by Tessa Radley
“Is that a bid?” the auctioneer asked.
Georgia nodded.
Somewhere at a table behind Georgia, a woman whooped with excitement. Her girlfriends giggled, urging her on. Georgia turned in her chair and watched as a gorgeous platinum blonde, poured into a glittering red dress and sporting heavily mascaraed lashes that were too long to possibly be real, raised her hand to place a bid.
An unfamiliar tension curled through Georgia.
She narrowed her eyes. The woman didn’t look like Jay’s type—too glamorous. Too blond. Then it struck her: as much as she and Jay snarked and argued, she didn’t really know what Jay’s type was. Xia was beautiful in an exotic kind of way. Then there’d been a willowy fashion model: Dominique, if she remembered correctly. And there’d been a couple of others who had lasted little more than a couple of months. Nic and Carrie. Georgia couldn’t believe she remembered their names.
Jay’s girlfriends never seemed to last long.
There were no photos of any women in his office. Come to think of it, there were no photos of any description.
She told herself that Jay deserved better. She told herself that Kingdom contributed to the Bachelors for a Better Future Benefit Auction every year. She told herself a lot of things. And she even told herself that it was irrelevant how much fun it might be to call a truce on their rivalry and to spend a carefree evening enjoying laughter and a little champagne.
All the while, Jay’s grin taunted her, daring her to do it.
She’d make it quick. Georgia drew a deep breath. “Ten thousand dollars.”
Satisfaction filled her at the sudden silence that followed.
Xia was undeterred. “Eleven thousand.”
“Twelve thousand.” The glamorous blonde in the too-tight dress.
“Twelve and a half.” Xia again.
“Thirteen.” Glam sounded smug.
Xia shrugged, graciously giving in. Glam grinned, certain of her win.
“Bids?” The auctioneer called. “Ladies! Spoil yourself. You owe it to yourself to have a great evening for a good cause with this fine specimen of manhood here.”
Sounds blurred around her. Lights flashed. Adam rejoined the table, sinking back into the chair beside her, and she only spared him one glance—glimpsing his dark frowning face—before swinging her attention back to the stage. Jay was worth blowing the whole budget on. After all, it was for a good cause.
“Fifteen thousand.” Her voice rang out, loud to her own ears.
“Sixteen,” Glam came back instantly.
Fifteen thousand was the agreed budget. Georgia barely hesitated. She didn’t want that woman winning Jay for the night.
“Twenty thousand.”
On the stage, Jay stopped grinning, and his eyes locked with hers.
“Twenty-two.”
Glam wasn’t giving up.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars,” Georgia said with grim finality.
“That’s more than we allocated from the marketing budget for tonight’s event,” Roberta chided from across the table as the auctioneer crowed, “Gone.”
Georgia didn’t spare her sister a glance; she was too busy trying to read the unfathomable expression on Jay’s face. Was that a hint of satisfaction? Or a fresh challenge? But she replied, without needing to think too much, “It will be worth it—and it should make a splash in the fashion magazines and the wider media. There are enough cameras here tonight—plus it’s tax deductible.”
“It will need a fair amount of press coverage,” Adam broke in, “to recoup that kind of expenditure.”
“Leave it to me.” Roberta was grinning. “I’ll make sure I organize photos of Jay and Georgia wearing plenty of Kingdom loot in an A-list dining location that will get us the best kind of exposure.”
Before Georgia could respond, Adam said, “Georgia, I’d like a word with you. Alone.”
Seven
Georgia was conscious of Jay’s eyes boring into the back of her head as she picked up her clutch, slung its delicate silver chain over her shoulder and rose from the table. Adam’s hand rested on the base of her spine, and a commanding pressure guided her forward.
A set of doors led to a glass-enclosed balcony that ran along the length of the gallery. Georgia knew that once she stepped over that threshold, her relationship with Adam would change forever.
But she told herself this was what she wanted. She could salvage what she’d worked so hard to attain by marrying Adam. She would be President and CEO of Kingdom one day.
Why should she allow Jay’s cautions to spoil her vision of the future?
Drawing a deep breath, Georgia stepped forward.
Beyond the glass walls, the cityscape glittered.
Adam’s hand slid down her bare arm and came to rest against her hand. His fingers were cool, his touch curiously impersonal, despite the skin-to-skin contact.
Mr. Ice.
Unbidden, Jay’s description of Adam leaped into her mind. Georgia fought to block it out. Not now. Not when she needed to focus on Adam, focus on building a rapport with the man.
They were going to be partners. Intimate partners. In business. In marriage. In everything...
“What a beautiful night,” she said.
Adam got straight to the point. “Your father has spoken to you—you know why we’re here.”
She nodded mutely.
This was it, the moment when her life changed. Georgia half expected the earth to move.
“What exactly is your relationship with Jay Black?”
What? She goggled at him. “Jay and I work together.”
Adam arched his eyebrow in response.
“We’re colleagues. We... We’re responsible for a lot of Kingdom’s strategic planning,” she found herself stuttering. The antagonism and secret rivalry between her and Jay was something she didn’t care to share, but Adam needed to understand that Jay was central to Kingdom’s success. “And he’s my father’s right-hand man.”
“Women don’t bid twenty-five thousand dollars on a colleague.”
“You heard Roberta. It was nothing more than a PR stunt.”
Except it had felt way more personal than that...
Before she could marshal her scattered thoughts, Adam was already reaching into the pocket of his dinner jacket.
“I’ve got something for you.”
“Oh?”
He drew a small square box from the pocket of his suit jacket. “I think you’ll like it.” He flipped the box open. “It has all three c’s—cut, clarity and color. Four, if you add carat. It’s as good an investment as a diamond can be.”
Investment. The ring sparkled up at her.
“Try it on.”
Georgia slowly took the ring from the box.
“It’s impressive.” Then, in case that sounded too clinical, she added, “It’s magnificent.”
The ring was magnificent...in an icy classic kind of way. Was this how Adam perceived her? Flawless and glittering? The perfect trophy wife?
As good of an investment as a woman could be?
And why not? Her father measured her worth in the same terms.
“We will be married next June.”
A summer wedding...
But instead of a warm wave of pleasure, Georgia felt flustered at his haste. He was talking of wedding arrangements already. What had happened to courtship? To getting to know each other? He’d taken her assent for granted. Was that her father’s doing? Had he assured Adam she would not object?
Anger started to smolder deep within her heart. Fine! She’d let Adam find out who she was through negotiations—nothing new to her about that.
“We’ll need to hammer out a prenup first.” She spoke carefully, giving herself time to think and get her emotions under control.
“Sur
e.” He shrugged. “But we already have an agreement in principle.”
He stepped forward and his hands slid around her shoulders. He was tall—well over six feet. And solid. His chest rose like a fortress in front of her.
Reaching out a hand, she placed it on the wall of hard muscle that blocked out the light around her. Adam tensed. Panic crushed her. For an awful moment, Georgia felt...trapped.
She fought the suffocating claustrophobia that had come out of nowhere.
Deep breaths, she cautioned herself. It was okay. She was okay. Or she would be, as soon as she pulled herself together.
Adam was going to kiss her...
She couldn’t afford to screw this up. It had to work. And it was up to her to make sure it did.
She turned her face up and closed her eyes, dreading what was coming.
When his lips landed, they were firm...and cool. Adam Fordyce kissed with technique. That, at least, was a relief.
Yet, instead of being swept away by lust, as she should have been, Georgia found herself waiting...
And waiting.
For what, she wasn’t sure. Whatever it was didn’t happen.
He slid his hands along her back and pressed her closer. Out of nowhere came a stab of stark terror. She went as stiff as a board.
He raised his head.
“Nice,” she choked out.
Made of ice, she found herself thinking.
Damn Jay! And why was she thinking of Jay, anyway? Or the coffee-flavored kiss full of care and tenderness he’d bestowed on her yesterday...?
The memory of their too-short moments of warmth and comfort in the garden’s pale sunshine contrasted with the darkness that surrounded Adam. She pulled away a little more.
“Yes.”
It took Georgia a scattered moment to realize that Adam was agreeing with her assessment of that cold kiss as nice.
In the dim light, she couldn’t read his expression. It might’ve helped ease the tension in her stomach, the thunder in her head. She drew a slow steadying breath.
Nice.
She’d lied.
And the earth hadn’t moved.
Beyond the glass walls, the buildings dominating the skyline stood glittering and silent. Nothing had changed.
Only the hammering of her heart.
She immediately grew impatient with her own reaction. Why should the earth have moved? She wasn’t some teen princess with grandiose expectations anymore. She was a grown-up woman, with a hotshot position on the executive team at an iconic fashion house. Hey, she knew that the earth didn’t move because of a kiss. That fireworks and glass slippers and golden rings forever were nothing more than fantasy. She understood reality. Adam was a real man—not a fairy tale prince.
She and Adam shared a common vision: commercial success.
It was a start—they would build on it.
She couldn’t afford to think about the urge to flee; she wouldn’t think about Ridley...and she wouldn’t think of Jay. She had to think of Kingdom.
“Very nice,” she amended, trying harder. Throw more heart in, Georgia. They would both have to work on this. She’d do more than her bit. Like she always did.
Georgia tried to forget that moment of panic when he’d taken her into his arms, that sensation of being trapped and crushed, that terrifying spike of adrenaline. It had come out of the blackness at the bottom of her brain... It had happened before, when she thought of Ridley, of that moment she’d walked into the hotel suite and found him with a sales assistant on the bed. While the woman had struggled to get her dress back on, Ridley had lit into Georgia, telling her it was her fault. She didn’t have what it took to hold a man.
And after that, a big dark blank...
Not now. Please not now.
So she filled her lungs with air, and tried to smile at Adam.
If she tried a little harder, if she invested some more enthusiasm, it might ignite some magic. But searching for the positive side was hard work.
Especially when she longed for Jay. For the barbs and banter that had become so familiar. At least she knew where she stood with him. Most of the time. She longed to use him as a sounding board to clear this confusion that kissing Adam had evoked. To clear the sudden doubt she was experiencing...
Grow up, Georgia.
This is your life. Nothing to do with Jay...
Another thought struck her. Had Adam’s cold kiss been intended to seal the execution of an agreement? Had it been that calculated?
She was a person, dammit. Someone with emotions and dreams, who possessed a heart, as well as a brain.
“There are some...” terms was too unromantic a word, Georgia decided “...things we need to discuss before I agree.”
“Things?”
She shrugged, feeling unaccountably foolish. Negotiate. She gritted her teeth. “How this marriage is going to work.”
“It’ll work like any other marriage.”
From nowhere, Jay’s voice flashed into her head. And plenty have ended in bitterness and acrimony. Don’t you want more out of life than a billion-dollar divorce settlement?
“Really?” She arched her eyebrows. “Most people don’t marry for the reasons we will be marrying.” Most couples are in love, actually. But of course, she didn’t say that.
“So what things do you want to discuss?”
Now she felt even more idiotic. But Jay’s sweet kiss of comfort in the hospital garden yesterday had let a whole lot of emotions out of the box. What with her father’s dramas, and now this.... Boy, over the past few days, she’d discovered emotions she hadn’t even known existed.
“Uh...how we will communicate—”
She broke off. Adam was staring at her as though she were crazy.
“How we will communicate?” he repeated. “Like most people do, I should think.”
She could feel herself flushing. She tried again, “I’m talking about...”
Sex.
Adam’s face darkened.
For a moment, she thought he understood.
But then he swung away from her, presenting her with a broad shoulder. Half his face was in shadow. The ring she still clutched mocked her. She caught a flash of cold fire and glanced quickly away, reluctant to fit it on her finger yet.
Turning back to face her, he spoke again. “You’re aware of my relationship with Charis?”
Georgia sighed a small sigh of relief. It was too soon to be discussing intimate details—his change of subject was a good idea. Rapidly, she reviewed which of Charis’s current projects Adam might be involved with. She drew a blank. “I didn’t know you and Charis had any business dealings.”
“My relationship with Charis has nothing to do with business.” There was a husky undertone to his voice, a smoky heat in his eyes that belied his nickname.
That caught Georgia’s attention. On rewind, her sister’s silence this evening played through her mind, and understanding dawned in a flash. “Oh, my God. You’re talking about a personal relationship, aren’t you?”
Adam stared back at her, unblinking.
There was an instant of disbelief.
Then the outrageous idea coalesced into certainty. “You’re lovers!”
The silence stretched as she waited—in vain—for a denial that never came. Tightness bubbled at the back of her throat as she thought about the kiss he’d given her while her sister sat inside the ballroom.
“Uh...the relationship is over?”
Of course, it must be. She couldn’t believe she was even asking.
Otherwise—
His silence took on the quality of cold forged steel.
Otherwise...how could he possibly propose to her? Or kiss her? Her stomach twisted, a sick sensation filling it as the silence grew colder.
Georgia held up the glittering
diamond engagement ring he’d given her like a talisman. “It’s over as of now. Right?”
Adam’s head jerked back. “That ring changes nothing. You need to understand that our marriage will not change my relationship with Charis—that’s non-negotiable.”
“You mean...you’re going to...” she broke off, seeking a sanitized way of uttering the unspeakable “...you’re going to keep...” sleeping with “...seeing...my sister while you’re married to me?”
“I’m glad you understand.”
Understand? Georgia stared at him. Had she gone completely crazy? Or was he crazy?
“So,” she drawled, her brain working overtime to catch up, “you’ve discussed this with my sister? She knows you’ll be married to me, even while you sleep with her?”
He gazed at her through slitted eyes, his face an iron mask. “Charis will do exactly as I want.”
What he wanted was to marry Georgia and sleep with her sister. Have his cake and eat it. Bile rose at the back of her throat. Georgia’s heart ached. For Charis...and for herself. The situation was ghastly beyond anything she’d ever contemplated.
Finally, she said, “So I guess our marriage will be in name only.”
Adam didn’t reply.
A numbing emptiness invaded her. Was this what she wanted? A marriage that was nothing more than a business arrangement? Marriage to a man who was sleeping with her sister?
You deserve more...
Jay was right. This travesty wasn’t what she wanted.
“I want children,” she said at last. The thought uncurled out of the secret mists of her mind. It was something she’d never contemplated, but which had always been there. Except she hadn’t known it existed.
Adam was saying something. She hadn’t heard a word of it.
“What?”
He spoke again, slowly, as though she were simple. “A child is no problem.”
“No problem?” She tried to grasp what he meant by that. “You mean IVF, right?”
“There are easier solutions.” His voice dropped, each word softly clipped.
Her whole being rocked as the words sunk in.
“Easier solutions?” she echoed the heresy he’d uttered and stared at him, shocked. He didn’t just mean to marry her and sleep with Charis—he meant to sleep with them both! “But...”