Virgin Bride(44)

I don’t know why I think of it. Maybe because I look at her left ring finger and it just pops into my brain. But it could be a good idea, or at least the start of one.

Erin is the key to this. Her father doesn’t know that she’s not on his side anymore. But I don’t want to use her the way that her father used her. I want to make her mine, completely and entirely.

There’s one easy way to do that. It’s insane, and definitely too soon, but it just might work. It just might throw Rick Fisher off enough for me to get the upper hand on him.

Or it’ll be a total disaster and it’ll ruin all of my relationships. But as I look at Erin and she smiles at me a little quizzically, I don’t think that’ll happen.

“Actually,” I say softly. “I did just think of something.”

“What’s that?”

“We need to throw your father off his game,” I say. “Make him rethink everything he’s doing. Maybe that way, he’ll finally give in and sign the damn papers.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” she says. “But how do you want to do that?”

“You,” I say, leaning toward her.

She raises her eyebrows. “How am I going to throw him off? He doesn’t care about me.”

“Maybe not as a person, but he cares about you as a tool.” I clench my jaw a little bit but push on. “He’s that kind of man. He’s a user. And I don’t want to use you.”

“Griffin,” she says softly. “I’ll help you. I owe you that much.”

“I want to ask you something, but it’s a lot. I want you to know that you can say no. There are other ways.”

“What is it?”

I stare at her, not sure about this at all. It’s insane and too soon but it just might work. This whole situation is so over the top, so absolutely crazy, that I need something equally crazy to really get back at Rick. My only hesitation is how Erin will feel about it.

I don’t want her to think she’s just a tool to me like she is to Rick. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have brought her back to my apartment again and let her see my daughter. I want Erin in my life for real, want her to stay around. Frankly, this plan is crazy and it’s mostly about winning this little war against Rick Fisher, but there’s also some selfishness involved in it. I want this girl and I want to make her mine, and this is one easy way to do that.

“Are you sure you want to know?” I ask her.

She nods. “I promise. I want to hear it.”

“Okay.” I lean back and cross my arms, smirking at her. “Erin Fisher, will you marry me?”

She goes dead silent for a second, her eyes wide. I grin at her, waiting for her response, loving her reaction. She’s clearly surprised, but she’s not revolted or something like that. In fact, I can tell that she’s interested.

Slowly she gets control of herself and her surprise is replaced by a smile. “So that’s your plan,” she says.

“Hear me out.”

“Okay. I’m listening.” She smiles at me. “Although I’m pretty sure this is just a ploy to get in my pants.”

I laugh and jostle her a little bit. “Been there already.”

“Good point.” She winces a bit and adjusts her seat. “As I’m very aware.”

I grin at her. “Are you complaining?”

“Not at all.”

“Good. Because I can give you something to complain about.” I lean in toward her and kiss her softly on the lips.

She laughs and pushes me away. “Okay, asshole. Tell me about the plan.”

“It’s simple, really. This whole deal negotiation is a psychological battle between us. He was trying to use you to find something to throw me off my game with. I want to do the same thing to him.”

She looks at me for a second and then nods her head slowly. “And you think getting married will do that.”

“Exactly. Marrying his daughter will really freak him out.”

“And then what?” she asks. “He’ll just do whatever you want?”

“Not exactly,” I say. “But I’m hoping that he’ll be more willing to finally cut a real deal. Once that happens, I’ll make sure James gets what’s coming to him.”

She watches me for a second, considering this, and I’m shocked to realize that I’m nervous.

I don’t know why. This isn’t a real proposal. Well, it is, but it won’t be a real marriage. We’ll be doing it just for show, just to get back at her father. When it’s all over, we can divorce and move on from there.

Or we can stay married. I mean, I don’t know what we’ll want at that point, but there’s no reason to divorce if we’re still happy together. I won’t say that out loud, though, since I don’t want to freak her out too much. Besides, she’s a smart girl, and I know she’s thinking about what’ll happen after we’re through with this issue with her father.