Wife by Wednesday Read Online Free PDF Page B

encourage you to be less shallow.”
    “Ouch.”
    “You wanted honesty.”
    He watched her toe off her high heels and tuck her legs under the seat. Some of the color started to return to her fingers. Obviously dissing him put her at ease. He wasn’t sure how to take that. “The only person in my life who’s called me shallow is Carter.”
    “Your best friend?”
    “My one real friend.”
    “Really? I’d think a man with your wealth would have an entourage of friends.”
    “Money brings people, not friends,” he said.
    “Amen to that. I take it Carter knows about us. Our arrangement I mean.”
    “He does.”
    “What about your girlfriends? Do they know?”
    Now it was his turn to squirm. Even though their marriage would be a sham, talking about his lovers with his wife didn’t feel right.
    “Telling my girlfriends, as you call them, would be equivalent to calling the Inquisitor and giving them a full page interview.” Blake finished his wine and stood to refill their glasses.
    “You don’t trust them?”
    “Not with this.”
    “How do men do it?”
    “Do what?”
    “Sleep with women they don’t trust?” Samantha thanked him for the wine and sipped it slowly this time.
    “It’s called attraction.”
    Laughing, she said, “It’s called lust.”
    “That, too.” Blake’s insides started to warm. When was the last time he’d held a conversation with a woman about the motivations of men? Never. He found he liked it.
    “So what did you say to your… what do you call the women in your life, lovers?”
    The title of lovers started to feel too personal. “I haven’t told them anything… yet.”
    She lifted her manicured eyebrows high. “I’d like to be a fly on the wall during that conversation. Oh, darling, by the way… I got married over the weekend .” Samantha laughed at her own joke.
    “I don’t think I’ll tell them like that.” He wasn’t sure how he would break the news and honestly hadn’t given it a second thought.
    “You do realize you stand the risk of losing them both, right?”
    “How did you know there were two?” He shook his head and put a hand in the air. “Never mind. I forgot about your intensive background check. You don’t have to worry about either of them. You’ll never meet.”
    Samantha placed a hand over her chest and smiled. “Shallow and a tiny bit naive.”
    Lord, there she was calling him names again. “Excuse me?”
    “If you and I were dating, and you suddenly up and married another woman, as much as I’d hate myself for doing it, I’d figure out a way to meet the woman I didn’t measure up to. Women are emotional creatures, Mr. Har… Blake. I might fight that gender trait with a nine iron, but still can’t beat down certain impulses. I highly doubt Vanessa and Jackie—”
    “Jacqueline,” he corrected.
    “Excuse me, Jacqueline, are any different. Which one is most likely to be heartbroken?”
    The honesty thing was going too far. Even if the casual trek through his personal life was lifting the edge of unease from his fiancé’s frame, he wasn’t comfortable. Samantha had tucked her feet under her bottom and was relaxed for the first time since he’d met her. The smile on her face didn’t look forced and her green eyes glistened with a spark of mischief. He would have liked to put her in this mood by something other than a discussion about his previous lovers, and previous is what they’d have to be. He thought for a moment what Vanessa and Jacqueline would say once told of his marriage. Vanessa would be prone to slapping him and walking away. Jacqueline wouldn’t be as dramatic, but continuing his relationship with her would be risky. “Both women knew about the other.”
    “But which one wanted more?”
    “I can’t believe my fiancé is asking me these questions.”
    “Which one, Blake?”
    Samantha was relentless.
    “Vanessa. Though I doubt she’d seek you out. Besides, she lives in London and only visits New York for short