Read Online Secrets of a Shy Socialite by Wendy S. Marcus - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Wendy S. Marcus
Tags: Romance
Ads: Link
light. “Annie should be up for a bottle soon. Then hopefully I can sleep for a few uninterrupted hours so I’m bright and cheery for my new job tomorrow.”
“Wait a minute,” Justin said. “You have your money back. You don’t need to work.”
“Maybe not, but I like working as a nurse. And I promised Mary I’d help her out this weekend. She needs me.”
“Your daughters need you, too,” Justin pointed out. If given the choice, didn’t women want to stay home to take care of their babies?
“Relax,” Jena said. “It’s sixteen hours. It’ll be good for me to have some time away from the girls, to use my skills, and engage in professional conversation. I’m not in a position to commit to more hours right now. And if I come to an agreement with Thomas, I’ll be moving into the city in the next two months anyway.”
Thomas. They were back to her considering a marriage to Thomas. “What is this fixation with marriage? You. Jaci. Your brother. I don’t get it.”
“Keep your voice down,” Jena whispered.
He froze, waited to see if he’d woken Abbie, and said a private thank you for blessed quiet.
“When my father died,” Jena said, keeping her voice low, “Jaci and my inheritances went into a trust. To be distributed on our twenty-fifth birthday.”
November twenty-eighth. In two and a half months.
“Typical of my dad, controlling tyrant that he was, he placed stipulations on the money.” She looked up at him. “To receive it, Jaci and I have to be married and living with our respective spouses by our twenty-fifth birthday. To be sure we don’t enter into a sham of a marriage, the payments are to be broken up over five years at five million dollars per year for each of us. If one of us doesn’t marry by the age of twenty-five, we forfeit our portion of the trust and the money will be donated to charities designated by my father before his death. If we divorce or separate during the five year period, we forfeit any monies not yet paid.”
Even dead that evil, arrogant menace managed to exert his power. “Twenty-five million dollars is a strong incentive to marry.”
Jena nodded. “It’s my daughters’ legacy, their future. And I will do whatever it takes to see they get it.”
“Even marry a gay guy?” slipped out before he could stop it.
“Trust me when I tell you, he is a million times better than most of the other men Jerald’s tried to pair me off with.”
The opportunistic bloodsucker. “What’s his interest, anyway?”
“Fathers come to Jerald looking to make a good match for their wayward sons. Men come to him looking for a quick infusion of cash our trust would provide to bolster their failing business endeavors and dwindling bank accounts. Both promise Jerald favors or contracts or something that he wants.” She shrugged and turned to look out the window. “Not exactly how I’d hoped to meet my future husband,” she said sadly.
Damn it. “It’s only for five years, right?” An idea started to form. A way to keep her from marrying someone else, to protect her from her brother and have her for himself, temporarily, to ensure his daughters’ financial future and make sure he would be the one and only daddy in their lives.
She nodded, staring into the night.
“Hell, five years isn’t all that long. I’ll marry you.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“I NEED a nurse out here,” Gayle called out. Again. One hour into her first shift and Jena had been called to patient sign-in to triage more than a dozen patients. Thank goodness Jaci had dropped her off two hours early to meet with Mary, review policies and procedures, and familiarize herself with the facility before she’d officially started work.
“I’m on my way,” Jena called out, freshening the paper liner on the exam table in room four and stuffing it and a disposable gown into the trashcan.
“Everything okay?” Mary, who was supposed to be supervising her closely, asked as she hurried in the opposite
“Wait a minute,” Justin said. “You have your money back. You don’t need to work.”
“Maybe not, but I like working as a nurse. And I promised Mary I’d help her out this weekend. She needs me.”
“Your daughters need you, too,” Justin pointed out. If given the choice, didn’t women want to stay home to take care of their babies?
“Relax,” Jena said. “It’s sixteen hours. It’ll be good for me to have some time away from the girls, to use my skills, and engage in professional conversation. I’m not in a position to commit to more hours right now. And if I come to an agreement with Thomas, I’ll be moving into the city in the next two months anyway.”
Thomas. They were back to her considering a marriage to Thomas. “What is this fixation with marriage? You. Jaci. Your brother. I don’t get it.”
“Keep your voice down,” Jena whispered.
He froze, waited to see if he’d woken Abbie, and said a private thank you for blessed quiet.
“When my father died,” Jena said, keeping her voice low, “Jaci and my inheritances went into a trust. To be distributed on our twenty-fifth birthday.”
November twenty-eighth. In two and a half months.
“Typical of my dad, controlling tyrant that he was, he placed stipulations on the money.” She looked up at him. “To receive it, Jaci and I have to be married and living with our respective spouses by our twenty-fifth birthday. To be sure we don’t enter into a sham of a marriage, the payments are to be broken up over five years at five million dollars per year for each of us. If one of us doesn’t marry by the age of twenty-five, we forfeit our portion of the trust and the money will be donated to charities designated by my father before his death. If we divorce or separate during the five year period, we forfeit any monies not yet paid.”
Even dead that evil, arrogant menace managed to exert his power. “Twenty-five million dollars is a strong incentive to marry.”
Jena nodded. “It’s my daughters’ legacy, their future. And I will do whatever it takes to see they get it.”
“Even marry a gay guy?” slipped out before he could stop it.
“Trust me when I tell you, he is a million times better than most of the other men Jerald’s tried to pair me off with.”
The opportunistic bloodsucker. “What’s his interest, anyway?”
“Fathers come to Jerald looking to make a good match for their wayward sons. Men come to him looking for a quick infusion of cash our trust would provide to bolster their failing business endeavors and dwindling bank accounts. Both promise Jerald favors or contracts or something that he wants.” She shrugged and turned to look out the window. “Not exactly how I’d hoped to meet my future husband,” she said sadly.
Damn it. “It’s only for five years, right?” An idea started to form. A way to keep her from marrying someone else, to protect her from her brother and have her for himself, temporarily, to ensure his daughters’ financial future and make sure he would be the one and only daddy in their lives.
She nodded, staring into the night.
“Hell, five years isn’t all that long. I’ll marry you.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“I NEED a nurse out here,” Gayle called out. Again. One hour into her first shift and Jena had been called to patient sign-in to triage more than a dozen patients. Thank goodness Jaci had dropped her off two hours early to meet with Mary, review policies and procedures, and familiarize herself with the facility before she’d officially started work.
“I’m on my way,” Jena called out, freshening the paper liner on the exam table in room four and stuffing it and a disposable gown into the trashcan.
“Everything okay?” Mary, who was supposed to be supervising her closely, asked as she hurried in the opposite
Similar Books
