“I told you, you should hire me now.” Nicole said. “You really could use some help.”
I smiled at her. “I know, but not yet. I can’t afford you yet.”
After my success with Kaycee and Michael, I was hired by Peter and Lyn, a referral that came from Angela and Jacob. And soon, inquiries just kept pouring in.
I’ve built up my portfolio. Our gallery is filled with amazing shots of the weddings that we have done so far. I have strengthened my relationships with my suppliers. Even photographers and videographers loved working with me that they all promised to give me top priority and better prices. Since my concepts looked unique and brilliant, they also look good on their portfolio.
One Friday night, one of the rare weekends I know I will not be working, I got an unexpected call.
“Miss me?” Ryder teased.
It must have been weeks since I last spoke to him. But I must admit that he crosses my mind… more than once a day… particularly before I go to sleep. But I shook off that thought and instead I pretended to be oblivious of who he was. “Oh, who is this again?”
“Oh, I’m so hurt.” He chuckled.
“You can’t be. Compared to you, I’m practically a nobody. I’m sure you have more people pining for your attention, my indifference is quite insignificant to you.” I said.
“But you see that’s what a normal human being actually craves for. The attention that he couldn’t seem to get.” He countered.
“Hmmm… We are insatiable by nature. But my dreams are simple, Mr. Van Woodsen. I want not what I do not have.”
This time he laughed. “And that ladies and gentlemen is our winner!” He said and somehow that statement confused me. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning, seven sharp. Pack a weekend’s worth of clothing, will you?”
“Excuse me?”
“I know you’re not working this weekend, Astrid.” He said. “Don’t ask me how I found out. If you’re not out of bed by seven A.M., I will haul you out of it. And something tells me that you may not like the methods I will use to wake you up. Although, I find it very, very tempting.”
“Ryder, what game are you playing?”
“I’m not playing games, but I do remember that you owe me a favor. And this time I need you to do one for me.” He replied.
I sighed. Do it and get it over with. I thought to myself.
“Do you know where I live now?” I asked him. The last time we went to dinner, I still asked him to drop me off at Adam’s.
“I’m sure I can find it.” He replied. “See you tomorrow.” And he hung up, not giving me another chance to think it through.
I sighed in frustration. “What weird things am I constantly getting myself into?” I muttered under my breath.
Nevertheless, I packed a weekend’s worth of clothing, not only that, I think I packed some of my best casual clothes, nightgowns I’ve only worn once, and underwear that I bought some time ago, thinking I would be using them only when I got married.
Damn! I cursed to myself. You’re not thinking of sleeping with him again, are you?
I stared at myself crossly in the mirror. I remembered the last night I was with him and how reason had abandoned me.
No! I will not allow myself to drown like that again! I will not sleep with Ryder Van Woodsen the second time around!
Firmly deciding this, I threw out the nightgowns and kinky undies from my bag and instead, I packed new sets of bikini panties and bra. The bikini underwear was low cut, but still very decent. I put two pairs of pajamas in my bag. Pastel-colored in candy-like designs. The kind that a sweet, innocent college girl wears on slumber parties.
I smiled to myself. I am not planning on sleeping with Ryder Van Woodsen! Who knows? He might even use that as another reason for me to accept the ring from him! Not only am I a whore for one night, I’d be a damn mistress!
The next day, ten minutes before seven, I was dressed in a pair of jeans and violet blouse. I was fresh from my bath. I was confident I smelled and looked fresh. I was sipping coffee in my office reception, waiting for Ryder to ring the bell… if he finds my place, that is.
6:59, the doorbell rang. I was shocked! How could he know these things?
I opened the door ready to demand an answer from Ryder but my breath caught in my throat at the sight of him.
His hair is still a little damp from the shower. He was wearing a beige turtleneck shirt under a white hooded jacket. He looked boyishly handsome, I almost forgot how to breathe.
“Good morning.” He greeted me with a grin.
I finally composed myself and managed to raise a brow at him.
“What is it this time, Ryder?” I asked him.
“Relax.” He replied. “I promise you’ll have a lovely weekend.”
I grabbed my bag and closed the door behind me. He took my bag from me as soon as I stepped out of the house.
“Hmmm… Manners. Impressive.” I muttered sarcastically.
He chuckled. “Oh, there are some things you should know about me.”
He put my bag on the backseat and held the passenger door open for me.
“Where are we going?” I asked as soon as he got inside the car.
He smiled at me shortly and then he said, “Do you remember you asked me a favor a couple of months ago?”
“Uh-huh.” I said.
“Well… I kinda need the same thing from you.”
I raised a brow. My heart pounded in my ribcage. “Wh… what do you mean?”
He sighed. “Well, we’re going to a weekend get-together of sorts. With… old friends of mine. Two of my best friends are celebrating their anniversary. Last year, we made a wager, that I would have a steady girlfriend before I turn thirty-one.”
“How much is the wager for? Why don’t you just pawn my ring and pay up?”
“There’s no price for pride and dignity, love.” He smiled.
“And I have to be the steady girlfriend?” I asked.
He nodded. “If it’s not too much to ask?”
I heaved a sigh. “How could I say no? I asked you the very same thing.”
“Thank you very much.” He smiled and then he reached for my hand and squeezed it. “To make it easier, we can continue the same story that we told your relatives. We met a couple of months ago, couldn’t take my eyes off you, went after you for a month until you finally agreed to go on a date with me.”
“Okay. Well, you know my background pretty much. You know my friends and many of my relatives now. You know I just came from a bad breakup. You know what I do for a living”
“And you know about me too.” He said.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t.” I muttered under my breath.
He took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m from Manhattan originally. My family owns the Van Woodsen Restaurant Chains, which include the restaurants Rollo’s, Mi Casa, Sugu, The Cellar, and some other smaller chains. We have these restaurants in New York, L.A., Miami, Chicago, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Denver and in other States. We have branches in Paris, Rome, Milan, Florence, Vienna, Berlin, Barcelona and Sydney. My grandfather started the business, and as early as now, I’m starting to learn the ropes, although I have Oil Rig, The Rig and Rig Style as my own. I started them in Manhattan, and now, I’m branching out in Malibu. I only have one sister, Paris… who was born and raised in Paris ‘til she was a teenager. She’s got a bit of a French accent. She and my mother are the only two women that I’ve ever loved.”
I stared at him and raised a brow. “You want me to tell your friends that?”
He laughed. “Okay, for the purpose of our little masquerade, let’s say that Paris, my Mom and now you are the only three women I have loved in my life.”
“You don’t have to say you love me, you know.” I suggested. “We could be a couple that was once serious, but is now slowly drifting apart. We’ve just met a couple of months ago, you’re too busy with your work, you barely have time for me, and we don’t even have sex anymore!”
I turned red the minute I said the last phrase. I regretted that.
“Hey, hey!” He said. “I’m sure we will not be having those problems as early in our relationship. And besides… I’ll never be too busy with work when it comes to my girlfriend. And the sex part… I’m sure I won’t be able to get enough of my girl.”
I sighed. “Seriously, you want your friends to think that this relationship is going somewhere?”
“Of course!”
“Do I have to get them to like me too, like what you did with my family?”
“Well, you don’t have to try. I’m sure they’ll like you just as you are.” He replied.
“Obviously, you expect me to tell them I’m not interested in your money, right? Can’t I just play the mercenary little girl who couldn’t care less about your heart? So they’ll hate me immediately and they’ll beg you to break up with me? And then we don’t have to lie to them anymore?”
He chuckled. “No.” He replied. “My friends have been pestering to see me happy with a woman for years. It’s been driving me crazy how hard they try to fix me up once in a while. They’ve got to stop! And you’re here to do that for them!”
“I can’t be myself then.” I said.
“Why?”
“Because it won’t be believable.” I replied.
“Why won’t it be believable?”
“First, the likes of me won’t have the same friends as you. There’s no chance that we’d ever meet.”
“You’re in the wedding industry, love.” He reminded me. “There are plenty of chances for us to meet.”
I sighed. “I’m not sure I’d even talk to you.”
“Why is that? Do I look hideous or something?”
I shook my head. “You’re just too flashy, too rich, too famous. I wouldn’t want to be a part of your league.”
He laughed. Then he reached out for my hand and squeezed it. “Then I found the perfect girl that my friends would love for me.”
“I’ll try my best, Ryder. But I’m not making any promises. I don’t even know if I could pull this off.”
He laughed again. “I won’t leave your side.”
“Oh, don’t bother yourself too much.” I said sarcastically.
“You weren’t always this sarcastic the first time I met you, you know.” Although his tone was light, I know he meant what he said.
I sighed. “It’s not me, Ryder. It’s you.”
“What about me?”
“I do not understand why you even… want to be friends with me. Why you are so nice to me? Guys like you are usually too busy to care about girls like me.”
“Is that all?” He asked after a moment of silence.
I shook my head. “No.” I took a deep breath. “I owe you the first steps of my recovery. I will forever be thankful for that. For months I’ve thought of you as a dear friend… an ally. I fixed my life, hoping that someday I’d see you again, and show you that I did keep my promises to you that night. But then when I found out who you were… I couldn’t think of a reason why we could even be friends! I don’t move in your circle and you don’t move in mine. When you gave me that ring… I still couldn’t help thinking that I was… just an entertainment to you. Maybe you were bored with your life and you needed someone to amuse you. I was… desperate and unfortunate enough to venture your way.”
Ryder didn’t say anything for a long time that I was afraid that I have offended him with my monologue. When I stared at him, he was concentrating on the road, his face sober. I sighed and turned away from him.
We didn’t speak for a while. Before I knew it, he was parking on a slot in the airport. He took a deep breath and then he turned to me. He looked at me for a while and then he said softly, “You’re wrong, you know.”
“What?”
“You’re wrong about me.” He said.
“I wouldn’t know that.” I said quietly.
“You will… by the end of this weekend. You will change your opinion of me.” He said, his voice was so serious, it made my knees shake.
Chapter Thirteen
THE MAID OF HONOR AND THE BEST MAN:
The Maid of Honor has to be unmarried. The Best Man can be a married man, or a bachelor. You can choose from your closest friends, you can choose from your family. But always keep this in mind: Make sure you choose one whose relationship with you runs deep, and goes way back.
We flew business class to Miami. It was a first for me. I always thought business class flights were a waste of money. But Ryder has a lot of money to burn.
He checked us in a suite in a five star resort. When I stepped into the room and realized that there was only one bed, I instantly became nervous.
He must have sensed my discomfort because he looked at me wearily and said, “It’s only right that we stay in the same room if we want to make this believable. But I’ll stay in the couch, don’t worry.”
“I can stay in the couch, Ryder.” I said. “I’m smaller. I’d be more comfortable sleeping on it.”
“I’ll be damned if I let a woman take the couch while I sleep comfortably in the bed.” He said evenly.
“Okay. Whatever you say.” I murmured.
He turned away from me and headed towards the door.
“We have two hours before we meet Janis and Jake. I will come back for you. Meanwhile, you can continue your sleep if you want to.”
He stalked out of the room. As much as I hate to admit it, I felt guilty. Ryder’s been trying his best to be nice to me. To make the mood lighter. All I did was throw sarcastic remarks his way, and made the morning miserable for him. He was wonderful when I asked him to pretend to be besotted with me. He played his part wonderfully. Maybe I should do the same.
I lied on the luxurious bed. I only had a couple of hours sleep last night and now I’m really sleepy.
I slept for about an hour and a half. I was still alone in the room when I woke up. I took a shower and prepared for the whole masquerade. I decided to do this for Ryder. I’ll be everything he needs me to be and then my debt will be paid. I will not owe him anything anymore.
I slipped into a floral printed white sleeveless dress. It was simple and chic. I tied my hair in a bun and left some strands to curl on either sides of my face. I put on powder and lip gloss. Then I put on my favorite perfume.
When I came out of the bathroom, Ryder was already waiting at the balcony.
“Should we go?” I asked behind him.
He turned around. He looked at me for a full minute, until I was blushing to the roots of my hair and then he smiled. He stepped closer towards me. “You’re beautiful.” I realized that if he was angry when he left me, he had somehow decided not to ruin his plans, as I had decided to do my part in this charade as well as I can.
I smiled. “Wouldn’t want your friends to worry about your… taste.”
“I’m sure they will be fairly happy.”
Ryder took my hand in his and led me out of the suite and into the restaurants on the ground floor.
We approached a table where a beautiful blonde woman and a handsome guy with blond hair are having their lunch. The minute they saw us walking towards them, they froze. They stared at us with shocked expressions on their faces and it was obvious that they could not believe what they were seeing.
I instantly realized who they were. Janis and Jake… Ryder’s best friends.
I squeezed Ryder’s hand, hoping to get some courage. He looked at me and smiled reassuringly. Then he released my hand and put an arm around my shoulder. He leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the forehead.
“You look beautiful, love.” He whispered to me. “You can do this.”
I smiled at him. “I will do this, Ryder. For you.” I whispered back before we reached Janis and Jake.
He smiled back at me. In his eyes, I can see sincere gratitude. I knew he was happy and somehow, my heart warmed and I knew it was not going to be difficult to pretend to feel affectionate for him.
His friends were
still dumbfounded when I was introduced to them.
It took a minute for Jake to recover and longer for Janis.
“I’m sorry.” Jake said. “We don’t mean to freak you out. It’s just that… this is a surprise! Right, honey?”
Jake had to pat Janis lightly on the back to bring her back to Earth.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah. Quite a surprise! We… didn’t expect Ryder to have a… guest. You know… he… he usually comes alone.” Janis smiled. Then she took a deep breath and leaned forward to give me a hug. “It’s lovely to meet you. I hope we didn’t freak you out.”
Knight in Shining Suit: Get Up. Get Even. Get a better man. Page 18