Mutual satisfaction? The only way she would be satisfied was if Ben Howard took himself out of her sight before she died of embarrassment. “I’ve just told you it’s not necessary.”

“Maybe so, but I think you at least owe me the chance to discuss it.”

Bertie rose. “Why don’t you and Benjamin talk things over quietly, dear. I have an errand or two to take care of.” She waved goodbye and glided out of the kitchen.

Ben eyed Melinda warily. He was determined to find a way to at least discuss his crazy ideas with her—for both their sakes. Too bad she didn’t look as if she were the compromising type.

He plunged in before she could start up again. “I wanted to explain why the wedding announcement riled me. Okay?” She nodded reluctantly. “The truth is I was married once—in college.”

Melinda held up her hand to stop him. “I’ve heard all about it. What does it have to do with me?”

“Only that the marriage lasted long enough for Annie and me to realize we were too young to know what we really wanted. When I told her I wanted to go on to grad school and study law, she announced she wasn’t willing to wait that long to have a life. The divorce came though the day we graduated.” He shrugged. “You might say it was a graduation present.”

“I still don’t see what this has to do with me.”

“I was just trying to explain why I reacted the way I did after I read the newspaper this morning.” He grinned sheepishly. “I guess you could say I’m allergic to marriage.”

“Great!” Melinda grimaced. Another allergic bridegroom! “All the more reason to forget this whole thing.”

Ben bit his lower lip. Hell, she was the one who started the mess, why was she so upset? Forget it? Fat chance. “I’m trying to tell you there’s a good reason why a temporary marriage between us might be a good idea.”

“A good idea?” If Ben had said Mars was hurtling its way toward Earth and would arrive in Ojai tomorrow, she wouldn’t have been more surprised. “Are you trying to tell me you want to get married now?”

“Yes, no…that is, maybe.” Ben gazed thoughtfully at his prospective bride. If he’d been looking for another wife, Melinda would certainly fit the bill. She was honest and loyal. She wasn’t greedy, either, or she would have jumped at the chance to be the wife of one of Ojai’s first families.

Luckily, there was more to admire in Melinda than her character. Her silky legs turned him on. Her womanly curves were pleasing. And so were her expressive green eyes and tossed blond hair.

She wore beige linen slacks and a matching silk blouse, pearls around her throat and at her ears. Definitely a class act. But the shorts and the sleeveless white shirt that left her midriff bare and the lush line of breasts exposed earlier had been a lot more interesting. If she’d been as attractive in high school as she was now, how could he have managed not to notice her?

If he put the facts together and threw caution to the wind, marrying Melinda could make sense. All he had to do was control his testosterone and remember he was planning on a marriage of convenience followed by a quiet annulment.

“If you don’t mind,” he began again, “I’d like to tell you something. It’s not easy for me to say, but I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

Seemingly speechless, Melinda continued to stare at him. He didn’t blame her. He didn’t recognize himself in all of this, either. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to apologize for the things I said earlier.”

Melinda nodded. Reluctantly, but he was relieved to see he had her grudging attention.

“So…maybe we ought to think about this marriage business.”

Melinda looked at him warily. “Wait a minute! Let me understand this. You’re suggesting we actually go through with a wedding ceremony?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“I can’t believe this!” She let loose. “Either you do or you don’t. First you blow your stack and then you come back here to tell me that you’ve changed your mind. Let’s get this straight—do you want to get married or don’t you?”

“Sort of,” he murmured, caught between a rock and a hard place. “Something changed my mind and brought me back here. I’m just not sure what it was.”

How could he tell her what had turned him back when he hadn’t had a logical answer to account for it?

He tried to concentrate on the happy smile on Bertie’s face. And the way she’d waved at him before she disappeared through the kitchen door. A blessing?

All the more reason he had to go on record about the conditions of the forthcoming wedding—provided they ultimately decided to go through with it.

“There is one thing I’d like to put on the table.” Melinda stared at him silently. Good. After what he had to say, he wasn’t sure she wasn’t going to take things so quietly. “This so-called marriage thing—you didn’t intend it to be real. It was only a fantasy. Right?”

Melinda’s face turned pink. She nodded hesitantly.

“I hate to get personal,” he insisted, “but under the circumstances, I have to be sure you do understand what I’m talking about.”

Melinda’s face turned a deeper pink. “If you’re saying this is going to be a marriage of convenience, I never intended anything else. In fact,” she frowned, “the more I think of it, the more I know this would never work. We’d have to be crazy.”

Ben had the feeling he should have his head examined. Two hours ago he’d gone on record as being against a wedding of any kind and here he was trying to convince Melinda they should go for it. Strangely enough, even though she was giving him a chance to back out, he actually felt disappointed. “The truth is,” he blurted, “I might need a wife.”

“Might need a wife?”

If ever there was a time to admit the whole truth, this was it. “Yes. This might sound crazy, but my uncle has been after me to get married. For that matter,” he muttered darkly, “so have a lot of women.”

“Lucky you.” The look she gave him would have frozen an Eskimo. “Why pick me?”

How could he tell her mistake was opportune? That he sensed she could be trusted to “dissolve” the marriage when the right time came. That it might be convenient to have her as his “wife” for the duration. He managed a grin. “Maybe your timing was right. Or maybe your aunt was right about your ‘mistake.’ Maybe it was fate.”

Melinda considered Ben’s answer. Her aunt had talked about fate and destiny for so long, she was conditioned to believe it herself. At any rate, a mock-marriage, without a license, to a socially prominent man with connections might just be the ultimate answer to the lack of prospective brides. She didn’t have to feel she was using him. From what he’d said, the marriage would be to his advantage, too. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good, I’m glad we finally agree on something.” Ben settled back in his chair. “I think we should also settle a few important details while we’re at it. Okay?”

Melinda shrugged. “After the story you just told me, I can’t imagine what else is left to talk about. But go ahead.”

“I’ll supply the minister.”

She hesitated. “Actually, if I decide to go through with the wedding I was going to ask the Reverend Charles Good to conduct the ceremony. Charles is a good friend of Aunt Bertie’s.”

“A real minister?”

“Of course.”

“No way!” Ben rose and paced the kitchen floor. He counted off the squares in the brown and white linoleum until his frustration cooled. “I’m not going to take a chance on anything going wrong. I have a friend back in Boston who is a drama professor. Dex will fly out to do the honors if I ask him to. He’ll not only look and act like a real minister, there’s a plus.”

“What’s that,” she asked cautiously. “No one will ever see him again.”

“We can’t,” she protested. “It would break my aunt’s heart, and I’d feel like a fraud!”

His eyebrows rose. “Would you feel any differently if this friend of your aunt’s performed a mock-ceremony without a license?”