The Millionaire Plan

by Karen King

  ‘That’s what I came to tell you,’ Jed eased off the doorway and stood upright. ‘I’ve just phoned the hospital and they said they’ve successfully removed the appendix, no complications. Mike’s out of the operating theatre but still asleep at the moment. Of course he’ll need time to recuperate but he’s going to be fine.’

  ‘Oh, I’m so glad! Did you hear that, Tess?’ Amber wrapped her arms around the dog’s neck and hugged her. ‘Mike’s OK.’ Then she looked over at Jed, her brown eyes brimming with unshed tears. ‘I hate to think what might have happened to Mike – and Tess – if we hadn’t arrived when we did.’

  He fought down the urge to take her in his arms and kiss the tears away. His senses told him that getting involved with Amber would be dangerous. He was too attracted to her.

  ‘Well, there’s no need to worry. They’ll both be fine,’ he told her. ‘Now, I’d better go and take some photos before it gets too late. Do you want to come?’

  ‘No, I’ll stay with Tess. I don’t want to leave her alone,’ Amber was still sitting on the floor with the dog’s head in her lap.

  ‘Do you want me to stay with you in case there’s any complications?’

  ‘There’s no need. Tess should manage it by herself, most dogs do,’ she assured him. ‘I might have to burst one of the puppy sacks if she’s too weak to do it, but that should be all.’

  He hesitated. ‘Are you sure? I don’t like to go off and leave you alone.’

  ‘I’d prefer it if you did, honestly. I’ll keep an eye on Tess and make the beds up for us tonight. ‘

  ‘OK, but if she starts to have the pups promise you’ll phone me. I want to be here.’

  ‘I promise.’

  ‘I’ll only be a couple of hours at the most.’

  ‘Take as long as you need. Make sure you get all the photos you want.’ Amber gently lifted the dog’s head off her lap and got to her feet. ‘I’ll take a chair outside and sit in the sun,’ she said. ‘I can keep coming in to check on Tess.’

  After swapping mobile numbers and making Amber promise that she would phone him the minute Tess went into labour, Jed picked up his rucksack and set off.

  Amber was relieved to have a break from Jed’s presence for a while. Her senses were always on edge when he was around and the feeling disturbed her. Also, she wanted to check out the sleeping arrangements in the cottage. It was rather small and she was hoping that there were two bedrooms. She didn’t fancy sharing a room with Jed.

  A quick glance around showed, to her relief, that there was a second bedroom. It was small and sparely furnished but adequate. She opened the windows to air the bed, doing the same in Mike’s room – where she decided it was best for Jed to sleep – taking the sheet off the bed and putting it straight into the washing machine, then hanging the duvet over the line to freshen up. That done, she went back to check on Tess. The dog was sleeping soundly so Amber decided to sit outside while the beds aired, leaving the door open in case Tess woke and wanted to come outside. She carried the deck chair she’d spotted at the back of the cottage earlier around to the front, where the sun was shining brightly, and settled down to relax for a while.

  She felt so at peace on this idyllic island part of her wished she could live here forever and forget all about trying to get Randy to marry her. She allowed herself to daydream for a moment, to imagine that she lived in the warden’s cottage with her husband and a couple of children playing outside. No worries, no pressure, just her and Jed. Jed! She sat upright. What on earth was she doing imaging herself married to Jed! The sun must have got to her head and addled her brain. Time to check on Tess and start making the beds, my girl, she told herself sternly.

  Just then, Tess trotted out laboriously, as if it was a huge effort, and made her way over to the hedge where she squatted down. Then she ambled over and rested her chin on Amber’s lap.

  ‘It’ll all be over soon,’ Amber comforted the dog, stroking her behind her ears. ‘You go and have a rest whilst I make the beds.’

  Tess followed Amber back inside the cottage and went straight to the nesting box, lying down with a big sigh. Amber left a bowl of fresh water just by the side of the nesting box, then went to make up the beds. She found some clean bed linen in the airing cupboard, made up the beds in both rooms, then took out the freshly washed bed linen from the washing machine and pegged it on the line. That done, she sat back in the deckchair and, exhausted, dozed off for a while

  Amber opened her eyes to see Jed walking towards her and a warm glow enveloped her. He was back.

  ‘Did you get the photos you wanted?’ she asked.

  ‘I got quite a few, though I think I’ll go out early in the morning and get a few more,’ he said. He indicated the washing blowing on the line. ‘I see you’ve been busy.’

  ‘I put some fresh linen on the beds. I thought you might like Mike’s room and I’ll take the smaller one, next door to Tess.’

  That’s it, spell the sleeping arrangements out for him. Not that he’d have any ideas about them sharing a room. Now if it was Randy, he’d expect it.

  ‘Fine by me. How’s Tess?’

  ‘She’s had a bit to eat and now she’s resting,’ Amber told him. ‘I was about to check on her again.’

  As they approached the store-room they heard the sound of Tess panting heavily.

  ‘I’m no expert,’ Jed said, ‘but I think this might be it.’

  Amber looked at the dog’s strained face then placed her hand on its swollen belly. It was rock hard. ‘I think you’re right.’

  ‘So what do we do now?’ Jed asked, looking anxiously at Tess.

  ‘I guess we leave her to it unless she gets into any trouble,’ Amber said. ‘We don’t want to frighten her.’

  ‘It could be a long haul, fancy a cup of coffee while we’re waiting?’ Jed offered.

  ‘That would be lovely. Milk but no sugar, please’ Amber replied, her eyes still fixed on Tess, who was panting heavily. She was sure a pup would be born any minute.

  She was right. A few minutes later the first pup was born. Tess expertly bit open the bag and cleaned the pup with her tongue.

  ‘Good girl,’ Amber said encouragingly. She longed to get closer and see whether the pup was male or female but didn’t dare for fear of frightening the mother dog. After all, they were basically strangers to Tess.

  She heard light footsteps behind her and turned to see Jed holding two mugs of coffee. He handed one out to her and, smiling gratefully, she took it off him.

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘She’s managing OK?’ he asked, looking over at Tess.

  ‘So far so good. Oh, look here’s another one!’

  As before, Tess dealt expertly with the birth of the pup. However, by the time four pups had arrived Amber could see the little dog was getting weak.

  ‘She must be dying for a drink. I’ll see if I can get her to have one.’ Amber picked up the bowl of water from the side of the box and placed it on the floor right in front of the dog.

  ‘Here you are, Tess. Have a drink,’ she coaxed.

  The little dog sighed then slowly stretched her head and took a few sips. The next minute she was panting heavily again and Amber knew another pup was on the way. By the time this last pup was born, poor Tess was too exhausted to bite the bag, so Amber quickly nicked it open with her nails, hoping Tess wouldn’t reject it. Fortunately, the dog weakly raised her head and started licking the tiny puppy.

  Amber heard Jed walking softly across the room and her skin prickled as he knelt beside her.

  ‘Five, eh. Not bad going. I wonder what sex they are?’

  ‘I don’t think we’d better disturb her yet to find out,’ Amber said, her eyes misting over as the tiny, squirming bundles fumbled their way to the warmth of their mother’s body. ‘Aren’t they just gorgeous?’

  ‘Wonderful,’ Jed said, placing his arm around her shoulder and squeezing it gently.

  She smiled at him and their eyes locked. Her breath caught in he
r throat as the air between hung quiet and still. Then, slowly, his face came closer and then his lips were on hers, lightly and gently at first, then deepening in intensity. And she was returning the sweet, probing kisses with ardour.

  ‘Wuff! Wuff!

  Tess’s barks brought Amber shudderingly back to earth again.

  Whoa! What was she thinking of, kissing Jed like this? She pulled away, fighting down the fire that was threatening to engulf her entire body, and looked over at the dog standing in the doorway.

  ‘I think she’s trying to tell us to stop congratulating ourselves, she did all the hard work,’ she said, hoping her voice sounded steadier than she felt. She didn’t dare catch Jed’s eye, dreading what she’d see there. He’d just given her a light kiss on the lips and she’d practically thrown herself at him! He already had a low enough opinion of her because she was planning on hooking a millionaire, now what must he think?

  ‘So she did.’ Jed’s voice was light, as if nothing had happened between them. Well, it hadn’t, had it? It was only a quick kiss, for goodness sake.

  You call that a quick kiss?

  She heard Jed get up but still didn’t trust herself to turn and face him.

  ‘I’ll go and write up my notes and check through the photos I’ve taken.’ he told her. ‘I’ll be in Mike’s study if you need me.’

  ‘OK.’

  The next minute he was gone, leaving her to her thoughts.

  Oh, nice one, Amber. Great timing to snog the guy like that when you’ve got to spend the whole evening together, not to mention tomorrow morning and the boat trip home.

  Hang on, he kissed me.

  Yes, but you didn’t have to kiss him back quite so enthusiastically, did you? She cringed as she remembered the way she’d ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his head closer to her. What had come over her?

  He’s an attractive guy and you were emotional because of the pups. It’s no big deal. Just shrug it off like nothing happened. Jed has. The kiss had obviously meant nothing to him.

  She got up and brushed down her shorts, wrinkling her nose at how grubby they were. She wished she’d bought a spare pair with her, and some clean undies too. She didn’t relish wearing the same clothes the next day. Maybe she could swill them through later and hang them to out to dry overnight. Until then she could at least have a wash and touch up her make up so she’d look a bit more respectable. Where had she left her bag? Oh no, the study, she realised, where Jed was working. Well, she couldn’t hide away from him just because she - or to be fair, they – had got a bit carried away with a kiss. She was sure she were both adult enough to handle it.

  Running her fingers through her hair in a feeble attempt to tidy it, and refusing to dwell on why she was even bothering, she walked along the hall to the study. The door was half-open. Taking a deep breath, she pushed it open further and stepped inside the room. Jed was sitting at the desk, writing in a notepad. He glanced up and smiled when she came in.

  ‘Everything OK?’ he asked.

  ‘I came for my bag so I could freshen up a bit,’ she told him. ‘I can’t do anything about my grubby clothes but I can at least try to look presentable.’

  Jed pushed the chair back and stood up, his tall, lean frame towering above her, just a few centimetres away. Close enough to reach out and touch.

  Stop it!

  ‘I’ve been thinking about that, too,’ he said. ‘When I’ve phoned the hospital to check on Mike I’ll go over to the boat and get some clean clothes. I can bring some for you. My boss’s wife won’t even miss them.’

  It would be good to have a shower and change into something clean, Amber thought. If only she had some clean undies too. She certainly wasn’t going to ask Jed to sort some out for her though.

  ‘Even better, you could come with me,’ he suggested. ‘I’m sure you’d like to choose the clothes yourself.’

  She hesitated, weighing up the ordeal of the journey down – and back up – the steep cliff path against the luxury of clean undies.

  ‘I’ll hold your hand down the cliff path if that’s what’s worrying you,’ he offered, his eyes twinkling.

  Was the guy psychic?

  ‘Of course not, I was just wondering if Tess would be OK,’ she replied.

  The big grin that spread over his face told her that he knew she was lying.

  ‘They’ll be perfectly fine. In fact, they could probably do with some time alone together.’ He perched on the side of the desk and folded his arms across his chest, his grin widening. ‘Are you sure you it isn’t the cliff path that’s putting you off? Or the boat ride? It’s only a few minutes to the Chenoa, you won’t get seasick in such a short time.’

  ‘Of course not,’ she said indignantly. ‘I told you I was worried about Tess, but you’re right she’ll be fine, so, yes I’ll come with you.’

  ‘Good.’ He stood up and reached in his pocket for his mobile phone. ‘I’ll call the hospital first to check on Mike, then we’ll get going.’

  From the ensuing conversation, Amber gathered that Mike was sleeping and making satisfactory progress. Jed left a message for him that Tess had five pups and they were all doing well and promised to ring back later.

  ‘He’s fine, the nurse said he’s made a full recovery but will have to stay in hospital for a couple of weeks, then he’ll need a few weeks convalescence.’

  ‘Thank goodness for that.’ Amber smiled in relief. Mike was OK, so were Tess and the pups. Now all she had to do was get through the night on the island with Jed. Tomorrow they would go home. She’d hopefully meet Randy and carry on with her plan. As Callie had reminded her, it was Randy she should be spending time with, not Jed.

  ‘Let’s get going then,’ Jed said. ‘The sooner we set off the sooner we get back.’

  She was about to nod her agreement when she remembered the reason she’d come into the study in the first place – to get her bag so she could tidy herself up a bit. Spotting it on the floor besides the desk she reached down and picked it up. ‘Give me five minutes,’ she said and set off for the bathroom.

  Actually, going down the slope was almost as bad as going up it, and Amber would have slipped a couple of times if it wasn’t for Jed reaching for her hand and holding onto her. She was quite relieved to reach the beach and feel flat land under her feet once more.

  ‘I don’t think I’d like to do that too often,’ she said, trying not to let the fact that Jed was still holding her hand unnerve her.

  ‘It’s not too bad providing you take it slow.’ Jed kept his grip on her hand as they walked over the sand then waded out in the sea to where the dinghy was moored. When he finally let go, she felt ridiculously bereft.

  They took their lifejackets from under the seat and fastened them on – this time Amber remembered which was the front – then Jed started the engine and they set off around the island.

  The Chenoa floated majestically in the middle of the ocean, still anchored to the buoy. It’s such a beautiful yacht, Amber thought. It must be fantastic to be able to afford a boat like that to sail around the world in. Goodness knows what other luxuries Jed’s boss had at home too. She wondered what he did for a living that made him so much money.

  That’s the sort of life she’d have if she married Randy. The thought shook her. She’d never stopped to consider how her life would change if she married a millionaire. All she’d been concerned about was helping her parents, preventing them from losing the family home. Now, as the dinghy zoomed across the sea to the elegant yacht, she stopped to think about the effects such a marriage would have on her life. She’d live in luxury, true. And probably never have to work again. But what sort of life did Randy lead? Was he just a playboy, as he seemed, intent on living solely for pleasure? If so, would he conduct affairs after they were married and she’d provided the heir that he wanted? And would she be expected to ignore them? The thought made her physically sick.

  Get real, Amber, most men are like that, look at Rod. At least by marrying
Randy you’ll be helping your parents out, probably saving your father from another – maybe fatal – heart attack. And as her heart wouldn’t be involved, Randy couldn’t hurt her, could he?

  ‘Are you OK, you look a bit pale? You’re not feeling sick, are you?’ Jed’s voice was full of concern.

  Yes, but not for the reason you think. ‘No, I’m fine.’ She assured him.

  Jed cast her a doubtful glance but they had reached the Chenoa so he didn’t pursue it.

  Once on board, Jed told her to help herself from any clothes she needed whilst he sorted out something for himself. ‘I’m going to take a quick shower. Feel free to do the same. Oh, and there’s underwear and nightwear in the set of six drawers, some of it still in the packets. Find a new set and keep it.’

  New underwear? That was fantastic. She hated the idea of wearing underclothes anyone else had worn – especially a stranger.

  ‘Are you sure your boss’s wife won’t mind?’ she asked.

  ‘No, she won’t even miss them.’

  ‘Then I will. Thank you, you’re so kind.’

  He shrugged. ‘It’s nothing. You remember the way to the cabin, don’t you?’

  How could she forget? ‘Yes, thanks. I won’t be long,’ she replied, setting off down the corridor, to the room where she’d slept the night of the party.

  She stepped inside the cabin, glancing at the bed, which was now freshly-made, and walked over to the wardrobe, sliding open the doors to access the clothes inside. I don’t want anything too dressy, she thought, searching through the array of designer dresses, tops, and trousers. Another pair of shorts or cotton trousers would do. Ah, these were perfect. She selected some cropped denims, checking the size to make sure they’d fit, and a pretty white top with scalloped edging. Now, for some underwear.

  She looked around the room and saw a chest of six drawers on the far wall. That was probably where the underwear was kept.

  She was right. When she opened the top drawer, she saw piles of bras and knickers, still in packets. They were a size smaller than she usually took, but she was sure she could squeeze into them. It would be worth it to have fresh underwear. Opening the other drawers, she found even more underwear, nightdresses, pyjamas, and tights. She went back to the top drawer and searched through the packets, hoping to find a sensible white bra and matching knickers. She soon realised that Jed’s boss’s wife didn’t do sensible. Most of the underwear consisted of incredibly sexy, almost transparent, bras with matching barely-there thongs. She’d never have the nerve to wear anything like that! Amber flicked through the packets, deciding that if she couldn’t find sensible, she’d have to make do with anything remotely decent.