Free Rock Solid by Samantha Hunter Page B

right? He needed to think.
    There had to be a way to make this work. A way to make it...
    The truth?
    Seriously?
    He turned to back to Hannah, who had reached for a tissue to blow her nose—she was crying. He sucked in a breath. He didn’t want her crying over anything, especially when it came to him.
    “Listen, it’s okay. Don’t cry, hon. But...what if we did it? For real.” The words were surreal, and he didn’t think she’d heard him at first.
    She sat very still, and then turned slowly, her expression a study in total, complete shock.
    “What?”
    “It would take a day or two to get the paperwork done, and then there’s a three-day waiting period, but that’s it. Then we would have to schedule a ceremony and whatever else needs to be done.”
    Hannah didn’t say anything, but her horrified look was a clear response. But the longer the words lingered in the air between them, the more his dread was replaced with new energy.
    “Listen, like you said, it’s not for real. We can still call it quits down the line, whenever you want. This could work,” he continued.
    The more Brody talked, the more he convinced himself it was the right thing to do. It made perfect sense.
    “Are you
insane
?” she finally said.
    Brody walked up to her, grinning. “Yeah, but you knew that already. You said you wanted some adventure, Hannah, and to take risks. So...what do you say? Let’s get married!”
    He’d rendered her wordless again, so he reminded her, “Hey, it was your idea.”
    She gaped. “It was
not
. I thought we could have a long, fake engagement, which we could drag out, like a lot of people do. Not a real marriage.”
    Brody shook his head. “I’m already in a fake retirement, and that’s been hard enough. And there’s no way out of this that doesn’t rain all the hell Marsha Zimmer can muster down on my head.”
    “So you’d rather have a fake
marriage
?” Her tone was incredulous.
    He had to admit, when she put it that way, it did sound pretty wild.
    Brody liked wild.
    “It wouldn’t be fake. It would be very real, in every way,” he said, sliding his hand into her hair, cupping the back of her neck and making her look at him. “In
every
way, Hannah. Until we decide to end it. What do you say?”
    Brody saw the indecision in her eyes, and maybe a hint of panic. But she was also...considering.
    C’mon, Hannah. Go for it.
    He moved in, pulling her close, his lips against her ear.
    “Think about it...you’d be the one who caught Brody Palmer,” he teased with a smile and a kiss on the shell of her ear. “No one would ever think you were unadventurous again. And it
would
be an adventure, Hannah...whatever you want to do, however you want to do it, I’m there,” he whispered, echoing what he told her back in the glade.
    Her breath caught as he nipped at the soft flesh of her earlobe, and desire quickened again, fed by the excitement, the wild thrill of what he was proposing—literally. He felt her response, too, as she softened against him, her breath hitching slightly.
    Married to Hannah.
He played the idea over in his mind as he smoothed his hands over her back. He’d never really considered marrying anyone. Maybe when he was a lot older, if then, but for now, his career came first and he was happy playing the field. A very wide, diverse field. He couldn’t blame Marsha for thinking about him like she did; she wasn’t wrong. Brody enjoyed women, lots of them.
    That would change. Even if it wasn’t a real, forever marriage, he wouldn’t mess around. He never did that, not even with his lovers. And when he was with Hannah, he never thought about anyone else anyway. Not then, not now.
    And this wasn’t a forever thing. It was a “for now” thing. A mutually beneficial arrangement. They had a built-in escape hatch, anytime either of them wanted out. His name, his connections could open doors for her, maybe help her establish herself somehow. It could work. Like she’d said earlier, they