Free His Indecent Proposal by Lynda Chance

baby. I'll contest it and you'll
be stuck with me for a long, long time. Your choice."
    "Wh-why?" Her voice shook.
    "Why do you think?" He punched the words
out.
    "I d-don't know."
    He didn't answer her. He didn't respond in
any way, only continued to watch her.
    Jenna felt his burning look boring into her.
His scowl deepened and his shoulders squared as sexual heat and
aggression radiated from him. His hands clenched into fists as he
tried to maintain control.
    Jenna bit her lip and tried again. "Are you
saying you want the marriage to last longer?"
    "That's fine."
    "What does that mean?"
    "It means I'm sick of you saying that you're
ready to leave. To quit before we even get started. I'm tired of
hearing you say you want out, that you don't want to stay
married."
    "David, we don't even know each other. I'm
only trying to be sensible. How can this work?"
    "How can it work when we're already planning
a divorce?"
    "Are you saying you want to make it work?
Like forever?"
    "I'm saying I don't want to keep hearing you
throw it in my face every two seconds that it's short-term. That
all you want to do is get out of it and go find some fucker to
sleep with."
    Shock hit her full in the face. "I didn't say
that. I'm not--I'm not even thinking of sleeping with anyone
else--"
    "That's good. Because you're not ."
    He held himself rigidly, braced for more
confrontation.
    "Then you're talking about monogamy?"
    "I told you that before this started, Jenna.
You knew that's what I had in mind."
    She shook her head, clearly trying to
understand. "I'm trying to wrap my head around this. You're okay
with me not taking the payment as long as I agree to longer
terms?"
    He slashed his hand through his hair in
aggravation. " No fucking terms!"
    Jenna sucked in a breath, shock coursing
through her. "David, we spoke for the first time not even a week
ago. You bribed me into a marriage for your convenience, a
short-term deal, and now you're saying all bets are off?" She came
to her feet on legs that trembled. "What's changed?"
    "Nothing's changed." His eyes ran over her
length. "It's the same fucking way it's been for the last six
months, only worse."
    Jenna slowly scooted around him toward the
door. "You want a real marriage." Her words were a softly spoken
accusation.
    He glared at her as she sidled toward the
door. "Where do you think you're going?"
    "Nowhere far. Calm down. I'm going to have a
bath and think." They stared at each other, electric currents
passing between them. He took a step toward her.
    "Jenna, I--"
    "Later, David. We'll talk later." She fled
the room.
    ****
    Jenna came down the steps an hour later half
expecting him to be in the chair waiting for her. He wasn't. It was
late, they had eaten supper long before. All she wanted was to curl
up in bed and go to sleep. She wanted a bed to herself, but she
knew that wouldn't be acceptable to him. Besides, don't lie to
yourself , she really wanted to sleep in his arms.
    She saw a soft light glowing from his office
and decided to try to get to sleep before he came to bed. She
walked through to the master bedroom. She was already in her
nightgown, and she slipped into bed. The sheets were cool to the
touch and she laid her head down on the pillow, wrapping her arms
around it.
    Her thoughts raced. He wanted a real
marriage . Why?
    The bathroom light clicked on and the shower
started running. Ten minutes later, he dropped the towel from his
hips and let it fall to the floor. Her stomach muscles clenched in
anticipation, and he crawled into the big bed and took her in his
arms. Holding her in the circle of his embrace, his chest cradling
her back, she felt him softly kiss her hair in the darkness.
    "You awake, baby?"
    "Yes," she whispered.
    He kissed her hair again and took a deep
breath. "I want you without a contract. I want you without an
exchange of money, without a deadline on the marriage. I want you
to want that, too."
    She turned over in his arms to face him.
Emotion pulsed from his body