The Temporary Mrs. King Read Online Free PDF

always required. Or, he thought, it could mean that the old man needed this hotel deal far more than he wanted the Kings to know.
    Sean smiled to himself, but kept his expression carefully neutral.
    â€œYou’ve met my granddaughter,” Walter said, taking a seat in the bloodred desk chair.
    â€œYes. She seems…nice,” he offered, enjoying using her own word.
    The three of them had spent the last twenty minutes chatting and talking about the island. Melinda had left the room just a moment ago and, Sean thought, Walter wasn’t wasting any time.
    â€œLet me be frank,” the older man said, setting his elbows on the desktop and steepling his fingers. “You want to build a hotel on my island. I want my granddaughter happy.”
    Sean took a seat in the chair opposite the desk and set one foot atop the other knee and prepared to play dumb. “What’s one have to do with the other?”
    Walter gave him a smile and a wink. “You’re single. Wealthy. Reasonably good-looking.”
    Wryly, Sean said, “Thank you.”
    Tucking his fingertips beneath his chin, Walter continued. “I believe in laying my cards out on the table, how about you?”
    â€œAlways best to know what the other man’s holding.”
    â€œExcellent. Then let’s get down to business. I want you to marry my granddaughter. Once you’ve done that, the land is yours.”
    If Melinda hadn’t prepared him for this yesterday, Sean thought, he would have fallen out of his chair. Even prepared, even with a deal already in place, he was a little surprised. Amazing to think that in the twenty-first century, women were still being bartered. Of course, this woman had done the bartering herself and damned if she hadn’t negotiated a hell of a deal.
    Walter was waiting for an answer and Sean let him wait. His brain raced with the implications of what he was about to agree to. Getting married, even temporarily, was a huge step. He didn’t want to, but he had spent the better part of last night lying awake trying to come up with a different way to get what he wanted—and he’d come up empty.
    Just as, no doubt, Melinda had known he would.
    The Stanfords, both of them, were stubborn enough to be Kings.
    Tapping his fingers against his knee, Sean asked, “How does Melinda feel about this?”
    Walter frowned briefly. “She understands. It’s good for her. Good for the family. Good for the island.”
    Unexpectedly, a ripple of anger washed through Sean. If Melinda hadn’t stepped up to chart her own course and make her own deal with Sean, she would have been no more than a bound sacrifice, stretched out across the Stanford altar.
    Good for the island .
    Who did things like that now?
    Frowning, Sean watched the older man and tried to read his eyes. But the old guy must have been a hell of a poker player back in the day. His expression gave away nothing.
    â€œWell?” The older man dropped both hands to the black blotter on his desk. “What do you say?”
    There was a lot he should say, Sean thought. He should tell the old man that his granddaughter was worth more than a bargaining chip to be used in a deal. Hell, a couple of hours spent with her had told Sean that much. He should say that Melinda had a sharp mind and a clever way of driving a bargain. He should tell both of the Stanfords to go to hell and take their island with them.
    He’d love to tell him that his granddaughter was filling up his mind with tempting thoughts that were destined to go nowhere. That one touch of her hand was enough to set off fires inside him that were still burning hours later.
    But he couldn’t tell him that either, so Sean would say nothing about any of it.
    â€œAgreed,” he heard himself say and saw the flicker of surprise in the old man’s eyes. Apparently, he couldn’t disguise everything he was feeling. Or didn’t care to.
    â€œReally. That