Read Online Treasured by Thursday (Weekday Brides Series Book 7) by Catherine Bybee - Free Book Online Page B

“That’s really none of your business.”
    “You’ll learn that everything about you is now my business.”
    “You’ll learn that a wife is not an employee you can boss around.”
    She saw his jaw tighten, knew there was something he wanted to say that he held back.
    “Talking with you is right up there with walking through a minefield without a bulletproof jacket,” he told her. “Is it so terrible that I’d like to know a little more about my wife than what I hear from my private investigator?”
    “A private investigator? Why am I not surprised?”
    “Because you’re a smart woman.”
    She was about to reply when the waiter arrived and told them the specials. Hunter ordered a cocktail and Gabi ordered tea.
    “Wouldn’t a glass of wine help you relax?” he asked.
    “I’m a smart woman,” she told him. “Letting my guard down around you isn’t the intelligent move to make.”
    “He must have done a number on you,” he said.
    “This isn’t going to work,” she whispered under her breath and reached for her purse.
    Hunter placed his hand over hers. “Please. Let’s start over. I’m really not that awful of a man.”
    “You blackmailed me into marrying you.”
    He pursed his lips, the motion almost comical. “Well . . . other than that. You didn’t really leave me a choice.”
    What would be the point of running? They needed to move out of the kick each other stage, and Gabi needed to have a stiffer back whenever her past came up.
    She lifted her hand away from his and set it in her lap. “One of the reasons these marriages work is the two clients actually like each other. We’ve established that isn’t us.”
    “Speak for yourself,” he said.
    “Oh, please.”
    “You stood up to me, offered a laughable contract. I like a woman who takes chances.”
    “Is that right?”
    He smiled, the look not quite reaching his eyes. “Now it’s your turn.”
    “My turn for what?”
    He waved two fingers in his direction. “Something . . . anything you don’t despise about me.”
    Was this a joke? “You’re serious?”
    “One thing, Gabi.”
    She thought about it, filed through a dozen things she hated and found one. “You have nice taste in flowers.”
    Now his smile moved higher. When it reached his eyes he looked younger. And for the first time since they’d met, she found herself relaxing in his presence.
    For the rest of the evening, they talked about their daily routines. She showed him a list of houses and spoke of the things she liked and didn’t like about each one.
    He took in the information but didn’t offer much in the way of advice. He asked that she give him a few days to find something suitable. If he questioned why she wanted a new house, he didn’t ask her.
    They ate their meal and finished with coffee.
    “We’re going to have to announce our marriage soon,” he told her as he drove her back home.
    “I’m going to call my family tomorrow.”
    “Let me know when that’s done, and I’ll plan the next move.”
    “What about your family . . . how are they going to take us?”
    Hunter glanced at her before turning his attention back to the road. “My family isn’t a part of my life.”
    She’d remembered something in his file about a brother . . . no mother, and a father who was alive. The details on where everyone was weren’t something Sam had placed in the information given to Gabi.
    “My brother won’t take the news well,” Gabi told him. “My mother will be livid.”
    “They know what you do for a living, right?”
    “They do. But having me fall prey won’t be expected. I’ll do my best to convince them I wanted this. They will know it’s temporary.”
    “As long as they can be trusted to keep that information to themselves.”
    “They will.”
    He pulled into her drive and she stopped him before he could walk her to the door. “This is awkward enough,” she told him.
    “All right. We’ll speak tomorrow?”
    She nodded. “I’ll