The Billionaire's Marriage Contract(46)

Ethan was glad for the cold morning air. It helped distract him from how angry he was getting. He closed his eyes and listened to the dull hum of the engine. He focused in on the cold air stinging his face, but he couldn’t help thinking about Amy. What in hell did she see in this jerk? Was it the attention? Was it the carefree attitude? He half wondered if Amy had been doing it just to get at him. Since he had proposed to her, it was like she had gone to every length possible to get under his skin.

Ethan opened his eyes and looked ahead. He could see the abandoned snowmobile in a drift just off the path. He imagined Amy hopping off of it and onto the back of Logan’s sled. He wasn’t even mad at Logan anymore. He was mad at Amy. Why couldn’t she see that he was trying to make this more than a business deal? He thought back to her taunt before she had picked up the phone. What if it’s Logan? she had teased, like she needed him to know that she had options, that she had leverage in the relationship.

He wondered if Amy really saw him and Logan as equal options. He couldn’t blame her. After all, he had told her to enjoy herself, not to take things seriously. And, how could someone get less serious than Logan? Ethan thought back to all his talk about living in the moment. Sure, it had been fun, but he wanted more. He just didn’t know how to tell her without scaring her away, but first things were first. He needed to deal with Logan before he told Amy how he felt.

As they got off of the snowmobile, Ethan said, “Why don’t you just go ahead and say whatever you dragged me out here to say?”

“Do you think I don’t know what you’re up to?” Logan asked.

“Cut the shit, Logan. She’s my wife and this deal is going through.” Ethan took the gas can and walked over to the snowmobile. He opened the tank and started to pour. “A word of advice, don’t piss me off.”

“What are you going to do, beat me up?”

“No, I’ll see to it that you never bother me or my family again.”

Logan leaned back against his sled. “Sure is convenient though, isn’t it, you getting married in time to come out here and convince my father that you’re a family man, that you’re the kind of person he wants running his business.”

Ethan topped off the gas tank and screwed the cap back on. He tossed the gas can over to Logan. “Is that what this is all about? Did you even like her? Again, Logan, she’s my wife, but even if she wasn’t, she’d deserve a thousand times better than you.”

“Ha,” Logan replied, “you think everyone else here is an idiot, don’t you?”

“I love my wife. I could give a damn what you think about me.”

“But she doesn’t love you, does she? Ooh, yeah, you’re right, I should be afraid of you. A big, self-made man. You can’t even convince your wife to like you. It took me all of four hours to have her wrapped around my finger. It makes me wonder how you got her to marry you. Did you buy her the same way you’re trying to buy off my father? You think he’s going to slap you on the back and tell you ‘good job’?”

Ethan stepped onto the snowmobile and turned it on, opening the throttle and revving the engine. “Just don’t blame me when things don’t go your way. You deserve everything you have coming, Logan. I’m sure you’ll see that soon enough.” Then he sped back toward the house, leaving Logan sitting on his snowmobile. There was something he needed to tell Hank.

***

When Ethan got back to the house, he found Hank waiting with breakfast in the kitchen. “I saw you heading out with Logan on the sled, and I figured you two would want some breakfast when you got back,” Hank said, motioning toward the food arranged on the counter. “Help yourself,” he added. “Is your wife up yet?”

“I don’t know,” Ethan replied. “We had a family emergency last night, and she flew out late to make it back to the East Coast.”#p#分页标题#e#

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Me, too,” Ethan said, piling his plate with eggs and bacon, “but I know you and I have business to finish, and I wanted to get a final word in with you before heading out to be with her.” Then he sat down across from Hank and started to eat. He hadn’t realized how hungry he had gotten overnight.

“You didn’t have to do that. A phone call or a note would have sufficed.”

“That’s what I said, but Amy wouldn’t have it. She insisted that I stay, and, well, I can’t refuse her.”

“That’s quite the woman you have there,” Hank said. “What you two have together is a rare thing.”