Free Million Dollar Marriage by MAGGIE SHAYNE

what we want.”
    “Do you realize how much money it will take to make the clinic a reality?”
    He turned and smiled a little crookedly. “I expected a flat-out no. This is progress.”
    “I need a million dollars, Holden.”
    “I’ll give it to you. More if you want. Whatever you need.”
    Lucinda’s throat went as dry as desert sand. “You’d give me…a million dollars?”
    “I’ll be inheriting hundreds of millions. But I can’t get a nickel of it until I am
     married to a respectable woman.”
    Lucinda sank back into her chair as all the will fled her body. She could see it all.
     The clinic, the educational programs… My God, with a million she could even buy a
     couple of small buses to transport women to and from their appointments….
    “I couldn’t… It’s ridiculous.”
    “Why? What’s so ridiculous about it? I like you,Lucy. You’re smart, and capable and strong. Hell, how can you turn it down when it’s
     the perfect answer to your problems?”
    She blinked again. “A—a business arrangement.” He nodded. “It would… I mean, it wouldn’t
     change anything. It would just be on paper, this marriage.” She almost bit her tongue
     trying to stop the words from coming.
    Holden walked slowly back to his own chair, sat and studied his plate. “Actually it
     would have to be slightly more than that.”
    Frowning, Lucinda lifted her head.
    “Well, it would have to look real. I mean, if my father’s lawyers aren’t convinced…and
     as for the rest of the family…”
    “What about them?”
    “They’d crucify me if they thought I was just…using you.”
    She nodded slowly. “So I’d have to move in here. Not that I’m actually considering
     this, but—”
    “Here, or the apartment,” he said quickly.
    She lifted one brow, glared at him.
    “Right,” he told her, “you’d have to move in here. I’ve got a whole wing to myself,
     though. You could have your own space. All you want, in fact. My mother would love
     having you here. And you’d have servants, and the pool, that back porch swing whenever
     you want it. A car to drive that doesn’t stall out at red lights.”
    “My car does not stall out at red lights.” She sighed and nodded slowly. “But just
     for the record, between us…nothing would have to…happen.”
    Holden studied her face. “No. Absolutely not. In fact, I’d prefer it didn’t.”
    She felt her brows raise. “Gee, thanks.”
    “Come on, Lucy. You know damn good and well you’re a knockout. I just think…this would
     be better for both of us if we kept it…cool.”
    She drew a breath, sighed heavily. “I can’t. It’s quite an offer, Holden, but I—”
    “Think about it?”
    She fell silent again. This was stupid. She couldn’t possibly… “Okay. I’ll think about
     it. Give me a couple of days. All right?”
    He met her eyes, held them. “I can’t ask for more than that, can I?”
    She had to be out of her mind. Completely out of her mind to actually be considering
     this.
    But she was considering it. And the more she thought on it, the better it looked.
     Hell, it wasn’t as if she’d be giving anything up. And in a year she could have her
     clinic.
    She’d gone back to her own apartment to shower and change clothes. Holden planned
     to pick her up there in time for lunch. Apparently, he was serious about all of this.
     Serious enough to want to spend time with her today, probably in an effort to convince
     her to accept his deal. And she was too damned weak where he was concerned to tell
     him no.
    But there was a certain poetic irony to all of this. After he’d all but demolished
     her life, he was now back offering her one of her longtime dreams on a silver platter.
     Her clinic.
    But what about her other dream? The baby she sowanted. Could she have both? Could she put off having a child until this…this arrangement
     with Holden was over? She certainly couldn’t do both at once. He’d made it pretty
     clear this was to be