Read Online Millionaire Husband by Leanne Banks - Free Book Online

to Nick.
    Catching Amy’s look of surprise, Justin guided the wobbly child to the bathroom and held him up so he could drink from the faucet, then helped him finish with the toilet. He returned the boy to Amy.
    “He has never shown this much motivation to use the bathroom,” Amy murmured.
    “That Y chromosome comes in handy when you least expect it.”
    She shook her head, but smiled. “I’ll tuck him in.”
    “What about me?” he asked, figuring he could blame his audacity on the late hour.
    “What about you?” she asked.
    “When are you going to tuck me in?” he asked. “It’s my first night here. I might have a bad dream.”
    “Count sheep,” she said.
    Justin wondered how such a woman who was so warm and generous with the kids could be so heartless with him. He knew, however, that Amy resented needing him to accomplish her goal.
    And so began the inauspicious, passionless marriage of Amy and Justin. The following day was a flurry of activity with Justin continuing to get help from the children setting up his computer. The boys fastened themselves to him like glue, and in the corner of her mind, Amy wondered about them growing attached to him.
    That evening, he met her again in the den. This time she was ready for him. She crossed her legs Indian style so he wouldn’t work his voodoo on her ankle again. “Why couldn’t your mother take care of you? Was she sick?”
    He walked behind the couch and touched her hair. She turned her head to look at him.
    “She wasn’t physically ill,” he said. “Or mentally ill in the true sense. She just couldn’t manage money. Every month she would receive a check for child support from my father and she would spend it all within three days. Bills piled up, the landlord threw us out, our electricity was cut off too many times to count. She would stay out all night sometimes. A neighbor found out and called social services. Not long after that, I started living at Granger.”
    Her heart twisted at the picture he’d drawn of his childhood. Amy’s upbringing may not have been a fairy tale, but her mother was usually around even if she’d passed out drunk more nights than not.
    “Neglect,” she murmured. “How old were—”
    He shook his head. “—one question. My turn. What made you decide you wanted to change the world?”
    Her lips twitched. More than one friend had teased her for her crusader orientation. “I don’t have to change the world, really,” she said. “Although that would be nice. I can just be satisfied working on my little corner of it.”
    Justin shrugged. “You didn’t answer my question. What made you decide—”
    Amy waved her hand. “Okay. When I was about thirteen or fourteen, I observed that there were two kinds of people in the world. People who make a difference and people who waste their lives. I saw too many people waste their lives to know I didn’t want that for myself.”
    She could see the follow-up questions on his face, but he just nodded. “Okay, good night.”
    The same irritation spiced with indignation she’d felt last night prickled through her. He clearly had more control and less curiosity than she did, blasthim. “Good night,” she said, trying to keep the edge from her voice.
    Justin glanced over his shoulder. “It’ll be a helluva lot better for both of us when you stop being angry that you accepted my help. Sleep tight,” he said and climbed the stairs.
    Amy gaped after him. Angry! Me, angry? She had half a mind to chase him up those stairs and show him what angry was. While it may be true that she was exasperated with the legal system, and she resented the fact that getting married would make it easier to gain custody of the children, she wasn’t angry with Justin. She wasn’t pleased she’d had to marry a stranger, and the marriage was turning her life upside down, but her anger was directed at lawyers and a certain social worker. Not Justin. Right.
     
    Monday presented the usual problems