MARRIAGE-BARGAIN

CHAPTER 6

POV OF ALEXA

Alexa squirmed in her seat as the silence in the black BMW stretched between them. Her husband-to-be seemed just as uncomfortable, and

chose to focus his energy into his MP3 player. She tried not to wince when he finally settled on Mozart. He actually enjoyed music without

words. She almost shuddered again when she thought of sharing the same residence with him.

For. An. Entire. Year.

"Do you have any Black Eyed Peas?"

He looked puzzled by the question. "To eat?"

She held back a groan. "I'll even settle for some of the old classics. Sinatra, Bennett, Martin."

He remained silent.

"Eagles? Beatles? Just yell if any of these names sound familiar."

His shoulders stiffened. "I know who they are. Would you prefer Beethoven?"

"Forget it."

They veered back to silence with a piano background. Alexa knew they were both nervous as the miles to her parents' house shortened.

Playing the loving couple wouldn't be easy when they couldn't even carry on a two-minute conversation. She decided to try again.

"Maggie says you have a fish."

That remark rewarded her with a chilling look. "Yes."

"What's his name?"

"Fish."

She blinked. "You didn't even give it a name?"

"Did I commit a crime?"

"Don't you know animals have feelings just like people?"

"I don't like animals," he said.

"Why? Are you afraid of them?"

"Of course not."

"You were afraid of that snake we found in the woods. Remember how you wouldn't get close, and you made some excuse to leave?"

The air in the car seemed to drop a few degrees. "I wasn't afraid, I just didn't care. I told you I don't like animals."

She gave a snort, then settled back to silence. Cross another quality from her list. Earth Mother sucked. Alexa decided not to tell her future

husband about the humane animal shelters. When they were overbooked, she always took the extra animals into her house until new spots

opened up. Something told her Nick would have a fit. If he ever got up enough emotion to lose control.

The possibility intrigued her.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked.

"Nothing. Do you remember everything we discussed?"

He gave a suffering sigh. "Yes. We went over all your family members in detail.I know names and general backgrounds. For God's sakes,

Alexa, I used to play at your house when we were younger."

She snorted. "You only wanted my mother's chocolate chip cookies. And you loved torturing me and your sister. Besides, that was years

ago. You've had nothing to do with them over the past decade." She tried hard to bite back the bitterness, but the ease with which Nick had

shed his past without a glance back left her a bit pissed off. "Speaking of which, you never mention your parents. Have you seen your father