Wanted: Wife for Hire (The Diamond Club Book 8)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Grabbing her robe, she pulled it on and tossed the wet towel into her laundry hamper, walking to the door. Pulling open the door, she opened her mouth, ready to offer a greeting when the tall, dark haired man turned.

  “Sebastian!” she gasped, stepping backwards, her hand automatically coming up to grip the neck of her robe. “What are you doing here?”

  “May I come in?” he asked softly.

  For a moment, Deni considered slamming the door in his face. But the reality was, she was too starved for news of Chloe. And him! But mostly Chloe.

  “Yes. Please.” She stepped back and looked around at her apartment. It was a bit messy after last night’s ladies night. Her first instinct was to clean up the small places that weren’t pristine. But then she remembered how much she hated his house and the elegantly clinical atmosphere. So instead, she left everything as is. Pillows weren’t straight and there were glasses in the sink, the pizza boxes were tilted at an angle in her garbage bin. And there was a bit of dust on everything because she’d been too tired and heart sore to do a thorough cleaning.

  “I just got out of the shower. I’m going to get dressed,” she told him and walked out of the room, closing her bedroom door firmly. She hoped that the action demonstrated that she didn’t want him any longer. It was a lie, but she had to grab onto any shred of dignity she could muster under the circumstances.

  Quickly, she grabbed a pair of well-worn jeans and a sweater, not caring what they looked like. Running her fingers through her hair in lieu of a comb, she grabbed a band and pulled her hair up on top of her head. For a moment, she thought about doing a better job of smoothing out her hair. But then she remembered that it was just Sebastian and she no longer was interested in being attractive to him.

  Her hand came to rest on her stomach, thinking about the baby nestled inside of her. She should tell him, Deni thought. He had a right to know.

  But not right now. She needed to confirm the pregnancy. Right now, it was just a possibility. She was late on her period. Very late, but…that could also be due to stress and lack of eating.

  Not an issue for now, she thought. When she had confirmation, she’d tell him. She owed him that much. But nothing more.

  Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the door and stepped out, finding him standing in front of her bookcase, perusing the titles.

  “Interested in something?” she asked.

  He picked up the picture of herself and another woman. “Is this your mother?” he asked gently.

  Deni looked at the picture and a stab of longing for her mother went through her. She took the picture away and stepped back. “Yes.” She lifted her chin, refusing to tell him anything more. “What do you want? Wanna throw a few more accusations at me?”

  He sighed, shaking his head. “No. I…” he looked around. “I came to apologize.”

  That was new! “About what?” she demanded, fighting back sudden tears.

  “I was wrong, Deni.”

  Shifting on her feet, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes. You were.” Lifting her head, she glared up at him, refusing to think about how his eyes were the sexiest, most incredible eyes she’d ever seen. “Anything else?”

  He looked uncomfortable. But she didn’t care. Not even a little! He’d tossed her out of his house like yesterday’s trash, not even giving her a chance to defend herself! Not that he’d have believed any of her claims of innocence. And there had been no way she could prove she hadn’t done it. In this kind of issue, he just had to trust her. Believe in her.

  “Please, could we start again?” he asked, his grey eyes…they were no longer icy. But right now, they were filled with an emotion Deni couldn’t quite identify.

  “Why?”

  He blinked down at her. “Because…I…care for you,” he stumbled.

  Deni closed her eyes, the pain stabbing her heart unlike anything she’d ever felt before. When she opened them again, it seemed as if his look was longing. But that was impossible! Sebastian didn’t long for anything or anyone! He simply went out and bought whatever it was that he wanted.

  “Well, I’m so glad that you…care…for me, Sebastian. Because,” she sniffed and turned away from him. “I love you. I fell hard and fast for a man who has no emotions. I love you and you care for me.” She looked out through the glass of her tiny sliding glass doorway. “I’m so glad that you have lukewarm feelings for me, when I feel as if you cut my heart out when you kicked me out of your life. And, not just that, but I love Chloe. You bought me, brought me into your life, let me share the beauty of that child, then snatched her away from me.”

  She turned back to face him and was startled by the heated look in his eyes. “So…”

  “If you love me, then marry me, Deni,” he growled, the sound so guttural and demanding that a shiver of awe and awareness slithered up through her body.

  Marry him? Seriously?! She pulled back, refusing to allow the hope to gain a footing in her mind. Turning away from him again, she shook her head. “I already did. I can’t do it again, Sebastian. Being around you will only make my feelings harder to kill.” She took a deep breath and looked up at him with a determined expression to her eyes. “I’m going to get over you.”

  “Don’t!” he snapped, moving closer. He reached out to her, but his fingers closed into a fist, then spread out as if he wanted to touch her. “Don’t get over me, Deni. Please! Don’t give up on me! I’m a mess. I know this. Meredith really messed with my mind.”

  She turned and glared up at him. “You never cared for her,” Deni retorted.

  He ran a hand through his hair. He turned and paced the few feet her tiny apartment allowed. “I was lured in by her outer beauty, but by the time she became pregnant, I was more than ready to get away from her. So no, I never truly cared for her.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Sometimes, I wonder if that’s why she’s so vindictive. She knew that I never fell under her spell.” He stopped and looked over at Deni. “But I fell under yours.”

  Oh, such sweet words! For several long moments, Deni looked up at him, wanting so much to believe him. “Your words sound nice, Sebastian.” She swallowed hard. “Better than nice, actually.” Deni turned away. “But I won’t settle for nice. Especially when I love you. Nice is so…bland.”

  With obvious frustration, he stared up at the ceiling, then back at her. “I don’t have the words to describe how I feel for you, Deni.”

  She turned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well, that’s…nice,” she replied sarcastically.

  Sebastian knew that he was blowing this and wasn’t sure how to fix it. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but she looked so…distant. So cold and unlike herself. The Deni he remembered was always smiling, always hopeful. Her eyes…they were dead now.

  Since he couldn’t seem to get out the right words, he just started talking. “I know that I hate walking into the house without you at night,” he told her. “I know that Chloe and I don’t laugh anywhere as much during dinner without you.” He sighed. “I also know that I miss holding you. I’m not sleeping because you aren’t in my arms. Even before that mess with the courts, I wanted you all the time. Every morning I woke up and went back to my bedroom before everyone else woke up. It was wrong, Deni. I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t have the words to figure out why it was wrong. And damn it, I miss you! I feel only half alive without you! And there’s no sunshine!” When her eyes widened, he nodded. “You brought the sunshine, Deni! You made the world warm, sunny, and happy! Damn, I remember the first time I saw you, you were dancing in the rain and I couldn’t figure out how to get warm. Then I saw you and it was as if you brought the warmth with you as you walked into the building!” He stepped closer to her, but didn’t touch her. “I’m a mess, Deni. I don’t trust very well. Especially women.”

  “For a man who doesn’t speak a whole lot, that was a mouthful.”

  He chuckled and moved closer. “Deni, please, don’t leave me out in the cold. Teach me to trust,” he said
softly, reaching out to touch her, taking her hands in his. “Teach me how to…” he stopped, not exactly sure what to say, how to finish. He just stared at her for a long moment.

  “What?” she prompted, enthralled by his words despite her determination to not feel anything more towards this man. Unfortunately, where Sebastian was concerned, she couldn’t seem to help herself. “What do you want to learn?”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t need to learn to love you, Deni,” he told her, moving closer. “I just realized that I already do.”

  Beautiful words…so beautiful that she closed her eyes, letting the happiness wash over her. But then she opened them again, looking up at him. “So, why did you kick me out of your house? Out of your life?” This time, she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

  He pulled her into his arms, relieved when she allowed the caress. “Because you scare the hell out of me!” he rasped. “You’re so bright and sunny and happy! And I’m…not! So I believed whatever the first excuse was that allowed me to push you away.” He sighed, his arms tightening around her. “Damn, Deni. I need you! I need you to show me how the world can be. Not the way I see it,” he told her. “Marry me. For real this time! We can have a huge wedding, anything you want. We can invite all of your friends and make it a massive affair. You can wear a huge, white wedding dress and I’ll pay for all of it. Just…marry me and bring the sunshine back into my life!” he groaned.

  Deni couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Stiff, formal, icy Sebastian wanted her! He called her his sunshine! Oh, she knew that she should resist him. But how could she? How could she ignore him when he said things like that?

  “I don’t want a big, formal wedding, Sebastian.”

  “What do you want?” he asked, pulling back so that he could look down at her.

  “You,” she whispered. “And Chloe.”

  “You have me. And Chloe misses you fiercely.”

  She stared up into his beautiful grey eyes, debating her next request. But in the end, she knew that she had to be honest with him. “And a new house,” she added, cringing as she said it.

  He was startled for a moment. “A new house?”

  “Yes,” she replied, looking wary now. “I hate your house, Sebastian. It’s cold and soulless. And it’s so massive and formal!”

  He blinked. Then he threw back his head, laughing with delight. “A new house it is! You can choose any house you want, as long as you and Chloe are in it.”

  “And maybe, a few more children?” she asked, her heart pounding as she waited for his response.

  He hesitated, and shook his head, even shuddering slightly. She felt his fingers clench and unclench around her waist, not sure what was going through his mind.

  “That’s going to take a bit more time, Deni,” he warned. “Meredith…she threatened to abort her pregnancy several times. When she got mad at me, or if I didn’t come home when she called, when I didn’t increase her credit limit or pay for some extravagant piece of jewelry she wanted…she’d threaten to abort our child.” He sighed, wrapping her arms around her. “I lived in fear of coming home to find out that she’d killed my child in a fit of temper.” He shuddered. “So, that might take a bit more time.”

  Deni wasn’t sure what to say. But it was better to get this all out into the open. Honesty, she thought. “Well, could you give me an estimate on how long it might take you to trust that I won’t have an abortion?”

  Sebastian shook his head. “I don’t know, Deni. I just…” he stopped, her words echoed through his head. Deni just stood there, waiting. He was an intelligent man. He stiffened, and pulled back, looking down at her. “Deni, what are you telling me?”

  She shrugged, sliding her fingers up his chest. “I don’t know for sure, but I think I might be pregnant,” she whispered.

  Sebastian stepped back and Deni’s hands fell to her sides. She looked up at him, watching warily.

  “How?” he rasped, running a shaking hand through his hair.

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “And I don’t know if I’m truly pregnant.” That was only sort of a lie. She suspected strongly, but hadn’t confirmed it yet. “But…I’m late. My cycles are irregular, but never this late.”

  The pacing started again. Back and forth and he glanced at her several times, working through something in his mind.

  Finally, he came to stand in front of her. “Do you want more children?”

  She looked into his grey eyes. If he’d asked her yesterday, she would have said no. No because she didn’t want to acknowledge her feelings.

  But now? Now she wanted to take him into her arms and shower him with so much love that he never doubted for a single moment that he was a wonderful, exceptionally amazing man. “Yes,” she finally answered. “I want children, with you, very badly.”

  “And an abortion?”

  She felt as if he’d just slapped her. “If you don’t want this child,” she whispered harshly, her hand coming up to cover her stomach defensively, “then that’s fine. I’ll have this baby on my own. I’m not aborting our child.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. Then the air seemed to gush from his lungs and he pulled her into his arms. “Thank god!” he groaned, and he held her tightly and Deni lost the battle against her tears.

  “I love you, Sebastian!” she told him with heartfelt honesty.

  “I…love you too.” He stumbled over the words, but Deni thought they were more poignant for that stumbling.

  Epilogue

  “What do you think?” Sebastian said, holding Chloe in his arms as they both stared down at the two basinets.

  “They are boys,” she whispered, obviously unimpressed.

  Her father chuckled.

  “Yes, they are boys. Twins.”

  “I wanted a sister,” she pointed out, emphasizing the last word.

  Sebastian hugged her slightly. “I already have one perfect daughter that I love very much,” he explained. “I think that God decided that we needed boys instead of another girl.”

  Chloe was soothed by her father’s words, but still…she looked skeptically down at the babies that were sleeping at the moment. “What do they do?”

  He laughed and sat down on the edge of the hospital bed where Deni was sipping herbal tea and watching them. “Well, eventually, they’ll get bigger and the three of you can play together.”

  She sighed, still not convinced. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she reached out to poke one of the tiny infants. “I’m not going to have to leave again, am I?” she whispered, her chin trembling as she contemplated the addition of brothers into her world.

  Sebastian turned to glance at Deni over his shoulder. Looking down at his beautiful daughter, he shook his head. “Never, honey!” he told her forcefully. “You never have to leave! Having brothers only means that we’ll have a bigger family. And we’re going to need your help with them.”

  Chloe looked at him, her eyes sparkling with the unshed tears. “Help? How can I help?”

  He held her close, wishing that he could somehow wipe away the time his precious daughter had spent in Meredith’s house. But he couldn’t. All he could do was fill every day of her life with love and security. With Deni’s help, he was doing that.

  “Well, these two little guys don’t know how to make s’mores,” he explained. Immediately, Chloe’s eyes widened with excitement. “And they don’t know how to put up a tent or go hiking. You and I go hiking together a lot these days and I was hoping that you might help teach them how to walk and to laugh, just like you do all the time.”

  She nodded her head. “I could do that!” she brightened. “I’m really good at making s’mores!”

  He laughed. “I know. Deni taught you how to find the right coals in the fire and you are an expert now. So now, we’re all going to have to teach them to make s’mores too. What do you think?”

  She bounced eagerly, nodding while her blond curls danced. “I can do that! I promise!”

>   “Good! I know that you’ll be the best big sister any brother could hope for!”

  Excerpt from “That Night with the Sheik”

  Release Date: November 15, 2019

  Click HERE to get “That Night with the Sheik”

  (Author’s Note: There’s a prologue to this story that gives a bit of a back story to Chloe and Girad’s romance, but I went ahead and chose this excerpt for you lovely ladies. I hope you enjoy this snippet!)

  Chloe stood behind Avi, staring into her eyes in the mirror. It was a week before her wedding and Avi was absolutely miserable as they did a final fitting for her wedding dress. “You’re going to be okay,” Chloe whispered comfortingly, putting her hands on Avi’s shoulders gently. “I’ve met Sheik Lugar. He seems very nice.”

  Avi shivered, lowering her eyes. “I hate him, Chloe,” she whispered. “He doesn’t understand me. He thinks Otis is ridiculous,” she spat, referring to the ugly, abused donkey that Avi had rescued several months ago. The donkey wouldn’t let anyone touch him but Avi and a few of the stable hands. As soon as Avi came down to the stables, Otis brayed and raced through the other horses in the pasture, determined to get to Avi first. Otis adored Avi and she loved him right back. But then, Avi loved all of her rescued animals, right down to the latest batch of kittens that she’d snuck into the stables just yesterday.

  “He might not understand you now, but be patient,” Chloe advised, then closed her eyes, shaking her head. “That’s such a stupid thing to say!” She moved around to face her friend. “I’m American, so I’m struggling here. I don’t think that any woman should have to be patient and wait for her husband to learn to understand her! But this isn’t my country and I don’t understand why you would agree to marry a man that you don’t even like, let alone love.”

  Avi burst out laughing, which turned into tears as she threw herself into Chloe’s arms.

  “I know!” she sobbed into Chloe’s shoulder. “I know and I agree! But I don’t know what to do!”