I'm sure whatever arrangement

"I...I'm sure whatever arrangement you had with Devon

will be fine," Cat said vaguely.

Luke considered the bargain Devon had driven and

thought it would probably be plenty for anyone short of a

rock star's ex-wife, but he couldn't resist the urge to prod

further. "That's rather trusting of you don't you think? What

if she had made a lousy bargain?"

"Devon?" Cat looked surprised. "Devon lives to bargain.

I'm sure whatever your agreement with her was, it will just

be fine for me."

Interesting that she didn't ask what the agreement was,

Luke thought. He contemplated her in silence, one hand

idly swirling the last swallow of brandy in the snifter. She

looked uncomfortable with the whole discussion. Cynically

he wondered if she thought talking about the settlement

might make her look greedy where offering to marry him

for money hadn't. It was surprising difficult to read what

was going on behind those big green eyes. Not that it

mattered all that much, he thought. He needed a wife not a

best friend. He already had one of those and he could trust

Keith to see that the prenup protected him.

"A prenup is a given." he said abruptly, and Cat jumped a

little, startled.

"A prenup?" She said blankly.

"Prenuptial contract. Everything laid out nice and neat.

What you get. What I get in return. What happens when we

get a divorce. No surprises. No loopholes."

"When we get a divorce?" Cat wrinkled her nose. "Not

exactly positive thinking, is it?"

"Realistic thinking," Luke said. "Better than fifty percent

of marriages end in divorce, and that's when two people

start out pledging eternal devotion. What we're talking

about is a business arrangement, not a prelude to romance.

You want money. I need to be married for a year. Divorce is

pretty much a given, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but Naomi used to say you can only see the path

as far as the first curve."

"And that would mean ... what, exactly?"

When she frowned, her lower lip stuck out in a slight

pout. It was an oddly childlike expression, but the thoughts

it engendered were definitely not paternal.

"Well, Naomi tends to prefer obscurity, so I'm not totally

sure, but I think it means you can't really predict what the

future will bring."

"I think I can safely predict a divorce in my future," he

said firmly. "So if you have any romantic notions about until

death do us part, we'd better call this whole thing off."

"I wasn't sure there was anything to call off," Cat said,

giving him a direct look. "Are you taking me up on my offer

to take Devon's place?"

"I don't know." Luke tossed off the last of the brandy and

set the snifter on the mantel. He was far from drunk, but he

was aware of a pleasant little buzz, a sort of what-the-hell

feeling. somewhere in the back of his mind, danger signs

were flashing, warning him that maybe this wasn't the time

to be making life-altering decisions, but it was easy to

ignore them.

His grandfather had already made the biggest decision

for him, forcing him into a marriage he didn't want. Luke

felt a sudden wave of bitter anger at the way the old man

was manipulating his life. This wasn't what he wanted,

dammit, but it was what he had to do unless he was willing

to see a subdivision spring up in place of the vineyards he'd

played in as a child. And if he had to do it, he would do it on

his terms. The old man had had a bride all picked out for

him. Old money, solid family, so well-bred she came with a

pedigree. He'd told Nick where he could stick his handpicked bride and her pedigree, and he'd asked Devon

Kowalski to marry him, knowing she was everything his

grandfather most despised.