Free Maverick Heart by Joan Johnston Page A

moment before you refuse my generous offer. You’re welcome to consult a lawyer, of course, but that deed of yours isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. If you refuse my offer, you and your son won’t have a farthing to your names. What will you do to survive? Assuming, of course, that Rand isn’t already dead and that we can find him.”
    She surged to her feet. “Rand is alive!”
    “I won’t argue the point,” he said.
    “I concede such a marriage might help me, Miles. What do you hope to gain from it?”
    “You,” he said in a silky voice. “In my bed.”
    She caught her lower lip with her teeth. Her chin quivered, and he watched her struggle not to cry.
    It was a cruel way of reminding her what they had been to each other all those years ago.
Lovers
. It was hard to remember how much in love with her he had been. She had only used him and thrown him away when a wealthier—and better-looking—catch came along. “I want back what Chester Talbot stole from me,” he said.
    At last, she raised her eyes to his. “Chester won’t know you have me back. He’s dead, Miles.”
    A muscle jerked in his cheek. “I’ll know.”
    “Do you love me? Do you have any feelings at all for me?”
    “I despise you for your faithlessness,” he said.
    “I was forced to marry him.”
    He barked a laugh. “Forced to marry a rich and handsome earl? How gullible do you think I am?”
    “He threatened to kill you if I didn’t marry him.”
    He felt an explosive shock of joy at her revelation before a clamp tightened around his chest, making it difficult to breathe. He didn’t dare believe her. She was making it up to save herself from his vengeance. Because it was the one excuse that could possibly make him forgive her for what she had done. It had to be a lie.
    “If I thought that were true—” He shook hishead. “I saw how you looked at me that day at Linden’s Folly. At my face …”
    “I swear—”
    He held up a hand. “Don’t bother swearing anything to me. I don’t trust you to speak the truth.”
    Her eyes pooled with tears. “Oh, Miles, if only you would listen to me. If only you would believe me. I
had
to marry him. He told me he had caused the carriage accident that killed Gregory. He threatened to kill you, too, if I didn’t marry him.”
    “If you married him to keep me safe, you made a bad bargain.”
    “You’re alive, aren’t you?” she snapped back. “He only promised he wouldn’t kill you. And he didn’t. I didn’t know he had arranged for you to be shanghaied. I should have realized … He knew how much I loved you.”
    He snorted in disgust. “There’s no need to lie. Lies won’t help you now.”
    “I’m not lying, Miles. I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you.”
    “You have a damned strange way of showing it. You married a man I hated, a man who tried to destroy me.”
    “I married him to
save
you!” she cried.
    “I don’t believe you.”
    They stood across from each other, breathless, angry, hurting. It was Verity who retreated.
    She took a step back from him and said, “A marriage between us wouldn’t work, Miles. We can never get back what we lost.”
    “I don’t need you to love me. I sure as hell don’tlove you. I want you in my bed. And that’s all I want.”
    “What about what I want, Miles?”
    “You’ll have food and clothing and a roof over your head.” He paused and added the inducement he was sure would make the difference. “And your son will inherit my land and my fortune.”
    She sank onto the sofa. And laughed. It was a husky sound that sent a shiver up his spine. “Oh, Miles. Oh.” She circled her aching ribs as her laughter grew. “If you only knew! My son will inherit your land. Oh, please don’t make me laugh. It hurts!”
    He was confused by her reaction. She should have leapt at his offer of marriage. He had reasoned it all out. It was the only rational choice she had. She was caught in the iron jaws of a trap from which