Chapter 2
Maxine
Surely, I’d lost what was left of my mind.
Desperation made for insanity. I’d always been damn good at chaos.
“Hear me out.”
Cameron Murdock had grown up in all the best ways, not that it mattered. Okay, so that wasn’t exactly true. He wouldn’t be hard to look at for the year that I needed him to be my husband. If he said yes to my batshit plan.
I was about to say more when a couple from my grandmother’s inner circle walked into the living room.
I didn’t need Mrs. Jacques to hear me right then.
I grabbed Cam by the hand and drew him into the kitchen.
I tried to ignore the quick jolt from the touch of his skin.
It was rough, but warm and his hold was firm in mine.
He let me lead him into the kitchen which had to count for something.
“What the hell is going on, Maxie?”
I pushed him toward the kitchen island, but then another person came in. “You have got to be kidding me.”
His lips quirked. “Everyone wants a look at the Delacroix house.”
I glanced around and spotted the pantry. I hustled him back toward the door, my legs brushing his as he quickly walked backwards. Dear God, he smelled good.
Focus, Max.
“Maxie—”
I put a hand over his mouth, reached around him with the other and all of that warmth hit me like a force. My gaze darted to his and found a similar awareness. I pushed him through the door.
His caramel brown eyes narrowed as he pulled my hand away. “If you wanted to get me into a closet all you needed to do was ask,” he said on a low voice.
Startled, I realized how it looked. The little fission of...whatever this was needed to stop. Once we were inside, I backed away from him and dropped his hand. “Sorry, too many ears.”
He leaned against the counter in the large pantry and crossed his arms. It was the one space my grandmother had made sure to upgrade.
The rest of the house might have been trapped in the early 1900’s, but the kitchen was mostly modern.
Still, the space was tight enough that his scent appealed to me far too much.
Sawdust, rain, and something I couldn’t name. Something sweet.
Again, he waited me out.
I only had a handful of vague memories of Cam. He was a couple of years younger than me. His brother Angus had been in my grade, and I spent most of my time with Eloise. Occasionally, hangouts overlapped with the rather large Murdock clan, especially in the summers.
I just remembered that his eyes made me do a few double takes over the years, but the age gap had been enough to keep me from thinking about it too hard.
“You going to give me a clue as to what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”
He thought I was beautiful?
Ugh, Max, you gotta catch a clue. This was about more than some ridiculous fizz between us. “So, this is going to sound crazy.”
“Already there, honey.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Don’t call me honey.”
His lips twitched. “All right, Maxine.”
I rolled my eyes at the full name. No one called me that anymore.
Not to mention living in the south for the last seven years had cured me of pet names.
Add in the patronizing men at the ad agency I’d worked at since I’d graduated, and it was enough to make me snarl.
I’d dealt with the good old boys’ club in a corporate setting and now I came home only to find out my grandmother wasn’t much better.
“Okay, this is going to sound mercenary, but I’m out of options. This is a win-win situation for the both of us.”
He arched one brow.
“So, my grandmother has a clause in her will. An archaic and absolutely ridiculous clause, but it’s there nonetheless.”
He frowned. “What kind of clause?”
“It’s preposterous since she’d been a widow for the last twenty years. Who is she to put this on me?”
“Maxine, honey—sorry. I don’t know why I keep saying that,” he muttered. “You aren’t making much sense.”
“Sorry, sorry.” I flicked my hair out of my face. “To inherit the trust that goes with this house I have to be married. Well, me or my mother. With my mother’s track record with men, she’ll end up with a con artist who will swindle all of the money.”
“And I wouldn’t?” The half smirk on his face made something twist inside of me.
Something very inconvenient.
“No. The Murdock family has more character than that. Angus, nor your dad would allow you to get away with that. Besides, this will include an ironclad contract. I need you in name only. One year and you get your pick of antique furniture in this house.”
“And you get?”
I pressed my lips together.
Maybe this impulsive idea was stupid. I didn’t want to give him the number, but I wasn’t a liar. I’d dealt with that too much in my life. I huffed out a breath. “Five million dollars.”
He whistled. “That’s quite the number.”
“It is, but it’s going to take half of it to fix up this house. I didn’t realize just how bad it had gotten since I’ve been gone.”
“It’s not hopeless.” He shifted so both of those big, distracting hands were gripping the counter. “I’ve been walking around for the last few hours.”
“You haven’t seen upstairs.”
He pushed off the counter and moved into my space. “I have a counteroffer.”
In my heels, I was just a few inches shorter than Cam. And my heart rate kicked up a notch as that sweetness drifted over to me again.
His gaze dropped to my mouth for a moment before they burned into mine. “You give the Murdock Brothers first bid on the renovations, and I get the furniture.”
“Just the bid?”
He nodded. “It’s a big job, but my brothers and I are good at what we do. And whatever we don’t know how to do, we can find specialists who do. If you don’t like what we come up with I’ll just take the pieces in my notebook.”
“That’s all you want?”
“Monetarily.” He slid past me, making sure his chest brushed against my arm as he opened the door.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I chased him out of the pantry. “Where are you going?”
“To find a suit. Write up the paperwork and give me a call, wife.”
The word wife was like a bomb in my chest.
“Wait.” I clomped after him, my heels loud on the black and white tile of the kitchen. “I don’t have your number.” I caught up with him in the foyer.
“Sure, you do.” He nodded to the notebook still in my hands.
I looked down at it and sure enough there was a business card taped to the inside cover. When I looked up, he was already gone.
I shut the door after him and wasn’t sure what the hell to do. Why had he said yes so easily? Was he just as certifiable as I was?
On auto pilot, I put sold tags on the seven things he’d earmarked in the little black notebook. Impulsively, I added a few more pieces that matched the vibe of his choices.
It took another hour to get the rest of the people out of there. Cam was right about people wanting to get a look at the house and less interested in the sale. I’d been slowly growing more anxious as the day passed.
Which was partially why I’d impulsively asked him to marry me.
I was feeling desperate.
What the hell had I been thinking?
He was little more than a stranger to me. The fact that my grandmother still had that old-fashioned clause in her will pissed me off even more. She’d been so damn progressive about politics and women in the workplace, but she hadn’t been happy until she had mom and I linked up with people.
As if I needed a male to add to my hectic career.
Then again, my career hadn’t been going anywhere in Georgia.
I’d been passed over for another promotion for a man who did a quarter of the work.
Getting the call about my grandmother and needing to take care of all the arrangements had actually come at a good time.
I had enough vacation and personal time to take off. And I’d been pissed off enough at Shaw Media to actually take the time. I never took time off, foolishly thinking if I worked hard enough, they’d actually see what a key member of the team I was.
Joke was on me.
I sagged against the front door before locking it.
I hadn’t even had time to breathe since I landed in Albany a week ago. It was like my emotions were locked in the ostentatious mausoleum where my grandmother had been interred. It had been one step in front of the other until I dropped each night and started over again the next morning.
My mother had been less than useless with any of this. She was so pissed off with her inheritance she’d demanded I sell as much as possible to add money to her already rapidly dwindling bank account. Which was why I was in this mess to begin with.
The only good thing was that my mother would need time to hunt for a husband. In this case, it was a net positive. I just might have a chance to save the house.
As much as I loved my grandfather, those well-funded men at the Bridger school wouldn’t be getting the Delacroix money.
I would need every penny of it to fix this place from crumbling around my ears.
Now, the only chance I had to save it was to marry Cameron Murdock and convince him to live with me.
It was a big house and only for a year.
It couldn’t be so bad.