‘But marriage…’ he said to Blake, and Blake grinned.

‘Yeah, well, maybe this is the only sort of marriage that can work for the likes of us,’ he’d said. ‘It’s not like you want a real marriage. Why not in name only?’

Why not? Because it wasn’t quite true.

Marriage, for Nick, had always seemed something others did. From the time he first remembered, it had been as if he was on the outside looking in. Happy families? How did you go about achieving that? He had six foster brothers and they’d all come from disasters-partnerships that had imploded. Even Ruby, his beloved foster mother, had suffered tragedy.

He’d dated many women-of course he had-but the step toward commitment had always seemed insurmountable. But this…

‘You’re only committing for a month, right?’ Blake asked.

‘The general idea is that we stay married for as long as we need to. Minimum a month. Once Rose is firmly entrenched, there’s no need for me to stay.’

‘But the thought of helping get the country on its feet again turns you on?’

‘It does, yeah,’ he admitted.

‘And the thought of being married to Rose?’

He grinned and didn’t answer. But the bubble of excitement was becoming a tidal wave. This was a challenge. It was potentially beneficial for a whole country. And he’d be marrying Rose. If it worked out…

See, there was the scary bit. For some dumb reason, that was the thing that gave him pause. The way he felt about her.

She was gorgeous. Her smile made him gasp. She felt…

She didn’t feel anything. What had she said? ‘The last thing I want is more attachments. I’ve done family for life. I am free’.

That should make him feel better about the whole deal. Instead, it only made him feel more uncertain.

The thought of taking on a country’s direction didn’t worry him. The thought of marrying Rose did. Or, it didn’t worry him as much as unsettle him. It made him feel like he was teetering on the edge of something he didn’t understand.