“Whenever you are.”
He immediately stood and slid that phone into his back pocket. “I’m parked out back,” he said, gesturing for me to lead the way.
There was a pickup truck and a BMW at the back of the parking lot. I assumed the pickup truck was his. I mean, it seemed like a reasonable assumption. He was a construction worker dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. So, I was more than mildly surprised when he walked to the Beemer.
He opened the passenger side door and gestured widely with his hand.
“You first, my lady.”
“Why thank you, sir.”
I climbed in, afraid to touch anything. The last time I’d ridden in a Beemer, I accidentally reset all the preprogrammed radio buttons. Granted, I was five, but it was still one of my least proud moments. So I sat on my hands until he opened the door. Then I pulled them out and clutched them in my lap, afraid he’d think I was odd if he saw me sitting on my hands like a five year old.
We drove in awkward silence for a few minutes. I didn’t know what to say. And he didn’t seem too inclined to lessen the awkwardness by saying something to break the silence. Before I knew it, we were pulling into the parking lot of a popular restaurant.
“Is this okay?” he asked. “Do you like pasta?”
“Sure.”
He got out of the car and came around to help me. He took my hand, and his skin was so soft, so warm, that thoughts I probably shouldn’t be having this early—like the thought of how nice that hand would feel on my belly, between my thighs—were surging through me until I had to bite my lip, hoping that little bit of pain would bring my thoughts back to the practical.
After we were seated, he ordered a nice bottle of red wine, and we both settled on the shrimp scampi. Suddenly, we were left staring at each other. I picked up my wine glass and sipped a little of the cool liquid, quite impressed with the dry, but not bitter taste.
“I guess you’re wondering why I invited you to dinner.”
“I was curious.”
He pressed his hands to the table and stared at them for a minute, as though he was nervous. Then he looked up at me, his eyes searching my face for a second.
“Do you remember when you filled out the paperwork for the application to work at Thorn Construction?”
I nodded.
“There was a nondisclosure clause in all of that.”
I remembered. I thought it was kind of odd that it would be included, but I signed it because I really wanted the job. The fact that he was bringing it up now made me wonder if this was more than just a simple date.
“The clause is still in effect even though you weren’t offered a job.”
“Okay.”
“So what I’m about to say to you, you can’t tell anyone without penalty.”
Apparently, I was wrong; this clearly this wasn’t a date. “Are you offering me a job?” It was the least I could hope for. Clearly, he wasn’t interested in me. I had known that part was too good to be true.
He tilted his head slightly. “You can think of it that way.”
But then he picked up his glass and took a deep swallow, emptying the glass with that one gulp. He seemed nervous, and I didn’t understand why. If he was offering me a job…
“I don’t even your name,” I said suddenly.
He looked up, his eyes widened. “I thought you knew who I was.” And then he laughed. “Now that makes all this even more awkward.” He reached across the table, his hand outstretched. “I’m Miles Thorn.”
My heart skipped a beat, as much from the name he offered as the hand that touched mine with strength and virility. Miles Thorn. Miles Thorn was CEO of Thorn Construction.
I’d thought he was just a construction worker.
At least that explained the BMW.
He poured us both another glass of wine—I hadn’t even realized I’d finished mine—and sat back again, his eyes studying me as though he expected some sort of odd reaction. I didn’t know what to say. I mean…damn, I didn’t know what to say when I thought he was a nobody. Now that I knew he was somebody, what was there to say?
“I hadn’t realized that Joan didn’t explain who I was the other day. I just assumed…” He laughed again as he picked up his wine glass. “My mother always did say that only fools make assumptions.”
“She wasn’t terribly impressed with me. I think she was in a hurry to get me on the elevator.”
Miles tilted his head slightly. “That does sound like Joan.”
“Has she worked for you long?”
“Joan has worked for my family in one way or another since I was a toddler. She was my father’s personal assistant. And then she moved out here—too retire—and I talked her into helping me with this new business. It was only supposed to be for a few weeks, but I can’t seem to convince her I’m capable of running things on my own.”
“She must care an awful lot about you.”
He smiled as he lifted his glass to his lips. “I hope so. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
There was something genuine in his voice that made me warm to him a little. He’d lied to me—at least, he’d lied by omitting his real name—and he dragged me out here on the pretense of a date only to turn the subject to something else, a job, maybe. So far, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy a girl could trust. Yet, that little bit of genuine feeling in his voice made the walls I was beginning to build against him fall a little.
The waiter arrived a minute later with a large bowl of fresh salad, complete with a lovely Italian dressing. I’d had it before, but it always seemed like a new sensation when you took that first bite. I helped myself to a huge plateful, starving after a long day of serving coffee to Waco’s stressed and fatigued.
“Have you lived in Waco all your life?”
I looked up. “Since I was five.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes. But I don’t really have much else to compare it to.”
“Have you ever been to New York?”
I shook my head. Lisa and I dreamed of travelling someday. She wanted to go to NYU and live a bohemian lifestyle, but her parents wouldn’t pay unless she went to Baylor, like me. However, she still wanted to go, and I was still planning to follow, as I always did when it came to anything Lisa did.
“I don’t travel a lot.”
He served himself some salad and tucked into it, taking a large bite and then making something of a face when the bitter vinegar of the dressing touched his tongue.
“I grew up in upstate New York. It’s beautiful there.”
“I’ve heard that.”
“The Catskills in the summer…that’s great, too.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I began eating my salad, too. It was so good. I sighed with the first bite, closing my eyes without really realizing it. When I opened them, he was watching me with something like a smile, but not really.
“You should travel,” he said. “I bet you’d love Italy.”
That was a dream of mine, to visit Europe someday. Lisa thought it sounded like too much trouble, all that getting a passport stuff. However, it was something I’d always wanted to do. Italy and Paris and Spain. In fact, I had my passport. I applied for it over a year ago in the hopes that I would be able to find a job that would afford me the benefit of international travel. But that was before I found out what my aunts had done to pay for my education.
He pushed his salad plate away and sat back, sipping his wine again.
“We did something of a background check on you when you applied for that job.”
“You did?”
He nodded. “Mostly public records. Credit history, education, birth records.”
“Why?”
“It’s standard practice with most businesses these days. Want to make sure we’re getting an employee who won’t disappear on us after the first payday.”
He played with the stem of his glass, acting nervous again. I found it kind of sexy, the lack of confidence, but i
t was also a little unbalancing. It made me wonder just what it was he wanted to ask of me. Was it illegal? Why else would he seem so nervous?
“The thing is, you weren’t qualified for that job. Not by a mile.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Surely you knew that going in.”
I did. Of course I did. But I wasn’t about to admit that to him.
“But you are qualified for something else I need.” Again, his eyes dropped to the glass and his big fingers sliding up and down the delicate stem. “You’ve never been arrested, never had a ticket, and you vote Republican. I couldn’t have found a more perfect candidate if I’d sent out a list of qualifications to every bridal magazine published in the world.”
I didn’t understand what he was saying. On the one hand, it sounded like a compliment to my boring way of life. On the other…what did bridal magazines have to do with anything?
“I have a proposition for you.”
“Okay.”
But before he could say another word, the waiter arrived once again, this time with our dinners. It smelled heavenly, all that butter. My mouth was watering as the waiter set it in front of me, but Miles didn’t even look at his. He was watching me from across the table, his expression thoughtful as I politely thanked the waiter.
When the waiter was gone, I focused on Miles for a minute.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“I was,” he said, “but I’ve sort of lost my appetite.”
“You don’t like the food? I’m sure he could bring you something else.”
“It’s not the food.” He cleared his throat, his eyes moving over me again. I felt like he was searching for something in my face, some secret that would make it easier for him to do whatever it was he was trying to do. But he clearly wasn’t finding that secret.
He picked up his fork, stabbed a shrimp, and bit the tail. He seemed to like it because he slid the rest into his mouth a minute later. But then he put down his fork and watched me eat. And that was nerve wracking, so I put my fork down and met his eyes.
“I find it’s easier to just get it done with, like tearing a Band-Aid from your skin with one quick rip,” I said.
“You’re probably right. I don’t think I was this nervous when I was called to the principal’s office.”
“I’m sure that happened a lot.”
“More often than my mother would have liked.” He smiled, the memory clouding his eyes for a second. Then he focused on me again. “So, I guess I should just say it. I want you to marry me.”
Now that was the last thing I expected to hear. I stared at him for a long second, thinking I must have misunderstood him. But then he said it again.
“I know it sounds really crazy. But I need a wife, and you fit the bill perfectly—at least on paper. And now that we’ve had a few minutes to talk, I don’t see anything that might change that.”
“You want to marry me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I have my reasons.”
“That’s not good enough.”
Now I was staring at him, the one trying to see something that was clearly not there. I thought that maybe it was a joke, and he would laugh at any second. Or that he was mentally unbalanced, and there would be some sort of telltale sign there, somewhere. But I didn’t see any of that. I saw a very handsome man staring back at me, nothing but honesty in his expression.
“Do you have to have a reason to do it?”
“It helps.”
He hesitated, but then he reached across the table and took my hand.
“I’m not insane, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just have something I need to do. And, in order to do it, I need to have a wife who is nothing like the women I normally date. I need someone who is steady, intelligent, and patient. Someone who will show the world that I’m ready to settle down and live the sort of respectable life my father has always wanted for me. I need someone who…well, someone just like you.”
“But you know nothing about me.”
“I know enough. I know your parents died in a car accident when you were five. You were in the car, too, but you only had minor injuries. You came to Waco to live with your father’s aunts on his father’s side of the family. You grew up in the same home they did, attended a decent public school down the street from your home, and you were valedictorian of your graduating class. I know you lived at home throughout your years at college, that you were on the honor roll all four years, and you graduated summa cum laude. I also know that your current position at Starbuck’s is the only job you ever held.”
“And all that tells you who I am?”
He shrugged. “It tells me that you have the stable background that will impress the people I need to impress.”
“What people?”
He shrugged.
I wanted to reach across the table and grab him by the throat, make him tell me what the hell was going on. Instead, I got up and turned to leave. Miles followed, grabbing my arm and pulling me hard against his chest, one hand on my arm, the other on snaking around my waist.
“I will pay you a million dollars,” he whispered against my ear. “And I’ll pay off what your aunts owe the bank on their house.”
I stiffened even as my heart jumped for joy. A million dollars. That would set my aunts up for life. I could hire a personal assistant, have someone with them twenty-four seven. And I could do all the things I’d always wanted to do: go to New York with Lisa, travel to Europe, and see my parents’ graves in Houston.
But at what price?
Miles turned me around and pressed his finger under my chin to force me to look at him. “There will be a prenup. I will put in writing that you will get a million dollars after the marriage ends. Just a few months. Six at the most. And then we’ll go our separate ways, and you’ll have the money and my family name to open doors for you. You will be able to do anything you want to do.”
“And what do you get out of it?”
He studied my face for a long minute. “I get a wife to present a certain statement to my clients, my family, and anyone else who matters. I get my mother off my back. I get…” He studied my face for a minute. “I get what I need.”
I blushed. He made a sort of groaning sound when he saw it.
“That’s not what I meant. There won’t be any sexual contact between us. At the very least, you’ll have to suffer my kiss at the wedding. But that’s all.”
“Where will we live?”
“I have a house outside of town. It’s an old colonial I fixed up. You’ll love it.”
I started to shake my head, but his hand was still under my chin.
“I am an honorable man despite what the press says. I will not force myself on a woman.”
“Just for a few months.”
“Yes.”
“And if I want out early?”
“You’ll lose some of the money. But you’ll still have your aunts’ house and my name. But if you stay the whole time, I’m make sure you get a good job. Your dream job. I’ll arrange for it personally.”
“Just like that?”
“I’m Miles Thorn, son of Jackson Thorn. I can make anything happen.”
He pulled me back to the table and pushed me down onto the chair. I stared at my hands, unable to think. It was…insane. Who asks a complete stranger to marry him? And what was worse, who actually considered taking him up on the offer?
But, the thing was, I was considering it. If all he did was pay off my aunts’ house, that would be incredible. I certainly wasn’t going to do it working at Starbuck’s for ten bucks an hour. It was like a dream come true.
“I have the paperwork at my office. I can have it sent to you in the morning.”
I nodded, not really thinking of what I was agreeing to. It wouldn’t hurt just to take a look, would it? I think I was in shock. I don’t really remember anything that happened over the next hour or so. I vaguely remember eating my shrimp. I remember getti
ng into the car so that he could drive me home. But that was about it. The rest was just a blur.
Don’t they say that the night you get engaged will be the most memorable one of your life?
Not mine.
Chapter 3
I slipped inside the house after Miles dropped me off, trying to be as quiet as possible so that my aunts wouldn’t hear me. But, despite their advanced age, they seem to have super hearing.
“Riley? Is that you, darling?” Aunt Edna called.
“It’s me,” I said, pausing at the base of the stairs.
“Did you have a good day?”
She came to the door, a ball of yarn wrapped over her hands. Aunt Colleen was right behind her, the rest of the yarn trailing between them.
“Did you eat?” Aunt Edna asked.
“Yes. I went to dinner with a friend.”
She looked at me through narrowed eyes, as though she was not sure if she should believe me or not.
“I’m fine. I’m just tired. I’m going to go up and take a shower.”
“Get some rest then, darling,” Aunt Colleen said.
I nodded as I glanced at them, taking in their well-coifed hair and perfectly laundered clothes. They were classy ladies who were always concerned about their appearance. They were from a time when a woman could face just about anything as long as her face was put on just right. It almost hurt how familiar they were to me. They hadn’t changed much in the years since I came to live with them. A few more wrinkles, maybe their hair had gotten slightly whiter over the years. A little more stoop to their shoulders. It made my heart hurt when I thought about the bleakness of their future.
I went upstairs and jumped into the shower as I said I would. I almost felt human again when I stepped out. Dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, I curled up in the center of my bed and opened my laptop.
If I was going to consider marrying a stranger, I wanted to know as much about him as I could. I’d done some cursory research on Thorn Construction when I applied for the job, but it never occurred to me to research its founder and CEO. That was a mistake I was going to try to rectify now.
All I had to do was put his name into Google and it came up with dozens of articles complete with pictures. The first few were in association with Thorn Construction, basic profiles that were designed to promote the company. They didn’t really tell me anything about Miles Thorn himself. I clicked on another article below those and found one that was focused on his father, Jackson Thorn. The senior Thorn not only had his own massively successful finance company, but he was also the grandson of a former senator who was well-known and well-loved in the eastern part of the country. When I saw his grandfather’s name, even I recognized it, and I’ve never really cared all that much about politics.
LUCIEN: A Standalone Romance Page 62