As they headed to the airport, Walker watched the forest near her property go by. He couldn’t believe she’d accepted the deal. Not only that, he couldn’t believe he was going to have the lake house. If only she knew he’d pretty much been squatting there the past year, camping a couple of days a month and rowing to his heart’s content. He’d never imagined the house could be his.

Elation surged through him. He’d tried to call his brother Grant last night and get the four-one-one on Scarlett. After all, he’d been her co-star, and he probably knew her pretty well. The loser wouldn’t answer, so he’d done his own research. You don’t get a “proposition,” whatever that really meant, and not go home and scavenge the Internet for everything on the woman offering you the deal. Since he hadn’t been able to get Grant, he’d called his brother Zane and had him do a background check. It all checked out. Basically, she was just rich, richer, then even richer, to the tune of billions in the Powers Foundation and Trust.

After some serious pondering last night, he’d used her same logic. Why not? She was a billionaire. As he suspected, she was never at this house. So why not him? Why shouldn’t he use the house? He was stuck in Dallas for football. He was grateful, but he needed space. Room to breathe. A place to row. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, after all. So he would deal with all her crap for the next four days. All that crap about her ex and the best friend and the oppressive father and blah blah blah. Rich people problems.

He would do it—for a price.

Good thing he knew that to her, the price wasn’t actually that high. When you dealt with billions, what was fifty million? And it was a house she never used. He could give her a month a year. Would she even use it? He doubted it.

Neither of them spoke as the forest turned to city. Buildings rushed past his window as they turned for the airport. He imagined they’d be taking a private jet. His hands itched to fly something again.

“So you might need to tell me a bit about yourself,” Scarlett said hesitantly.

Right, the get-to-know-you crap. “What do you want to know?”

“You’ve had quite a few relationships over the past year.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, I googled you.”

He let out a light laugh. “A date isn’t a relationship.”

“True,” she said, looking a bit wary.

“The only thing I really promise my date is a good breakfast in the morning.”

A look of distaste crossed her face.

Yes, exactly. She had to know up front that this wasn’t going to be some romance movie like the one she had just starred in with his brother. “Hey, I can serve up whatever they want … eggs, bacon, pancakes.”

Her brow furrowed. “Hmm, you sound like every woman’s dream.”

“Hey, you knew what you were getting into.”

“True,” she conceded.

For a few moments, neither of them spoke.

“You have a nice ‘soldier’ look,” she commented out of the blue.

He scowled. “What?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just the look you were wearing during the auction, the look you go to when you shut down.”

This bothered him. She already thought she could read him.

Scarlett’s face softened with pity. “I saw a story about your wife’s accident. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” He grimaced. “I don’t talk about it.”

More strained silence. Great, so this was how it would be. He began to wonder if anything was worth having pressure to share his “feelings” with someone for the next four days.

“I need to fill you in on details if we’re going to get through this,” she said, leaning back.

“Fine.”

She started to say something, but then her eyes widened in alarm. “Wait!” she said, leaning up to the driver. “Go back!”

Walker was a bit annoyed. Was she reneging on the deal? “What’s going on?”

“I forgot something.”

The driver turned the car around, and only then did Scarlett sit back. Her hands were clenched, and Walker noticed she looked pale. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She put a hand over her stomach. “I’m fine, I just … I just have been feeling a bit sick today.”

Great. Reflexively, he scooted closer to the door.

Taking a big breath, she let it out slowly. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Walker didn’t think she looked okay.

But her face was regaining its color. “Yes.”

They got back to the house. She ran in, then came right back out. She entered the security code on the garage and slipped into the car as the door was closing, holding a bottle of pills. As the driver headed off again, she opened the bottle, popped one into her mouth, and gulped back water. She moved to put the cap back on the pills, but swore when she spilled them.

He bent to help her pick them up, noticing they could be mistaken for horse pills. “Big ones.”

Greedily, she yanked them back from him. “Thank you.” She stuffed them into the bottle and stashed that in her purse. Resting her hand over her chest, she leaned back and closed her eyes.

Man, did the woman have some kind of drug problem? It appeared so. That wasn’t his problem, he told himself. This was just a four-day deal.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said softly.

“Look, you’re thin, in my opinion. Too thin.”

Giving him a look that could kill, she shook her head. “They’re not … diet pills.”

“Then what are they?”

“It’s complicated.” She looked out the window.

Mental issues. Then it all made sense: the oppressive father, the ex, the best friend. Right. She needed to be medicated. “Look, if you need your Valium to deal with family stuff, who am I to judge?” He snorted. “Heck, if anyone knows how much you might need your meds at times, it would be me.”

Instead of commiserating, she glared at him. “My pills are none of your business.”

“Fine. Let’s talk about the issues at hand.”

“Okay.” She looked out of sorts. “Where should we start?”

There would be no point in mentioning he didn’t even want to start. “I guess with the ex.”

She nodded. “I was with Kurt on and off my whole life, and it was a sucker punch when he dumped me a year ago.”

“Got it.”

Her bottom lip shook for a moment, and he wondered if she was using her actress skills, because he was kind of feeling bad for her. She turned away. “To describe how it feels now that he’s announced this engagement to my best friend would be like … like …”

“Walking into an IED?” he filled in for her.

“What?” She flung her head back to him.

“An unanticipated explosion,” he explained.

Her eyes fluttered, and then she awarded him a small smile. Not that he was trying to win anything. “Right.”

“Okay.”

“So I’m thinking the story could be that you and I have been dating since we met at the lake house nine months ago, right before my movie filming started in New York.”

“Really? That long?”

Scarlett’s head bobbed in quick up-and-down motions. “Yes.”

He shook his head. This poor girl. If he was getting the house, they were going to do this right. “No, I met you on your lake a couple of months ago.” He winked at her. “Saved your life, just like you said. Then, when I was in New York over spring break with my brother Grant, we went to an off-Broadway deal. You and I ran into each other, and we just couldn’t believe the coincidence.”

Her eyes fluttered even more. Her cheeks flushed, and she smiled. “It sounds romantic.”

He thought it did too.

“I like it.” She pointed at him. “Will you make sure Grant knows?”

“You bet.” Now that they were building their story, Walker was invested in this now. “You came to dinner with us after, and we hit it off from there. Since you’ve been in New York, I’ve been coming to see you every two weeks, but you’ve come here a couple of times, and I have taken you rowing out on the lake.” He thought of his peace and the sanctuary he would have after this little fiasco. “That’s where you fell in love with me.”

She chuckled. “Are you sure you’re not a movie writer?”

That thought made him smile. “That’s more Grant’s department.” It dawned on him that he wasn’t exactly sure where they were going. “Where is this wedding?”

“We’re going to Calamigos Ranch, outside of L.A. It’s supposed to be nice.”

“Great.”

“Yeah, a bunch of famous people got married there.” She started listing off all the people and what their weddings were like.

“I don’t care,” he said quickly.

“What?”

“I don’t care about who does what with whom. Just so you know, I won’t be your gossip friend.”

She frowned, then shook her head. “Good thing I don’t need you for that.”

He was glad she agreed, and it felt like it was all working out.

She continued to tell him way too many facts about the ex and ex best friend and how they had betrayed her. He got it. They were awful, and he would treat them accordingly.

Next, she moved on to her controlling father. Man, it was a lot. He felt bad for her, but after a while, he started to tune it out just focused on her.

He stared at those pale green eyes, her porcelain skin, and her perfect red hair. Not to mention her perfectly shaped eyebrows. Unable to stop himself, he pointed at her eyebrows and asked, “Are those real?”

She glowered at him. “You’re asking if my eyebrows are real?”

With a shrug, he said, “Sorry, I was distracted by how perfect your face is.”

Scarlett’s mouth fell open slightly. “Oh.”

He grinned at her, thinking she was different from most women he’d been around. Granted, she was rich. And proper, even in the way she spoke. But she was also feisty and frail and vulnerable all at once. “For a movie star, you sure don’t know how to take a compliment,” he teased.

“Humph.” She let out a breath. “Well, you’re not the man I expected to give it.”

He chuckled. “Not bad boy enough for you?”

She shook her head. “I actually didn’t even think of that until you said it last night. But,” she said, sighing. “I feel bad because … I kinda do like the idea of sticking it to my dad, of ticking off my ex.”

He laughed, then gestured for her to continue. “Keep going. Tell me all the stuff I need to know to be an acceptable fiancé. Or, I guess, unacceptable fiancé, right?” He winked at her.

Frowning, she put a hand to her forehead and massaged it. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Tell me about the bridezilla.”

Scarlett let out a small laugh. “Hey, she’s not bridezilla, I like Charlene. She and my brother grew up together and have been together forever, but she looks at him in that way, ya know?”

“No, I don’t know. What way is that way?” He found he actually liked talking to this woman.

“I don’t know, like he’s her hero, like she wants to sneak off and make out with him.”

He grunted. “Hmm, not sure I’ve ever seen that look.”

“Really?”

“No, but maybe you can practice giving me that look, so we can make sure everyone is buying it.”

“You can’t fake the look. You just know it.” She wagged her finger at him. “Plus, your role is a jerk, so I don’t know how much I’ll be giving you that look.”

“Hmm.” Now he had to wonder what it would be like if she gave him that look.

They got to the airport and were ushered right to her private plane, just as Walker had suspected they would be. Being around all these flying machines made him yearn to fly.

As they boarded the plane and got situated, he went from window to window, checking to see if he could see any helicopters.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking for birds.” He continued around the plane, but was disappointed he couldn’t see any out by the private hangars. “Must not be any out today.” He settled next to her in a seat, and they prepared for takeoff.

“That’s right. You fly helicopters,” she said.

“Used to.” He didn’t want to talk about that.

She kept her eyes on him.

“What?” he asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

She flashed him a smile. “Maybe your life?”

This felt too close for comfort, but he had to give her something.

“For research,” she said pointedly.

He sighed. “I bet you already know most of it. Grew up with five brothers, Dad passed away serving in the military when I was nine. My mama was a nurse.” He frowned. “Passed away from breast cancer last year.”

Her hand covered his. “I am so sorry to hear that.”

“Thank you.” He shrugged. “My wife died three years ago.” It surprised him how he could barely talk about this.

She didn’t press it.

He moved on. “There’s not much else, you know I was dishonorably discharged last year.” It didn’t feel weird to tell her this. Of course, everyone knew, but he usually never talked about it. “Got onto the Titans and the rest is history.”

She studied him. “How come I don’t believe that?”

“What?” He peeked out of the window and looked again to see if there were any helicopters.

“Nothing. It just seems to me like you might miss flying helicopters.”

He grunted. “Yeah, sometimes life just doesn’t work out.”

“You could fly commercially.” She offered.

He gave her a look that said back off. “Just like you don’t want to talk about those pills, I don’t want to talk about flying helicopters.” He didn’t like using something he knew about her to make her back off, but he didn’t like being pushed about certain things either.

She put up her hands. “Okay, but maybe you’ll be glad to know, after we hit the LAX airport, we’ll be taking a helicopter to the resort.”

“Hmph,” he said, trying not to feel excited about this.

She grinned at him. “The helicopter will stay with us at the resort. Maybe I can get you some fly time.”

“Maybe,” he said noncommittally, but his fingers itched to hold the wheel again.

It wasn’t long before the plane lifted into the sky. Walker leaned back and thought about spending the next couple of days with a rich heiress and being her bad boy. The fact that he might have a helicopter at his disposal was encouraging. If he could get through the next four days, he would have his lake, his canoe, and his peace of mind. And heck, maybe he would buy his own helicopter and keep it at the lake house too.