Chapter 1
“Can we talk?”
Simon Hudson flinched as he glanced up from his computer screen, his fiancée, Kara, standing at the entrance to his home computer lab, as she uttered the three little words that he swore every man in America probably dreaded hearing from the woman he loved. After living with the gorgeous brunette for over a year, seeing that familiar crinkle of concentration between her beautiful blue eyes, Simon knew exactly what was about to happen. Can we talk? Those words murmured in that husky, low and seductive voice of hers was actually a warning, a sign that she was about to broach a topic of conversation that he absolutely, positively did not agree with or didn’t want to talk about.
He grabbed the mug beside his computer, taking a slug of coffee and wishing it were something a little stronger, even though it was barely eight o’clock in the morning. The last time Kara had wanted to talk, she’d badgered him about her personal security, wanting him to decrease it. That was so not happening. She already had far less security than he would like to see tailing her luscious ass every day. Swallowing hard, trying to get the coffee down around the huge lump in his throat, he tried not to notice how adorable Kara looked in a pair of baby pink medical scrubs as she sashayed into his office. Even after a year, just the sight of her, the sound of her voice, the thought of her, her enticing scent – anything that even reminded him of Kara had him completely enthralled and his c**k instantly standing at attention. Simon had convinced himself that his obsession with Kara would calm down after some time had passed, settling into a more rational love, one that didn’t make him completely insane. It hadn’t, and he had been seriously deluding himself to think that he could feel anything other than completely irrational thoughts when it came to all things Kara. If anything, his fixation had gotten worse.
I’m a goddamn billionaire, co-owner of one of the most powerful corporations in the world, sensible in every other area of my life. How can one woman make me so crazy?
Kara smiled at him as she stopped in front his desk, making his raging erection strain against the zipper of his jeans and his chest ache with happiness. Every f**king time he looked at her, Simon was constantly amazed that this incredible woman was his, had accepted him completely with all of his faults.
Mine.
Simon wanted to reached across the desk and free that silken mane from its confining ponytail, pull her into his lap and kiss those smiling ripe lips until she made those needy little noises, abandoned moans that...
“Simon?” Kara’s questioning voice jerked him out of his erotic fantasies. Damn it.
Can we talk?
Oh, hell. Did he have a choice? He smiled up at her, but answered cautiously, “What did you want to talk about?”
“I need you to read something and sign it. It’s no big deal.” She dropped several papers on his desk, fastened together with a paper clip.
Scanning the top document quickly, his eyes flying over the printed words, he answered in a bewildered voice. “This is a contract. A prenuptial agreement.” He flipped the pages quickly, no stranger to contracts and legal documents. It didn’t take long for him to search out the pertinent information. “What in the hell is this?”
She sighed. “I had an attorney draw it up. We’re getting married in a month. You’re a billionaire and I’m a brand new Registered Nurse without a penny to her name. It’s hardly an equal arrangement. I think it’s only fair that you’re protected. I’ve already signed it. I just need your signature. Please.”
Eyes narrowing into a dangerous look, he raised his head and shot her a mulish glance. “Not happening, sweetheart. Christ, you aren’t allowing yourself anything. What attorney would even agree to this for their client? You’re never leaving me and I’m sure as hell never leaving you. Till death do us part, what’s mine is yours, etc. etc.”
Kara propped her hands on her hips and met his ferocious stare with one of her own.
Uh, Oh. Simon was well acquainted with that look, that ornery tilt of her chin, but he’d be damned if he was losing this disagreement. No prenuptial agreement, no divorce. Ever. He’d never survive it. The stubborn woman standing before him had become his entire world, holding his happiness in her delicate hands; she’d yanked him out of his previously lonely, empty existence, forcing him to face his issues head-on, changing his whole life from dysfunctional to extraordinary. Losing her was not an option.
“Things happen, Simon. You saved my life. We aren’t equals financially. I owe you this.” Her voice was frustrated.
The wheels on Simon’s computer chair screeched as he stood, stalking Kara as he moved around the desk. “Things don’t happen to us. And you don’t owe me a damn thing. You don’t let me buy you anything without a major argument; you won’t take a penny of my money. I’m willing to bet everything that I have that you’ve barely touched the money I put in your account over a year ago.” Taking a deep breath, Simon tried to contain his emotions, pushing down ruthlessly on the hurt and possessiveness that were trying to claw to the surface. There was nothing he wanted more than to give Kara everything, things she had never had before she met him, but she wouldn’t allow him to do much more than put a roof over her head and feed her, and it was killing him. Damn it, Kara’s life should be easier now that she was going to be his wife. Spending her entire life in poverty, working her ass into the ground - Simon wanted things to be different for her now; needed to give her a worry-free, happy life after the hell she had been through just to survive. God knew he had the resources.
Kara blew out a shaky breath before answering, “You rescued me from the streets, Simon. You sheltered me, cared for me, made me fall madly in love with you and loved me in return. You’ve given me every single thing a woman could ever want. Let me give you this.”
Bullshit. Not enough. Not enough. She deserves more. Probably a better man than I am, but I can’t give her up.
Shuddering as he breathed in her unique, feminine scent, Simon turned her around, slapping a hand on each side of the desk, imprisoning her. Denying this woman anything she wanted was hell since she asked for so little except his love, but he refused to give in this time. She had his love, his body, his mind, his f**king soul. Obviously, his woman hadn’t yet realized that she had him by the balls every minute of every day.
Mine.
His mouth nuzzled her ear, crowding her against the desk, shoving his body into hers just to feel those lush curves molded against him. God, how he loved the way her body surrendered to him, yielded to him, melding them together with her willingness to accept him as though his flesh was part of her.