Free Unexpected by Lori Foster Page B

She wanted to put him in his place, she really did.
    Only at the moment, she wasn’t sure where that might be.
    She slouched in her seat, propped her feet on the dash and turned her face to stare out her window. She’d ignore him and his innuendoes.
    The problem was, she knew he was looking at her. She could feel his gaze, moving over her, filling her with throbbing turbulence. Eli was not a man to be ignored, in any way, shape, or form.
    â€œYou’re awfully quiet, Ray. What’s the problem now?”
    â€œI’m thinking.” She slanted him a look, her sense of injustice rising. “Maybe you should try it rather than indulging all this idle chitchat.”
    â€œGetting on your nerves, am I?”
    He didn’t sound the least contrite. “Yes, actually you are.” His hands were still now, and that allowed her gaze to zero in on something she could tackle without unsettling emotion. “I see you didn’t take the watch off like I told you to.”
    â€œMy watch stays.”
    She was ready for a confrontation. “No, it doesn’t. If it’s noticed in Mataya, we’ll have our hands full getting out with your arm intact.”
    Eli merely grinned at her. “I trust you to take care of me, Ray. That is what you promised Jane, remember?”
    She resented having her own words thrown back at her. She resented more the fact that she’d had to promise Jane anything. “It looked to me like you needed some help getting rid of the lady.” And with a sneer: “Is she always that clingy?”
    â€œNot usually, no.”
    That wasn’t enough of an answer to suit her. “She hinted you two haven’t exactly been . . . close.”
    Eli chuckled. “You mean sexually?”
    The turbulence expanded, feeling almost like pain. “Yeah. So why her sudden change of heart?”
    â€œHer heart wasn’t involved, Ray. Just her tactical mind.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    Eli grimaced as if pained. “My grandfather is playing Cupid. He wants our two families to join, and evidently, given her recent performance, Jane is all for it.”
    He couldn’t possibly mean . . . Skeptically, Ray asked, “A business alliance?”
    Eli shook his head. “My grandfather is old-fashioned. He likes to keep it in the family.”
    Her heart skipped two beats. “Meaning?”
    â€œMarriage.”
    She didn’t care, she didn’t care, she did not care. “Why the hell would she marry you if she didn’t love you?”
    That had him laughing, but not for the reasons Ray thought. “You make marriage to me sound like a heinous fate worse than death.” His laugh was nice and deep. Real. “Our marriage would unite major competitors in the same industry. It’d be a match made in boardroom heaven.”
    Because her privacy was so important to her, it amazed Ray that Eli didn’t seem to have an aversion to discussing his private affairs. “So you’re supposed to marry a woman for the sake of money?”
    He frowned at her curt generalization. “That was the plan, I suppose, though I never agreed to it.”
    Ray didn’t bother trying to hide her shock. “That’s disgusting. How much money do you people need, anyway?”
    â€œI never said—”
    Anger brought her feet off the dash to land on the floor with a thud. “Marriages of convenience went out a long time ago.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “The whole idea is pathetic.”
    Eli absorbed her annoyance with a slow smile. “Are you willing to make me a better offer?”
    Her arms fell to her sides. “Now what are you babbling about?”
    â€œI haven’t fallen in love with anyone yet, including Jane, but I’m thirty-three. It’s time for me to settle down and start a family of my own.”
    â€œDo wealthy people have a schedule for that sort of thing?”
    â€œNot