Harry POV
Harry watched her for a while as she sat in her car and collected her thoughts. After she left the house, he had to pour himself a double scotch, and now stood at the window of one of his guest rooms. Rose was in her driver’s seat of her car with her eyes closed. He could almost see her thought process. It was a lot to take in, he knew.
He’d learn to live with the conditions of his uncle’s will for a long time now. He had later realised that he wanted to retain his uncle’s voting stock. He had met Lilli at a party, they had hit it off. Not in a romantic way, but more pessimistic personalitiescoming to together and enjoying each other over a drink. He decided to propose a deal to Lilli, it had been with an understanding that their relationship was strictly business. Neither of them was interested in the other- for two hard and cynical people, neither of them found themselves attracted to those same character traits in the other. But Lilli had gotten cold feet and she had sent her sister over to tell him about her change of plan. That was interesting.
Melrose on the other hand was completely different from Lilli. I preferred to call her Rose because with her rosy cheeks. Physically, the two sisters were nothing alike. Lilli was tall, blonde and beautiful. Rose was a brunette, a bit shorter than her sister and more petite. She was also fiercely loyal to her sister, which intrigued him since Lilli was not a woman who automatically inspired loyalty.Rose had a profession. She had opinion and also a brain. And harry was willing to bet that she was probably attracted to him. Most women were, he thought matter-of-factly.
It was be interesting to see how long we both lasted with the attraction for each other. But as long as they stayed clear of each other, there shouldn’t be anything major to overcome.She was everything and more that he was looking for in a wife and Rose was it. For the next three years she’d fit well by his side. It would be interesting for people to figure out the reason for marrying Rose because they wouldn’t be sure. There would be gossip and speculation because nobody would ever guess the reason for their marriage.
Watching Rose at last drove away from his house, he tackled the one last issue that was bothering him. Rose drew him in a way that Lilli hadn’t. Something about her was attracting him-something deeper that what was on the surface and he had three years to explore his suspicion.
He prided himself on his lack of emotion. So despite her appeal to him, he needed to be sure that Rose never ever got close, because he had no intention of getting emotionally involved with anyone.