by Sam Crescent
“I’m not going to have a bachelor party. If you want to have a bachelorette one, then that is up to you. I honestly don’t mind.”
“Seriously? You wouldn’t mind me having a bachelorette party?”
This time, he shrugged. “Why not? It’s a rite of passage, after all. It’s what you told me.”
“But there would still be strippers. You know, men who take their clothes off. I’d see them naked and get to compare…”
“Not going to happen. There is nothing to compare this to.” He took her lips once again. “You feel that?”
“Nope.”
“I think you do, and I think that is what scares you, Sage.”
“Nothing scares me.”
“You’re starting to have feelings for me.”
“In your dreams.”
“You feature in my dreams a lot, sweetness.”
She stared at him, not really knowing what else to say.
“I’m not going to have a bachelor party. For my night I’m sitting at home, enjoying a drink, wishing you cooked for me. That’s how I’m going to spend my last night of being single.”
“You will no longer be free.”
“Sage, I don’t want to be free or single anymore.”
“You don’t?”
“No. I want to be married to you. I want this. I don’t know how else to explain it to you.”
“I don’t know if I can believe you.”
“What is there to believe?”
“I know there’s a guy somewhere right now holding a camera. He’s probably taken a gazillion photos of us right now.”
“Probably. Again, why can’t you believe me? You think this is an act?”
“Isn’t it? You’re playing your part for the camera?” She was clutching at straws. For a split second she was sure he looked devastated, and she felt like the worst bitch in the world. What kind of woman accuses her fiancé of lying, days before the wedding all because of the press?
“One moment please,” he said.
He let go of her hands and stood up.
“Dom, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to take care of a little problem.” He glanced around the park. There were a lot of families. The sun was glorious as was the heat. They had picked one of the rare spots near a shaded tree, but now, Dom stepped out into the glaring sunlight and she watched as had advanced across the ground to a guy who was sitting on one of the benches. He’d been able to blend in, but she watched as Dom pulled out a checkbook, wrote in it, and handed the guy a check.
Within seconds he had the camera the guy was holding, and was coming back to her.
He dropped down on their blanket and held out the camera.
“This, I believe, is what you were after.”
“You paid him?”
“Those pictures are ours.” He turned the camera on, and she leaned over, seeing so many pictures of them.
There were lots, and that wasn’t an exaggeration.
Each step of him feeding her a strawberry, even down to licking the cream from her chest.
The way they looked at each other, she couldn’t help but wonder if others believed them to be in love.
“I think we take pictures well. What about you?” he asked, holding up another from seconds before he took the camera from the guy.
He held her hands and was staring intently.
It shocked her how easily the camera could lie. One glance at the picture and it looked like they were in love, and the truth was, they were far from it.
Or were they?
“So, you took the pictures.”
“I’m proving to you that this isn’t an act. I want to be with you, every second of every day.” He took her hands again, facing her. “I don’t want or need a bachelor party. I’m not scared of what the future holds. I know this isn’t what you wanted from life. I hope during our time together I can make it up to you.”
“You really think we can make this work?”
“We haven’t killed each other, and I don’t know about you, but I love hanging out with you. I can’t cook to save my life, so you’re going to be the one doing all the cooking.”
“I’m teaching you, remember?” She smiled, recalling the disasters they’d been having of late.
Dom really couldn’t cook, and she was starting to believe he really shouldn’t cook. She had learned her lesson though, and all cooking lessons were at his place. He’d nearly burned down his kitchen as he’d left a towel near an open flame on his gas stove.
Instead of throwing the burning towel into the sink and pouring water on it, he opened up the soup pot and threw the burning item inside. They couldn’t eat the soup, and all of his hard work had been wasted. That night they did end up ordering takeout.
He’d nearly sliced off a finger while making a sandwich.
The sandwich had forced her to make him take a break. She had never known anyone so … disastrous in the kitchen, and to save them both, she had decided to go back to basics with him.
At least he now had a full kitchen of everything.
“Your teaching leaves a lot to be desired.”
“Hey! The student isn’t much good either.”
He laughed. “I’m doing better.”
“You’re not even cooking.”
“I’m excellent at observing.”
“True, true.”
“What do you say, Sage? Give me a chance. Give us a chance. Give this a chance?”
He looked so sincere, and she was tired of fighting these feelings and him. Why keep fighting the truth? It was pointless.
“Okay.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“I said okay.” She shouted the last word and then laughed as he began to rain kisses on her lips, face, and neck.
She needed to learn to stop doubting herself.
****
Dom stared out across the city once again. The big office felt like a huge weight on his shoulders. The check to the photographer in the park had bounced. He had no money. No funds. Nothing.
The company was officially bankrupt. He didn’t even have enough money to declare himself bankrupt.
No one knew the state of affairs.
Everyone was going about their business, and unless he married Sage in two days, their entire paychecks would also bounce.
Running a hand down his face, he didn’t know how he got to this point. Going over his life, he thought of all the luxury trips he’d taken. World tours on expensive yachts. The homes he’d stayed in. The overpriced hotels that weren’t worth the price anymore. At the time, they had been perfect, but now, it was the extra dollars he could use for his company.
His father had told him this very morning there was nothing.
He couldn’t even bring himself to look at the man he once admired.
This company was going under unless Johnson Boyle stayed true to his promise and he got the funds on Friday.
All for marrying his daughter.
Sage.
The girl he was making fall in love with him. He was also succeeding; he was sure of it. The way she’d looked at him at the park, her nerves, her fears. He got it.
Love. It wasn’t something he’d ever experienced in his life.
Yet, with Sage, it was there. Every single second he was with her, he forgot about the deal he’d made, the company, the debts, all of it.
There was no way he could talk to her about this. She’d believe the past couple of weeks had been fake.
They hadn’t.
It had started out as a plan to make her fall in love with him, but it hadn’t stayed that way. His feelings for this woman had taken him by surprise.
Now, if she knew what he’d agreed to with Johnson, she would never believe him. Everything in his life was hanging in the balance.
The woman he loved.
The company.
His reputation.
All of it.
If only he’d not pissed away the early parts of his life
thinking the money would be with him forever, he wouldn’t be in this position now.
He pressed his fingers against his eyes, trying and failing to clear his head. To think.
The guy from the paper was going to run his story, only now he was going to include a broke playboy making an heiress fall in love with him. He had nothing.
No way of stopping the story.
If it got to the papers before his wedding, everything was over. Hundreds and thousands of people would lose their jobs.
It wasn’t just this one company. It would be all of them.
Gone.
There was a knock on the door.
He turned to see Alice in the doorway. She was the only one who knew the complete truth. The person he trusted with the company secrets.
“Hey, Alice. More bad news?” he asked.
“I got a call from the electric company. They will be cutting the power by the end of the week.”
“Great, just great.” It was far from it.
He gripped the back of his chair and laughed.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Am I okay?” He looked around the office. “The company that I have spent my entire life taking for granted is in the ground. We’ve gone so deep into the red I can’t even get us out of it. The only way to do is to marry a woman that I’m falling in love with.”
“You love Sage?” Alice closed the door behind her, giving them privacy.
“I do. There’s no doubt in my mind. I love her more than anything.”
“That’s good though, right? You don’t want to spend the rest of your life with a woman you can’t stand.”
“But she doesn’t know the truth. Johnson told me the way to save this company is to marry his daughter. He knows what I agreed to, and now a fucking media asshole is going to print this story.” He burst out laughing. “This wasn’t supposed to be this way.”
“You make it sound like it’s the end.”
“Isn’t it?” he asked. “Look around. I can’t save this. I could if I had just enough money, but there’s not enough. My dad invested in the wrong fucking people and the wrong companies. This place is going down. I won’t even have electricity to this place come Friday.”
“Then send an email. Tell every single staff member they have the day off in celebration. Have your wedding, make the deal, get the electricity back on. Send payment to the guy, or you could ask the editor or owner for a deal. Tell them they’ll get an exclusive with you and Sage if they don’t run his story.”
He looked at her. “I can’t do it.”
“Why? It’s a perfect solution. You believe that. Otherwise you wouldn’t look so torn.”
It was a perfect solution. Of course it was. There was no doubt in his mind just how perfect it was, but he couldn’t do it.
“Sage.”
“What about her?”
“She doesn’t want to be in the public eye. It’s bad enough trying to tell her my feelings because she knows something is wrong.”
“Then tell her,” Alice said.
“I can’t do that. Not now.”
“You’re being stubborn.”
“Sage hates corporations. She has spent her whole life fighting against her parents. She doesn’t do business, nor does she condone their meaning. She’s all about helping people and serving the needs of others.” It was one of the many things he loved about her.
“This company serves the need of many. Without corporations what about jobs?”
“I can’t do it.”
“You won’t do it. There’s a difference. Without this company there are going to be a lot of people out of work. We all need this to work, Dom. I have every faith in you.”
Dom couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why? Why do you have every faith in me? I can’t keep this afloat. I’m failing. I have failed. It’s not even a slippery slope. We’re full steam ahead to instant fucking failure.”
Alice sighed. “The Booker deal.”
“What about it?” he asked.
“It’s one of the reasons I have faith in you.”
“Why?”
“Booker loves his wife. He spent his entire life helping her advance and develop her company. With her gone, every little shark, big or small, wants a piece of it. He just wants his wife’s good work not to be torn apart and destroyed. You didn’t do that. You’re more than willing to work for him and to make sure he gets everything. It’s how I know you’re a good person and you’re not after a quick sale or a quick turnaround. You see an investment opportunity, and you delved right in, but you won’t ruin the integrity of your products.”
He stared at Alice, and he was sure he saw pride in her eyes.
“Also, when your father called you to say how bad things are, you didn’t waste any time. You were here. Sure, you partied and you were a dick. I have no doubt there is still part of that inside you, and it’s probably what terrified Sage. The papers portrayed you as one thing. This company has turned you into another. Show her the good man. The man who is not trying to keep his playboy lifestyle but the one that is trying more than anything to save this company for the people who work here. I know this doesn’t bother you. Sitting in a big old office all day. Fighting for contracts. Dealing with assholes.”
“You keep swearing,” he said.
“I know, but you need to hear it. You enjoyed the money because it was there, but it’s not who you are. It’s not what makes you, you. I see the real you, Dom, and I believe you’ve let Sage see you as well, and it scares you.” Alice moved up to him putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to make this work, and I know you’re going to be one fine husband for her. I’m going to go and have a word with the electric company.”
She walked away.
“Don’t. I’m going to send out that email. My staff deserve the day off as I get married.”
“They will like that,” she said.
They would, but it would also give him the much-needed time he required to fix this fucking mess that he’d created.
His company wasn’t completely dead. Not yet. He would keep on fighting, but he wasn’t going to lose Sage.
Chapter Eight
“I knew I’d find you here. On the night of our combined bachelor and bachelorette party, you’re in an animal shelter. Are you trying to secretly tell me something?” Dom asked.
Sage looked up. “That I like taking care of people and animals and just about everything.” She held the little pup in her arms. Okay, he wasn’t exactly little, but he wanted some loving and she was more than happy to give him some. All this guy needed was a hug, and it broke her heart to know he’d not even given any kind of care.
“Is that a pit bull?”
She nodded. “Sweet, isn’t he?”
“You do know they’re considered one of the worst and most violent kinds of dogs in the world?”
She looked up at Dom. “That’s because they have a bad reputation. This guy is not violent or vicious.”
“The scars all over him, I’d say otherwise.”
“He was found in an illegal dog fighting ring.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. He wasn’t born violent or vicious. In order to get food or to have anything he probably had to fight. He’s not that old, still so young. The trainer said he’s so kind. Look at him, he’s so cute. This is why I avoid people. There are way too many nasty people in the world that do not deserve to even know happiness.”
“Wow,” he said.
She looked up. “I’m sorry. Dogs are a lot like kids. I’ve been working this shelter for a couple of years now. I’ve watched pups being born. I’ve seen them grow up, and they really depend on a good owner. On a good friend.” She stroked the pit-bull’s head. “This guy didn’t do anything wrong other than being given to the wrong kind of people.”
“Will he have to be put down?”
“I don’t know. They’re investigating, but that could take a couple of weeks. I hope he
can keep calm. I mean, look at him. He wouldn’t harm anyone, but if he’s threatened or scared, he could. We don’t want that. I don’t want that.” She pressed her face against his head, kissing him. “He’s adorable.”
“How about I try to hold him?”
She looked up. “You want to try to hold a breed of dog that in your own words is violent and vicious?”
“You’ve given me a change of heart. Come on, try me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. If he bites my face off you still have to agree to marry me.”
“I’m not going to run away if he hurts you because I know he’s not going to and just don’t hurt him.”
“I won’t hurt him.”
“Then stop panicking. Come and sit beside me.”
Sage waited for him to move toward the bench where she was sitting. The cages where they kept the dogs were small, but they always tried to make sure they had plenty of open space when they took them out. They did try their hardest, and she adored volunteering at the shelter.
She had learned a lot about taking care of dogs from her time here, and getting married wasn’t going to stop her from coming.
“Do you love dogs?” he asked.
“I do. I’d love to have several one day.”
“Several? You can’t have one now?”
“My apartment building doesn’t allow pets. Until I move or they change their policy, I can’t take anyone home.”
“You’d take this guy, right?”
“Of course.”
“You never did tell me how you’re able to live in such a nice apartment if you don’t work for your father. Do your books earn you a lot?”
“I make a good income from them. The apartment came from my grandparents on my eighteenth birthday. It was from my grandma on my dad’s side.”
“It was?”
She nodded. “My grandma didn’t come from money. She was a struggling waitress trying to put herself through college when my granddad broke down right outside the diner where she worked.”
“Was it love at first sight?”
“No. Not according to my grandma. She thought he was a cocky asshole who needed to be brought down a peg or two.”
“And what did he believe?”
“She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. I think if I remember the story correctly, it was actually my grandma that convinced my granddad’s parents that she wasn’t interested in the money. She fought so hard, and finally he got her to fall in love with him. They got married, and she signed a prenup to satisfy his parents. Here, be careful.” She placed the pit bull in Dom’s arms.