‘Stability.’
Lily hadn’t actually expected an answer to her question, but if she’d tried to fathom his response, that would have been way off the list, but even before she could respond he elaborated.
‘Some of my major investors are starting to get testy about my lifestyle.’
‘Hardly surprising!’ Lily smiled, but it faded as she saw that Hunter was completely serious.
‘It’s not just my investors. I’m trying to get some big sponsors on board for a charity do I’m organising and it’s been suggested that I tone things down a touch, portray a more stable image.’
‘And marrying a girl you’ve known for less than twelve hours will achieve that?’
‘My PR people will take care of that.’
‘Hunter.’ She smiled up at him. ‘Last night was fantastic.’
‘I know.’
‘Completely out of character for me,’ Lily continued, ignoring his sheer lack of modesty, ‘yet utterly fabulous nonetheless. But, as strange as it might seem to you, all this talk of marriage is rather ruining my one wild night of reckless passion.’
‘It is the wrong way round,’ Hunter conceded. ‘I mean, normally I wake up the morning after and she’s the one asking about our future…’
‘She?’ Lily checked, trying and failing not to wince at his answer.
‘Whoever.’ He was leaning over her, one hand still on her stomach as the other fiddled with her clock radio, filling the room with traffic reports and news bulletins as Hunter bombarded her with his own headline news.
‘It would make my sister happy.’
Lily blinked at him in disbelief. ‘Since when did a man marry to make his sister happy? Hunter, I thought you’d be the last person to give two hoots what people think, let alone marry for that reason. What you’re proposing doesn’t make a shred of sense.’
‘It does to me. Emma needs to get on with her own life—she’s using me as an excuse not to take up a brilliant offer.’ He paused for a second, clearly debating whether to elaborate. To tell her the truth. She could feel him mentally weighing her up, and whatever test she was unwittingly taking, she must have passed, because after an age Hunter elaborated. ‘She’s a violinist—an extremely talented one. She’s got a solo part coming up in a few weeks and if that goes well, she’s tentatively been offered this huge part in a recital in London. But she’s talking about not taking it. She keeps coming up with random excuses—“We’re all that’s left of the family.” “If I travel, too, then we’ll never see each other.”’ Hunter gave an incredulous laugh. ‘She’s even got it into her head that she needs to be in Melbourne to keep an eye on me. I tell you, she’d come up with any excuse to put off going.’
‘You’ve really lost me now.’ Lily shook her head to clear it, but Hunter didn’t give her a chance, just bombarded her all over again.
‘Emma’s disabled,’ he explained. ‘She suffered spinal injuries in the same accident that killed my parents last year.’
‘How awful!’ He stated it in such a matter-of-fact voice that it served to exacerbate Lily’s shocked response ‘Oh, God, I think I remember reading about it. Hunter, I’m so sorry!’
‘Hardly your fault.’
‘But even so…’ Lily said, reeling at the horror of it all and confused by the blandness of his voice. ‘Hunter, it must have been a nightmare for you.’
‘Well, it wasn’t exactly a barrel of laughs at the time, but it was far worse for Emma.’
‘Your sister?’ Lily checked. ‘Is that who you were talking about last night?’
‘Yep.’ Hunter gave a grim nod. ‘She’s having a lot of trouble coming to terms with her injuries, but this offer’s huge—she really needs to act on it.’
‘Maybe she’s not ready,’ Lily ventured, but Hunter scorned her attempt.
‘She’s ready—she’s brilliant!’ He gave a low laugh. ‘She’s just got too much time on her hands. She’s actually starting to believe what the press says about me has a semblance of truth.’
‘And does it?’ Lily found she was holding her breath as his face darkened, but even as he opened his mouth to deliver a flip response he changed midway, his expression serious rather than angry, those blue eyes holding hers as he spelt out the terms of his offer.
‘I’ll buy the house for you and any gifts I give you naturally you can keep—believe me, I’ll be more than generous. But no one must know it was anything other than a whirlwind affair that in the end went wrong.’