Just Between Friends (O'Rourke Family 4) by Julianna Morris

surrounded by old forestgrowth. She liked the peace and privacy, but she’d live in a broken-down shack if Dylan was there.
    A muffled curse came from behind her, then the throaty hum of the motor.
    “Get in the truck, Kate,” Dylan ordered, sticking his head out of the window.
    “I feel like taking a walk.” It was a lie. Her strappy sandals were terrible for walking, but she stepped to the side of the road so he could pass. Unfortunately her feet sank into the forest loam, so she wobbled and nearly fell.
    “Dammit, Katydid, get back in here before you break an ankle. This is a lousy way to get out of an argument.”
    “It’s a stupid argument.”
    “No, it’s not.”
    Kate stopped and put her hands on her hips. “I know you’re archaic in your thinking, Dylan, but in the modern world, people actually form partnerships when they get married, with women contributing to expenses.”
    “Not when a guy like me marries a girl like you.”
    “Huh.” Kate stumbled as she climbed back onto the road. Dylan wasn’t going to haul her into the truck like a caveman, so she hunched her shoulders and headed for the house. He could just creep along behind her.
    “Hell.”
    Dylan threw on the brake and strode after Kate. He didn’t know why he was so determined to pay for their household expenses, but it seemed important. The world probably thought he’d fallen into a plushy situation getting married to the heir of the Douglas mansion and the only child of Isabelle and Chad Douglas. He had to know, in his heart, that he wasn’t getting anything out of it.
    It was ironic. In all the years he’d known Kate he’d never once thought of marrying her, and now everyone probably thought he was the worst sort of opportunist.
    “Kate, wait.”
    She kept walking, turning the last curve in front of the carriage house.
    “Katydid, please don’t be like this.”
    Dylan took her by the shoulders and turned her around. His breath went out in a rush at the confused pain in her eyes. What did she want? If only she’d tell him, then maybe he could do something about it.
    He brushed a hand over her hair and sighed. She was so lovely, so young and untouched. He didn’t want Kate to know how nasty the world could be, but things could get ugly fast. As much as he hated admitting it, he might not be around to protect her.
    “Baby, maybe it’s just pride, but I don’t want anyone thinking I married you because of the money.”
    “Nobody that matters thinks that.”
    “Maybe. Maybe not. But let me do this, because it matters to me.”
    Kate opened her mouth, then closed it again, her gaze locked with his.
    “For goodness’s sake. Are the newlyweds having their first dispute?”
    The voice and question, so much out of the blue, shocked them both. In a single smooth movement Dylan spun around, putting himself between Kate and the man standing by the house.
    “Who are you?” he asked bluntly. “And why are you trespassing on private land?”
    “I’m—”
    “It’s Richard Carter,” Kate said, evading his protective arm. “One of Grandmamma’s lawyers.”
    “I’m not trespassing, I entered using the electronic gate control my client gave me before her death,” Carter murmured, his shrewd gaze moving back and forth between them. “I just thought I’d come by and see how things are going. Your grandmother was very concerned for your happiness, Miss Douglas.”
    “She’s Mrs. O’Rourke now,” Dylan snapped, enraged.
    How could anyone stand there and pretend Jane Douglas had given two hoots for her granddaughter’s happiness? The old witch had only cared about the family name and reputation, and now she was trying to run Kate’s life from the grave.
    All at once he was glad he was helping Kate.
    Nobody had the right to manipulate someone else’s life. There was nothing wrong with having money, but the Douglases were a bunch of spoiled rich people who’d never learned to do a decent day’s work or worry about anything