“I’ve been working on it.” Garner sat forward and typed on his computer keyboard. “It wasn’t too hard to convince them that having a reluctant, surly bachelor might not be good for their ratings, but they don’t have anyone to take your place. So I’ve got feelers out all over, although no one has responded yet. I’m hoping to locate a substitute.”
“You mean I might not have to pay?”
His mouth twisted to one side. “You’ll still have to pay, but I’m negotiating to reduce the amount.”
Cole swallowed the curse word that came to mind. The one time he’d used foul language in front of his mother, she’d made him swish with vinegar. The lesson had stuck. Though he might think them, he never spoke a bad word aloud.
“It ought to be illegal for them to force me to marry someone, contract or not.”
“Sorry. The contract is tight. Either you marry one of the contestants or you pay the penalty. Nothing illegal about that, unless you’re already married.”
“What?” Cole’s heart leapt into his throat. “What are you saying? The contract is illegal if I’m already married?”
“Yes! That’s it!” Garner clapped his hands like an excited child. With frenzied motions, he snatched the stack of pages and flipped through them, almost to the last one, and jabbed it with his finger. “Right here. Standard terminology. ‘If one or more provisions of this agreement are held to be unenforceable under applicable law, such provision shall be excluded from this agreement.’”
“What does that mean, in plain English?”
“It means, we won!” Garner’s smile split his face in two, as he waved the rumpled pages in the air. “They can make you do the show, but they can’t force you to marry one of the contestants. Not if you’re already married. That provision would be unenforceable, because it would be illegal.”
“And there’s no clause that says I have to pay them if I marry someone who isn’t on the show.”
“I don’t think so.” He scanned back a few pages, his finger tracing the lines, then he looked up, exultant. “It’s not in here. They have every kind of provision to prevent marriage to a non-contestant after filming starts, but not before.”
“Seems like an awfully big loophole.”
“Heads are going to fly in their legal department.” Garner laughed, tossing the pages on his desk. “I guarantee that loophole won’t be in their next contract.”
Cole knocked his palm against his head. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of this before.”
Garner said a word that would’ve earned him a mouthful of vinegar from Cole’s mom. “I never considered this option because you told me, and I quote, ‘I will never get married. Not now. Not ever. No matter what the circumstances. End of discussion.’”
“I suppose I might’ve said that.” Cole cleared his throat, his face heating. “But this won’t be a real marriage, so it’s not the same.”
“What do you mean by not real?” An oh-no-not-again expression crept onto Garner’s face. “If it’s a fake marriage and Matchup can prove it, they can still sue for breach of contract.”
“It’ll be real enough. We’ll live together and all that. But we’ll have separate bedrooms.” Cole’s mind raced. “And we can write the prenuptial agreement any way we want. We could make the termination date… I was thinking five or six months, but we should make it longer. That way my insurance will cover when the baby’s born.”
“Baby? You got this girl pregnant?” Garner’s forehead dropped to his desk, but his voice continued, a muffled moan. “She’s going to milk you for all you’re worth. I swear, you’ve taken ten years off my life.”
“Stop worrying. It’s not even my kid. Her ex-husband is the father. I wanted to give her some money, anyway, so this works out great. We’ll set her up with a couple hundred thousand. I guarantee, she won’t want more than that. She’s got a lot of pride.”
“As your attorney, I have to warn you about this. Under Texas law, if a child is born to a married couple, the husband is presumed to be the father. Legally, you’ll be that baby’s father, despite knowing that’s not true. That means, you’ll be obligated to provide child support. And with your money, the court is going to order a hefty payment. You’ll be on the hook until the child is grown, unless the mother remarries and her new husband wants to adopt the child.”
“If her slimy ex does the math, he’ll probably demand a DNA test.”
“The courts won’t demand a DNA test at his request.” Garner pursed his lips. “Your safest option would be to divorce her before the child is born. But even then, the courts might order you to pay something. Hopefully, she can prove the ex is the father and get support from him instead. He’s the one who ought to be paying it.”
“I can’t do that to her. Or the baby.” Cole’s stomach churned like he’d eaten something rotten. He imagined Brooke, forced to go after the cheating ex-husband in court and deal with him for the rest of her child’s life. She was already brave enough to face motherhood on her own. She deserved better. “Look, I’m never going to have any kids of my own. I’m okay paying child support for this one.”
“You don’t understand.” Garner’s hand slammed onto the desk so hard it made Cole jump. “This is going to cost you way more than a million dollars. You’d be better off paying the penalty to get out of the contract with Matchup.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to marry Brooke. I don’t care what it costs me.”
He knew he was being rash again, but he couldn’t stop himself. What was it about Brooke that clouded his judgment? Maybe it was the way her eyes teared up when he’d bared his soul to her. Or that she’d already managed to soften his anger at his birth mother… helping him see from her perspective. If nothing else, he owed Brooke for that.
He didn’t believe in coincidences. Clearly, God had brought her into his life for a reason. Marrying her was the right thing to do.
If only I can convince Brooke.
“I can’t put a marriage termination date in the prenuptial agreement, anyway. Millionaire Matchup could use that to prove the marriage was fraudulent.” Garner’s sigh was louder than a gale-force wind. “If you’re going to go through with this, you’ll have to file for divorce the old-fashioned way. But my advice still stands… do it before the baby comes.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Great,” said Garner, in a tone that implied it wasn’t great at all. He stood and gestured toward the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and take some aspirin. It seems I’ve developed a pounding headache.”
Brooke had halfway expected to see Cole when she ran into Lava Java to get her decaf coffee. She made a point of calling Lester by name, which resulted in a great deal of blushing and stuttering. She squelched her disappointment at Cole’s nonappearance with a glazed donut, thrilled that both treats rested peacefully in her stomach.
The morning had been uneventful, except for the dozens of text messages and voice mails from Harper, demanding an explanation. Brooke had finally silenced her with a text, truthfully reporting that she’d thrown up multiple times and gone to bed early. She wasn’t ready to tell her sister about her evening with Cole. Besides, she reasoned that much of their conversation had been confidential, and she didn’t have the right to share.
She didn’t regret rejecting his “proposal.” Or at least that’s what she told herself. Though she had to admit the offer was tempting. If circumstances were different, she’d be picking out linens for her wedding registry.
Having lived through the heartbreak of divorce once, she had no desire to repeat it. Sure, they would both know up front that love wasn’t a part of the relationship. But how could she spend time with Cole Miller and not fall for him?
Not that she’d used that argument in her conversation with Cole. Instead, she’d pointed out she would be big and pregnant by the end of filming. How did he intend to explain that to millions of viewers? Was he going to claim to be the baby’s dad? She’d also argued that she couldn’t film the show and keep her counseling job, which defeated the whole purpose.
“It’s a generous offer,” she’d told Cole, “especially considering you saw me throw up twice in one day. But I don’t think we should ever see each other again.”
