A Convenient Husband by Kim Lawrence

firmly. ‘No, I’ll never get married.’
    â€˜You say that now, but when you meet someone…’
    It made Tess angry that he was just telling her what he thought she wanted to hear—a pretty pointless exercise when they both knew the reality was that no man would want her once he knew the truth.
    â€˜I said never .’ Her expression hardened. ‘Marriage is all about providing a loving, secure environment for children. That’s why a man gets married.’
    â€˜That’s why women get married,’ he corrected. ‘They’re the practical ones. A man gets married for other reasons.’
    â€˜You really don’t have to try and make me feel better, Rafe. I’ve had a lot of time to get used to the idea and I’m quite realistic about it.’
    â€˜That must account for the saintly aura,’ he snapped.
    â€˜Who made you the expert on what men want?’
    His anger continued to confuse her. ‘Well, I’m not, but—’
    â€˜But nothing! I can see that you’ve written yourself this naff script that says you’ve got to be brave and stoical, and quite frankly it makes me want to wring your stupid neck.’
    â€˜I’d noticed,’ she responded faintly.
    â€˜Being a man.’
    â€˜I’d noticed that too.’ On reflection this was a subject it might be better not to pursue.
    â€˜I feel,’ he continued, in no mood to be sidetracked by her interruptions, ‘that I’m slightly better qualified to comment on the subject than you. We get some bad press but most men are thinking about love when they get married, Tess, not good child-bearing hips…’ His eyes slid of their own volition to a point below Tess’s tiny waist. He cleared his throat; it wasn’t the child-bearing qualities or lack of them that made it hard for him to look away.
    â€˜You’re talking about sex. A man doesn’t have to get married to have sex, Rafe. But then I’m not telling you something you didn’t already know, am I?’
    â€˜There’s a difference between sex and love, one which even we shallow men can recognise.’
    Tess blinked at the angry intensity of his words. Oh, God, she’d forgotten; he’d loved and lost! It was small wonder that under the circumstances he felt passionate about the subject.
    â€˜Is that why you wanted to get married, Rafe?’
    With a frown he brushed aside her slightly wistful question. ‘We’re not discussing me.’
    â€˜That fact seems rather unfair considering we’re having an open day on my most intimate feelings,’ she grumbled.
    â€˜One day I’m sure you’ll find the man who wants you for you, not for what you can provide him with.’
    â€˜A nice thought…’
    â€˜You don’t believe me, do you?’
    She folded her arms across her chest and gave him a clear-eyed direct look. ‘Frankly, no. When I told Andrew, he was off as fast as his four-by-four would take him.’ She didn’t add that that had been the desired outcome.
    â€˜You told the vet?’ For some reason the fact that Tess had shared her secret with another man—especially that one—while he had been kept in the dark incensed Rafe.
    â€˜Well, he did propose to me.’
    â€˜Damn cheek!’ Rafe muttered. ‘All that goes to prove is what a prize pillock he is.’
    This was going a bit far, considering Rafe had never spoken to Andrew above twice as far as she knew.
    â€˜What is it with you, Rafe?’ she puzzled. ‘Do you take a dislike to any man I like on principle? I thought women were meant to be the irrational ones.’
    â€˜Irrational! Me?’ Rafe looked predictably amazed at the idea.
    â€˜First Andrew and now Ian. The poor man hasn’t done anything but be pleasant.’
    â€˜The poor man is the pathetic type who at the first sign of a receding hairline and expanding