Read Millionaire Husband for Free Online

walk to his car. A swirl of emotions spun her head round and round. She had joked about needing a husband to pass muster with Ms. Hatcher, but it had been strictly a joke. Or so she’d thought.
    All her experiences with Justin had been odd from the beginning. He’d proposed marriage when she had thought a date with him would be nice. Her head began to throb. How could he be so calm? Surely he must be insane.
    Pushing away from the doorjamb, she pinched the bridge of her nose. She had never pictured herself married. Then again, she hadn’t pictured herself mothering her sister’s three children either. Locking the door, she walked down the hall and peeked in on the twins. Jeremy’s covers were already kicked off and his thumb was tucked in his mouth. Nick slept on his tummy with his mouth open.
    In sleep their rowdiness quieted and they looked so sweetly vulnerable. Amy’s heart caught. They’d lost so much at such a young age, she thought, feeling the grief from her sister’s death wash over her.
    Amy tiptoed to Jeremy’s bed and pulled up the covers. She leaned down and gave him the softest breath of a kiss. He sighed, and she smiled.
    Leaving the room, she closed the door behind her to check on Emily. Everything inside her tightened at the sight of the little girl. Emily clutched an old stuffed teddy bear in her hands. She was old enough to have a better idea of what she’d lost. Amy could tell Emily wanted so badly to please. Emily tried very hard to act like an adult, as if she could handle anything. It was almost as if she was afraid to cry,Amy thought, as if she didn’t trust the security of her situation enough to relax.
    Amy kneeled beside Emily’s bed and gently stroked the little girl’s forehead. Although the idea chafed at her feminist conscience, Amy suspected Emily would benefit from a man around the house. The solidity and security offered by the right man could work wonders. But was Justin the right man? Amy wondered.
    An image of Ms. Hatcher flashed through her mind, sending a cold chill through her. Amy frowned. These children needed her. They needed her love and stability, and they needed to belong to her.
    Amy thought again of Justin’s proposal.
    A long, long time ago, when she was much younger, she had dreamed of finding a man to love, a man who would provide a safe harbor from the bad stuff life threw at her or him. Then she grew up and realized she had to make her own safe harbor, her own security; and needing a man could actually make her more vulnerable instead of less.
    Long before Amy became an adult, she’d preferred to pilot her own ship. The idea of sharing the helm unsettled her. It wouldn’t be her top choice.
    She glanced again at Emily as she lay sweetly sleeping. Emily hadn’t gotten her top choice either, Amy thought, her sister’s death weighing heavily onher shoulders. Justin’s proposal dangled before her, alternately seducing and repelling her.
     
    Justin’s phone rang at 6:00 a.m. Amy wanted to meet him after the kids left. She had called the school and arranged to go in late. Justin pulled into her driveway behind her Volkswagen and threaded his way through the obstacle course of Big Wheel toys on the walkway to her porch. Glancing at his watch, he rang the doorbell. He hoped to make it back to his house in time for the opening of the market. If he was going to bear some responsibility for three children, he was going to need to continue to make money.
    Three children. His stomach turned. Heaven help him. Heaven had better help him, he thought, because this sure as hell hadn’t been his idea.
    Amy greeted him at the door, her gaze wary, her smile absent. The thought struck him that he would have liked to see her smile. She led him into the den and waved her hand at the sofa.
    Justin sat. She didn’t. She paced, the hem of her flippy skirt emphasizing the length of her bare legs.
    “There are too many unanswered questions about your pro—” She faltered.