The Marriage Trap Read Online Free PDF Page A

dress and wrinkled her face.
    “Lily was worth a couple of pounds,” Maggie said firmly. “I’ll bring you back a pair of sexy heels that’ll drive Nick mad.” Her gaze veered directly to Michael’s face as if to prove a point. “Not that it takes much the way you two go at it.”
    “Go at what?” Nick appeared and slipped his arms around his wife’s hips.
    “Never mind,” Alexa said sharply.
    “Sex,” Maggie stated. “I’m going to Milan and bringing back Alexa some sexy shoes.”
    Nick looked intrigued. “How about one of those silky nightie things, too?”
    “Nick!”
    He ignored his wife’s embarrassed hiss and grinned. “What? She’s going to the fashion capital of the world and you don’t want lingerie? Hell, I do. The way you look is just . . . delicious.”
    Maggie laughed. “Done. She’ll look hot in red.”
    “I hate you both.”
    Nick pressed a kiss to his wife’s neck. Michael turned his head for a moment and caught the look on Maggie’s face.
    Longing.
    Emotion lodged at the back of his throat as he registered the wistfulness on her face while she gazed at her brother, then the shutter slammed down and the moment disappeared.
    He straightened and decided to make his move. “Maggie? Before you leave, can I talk to you for a minute?”
    She shrugged. “Sure. What’s up?”
    “In private, please.”
    Nick and Alexa shared a look. Maggie rolled her eyes at them. “Give me a break, guys. It’s not like he’s going to ask me to marry him or anything.”
    Michael winced. Nick shook his head at her antics but she only stuck out her tongue and led the way down the hall toward one of the back rooms. She jumped on the high platform bed and kicked her legs out in front of her. With her arms propped behind her back, her breasts pressed against the silvery top in a demand to be freed. God, was she wearing a bra?
    Michael tried to be casual as he leaned against the wooden beam of the four-poster bed. His curiosity was rewarded when twin points poked against the soft fabric. He shifted in an attempt to get comfortable, annoyed she couldn’t have picked the formal den to have this conversation. It was too easy to imagine her spread out on the champagne quilt as he dragged her top over her breasts with his teeth. He bet her nipples were ruby-colored and very sensitive. Seemed like the fabric alone caused them to respond. Michael fought a shudder and clawed for focus.
    “I have a proposition for you.”
    She threw her head back and laughed. The smoky sound beckoned like a witch casting a spell. “Well, then, you’ve come to the right girl.” She licked her lips with deliberate precision. The faint sheen of wetness gleamed in the light. “Proposition away.”
    He smothered a curse and decided to go for the blunt approach. “I need a pretend wife.”
    She blinked. “Huh?”
    “ Si .” He despised the slight flush his ridiculous admission caused and forged on. “I am having some family difficulties and I’m required to marry. I need someone to go to Italy with me for a week, pretend to be my wife, spend some time with my family, then leave.”
    “Why do I suddenly feel like I dropped into the Lifetime movie of the week?”
    “What is Lifetime?”
    She waved his question off. “Never mind, a girl thing. Um, let me think about this for a moment. You need me to pretend to be married to you, hang with your famiglia, stay in their house, and then return like nothing ever happened?”
    “Yes.”
    “No, thanks.” She jumped gracefully off the bed and headed out. Michael cut in front of her and kicked the door closed. She arched a brow. “Sorry, not into the dominating thing.”
    “Maggie, please hear me out.”
    “Hell, no. I heard enough. First off, I’m going to Milan to work, not to be a mail-order bride. Second, we don’t really care for each other, and your family would pick that up in a moment. Third, we’re not even close friends, which negates me from owing you any favors.