An I.O.U. from a Billionaire

by Olivia B. Dannon

  “Sweetheart, we’re in public,” she said.

  That didn’t bother you when Handsy was sucking on your lips.

  “Are we? I only see you.”

  President Little and his wife smiled at him and made themselves scarce. The director was still watching them though. “Are you looking for a show, director? You’ve been spying on me all night.”

  “Liam.” Joan turned around facing him. “You’ve been drinking?”

  “No more than you have, my sweetness.” He smiled as he spoke.

  “Apologize, Liam.”

  Liam blew out a breath. “I’m sorry for saying you’re a spy. I didn’t know it was a secret.”

  “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry, Connie.” Joan pressed her hand on his chest. “Be quiet you’re drunk,” she whispered.

  He blew out another breath watching as she scrunched her nose. “I don’t get drunk. If I do, I’ll act like an ass. I would punch this guy out for all the lipstick he was wearing.” Liam looked directly at Xander. “I think we both know whose lipstick it was.”

  “You’re looking at me like it was my fault,” Xander said his shoulders raising. “She kissed me. No matter how much I told her I wasn’t interested, she just kept coming at me.”

  Liam’s face was burning red. His temper was all but gone.

  Xander kept talking, oblivious to Liam’s inner battle of trying to reign in his rage. “She is like a bloodhound seeking me out, no matter where I hide. I am not exaggerating when I say she wants me.”

  Once Xander compared Joan to a dog he was seeing red. How could this guy slander her when she is standing right in front of him and turn things like he was? Did the man have no morals at all? Xander was the one to chase Joan all over the benefit.

  Liam punched Xander, his fist connecting right at the kisser!

  Xander spun but didn’t fall. As he came back around he threw a right hook catching Liam in the left side of his jaw. The pain of the hit only fed Liam’s anger. It hurt, but Liam wasn’t about to let Xander know that.

  Liam launched a cross with his right, sending Xander staggering backward.

  “Stop.” Joan cried out. She stepped between them and pushed Liam a step back. “What are you doing?”

  “He can’t talk about you like that and get away with it.”

  Xander’s laughter from behind Joan had Liam charged further to beat some sense into him.

  Joan grabbed his right hand catching him before he could pop Xander again. “He wasn’t talking about me,” Joan said. The crowd that had gathered must have realized the show was over as Joan pulled Liam further away from Xander.

  “Apologize, Liam.”

  “I’m not sorry,” Liam said, meeting Xander’s eyes as they widened. “If I ever hear you talking about Joan like that again or putting your hands on her in any capacity you’ll be hurting in every aspect of your existence.”

  Xander nodded his understanding.

  “Okay that’s it. I’m getting you out of here.”

  Liam allowed Joan to lead him away. She was taking him to the exit. Good. They could talk in private. He could reassure her that he was going to protect her.

  They stopped at the coat counter. “Did you check a coat, Liam?” she asked, digging in the tiny clutch. She came out with her ticket and handed it to the attendant. When her light blue eyes met his, he smiled.

  Beautiful. The face of an angel.

  She was handed a sheer pink wrap. “Thank you.” Taking his hand again Joan led him toward the exit. “Liam Wainwright,” she said to the man standing just inside the door. “May I have his key please?”

  “His limo is already waiting,” the man answered.

  “Of course it is. Thank you.”

  Flashes were going off as they stepped out. Joan’s hand clenched tighter around Liams. He pulled her in close to his side and put his arm around her.

  “What is happening? Why are they… oh no. Come on.” Joan put her arm around his back and urged him toward the limo and opened back door.

  “I showed him didn’t I?” Liam smiled.

  “You’re going to feel like an idiot when I explain everything to you. Get in the car.”

  Laughter bubbled up his chest. “You’re so bossy.” He got in the car. Joan started to turn away. No, she couldn’t leave. They had to make up. Liam caught her hand and pulled her into the limo. She landed on top of him and the door was shut behind her.

  ***

  His hard body beneath hers and the way he was looking at her made it impossible to think. The limo started moving but she had yet to move.

  “Where were you going?” Liam ran his hand down her back. “I don’t want you to leave.”

  Remind him about the pictures, about the deal with Alise’s father.

  Her lips parted with the intent of telling him to wake up. Nothing came out. She licked her lips and tried again. “I shouldn’t be in this limo with you.”

  “You’re right where you should be.”

  His dark blue eyes were on her lips.

  Why does he have to be so sexy? Joan get up. Right now.

  “Liam, I….”

  He rolled her so that her back was against the backrest of the long plush leather seating. His lips came down on hers. They were hot against hers. The slow stroke of his tongue against her lower lip, and then into her mouth, had her core vibrating.

  The bourbon on his tongue reminded her he was drunk. He didn’t know what he was doing. Yet she wasn’t ready to stop him. She framed his face in her hands urging him to keep going.

  His knee pressed between her legs, raising her dress and pressing at the heat of her. Her breathing quickened. She held onto Liam’s shoulders as his hands cupped her ass. He pressed her down onto his thigh between her legs, moving his thigh in a stroking motion.

  Joan gasped, her nails biting into his shoulders under his jacket and through his shirt.

  A jarring ringing made them both freeze. “Mr. Wainwright, Evelyn is on the line and she says it’s urgent.”

  Evelyn? Who is Evelyn? Evelyn, the woman who dressed me up for the part of playing Liam’s fiancée.

  Liam seemed to be having the same realization as he stared at her through the haze of too much bourbon and champagne. Joan peeled herself away from him and fixed her dress as she picked up the car phone. “This is Joan.” She turned away from him.

  Lord, what was I thinking?

  “He’s drunk, isn’t he?” Evelyn asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Coffee and lots of it, hun. We’ve got a problem and we need a sober Liam Wainwright.”

  Joan swallowed. “Okay. What kind of problem?”

  Don’t say the pictures. Please don’t say the pictures.

  “Paparazzi have pics of you two locking lips, Liam fighting for your honor, and you on top of him in the limo.”

  “He pulled me in. I tried to leave and get a taxi.” Joan knew even as she gave her excuses she was responsible for all this. Would he lose his deal?

  Evelyn was yelling at someone on her side of the line. “We’ll meet you two at the airport. The driver is taking you there now.”

  “Okay.”

  “Give Liam the phone and start making coffee.” Joan handed Liam the phone and went over to the bar. No coffee. She knocked on the privacy glass and it lowered as Liam spoke to Evelyn.

  The driver looked at her in the rearview mirror.

  “We need coffee.”

  “Yes, ma’am. There’s a coffee shop coming up.”

  Liam hung up the phone and pressed the button that brought the privacy back up between them and the driver. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

  Joan smoothed the dress over her lap. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Good.” He rubbed his jaw and winced.

  He needs ice.

  Joan piled ice into a cloth napkin and tied it shut. “Here.” She pressed the ice pack onto the swelling lump on his jawline. “Are you okay?”

  “I think I’m still drunk.”

&n
bsp; Joan bit her lower lip. “Yeah. We’re getting coffee. You want some water?” His hand covered hers on the ice pack. He was still giving her that hungry look. “I’ll get ice for your hand.”

  The car stopped as she withdrew her hand and made another ice pack. Liam was watching her, probably trying to make sense of the crazy night they’d just spent lying their asses off.

  “Okay.” She put his hand on his leg and pressed the second pack onto his right knuckles.

  “It doesn’t hurt that bad. I don’t think I need ice.”

  Joan reached up and pressed the ice pack back onto his jaw when he began to lower it. “It’s going to hurt and bruise. At least the ice will keep the swelling down.”

  The back door opened and the driver handed in a tray with four tall black coffees and packets of cream and sugar. “Thank you,” Joan said. She took one from the cardboard cup holding tray and gave it to Liam. “Drink.”

  This is all just champagne and stress. When he sobers up, he’s going to be the same arrogant, belittling jerk he was before. When I sober up I’ll remember that I am not attracted to Liam Wainwright.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Evelyn stood at the bottom of the private jet staircase. She was giving him that “I told you so” look she was so good at. Liam downed the last of his second cup of coffee. His head was aching, and his jaw felt like someone shoved a sharp rock in between his jawbone and muscle tissue. His drunken acts of aggression and passion were clear in his mind.

  Even if he had been wrong to punch Xander, he still wasn’t sorry that he did. Xander had it coming.

  The passion.

  That was a different story. He didn’t know what had come over him. Joan wasn’t really his fiancée and he’d had no business kissing and touching her like he had. The fact that he could still feel the warmth of her on his thigh was messing with his body’s response.

  Liam couldn’t remember a time he had not been able to put a woman out of his mind. Never had he allowed anyone to interfere with his business.

  Somehow Joan was the exception. She was sitting away from him on the other bench and he couldn’t stop thinking about how good she felt pressed up against him. The single gasp she’d let out was replaying in his mind and clouding what should be clear and precise thoughts.

  Liam clung to the frustration he felt until it edged toward anger. It was toward his own lack of control and disgust with himself that he’d completely lost track of what was important. He’d let himself get jealous and territorial over a woman who didn’t even like him.

  The driver opened Joan’s door. Liam opened his own to exit the limo. “Where is Alise?” he asked her across the roof of the limo.

  “I have no idea.”

  Did she see me kissing Joan? The fight? She’s probably on the phone right now getting my deal flushed.

  Liam passed Evelyn taking the stairs two at a time. He needed to call Alise’s father and get him to… to what? Understand?

  “Shit.”

  “No kidding,” Evelyn said following him up the stairs. “Someone used their mobile video camera and got footage of you with Joan, Alise, and the fight. You know what this looks like, right?”

  Liam exhaled. “Yes. I know what it looks like.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll call Crenshaw and convince him it’s all a mistake.”

  Evelyn folded her arms. “That won’t work.”

  “Why not?” Joan asked from behind Evelyn.

  “The shot of Liam pulling you on top of him in the limo is broadcasting everywhere. No one is going to believe you two aren’t together, especially Crenshaw.”

  Liam fell into a chair with a growl. It was so dark outside the oval window was like a black screen. All he could see was his own reflection. His hair was messed up, jaw swollen, and busted buttons left his shirt hanging open.

  “There goes two hundred fifty million dollars.”

  Joan’s right brow raised at him as the other lowered in an almost cartoonish look of disbelief. “You’re giving up just like that? You can’t do that.”

  “There is no way to salvage this.”

  “Don’t be so pessimistic. It’s not like you. You’re as stubborn as a honey badger once you’ve made up your mind to have your way.”

  Evelyn smiled with a nod. “She’s right about that.” The phone started ringing in his pocket. “That’ll be your father. Don’t answer until we get this figured out.”

  Liam set the ice compact he’d saved to put on his jaw on his upper thigh in hopes of extinguishing the unwelcome, lingering heat left there by Joan.

  “Everyone under the sun is seeing footage of me acting like a fool.”

  Evelyn lowered her chin in agreement. “Over Joan. Don’t forget that bit.”

  Liam leaned back thinking over everything he knew about Crenshaw. Eccentric, stubborn, and hot tempered. “Crenshaw loves his daughter, dotes on her.” Liam mused aloud. It was why he’d dated her in the first place.

  “Every father dotes on his daughter,” Evelyn said. She too was searching for an answer.

  “He dotes on her more than most. She resembles his late wife.” Liam exhaled knowing Crenshaw would not get past this scandal. However, the deal was not the only thing there was on the line. His father also did business with Crenshaw. Liam knew he couldn’t just leave things as they were and allow his father to deal with the fallout.

  “I saw a special on TV about Crenshaw’s late wife. He did an interview and they asked him about her,” Joan said. “I remember because he was so hard and cold before they brought her up. It was like watching a metamorphosis. He smiled and told a story about how he’d fallen for her the first time he met her. She was engaged and he admitted stealing her from the man.” Joan shrugged as Liam looked at her.

  “I’ve heard him tell that story myself at least twice. He told me once that when I fell in love my whole world would be turned upside down and I’d love it.” Evelyn smiled. “It doesn’t sound like me at all.”

  Liam folded his arms, considering the softer side of Crenshaw. It seemed the only way to at least close the deal with civility between them.

  “I am no longer concerned as much with the deal as I am with keeping things civil with Crenshaw. He has the means to hurt my father financially, and I can’t let that happen because of tonight.” Liam directed his explanation to Joan.

  She looked down at her hands in her lap and then back at him. “I’m sorry about all this. I should have never asked you to pretend to be my fiancé.”

  “It’s too late to back out now. Tell me this, how far are you willing to take this engagement?”

  “Our fake engagement?”

  Evelyn frowned. “Why are you pretending to be engaged?”

  Liam waved a hand at her. “I’ll explain that later.” He kept his eyes on Joan. “I entered this fake engagement to help you keep your position at the hospital. If I back out now you’ll lose your job and reputation. Therefore, it would be in your best interest to carry on with the engagement. Correct?”

  Joan nodded slowly. She was twisting her fingers in her lap.

  “In order to save face for myself and my family, I too need to be engaged. I intend to tell Crenshaw, and my family, that we’re in love

  – the love at first sight, crazy out of your mind, no control over yourself kind of love.”

  Joan’s fingers curled into fists on her lap. “Why would you have to lie to your family?”

  “This pretense of ours should not have to be their burden. Besides, my family isn’t made up of liars and actors. Crenshaw is sharp. He’ll see through this lie in an instant.”

  Evelyn nodded. “I see where you’re going. Play at his only perceptible soft spot – love. You think he’ll forgive you if you and Joan fool him.”

  “I don’t see another way. Do you?”

  “What if you’re wrong?” Joan asked. “What if he doesn’t forgive you? What then?”

  Liam kept his face void of feeling. “I
will carry on the charade as long as it is necessary for you to be secure at the hospital. We will call off the engagement at that point, parting, as far as anyone knows, as friends.”

  “That’s very generous of you,” Joan said.

  “I am not trying to be generous. To play my fiancée in my world is not as easy as it is in yours. You’ll come to every function my family holds. You will be seen publicly with me at least two times a week, and you will under no circumstances flirt, kiss, or have any other such dalliances with anyone else while we are engaged.”

  Joan swallowed as she folded her arms across her stomach. “I work, Liam. I don’t have the luxury of jetting off whenever the mood strikes.”

  Liam sat forward in his chair. “I am a businessman and inventor. Sacrifices will be made on both sides. You’re not backing out of this. You started all of this in the first place.”

  “I may have started this but it was you who complicated everything. All you had to do was show up to one benefit, make your donation, and make one or two appearances in the following six months. But no, you had to go and punch Xander, making a spectacle of yourself and landing us in the news.”

  “He followed you into the bathroom and accused you of throwing yourself at him. I was supposed to do nothing? What kind of doormat men are you dating?”

  Evelyn looked back and forth between the two, her interest evident.

  “He was hiding in the women’s room, not following me inside. And the things he was saying weren’t about me. Xander was talking about Alise. You know, the psychopath you’re dating.”

  “Alise didn’t have anything to do with Xander. You did. I was doing my best to pull off the charade you got me into, while you were dancing and laughing with Xander.”

  Joan narrowed her gaze at him. “Yes. I got you into the mess of playing my fiancé but you had a choice. You could have said no.”

  “When could I have done that? After your boss was the one to let me know about our fake engagement?”

  Joan’s cheeks flushed a bright red. Her teeth were clenched letting him know she wasn’t about to apologize again.