by Aubrey Dark
With that announcement, he swept off to do whatever it was that he needed to do. I stared down at the ring on my finger for a moment.
“Mama?” Kit asked. “All done.”
“Yeah,” I said, scooping her up into my arms. “Things are getting serious, kiddo, that’s for sure.”
I never thought that I would be doing serious again. But with William, it seemed almost natural. Things were moving quickly, and I wondered if I was going to end up swept away by a rush of events outside of my control. It seemed scary.
Not the bad kind of scary, though. The adventure kind of scary. And as long as I could get all of my problems worked out before we married, everything would be okay.
Teresa showed up at the house a half hour later, gaping at the high wood-beamed ceilings and the perfectly manicured landscape.
“Wow. This is your new boyfriend’s place?”
“Yeah. Thanks for coming. Here, let me show you the nursery.” I led her into the house.
“You won’t believe the look on my boss’s face when I told her that I was leaving for a new nanny job.”
I stopped in the middle of the hallway, nearly making her stumble over me.
“You already quit? Like, for good?”
“Five thousand plus housing? Hell yes I quit!” Teresa beamed. “The Dragon Lady was launching into another attack on me over how I bought the wrong kind of organic apple juice when I got your message. I told her she could get her own juice box from now on.”
“Wow.” I had told her five thousand, because even if that was too much, I reasoned I could spend it out of my twenty thousand dollar allowance. Now, though, I was worried. What if something went wrong? What if Will cancelled the contract? Then Teresa would be out of a job because of me.
“So, how many kids am I nannying?” Teresa asked.
“Um, just Kit.”
“Kit?”
“Yeah.” I turned into the nursery, and Teresa followed after, whistling at the huge room.
“Your rich boyfriend is paying that much for your kid to have a nanny?”
“Yup.”
“So wait, are you already moved in here? When did that happen?”
“Uh, it kind of happened quickly.” I scratched my head, brushing my loose bangs back.
“What is that?” Teresa squealed.
“What? Is it a bug?” I spun around in terror. “Is it a spider?”
“On your finger!” Teresa grabbed my hand and looked at the ring. “Oh. My. Freaking. God!”
“Oh. That. He asked me to marry him.”
“HOLD UP. Needle scratch on the record. Back up. Rewind. Whoosawhat the hell happened? How did you meet this guy? And why have I not heard anything about it?”
I was doing a terrible job of pretending to be William’s fiancee. This was all his fault. He’d insisted on moving so quickly. I stumbled through the explanation we’d concocted together.
“Um, we bumped into each other at a coffee shop.” I thought of William, half-naked, tackling me to the ground. No. Leave that thought alone. “And then he invited me out on a few dates, and he asked me to move in with him.”
“And you didn’t tell me about this? You didn’t tell me you got engaged? With a ring the size of a Montana buffalo?! Sierra, I’m kind of devastated. I thought I was your best friend.”
“He just asked me this morning!” I protested, soothing her. “You’re the first one to know. Seriously. He hasn’t even told his family yet.”
“Wow. He must be head over heels for you.”
“Sierra?”
We both turned to look. William was standing in the doorway, adjusting his suit sleeves. His white shirt was unbuttoned at the top, and his tie was slung over one shoulder. I saw Teresa’s jaw drop.
“Is this the nanny?” he asked. “Hello. I’m William Fawkes.”
“Teresa Dinela. Pleasure to meet you.” Teresa took her time shaking his hand. “Congratulations. I can’t believe you’re getting married so quickly.”
His eyes flickered to my face, questioning.
“Yes. Well, um, thank you. We have to get going soon. Sierra, are you almost ready?”
“Almost. I’ll be down in five minutes.”
“Wow,” Teresa said, when he was gone. “I turn away for two seconds, and you’re marrying Christian Gray.”
“He’s not—”
“Don’t tell me about the whips or what you guys do with blindfolds. I don’t want to know.”
“We don’t—”
“What about Justin? Does your new fiance know about him?”
“I’m divorcing him,” I said. “And shhh, no, he doesn’t know we’re still technically married. He doesn’t need to know. I’m getting the divorce taken care off this week.” At least I hoped I was. “Please don’t say anything, okay?”
“Sure, of course. Just one more question.”
“Shoot.”
“Does Mr. Gray have a single brother?”
I laughed, promising to introduce Teresa to all of the Fawkes clan later. Then I had to scramble. Not to get ready for the luncheon—I was as ready as I needed to be. But I’d only managed to find one divorce attorney that was open today. I called from the bathroom, crossing my fingers that he would pick up.
“Sampson and Forrest, how can I help you?”
“Hi,” I said, relief seeping into my desperation. I explained my situation to him. How I needed a divorce, immediately. No, it couldn’t wait.
“I could do a rush session tomorrow,” the lawyer said.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.”
“The initial consultation will be seven hundred dollars, and then we’ll talk about a retainer if you want this completed as quickly as possible.”
“Seven… hundred dollars?”
“That’s right. Will that be an issue?”
“No!” I nearly shouted. “No, that will be fine.” I would get the money, somehow. I hung up, my hand trembling. This was going to be okay. Luck was heading back on my side. I could feel it. Even if it did cost seven hundred dollars.
When I was already in the limousine with William, I got another call.
“Crap,” I said.
“What is it?” William asked. He was strangely nervous, his fingers tapping on his knee. Maybe he was worried that people wouldn’t believe that we were engaged. Hell, I could barely believe it.
“It’s my dad.”
“Good,” he said, looking out the window. “You can let him know the news.”
“Sure. Great.” I hadn’t even considered telling my dad, but now William was looking at me expectantly. Oh, God. He had no idea what my dad was like.
“Hello?” I said.
“HEY! How’s my little sugar pickle?” My dad’s voice boomed over the phone. I turned down the volume, hoping William wouldn’t hear. He mouthed “sugar pickle?” at me. I shook my head.
“Doing great, dad,” I said, picking at the hem of my dress.
“Me too! Just got this great lead out of Nevada. They lost one of their state gambling databases, so I’m gonna be allowed back into most of those casinos again.”
“Oh, fantastic,” I said, grinning at William and hoping desperately that he wasn’t hearing any of this. My dad had been blacklisted from half of the casinos in Vegas for counting cards at blackjack. It was one of the few lucrative gambling opportunities that had actually paid off.
“Want to come out west and hit up the City of Lights with your old man? We make a great team.”
“I’m busy right now, Dad,” I said. “Also, I’m pretty sure Paris is the City of Lights, not Vegas.”
“Fuck Paris! Damn frogs with their froggy laws. You have to wear a tuxedo to gamble there, did you know that?”
“I didn’t know that.”
“How’s the little munchkin?”
“She’s doing great. I have some news for you, too, Dad.” I bit my lip. “I’m—um, I’m getting married.”
“Again!? God, I hope to hell this one has more
sense than the last jackass you walked down the aisle with.”
I slumped my head down onto my knees, trying not to groan.
“He’s nice, Dad. His name’s William.”
“What’s he do?”
“Um, he’s a businessman.”
“A rich guy, huh?”
“Well…” I didn’t know what to say. Yes, dad, the guy I’m going to marry thinks my five thousand dollar car is a rounding error in his checkbook? “He’s doing well for himself.”
“You better not get all hoity toity, hanging out with rich folk. I bet he has a maid to press his boxers. Does he, huh?”
“I—I don’t think so,” I said. William looked at me strangely, and I turned my head away. “Anyway, I have to go.”
“I bet his rich friends are easy to steal from. You do what you need to, alright, sugar? Don’t let this guy think he has a hold on you because he’s some fancy pants.”
“I—okay, sure.” It was easier to agree with him than to start a fight. Especially with William now interested in the conversation.
“When’s the wedding?”
“Not sure yet. I’ll call you once we figure it out.”
“Love you, pickle. You let me know if you change your mind about Vegas, will ya?”
“I will. Love you too, Dad. Bye.”
I hung up and pasted on a bright smile for William.
“Yup, that was my dad!” I said, forcing an enthusiasm I didn’t have.
“What did he say about us getting married? Was he excited?”
“He asked if you had someone to iron your underwear,” I said. “Don’t worry, I don’t think you two will have to see a lot of each other. Or any of each other, for that matter.”
“You don’t want him to come to the wedding?” William turned to me now, concern on his face. “Didn’t you say he was your only family?”
“I don’t think you want him to come to the wedding,” I said. “Trust me. Even when he’s on his best behavior, he manages to offend people.”
“But—”
“Believe me,” I said. “It’ll be better if we get married with at least a hundred miles separating us and my dad.”
What my dad had said, though, kept itching at my thoughts. I needed money for the divorce, and there was no way I could ask William for it without him knowing what I was up to. I’d have to find the cash some other way. I didn’t want to steal again, but maybe luck would strike again today.
Chapter 17
The luncheon was at my father’s country club, a swanky old fashioned building with wine colored carpet and walls that always smelled vaguely of cigars. We had passed into the main dining room when I turned around to find Sierra gone from my side.
I turned in confusion. She’d been right behind me as we’d come through the doors, and down the hallway. Had she gone to the bathroom? As I debated heading back for her so that we could make an entrance together, I heard someone call my name.
“William! You’re late. You’re never late.” Shawna pulled me to the side of the entryway. “Where’s your bride to be?”
“She’s—she’ll be here soon. Just touching up her makeup, I think.”
“What did the background check show? Is she all clean?”
I paused, mentally slapping my forehead. Of course. I was supposed to have run the background check on Sierra. I opened my mouth, deciding whether or not to lie, but Shawna knew in that split second that I hadn’t done what I said I was going to do.
“I forgot,” I said.
“You forgot?!”
“I forgot. I’m sorry. You’re right, I should have let you do it.” I didn’t tell her that I’d forgotten because I had been busy tying Sierra up to my bed and throwing all of my reason and sense out of the window in a haze of frantic lovemaking. “Listen, I’ll run the background check later.”
“No. Not later. Now. We need to find you a new woman if she’s doesn’t have a clean background. I don’t want anyone growing attached to her yet.”
Too late. I smacked away the thought. I wasn’t attached to Sierra, at least not the way Shawna was implying. She was simply a good option. The rational option. Wasn’t she?
“What should I do, send her back home?”
“You can do whatever you want with her. She signed your contract, didn’t she?” Shawna stared bullets into me. “Don’t tell me you haven’t gotten her to sign—”
“She signed, she signed. It’s just that…”
I trailed off. There was no way to explain to Shawna that I would feel badly about mistreating Sierra. About using her. I didn’t want to act like I was her boss. We might only be pretending to get married, but I wanted to act like a proper fiance. A proper husband.
“Right. What’s her last name? I’ll look it up right now.”
“I—oh, Lord, I don’t know—”
“She signed the contract, didn’t she?”
I wiped my forehead.
“It started with a B. I think. I’m sorry, Shawna. Things have been so hectic—”
“Alright. Let’s find her now. I’ll take her back to the house while you make your speech for the luncheon.”
“I’m making a speech?”
“Here.” Shawna thrust a page into my hands. “I pre-wrote the tribute to your father. It covers all the bases: great dad, tremendous role model, etc, etc. You should read it over and make any changes before they introduce you.”
I frowned, scanning the paper.
“You said she was in the bathroom?” Shawna asked.
“I think so,” I said.
“I’ll go explain the situation to her, let her know that I think she shouldn’t be there since, I don’t know, she never knew your father, something like that.”
“But she won’t understand. It doesn’t seem right—”
“William, why are you acting like this?” Shawna interrupted, looking exasperated.
“Like what?”
“So…so… thoughtful! It’s out of character for you. She’s an actor you hired. Nothing more. Right?”
I pressed my lips together. She was more. It was stupid of me, I knew that, but I couldn’t take back what I’d already done. She meant more to me than any other woman I’d ever met, let alone lived with.
“Right? William?”
“I—”
“Oh, God.” Shawna’s face fell. “You didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?” I couldn’t lie to Shawna. Anyone else, maybe, but not my assistant. She knew my bullshitting face too well.
“You slept with her. You went and slept with her, didn’t you?”
“I—”
“Okay,” Shawna said, throwing her hands up in the air. “I’m not going to say anything. I’m not going to call you an idiot, and I’m not going to freak out—”
“Strange, because it seems like you’re doing both of those things—”
“What I’m going to do is go find this woman and prevent you from creating any more damage.”
“Fine,” I said, frustration seething through me. I wasn’t only frustrated at Shawna, but at myself. She was right, after all. I shouldn’t have been so reckless. It had been silly to let desire win out over my rational side. I wouldn’t do it again. Now all I could do was damage control.
“I’ll see you later,” Shawna said, striding off to the ladies’ room.
“Later,” I said, but she was already gone. And immediately I had the thought that Sierra might not be in the ladies’ room at all. And if she was in the place I thought she was…
“She wouldn’t,” I whispered to myself, but my instincts told me that she would, she definitely would, and she wouldn’t tell me where she was going if I was, in fact, right about what she would do.
I nearly ran back down the hallway to where the coat room was located. There was only one person guarding the doorway, a young man off to the side, engrossed in his cell phone. And all of his attention was focused toward the outside entryway, not at the entrance to the coat room itself. As I walk
ed up, he didn’t even notice me sneaking in behind him.
“Deja vu,” I said.
Sierra whirled around. She was so quick that I almost didn’t see the wallet falling away from her fingers and into the coat pocket.
“William!” she said. “I thought I had left my lip gloss—”
“Enough,” I said, crossing over to her and grabbing her by the wrist. “Don’t try to fool me.”
The fake smile dropped from her face.
“William—”
“Are you addicted to stealing? Is that what this is?”
“No. Of course not. I just needed a bit of money.”
“I gave you a credit card.”
“I needed cash.”
“Then you could have asked me,” I said. “Why cash? Were you going to buy drugs?”
“Of course not,” she snapped, pulling away her arm indignantly. “And I didn’t want you to know what it was for, that was the whole damn reason I needed cash—”
“Why this?”
“This—” she said, “is the only way I’ve ever known how to make money.”
“Your dad never made you run a lemonade stand?” I asked, sarcasm tinging my frustration.
“My dad taught me how to steal,” she hissed. “Hello? Why do you think I don’t want you to meet him? He’d have a field day at a wedding with a bunch of rich guests!”
“Your dad…” I blinked.
“He never gave me an allowance, okay? He set up marks. I always had to steal to make money. But at least he didn’t make me leave a receipt trail for everything I bought with it.” Her voice was angry, accusing.
“I—look, I can give you cash,” I said, feeling strangely attacked. “You don’t have to do that anymore. You have someone to take care of you now.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Not like this, you can’t. My wife doesn’t steal.”
Sierra bit her lip at that. Her eyes flickered to the coats.
“It’s not like they would miss it,” she said, but her voice was softer. Less sure of herself.
“Don’t. For me, if nothing else.”
She paused, then nodded.
“How much do you want?”
“Seven hundred.”
“I’ll give it to you now. Put back what you stole.”