Deception (Carrington Hill Investigations Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

to me today. You’re a loyal friend and determined; I respect those qualities.”
    Marriage wasn’t something she would normally jump into and definitely not with a stranger, but Catherine’s life could be hanging in the balance. She’d view it as a means to an end, a temporary undercover assignment. She could work with the situation if she thought of it in those terms.
    She extended the proverbial olive branch and hesitated before covering his hand with hers to show she meant what she said. “Then yes. I’ll marry you. I can’t promise that I won’t drive you crazy. The only thing I can promise is to run interference for you with all your female suitors and your mother, and you can expect divorce papers when this is over. Take it or leave it.”
    He nodded. “Agreed.” He pushed to his feet. “Let’s go inform the director of our recent development.” He stopped and pulled a business card out of his coat pocket and handed it to her. “Call me if you have a change of heart; otherwise, I’ll pick you up here first thing in the morning.”
    Her mind was racing with the implications of what she’d just agreed to, probably just like his was. Was she crazy for agreeing? A ny potential undercover work was history after she signed on the dotted line. Could she live a life that didn’t include taking the bad guys off the street? Would she be losing her life so to speak, just as Catherine might have? In the end, the questions stopped, and one thing remained. Catherine, her best friend, would have done it for her without hesitation, and Lexi had an opportunity to make things right by putting one more if not two criminals behind bars where they belonged. “What happens tomorrow?”
    “I pick you up and we go to my attorney’s office where a justice of the peace will be waiting to marry us.”
    She reached for a piece of paper and pen from her desk and jotted down her attorney’s information. “Have the paperwork delivered to my attorney along with the prenup, and if he approves and you sign…I guess you’ve got yourself a wife.”
    He glanced down at her scribble . “You have an attorney?”
    This time she smiled. “Mr. Hathaway, I warned you that you don’t know a thing about me.”
    He glanced down once more. “An expensive, well-experienced, and respected attorney, I see.”
    She shrugged. “I guess you could say that.” She moved to open the door, but he stopped her by placing his hand over hers.
    “I have to warn you. The press is going to have a field day and people are going to expect me to be a certain way with the person I supposedly love most in the world.”
    Lexi crossed her arms over her chest. “And what way is that , Mr. Hathaway?”
    His eyes searched hers . “Please call me Trip.” He let out a sigh. “People are going to believe that my wife is my prized possession and that I’ll want to protect her with any and every resource I have available. They are going to expect chauffeurs and bodyguards when you aren’t with me. Considering your background, I assume that you’ll want to pick your own detail, and I respect that, but you’re going to have to prepare yourself for what it means to be my wife and live in the limelight.”
    Lexi sighed. She was returning back to the same life she ’d left behind, but what choice did she have? None. “I’m not sleeping with you, Trip, and you’re right; I will pick my own detail.” She brushed his hand off the knob and pulled the door open. “Trip, do you even know my real first name?”
    He nodded. “Lexi.”
    She shook her head and continued walking toward the director’s office hoping with the latest development that the director would let her use Sara and Garrett as her detail. She paused before knocking. “Alexandria Carrington.” She shook her head. “And you called me impulsive?” She chuckled. “You should really do background checks before you start asking women to marry you.”
    His mouth parted , and his eyes widened. It