to marry him.”
    Pia gasped, her hand briefly covering her mouth. “You’re willing to throw away your chance to marry for love?”
    Tamara was tempted to say she was a bit cynical about love after the examples set by her parents, but she stifled her reply. She supposed in Pia’s business, it was helpful—maybe even necessary—to believe in true love. Why disabuse her friend?
    And, truth be told, Tamara conceded, she wasn’t a hardened cynic. Her secret indulgence was chick flicks that made her misty-eyed. She’d wonder whether it was possible to find a man who set her pulse racing and held her close to his heart. She’d wonder if, despite her parents’ example, a happily-ever-after was attainable for her.
    She pasted a smile on her face. “No, don’t worry. I’m not giving up the chance of love forever. With any luck—” her lips twisted self-deprecatingly “—a second marriage will be the charm.”
    â€œOr third,” Belinda muttered.
    â€œOr third,” she agreed, since it was clear her friend was hoping for a third wedding.
    Thrusting aside the fact that her own father had beenmarried three times, Tamara quickly explained the terms of her agreement with Sawyer for a short-term marriage of convenience: Kincaid News in return for the money to save Pink Teddy Designs.
    â€œI don’t know,” Pia said doubtfully when she’d finished, shaking her head.
    â€œWhat could go wrong?” Tamara asked. “In six months, a year at most, we both go our separate ways.”
    â€œFamous last words,” Belinda said. “It’s taken me more than two years to get an annulment.”
    Tamara needed to know her friends were behind her. More importantly, she needed both her friends’ help if she was to convince her father that she and Sawyer had succumbed to dynastic expectations rather than come up with a plan of their own.
    â€œI need you both to act as if you believe Sawyer and I have finally decided to do our family duty,” she said baldly. “Otherwise I’ll never convince my father.”
    Pia’s eyes widened, and Belinda snorted disbelievingly.
    â€œYour father will never buy it,” Belinda said.
    â€œIt’s my only hope.”
    Her only hope, and Pink Teddy’s.
    Neither Belinda nor Pia had a ready reply, but Tamara could tell from their expressions that they reluctantly understood her predicament.
    She sucked in a breath. “So will you do it? Will you show up when I marry—” she stumbled over the word, and Belinda looked at her keenly “—Sawyer? Even if it turns out to be in a drafty British castle?”
    Belinda sighed. “I’ll bring my