Who'd Have Thought

Hayden Pérez needs money badly enough to consider an unusual proposition: marry a stranger for a year in exchange for a substantial payment. Discovering that the stranger is Samantha Thomson makes the offer considerably less appealing. Hayden is an emergency-room nurse, and the neurosurgeon is someone she already knows—and dislikes. Still, the arrangement could solve problems she cannot easily fix on her own. Making their marriage convincing requires more contact than either woman might prefer, bringing private lives and unexpected vulnerabilities into view. As Hayden learns more about the woman behind the proposal, keeping the relationship purely contractual becomes harder. The money is straightforward; everything else is becoming complicated.