She definitely wasn’t having any problems spitting her words out this time, Wes decided.
“So have you two found the special one?” Ted asked.
“Yes,” Wes quickly responded.
At the same time, Vivian blurted out, “No.”
Wes glanced over to see Vivian was staring at him in wonder. Their gazes connected and remained that way until Ted’s laughter finally caught their attention.
“I see you’re at odds here.” He gestured to Vivian a second time. “I’ll start with you again, Ms. Blair. I believe your answer was no. However, I thought I detected a doubt in your voice. Could it be you’ve found Mr. Perfect and just don’t want to admit it?” Ted asked cleverly.
Wes could feel her gaze returning to his face, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her again. Hearing her talk about the men in her life wasn’t exactly pleasant. Actually, he’d never felt so empty in his life.
“Well, I answered no because—I’m not yet certain whether he’s the perfect man for me. I’m still trying to make up my mind,” she said cautiously. “But I’ll say there is one who’s at the top of my list.”
“Would you like to give us the name of this lucky guy, Ms. Blair?”
“I’d rather keep that to myself, but I do have a nickname for him—Mr. Valentine.”
Wes whipped his head in her direction. Was this more of her pretense, or was the man who’d sent her roses on Valentine’s Day actually beginning to steal her heart away? The impish expression on her face told him nothing except that she was adept at fooling people, especially him.
Sickened by the idea, Wes missed the last exchange between Vivian and Ted. It wasn’t until the morning show host turned a question on him that he managed to mentally shake himself back to the present.
“Wes, your dates have been well documented in the papers. So the viewing audience is already aware that you’ve wasted no time in squiring around a bevy of beauties.” Ted’s grin was close to being lecherous. “I’ll say one thing. If I wasn’t already married, I’d be tempted to try the app myself.”
The sick feeling in the pit of Wes’s stomach refused to go away. “I just happened to get lucky.”
“Sure,” Ted drawled. “I’d like to know how you answered the computer-generated questions, but we’ll leave that for next time. Since our time together is running out, I need to get straight to the point. You said you’ve found your special lady. Can you elaborate on her identity?”
“Not yet. Right now, the lady’s name is private.”
“Oh, come on, Wes,” Ted goaded. “You’ve traveled all the way from Texas to give us this interview. Surely you don’t want to waste this opportunity to reveal your new lady love.”
“There are circumstances that prevent me from doing that today.”
“Okay. Maybe you can answer this question. Do you see your relationship with this woman lasting far into the future? Or is she just perfect for you at this time in your life?”
Wes swallowed as emotions threatened to close his throat. “I can assure you that through My Perfect Match, I’ve found the woman who will always fit me perfectly.”
The conviction in Wes’s voice must have taken Ted aback a bit, because his smug tone turned thoughtful. “Well, now, I think you’re really serious about this. So why not come out and tell us her name?”
“Sorry. Her name is off-limits. She means too much to me to reveal her name before we have—everything settled between us.”
“Oh, so it sounds like an engagement is soon coming,” Ted said happily. “Another reason for Hey, USA to follow the trials of My Perfect Match. And we’ll certainly be doing that.”
Ted went on quickly to wrap up the segment, which happened to be the last one for the show. Once the cameras had quit rolling, Wes helped Vivian from the couch, hoping the two of them could exit the set before Ted could catch them. Now that he’d practically revealed his feelings to millions of viewers, he had all sorts of things he needed to say to Vivian, and he couldn’t do it fast enough.
“Excuse me, Wes. Before you go, could I have a word with you?”
Glancing around to see their host walking toward them, Wes groaned under his breath. “There’s no need for you to stay,” he told Vivian. “I’ll meet you out in the lobby.”
“Fine,” she said and briskly strode away from him.
*
Surprisingly, Ted chatted with Wes much longer than he expected, and by the time he finally excused himself, Wes was close to screaming with frustration. He practically ran off the studio set and through the empty green room. But once he reached the entrance to the outer lobby of the building, he came to an abrupt halt and stared.
Across the wide room, Vivian was standing with a young man he recognized as a recruiter from a competing tech firm. What in hell was he doing here? Had he followed them to snoop? Maybe he’d hoped to catch Vivian alone and pry sales data from her? Or had he wanted to talk directly to her about another matter?
The sick feeling he’d been dealing with all morning intensified as he forced himself to stride across the room. Unlike Ben, he hated confrontations, but Vivian was more than his employee; she was his woman, and this man needed to know it.
“I’ll have to agree it sounds like a great offer, Mr. Clemente. I’ve never thought of leaving Texas before, but California does have its sunshine,” Vivian was saying as Wes walked up.
The young black-haired man gave her a charming smile. “Please call me Gino. And we have much more to offer than sunshine. This is a mecca for innovative technology. And with your rich imagination, you could zoom to the top. Our company does plenty of business with the film industry. Are you interested in the movies, Ms. Blair?”
Vivian glanced awkwardly over to Wes, and it was clear she wasn’t comfortable with him overhearing her conversation.
“Are you, Ms. Blair?” Wes prodded.
With a nervous lick of her lips, she looked back to Gino Clemente. “I’d have to think about that before I could give you an answer.”
“Surely,” he said smoothly. “I do hope you’ll give it careful consideration. I promise it would give your career a huge leap.”
“Thank you for thinking of me, Gino. I have your number.”
“I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.”
He shook Vivian’s hand, then walked off without bothering to acknowledge himself to Wes. Which was okay with him. As far as he was concerned, he never wanted to see the guy within two thousand miles of Vivian again.
“So you want to tell me what that was all about?”
Vivian shrugged, then glanced away as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sure you heard enough to figure it out. Mr. Clemente was here on the behalf of World Vision Mobile. My Perfect Match has caught their attention, and they’re offering me a position with them.” Her gaze returned to his. “It would mean a much larger salary and a higher position than the one I hold now.”
The challenging glint in her hazel eyes sent a shock wave through him. Why had it come to this point to make him realize what a gem he’d always had in Vivian? Had he taken for granted that she would always be around to work with him? Moreover, that she’d be willing to be a hidden mistress?
His throat tight, he asked, “And what did you tell him?”
“You heard.”
“I only caught part of the conversation.”
“I don’t want to discuss this now. Not here.”
She turned toward the exit, but Wes instantly wrapped his hand around her upper arm.
“Well, I do. Now. And right here.”
Wes glanced around for a quiet spot in the room and noticed an atrium connected to one side of the lobby. He led her over to the plant filled room and seated her on a wicker couch. Once he was sitting beside her, he drew her hands gently between his.
“Viv, are you unhappy at Robinson Tech?”
The dainty flare of her nostrils told him he’d not asked the right question, so he tried again.
�
��A few minutes ago you told Ted Reynolds that Mr. Valentine was at the top of your list. Are you really thinking he might be your special man?”
She frowned at him. “No. That was only for the camera. Remember? You said we needed to look convincing.”
He let out a heavy breath. “Well, you fooled the hell out of me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she continued to study his face. “And what about you? You said you had found your special woman. Was that just for the sake of My Perfect Match?”
Suddenly his heart was brimming over with love for this woman, and he finally understood what Ben had been trying to tell him about finding the right one.
“I have really found her,” he said gently. “I just didn’t want to use her name to promote a Robinson Tech product. I love her too much for that.”
Her head bent forward, and a curtain of hair went with it, making it impossible for Wes to see her face.
“Then it probably would be for the best if I accept Gino’s offer,” she mumbled.
Wes stared numbly at the top of her head. Had he made such a mess of things that she no longer cared what he was feeling?
“Is that all you have to say?” he asked, his voice full of dismay. “That it’s best you leave?”
She lifted her head, and Wes could see a cloud of confusion in her eyes. “Do you think I want to stick around and watch you with some other woman?”
The meaning of her words smacked him like a fist to the face. “Viv! You think—” Pausing, he shook his head in disbelief. “When I said I’d found my woman, who did you think I was talking about?”
She stared at him in blank confusion, and then her lips began to tremble. “Are you saying—do you want me to believe you were talking about me?”
“You’d better believe it, Viv. Because I can’t live without you. And I don’t intend to try.”
Her mouth fell open. “But I thought you considered this whole thing with us as a temporary thing. Especially when you wanted to keep everything secret.”
He groaned ruefully. “At first that was the only way I figured we could work things. The whole world was watching, expecting us to find a special love through My Perfect Match. I didn’t want to squash the chances for the app to be a success. Especially when you kept telling me how important it was to you.”
She squeezed his hands tightly as a rueful groan slipped past her lips. “It was important. It still is. But not nearly as important as you are to me. Oh, Wes, I thought you were ashamed of me! I’m so—we come from such different worlds. And I—”
Releasing his hold on her hands, he wrapped his fingers around her shoulders. “Look, Viv, I understand that we’re not compatible in your eyes. And I know how important that is to you. I even agree that passion in the bedroom eventually burns itself out. But my feelings for you go much deeper than that. I love you. Maybe it’s too soon for you to believe that. But I’m willing to spend a lifetime proving it to you.”
Tears spilled from her eyes and onto her cheeks. “I never fully understood what passion was all about until you, Wes. You made me feel things I’d never dreamed possible. We have that special spark together. But even if the fire dies, I’ll still love you, Wes. Always.”
Happiness such as he’d never known soared through him, and at that moment he felt as though he could jump the moon. “And what about all that compatibility you’ve been worried about? You think we can find enough in common to keep us together for the next fifty years?”
Her face leaning toward his, she chuckled softly. “Let’s shoot for sixty.”
Closing the last bit of distance between their lips, he gave her a kiss filled with love and promises for the future. A future they would share together.
“What do you say we start those sixty years by going to the hotel and proving to each other just how compatible we really are?”
Laughing, she jumped to her feet, pulling him along with her. “I say we’re wasting time.”
*
Much later that night, after an evening of dining and dancing at a seaside resort, Wes and Vivian walked down to the beach. Standing on the wet sand, with the moon bathing them in silvery light, they watched the waves of the Pacific roll onto shore.
The salty wind carried the scent of tropical flowers growing nearby, while farther in the background, the faint sound of music drifted from a cabana. With Wes’s arm curled around her waist and her cheek resting against his chest, Vivian was certain she was in heaven, or very close to it.
“When you phoned Adelle and told her we’d be staying in California for another night, did you tell her why?” she asked, her voice drowsy with contentment.
“Not exactly,” he answered. “I told her we still had business to take care of before we returned to Austin. But don’t start worrying that I’m still keeping secrets about our relationship. I wanted to surprise her and everyone else back home.”
“Surprise them? How?”
With his hands on her shoulders, he turned her so that they were facing each other. “I was going to wait until we got back to the hotel to do this. But I’ve decided now, right here on the beach, is better.”
“To do what?” she asked impishly. “Kiss me and tell me how beautiful I look in my new dress?”
Because she’d only expected to spend one night in Los Angeles, Vivian had packed just enough things to fill her carry-on bag. After Wes had made the decision for them to stay over, he’d taken her on a shopping spree, buying her a whole suitcase full of dresses and other clothing to wear when spring arrived in Texas.
His eyes glittering with love, he smiled at her. “I’ve already done that.”
“A second time won’t hurt.”
“In a minute,” he promised. “Right now, there’s something else I want to do.” He slipped a hand into the front pocket of his trousers and pulled out a small jewelry box. “I confess, while you were trying on dresses, I did a little shopping on my own.”
She stared at the little white box while trying to guess what might be inside. “Earrings! You’ve already spent too much on me today, Wes.” Slipping her arms around his waist, she snuggled the front of her body close to his. “I don’t need gifts from you to make me happy, darling. You’re all I need.”
“But this is a special gift. One that goes along with those sixty years we’re going to have together.” He flipped open the box and held it up for her to see. “Will you marry me, Viv?”
She gasped at the sight of a rather large diamond winking in the moonlight. “Wes! That’s—it’s—an engagement ring!”
The shock on her face had him chuckling softly. “That is what a man usually gives a woman when he asks her to become his wife.”
“Yes. But you told me you—” She broke off as confusion and joy collided inside her, scrambling her senses. “You told me you never wanted to get married. That seeing your parents’ troubled marriage had put you off the idea completely.”
The wind was whipping her hair about her face, and he reached up to gently snare the wayward strands with his fingers. “That’s true, Viv. For years now, I’ve told myself I wanted no part of having a family of my own. My parents had eight children together, but their marriage is cold and loveless. I’ve never understood what went wrong between them, or if it was ever right. I only knew that I didn’t want that for myself. Ben told me I’d think differently if I ever found the right woman. I didn’t believe him. Until I fell in love with you. Having you in my life has changed me, Viv. You’ve taught me there’s more to what goes on between a man and a woman than red-hot sex.”
Her heart overflowing with emotions, she cradled the side of his face in the palm of her hand. “And you’ve taught me that a man and a woman need more than simply being compatible to keep them together. Without a spark of fire, things could get pretty boring.”
“They’ll never get boring with us. I promise. And you do look very pretty in that dress.” He kissed her thoroughly. Then, with his lips hovering close to hers, he said, “I’m waiting for yo
ur answer. Are you going to wear my ring or not?”
“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you! But what about My Perfect Match? What about your family and friends and all the employees at Robinson Tech?”
He pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. “When we walk back into the Robinson Tech building Monday morning, I want everyone to see we’re engaged. And as for My Perfect Match, well, it did manage to bring us together. So we’re proof the app delivers what it promises. A perfect match to love, honor and cherish. There’s only one thing left for you to consider, Viv.”
“What’s that? If you’re worried I’ll be wanting a wedding as big as Ben’s, then don’t be. Any kind of ceremony will do for me.”
“We’re going to have a grand wedding,” he promised. “But for now, you don’t actually know if your name will change to Robinson or Fortune. Is that going to make a difference?”
“I’m not marrying a name, Wes. I’m marrying the man I love.”
Rising on tiptoes, she closed the gap between their lips. As the kiss swirled them into an erotic cocoon, she didn’t worry what the future might hold. Her future was right there in her arms.
*
Keep reading for an excerpt from DR. FORGET-ME-NOT by Marie Ferrarella.
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Fortune's Perfect Valentine Page 18