Free Microsoft Word - catherine mann - landis brothers 4 - rich man's fake fiancee.docx by Catherine Mann

Pentagon right now, but Mom’s around, so you even have a chaperone.”
    “By living quarters, what do you mean?” She eyed him warily. He’d made it clear he was still attracted to her and that it wasn’t an act. Yet having an affair, with a ring on her finger and the intent to break things off felt wrong. How ironic that she’d been willing to consider sleeping with him when there’d been no jewelry or fake commitments involved. “Is everybody in the same house with a suite, but all still bump into each other walking around in the hall?”
    “I thought you objected to me not being around in the morning.”
    She narrowed her gaze and considered elbowing him in the kidney but that would show he had too much sway over her emotions. “Old issue. No longer relevant.”
    “Fair enough. Jonah and Sebastian both have suites of rooms in the main house since Jonah graduated and Sebastian’s separated from his wife. Kyle has a condo near the Air Force Base in Charleston. And I live in the renovated groundskeeper’s carriage house behind the main place. Does that work for you?”
    His plan sounded solid and her sister’s husband had just arrived home from assignment. While Starr and David would say they didn’t mind having her around and they had plenty of space, she had to imagine they would want some privacy. They hadn’t been married long and they had the pregnancy news to celebrate. She would be most decidedly a third wheel and it was downright silly to drive back and forth from Charleston to Hilton Head multiple times a day.
    Matthew’s idea was sensible and bottom line, she was painfully practical.
    “Okay and thank you. As long as your brothers don’t run around in their boxer shorts, I guess this should work out all right.”
    “No worries.” Matthew’s grin stretched from appealing to downright wicked, sending a shiver of premonition up her spine as the Suburban finally jolted forward. “If I find any of them wearing nothing but their skivvies around you, I’ll kick their asses.”

    Wow, Matthew sure new how to deliver a zinger line to close up shop on conversation. His silence left her with nothing to do but stare out the window.
    She’d grown up in Charleston, but this exclusive area of coastal beauty had been meticulously manicured in a way that seemed to preserve yet tame the natural magnificence.
    Of course, given the size of the mansions and golf courses they’d passed, the people who lived here could obviously afford to sculpt this place into anything they wished.
    The driver steered the SUV along a winding paved drive through palm trees and sea grass until the view parted to reveal a sprawling white three-story house with Victorian peaks overlooking the ocean. A lengthy set of stairs stretched upward to the second story wraparound porch that housed the main entrance. Latticework shielded most of the first floor, which appeared to be a large entertainment area. Just as in Charleston, many homes so close to the water were built up as a safeguard against tidal floods from hurricanes.
    The attached garage had so many doors she stopped counting. His SUV rolled to a stop beside the house, providing a view of the brilliant azaleas behind them and the ocean in front of them. An organic-shaped pool was situated between the house and shore, the waters of the hot tub at the base churning a glistening swirl in the afternoon sun.
    “My place is over there.” He pointed to the cluster of live oaks and palmettos, a two-story carriage house just visible through the branches.
    White with slate-blue shutters, this carriage house was larger than most family homes. She understood he came from money. She had even grown up among wealthy types in Aunt Libby’s old Charleston neighborhood. But seeing Matthew’s lifestyle laid out so grandly only emphasized their different roots.
    She walked up the lengthy stretch of white steps toward the large double doors on the second floor. She gripped the railing and looked