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each of us as well as some orange juice and a side of strawberries for the waffles, please. Thank you.” He winked at the woman who grinned toothily before walking away.
    “Psh. That was crazy.” Kelsey sat back in her seat and stared openly at Ronan.
    “What?” Watching Kelsey never grew tiring. But she wasn’t there for a date.
    She shook her head. “I can’t believe you remembered what I like. That’s just…”
    “Crazy?” Ronan shrugged. “It’s not like I’ve been out sleeping around. I’ve been married and she’s… well, is it okay to say that she’s been more of a whore than a wife?” A dry laugh escaped him. His whorish wife, like some bad cable-only movie. “I didn’t expect much from her when we got married, but she surpassed even my already low opinion of her.”
    “Why’d you marry her then?” True quizzical curiosity had Kelsey leaning toward him.
    He shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable with the topic. “Because she was ideal as far as my parents were concerned.”
    “Ah. Right, mom and dad.” Kelsey leaned back, a smug smirk used to cover her easily seen pain. She stared at the edge of the table in silence for a moment. Then she pierced Ronan with her dark hazelnut gaze. “You realize you asked me to marry you, right? At least that’s what that sounded like. Is that what you’re doing? Asking me?”
    “I don’t know. We’re both so tired at this point, I’d like to think that we need to get some rest before I just dump all this information on you, but you don’t have anywhere to go and I don’t want to leave you stranded.” He twisted the edge of the napkin tighter and tighter. “My brother-in-law, Robbie MacAllister – you know him and his brother – gave me an opportunity to keep my land intact but it requires me finding a wife.”
    “You have a wife. Everyone knows about the beautiful Mrs. James.” Kelsey’s palpable bitterness cast a shadow over their table. Not that they were caked in sunshine to begin with.
    He nodded. “True, I have a wife. For the next few days. Let’s just say the existing wife broke the pre-nuptials in a huge way as well as tried ruining my chances for children. Needless to say, I need a wife to help me keep my property and to continue my line. I went the rich-bitch route before and I’d like to try a different path, this time.”
    Squinting, Kelsey screwed up her lips. “You mean, all I have to do is marry you? That doesn’t seem too bad. ”
    The waitress plunked a carafe of orange juice and two glasses on the table. Kelsey waited until she’d left before reaching into her purse and pulling out a travel-sized bottle of vodka. She poured it in her coffee, the entire bottle glub-glubbing as she held it over the black liquid.
    Lifting the cup, she didn’t even blow the steam to help cool it off. Closing her eyes, she drank what she could before putting it down. “When are you thinking this will take place?”
    Elation filled him. She was going to consider it. “Honestly, we need to be m arried in the next week or so.”
    “ In the next week or so?” Kelsey waited for his nod. She reached inside her purse and pulled out another bottle which she drained straight into her mouth. “Wow, you don’t mess around.” She waved her hand back and forth in front of her face. “I’m sorry. I’m a little shocked. This is a lot to take in, you know?”
    The waitress arrived, arms full of dishes. Kelsey tapped her empty placemat and peered at Ronan. “Let’s talk about this when we’ve had something to eat. I feel like it might not be real.”
    And Ronan didn’t argue. He was so tired, he didn’t know if he was even making sense.
    Married in a week to the woman of his dreams after not seeing each other for a handful of years? Yeah, it did seem like a dream.
    Hell, Ronan wasn’t sure he hadn’t been imagining things either. She hadn’t turned him down. She hadn’t said no. With as much business experience as Ronan had, the opportunity to