“Last few years...” added Trudy matter-of-factly.
Clarice ignored her. “But you’re all right, I do need to crack out of this shell I’ve been in. I’m trying to do that, that’s all. I know it’s not the way you intended, but can you at least trust me enough to let me try this if I decide it’s what I want?”
The girls exchanged looks with each other, Sophie finally pulling her gaze away from the ring.
“Are you really going to do it?” she whispered with bright eyes.
“I’m not really sure,” said Clarice. “I have to decide by tomorrow and I just need to know you guys will back me up no matter what happens.”
“Of course we will,” said Trudy with no hesitation. “That was never in question, hun. Backing you up is exactly why we’re here.”
“Do you know what helps you make big decisions? More goddamn alcohol,” said Liz, as she stood halfway up from her chair to wave over the waiter.
Clarice laughed. “Don’t mention that to Harrison, he would not be amused.”
9
Harrison
Harrison slept fitfully and only for a few quiet hours in the deep night. After he and Clarice parted on the beach, he returned to his office in a hurried haze to try and gather more back-up names for his plan. Inside, he had a dreadful feeling of doom that warned him Clarice wouldn’t be coming through for him, and he wasn’t the kind of man not to have a plan B.
He stumbled back to his penthouse at one in the morning and tried to sleep, but it was nearly useless. He gave up around five-thirty and instead showered, shaved, and got ready for his day. His father would be arriving in the early to late afternoon sometime, and no matter what Clarice said, Harrison would have to face him. He just wished he knew what would happen when he finally did.
He had no texts or messages waiting when he woke up, and anxiety shot through his veins at the sight of the empty phone screen. He left his suite and headed down for the lobby to do a check-in on the night staff, but more because he was desperate to see if she had left a message for him there. Of course she hadn’t.
Harrison’s nerves were alight. He desperately needed to hear from Clarice or he would be swinging in the wind when his father arrived. He and Bruce had arranged a bit of a back-up plan, as well, but it was nothing more than pure desperation — something Bruce had called a “Hail Mary” — and it involved a lot of bullshit excuses about why Harrison’s fiancée was absent despite his earlier assurances she was on the island. He might be able to pull it off, but he was fairly certain his father would see right through it.
The elder Moore would be instantly suspicious after a long history of Harrison trying to wiggle around the strict expectations of his upper crust upbringing. That wasn’t even considering the inherent intelligence in a man like George Moore, titan of industry. He wouldn’t need to call Harrison a liar to his face to still know something was amiss, and that was all it would take for him to decide his son was really just trying to con him. Yet despite what he had told Clarice, if his father really did feel like Harrison was trying to con him, his eventual inheritance could actually be in jeopardy.
Clarice was his only real hope, and she was a complete stranger with no reason to help him at all. His heart was pounding as he realized that this might be one of the stupidest things he’d ever done, and the competition for that honor was fairly lengthy.
It was still early, but Harrison’s nerves were so ragged that all he could think about was having a shot or two to take the edge off. Before he could round the corner from the lobby to head down to the Neptune Bar, he heard the sound of the lifts arriving on the floor, and instinctively glanced over to see who was coming downstairs.
The doors split open to reveal Clarice, fresh-faced, beautiful, and smiling. She wore a white dress that made her look purely angelic. Her black hair shone in the morning sunlight, soft and just a bit wavy from the heavy humid Balinese air.
“Clarice,” he said with a breath. He headed towards her as she exited the lift.
“Hi, Harrison,” she said. “Sorry, I feel like an idiot, but I lost your stupid business card. I was coming down to find you.”
Relief washed over his muscles. “You were? With good news, I hope?”
She held up her left hand with an awkward but charming smile. The ring gleamed on her delicate finger, a nearly perfect fit. “At least the girls can’t tell me I didn’t try something new and adventurous on the trip this way,” she said. “And I don’t know why I would turn down a shower of luxury. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m in.”
Harrison smiled. “Clarice, you are a fucking lifesaver! Thank you!” Without thinking, Harrison scooped her petite form up in his arms and swung her around off her feet as she squealed and held onto his muscles. Harrison couldn’t help himself; he leaned down and kissed her full lips in a passionate but closed-mouth motion.
Clarice turned red, her eyes wide when he pulled away from her.
“I’m… sorry,” said Harrison, setting her down and running a hand through his hair. He gave an awkward laugh and felt his own cheeks warming. “I’m just so relieved, is all.”
“Well, we’re going to have to do more of that anyway to pull this off, right?” she shrugged. The way her face was glowing told Harrison she didn’t mind that part of the deal one bit.
And neither did he. Not at all.
10
Clarice
“Ho…ly….shit….”
Clarice couldn’t stop herself. She stood in the doorway of the suite that was three times the size of the one she had already been staying in. A private bedroom with its own patio branched off to one side, connected to a massive bathroom with both a claw-foot tub, and an enormous glass-encased shower. The living room was fully furnished and full of lavish, cream-colored fabrics with baby blue accents. Fresh flowers had been placed in vases throughout the room. The place was basically an apartment on the beach that happened to be connected to the resort, and it was by far the most lavish place Clarice had ever stayed.
Once she had accepted his offer, Harrison had a whole list of things she needed to do to get ready for the impending arrival of her pretend father-in-law. First and foremost was upgrading her room to a bigger suite—a shared suite, something fitting for their status as a couple. Clarice had thought it was a silly detail, but she didn’t feel like arguing that point anymore, not once she saw the room.
“This is like a one-percenter’s wet dream,” she said to herself as she maneuvered around, smelling the fresh flowers and peeking into closet doors. The bellhops had already moved her luggage and re-hung her delicate clothes in the huge bedroom closet.
As she wondered whether or not she should bother unpacking, Harrison arrived, looking fresh-faced and positively sunny. He made a happy noise and blew her a kiss with both hands when he came into the bedroom to find her rummaging through her luggage.
“Hello, darling,” he said. “Is the room alright?”
“You can’t seriously be asking that question,” laughed Clarice. “I can’t imagine this place has a nicer suite than this.”
“We do, but that’s the one father will be staying in.”
“Oh, well, naturally.” She made a glance behind her, towards the king-sized four poster bed draped with silky purple fabrics. “I hope you don’t think sharing this bed is automatically part of the bargain.”
Clarice had a feeling he had practiced looking not disappointed in the mirror a few times before he got here, because there was something rehearsed about the way he threw his hands up. “Oh, give me a little credit. I hope you really don’t find me so ungentlemanly, of course not. The couches in these suites are almost as comfortable as the bed, and if I get really desperate, I’m sure I can sneak back out to my actual room for a quick nod.”
She made a noise like she disbelieved him, and he playfully glared back at her.
“Unless you want me to stay in the bed with you,” said Harrison, putting his hands on his hips. “Which it seems like you d
o, quite frankly, since you’re the one who brought it up. If you want me to, I can definitely make arrangements for that. I’m a bit of a sleep-talker, though.”
Clarice made a shocked noise and let out a harsh laugh. “Oh, you wish! I’m not about this random, casual sex place, remember? That’s the whole reason you hired me to pull off this crazy idea?”
“But we’re engaged, so it wouldn’t technically be casual sex with a stranger…” He took a few sly steps forward.
“Harrison.” Even as she rebuffed him, Clarice could feel heat between her legs begging her to take his offer. She tried to fight it down before he could see it on her face.
“Right, right,” he acquiesced with a laugh and checked the enormous gold watch on his wrist. “I have a few more things I need to attend to before they arrive. I also have something I need you to do.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
From his jacket pocket he pulled out a small unmarked envelope and handed it to her. “Here are the details of your mission, Agent Bond.”
“If one of us is Bond, I’m pretty sure it’s you.” Clarice giggled and took it from him. “Is this your life story?”
“More or less. The highlights. Things you’ll need to know to pull this off.”
“I didn’t make you a dossier on me.”
“Maybe you could?” he said. “It would certainly help. And the other thing I need you to do is get down to the boutiques and get some shopping done.”
“Uh, what?” she said. “Are you serious?”
“Quite,” he said. “I need you to look the part, darling. It’s not an insult to your current wardrobe, of course. You are a vision. But my mother would take me over her knee again if she thought I wasn’t drowning my future wife in the finest jewelry and clothing available. Go fill out your wardrobe for the week and tell the staff to charge it to my account.”
“That sounds like a legit story,” said Clarice. She pretended to be talking to a shop-girl. “Oh, yes, that’s what I said, charge all of this to the owner of the resort, he totally said I could do it!”
“I like the way you think ahead. It’s one of the things I’m good at, too.”
“Are you sure? Because I don’t think we’d be here making this deal if you were.”
Harrison playfully glared at her. “You’ve got quite a tongue on you, haven’t you?”
Clarice gave him a saucy grin. “What can I say? You seem to bring it out in me.”
His gaze turned to something more admiring and a little bit lustful. “I’ve already phoned ahead and told the shops to expect you, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“If I do, can I throw a fit like a pampered housewife and demand that they get my future husband, the owner, down here this instant?”
Harrison laughed. “By all means, the more obnoxious the better. You’ll fit right into my mother’s social circle.”
“Yeesh, maybe I don’t want to do this.”
Harrison wrapped his arms around her in a sweet, innocent embrace. “There’s no turning back now, darling. You made a solemn pretend commitment to me to be my faux wife.” He took her hands in his with a straight face as Clarice tried her best not to bust up laughing at him. “You can’t get imaginary cold feet, not now.”
“As long as it’s not pretend money in my bank account when all this is said and done,” she winked.
“If it is, then my father has much bigger problems than my marital status.” Harrison gave her hands a squeeze before he dropped them. “I’ve got some business to attend to before he arrives, but do give me a ring if anything comes up. I’ll contact you as soon as his plane touches down and let you know when we’ll be meeting.”
“Knock, knock,” Trudy’s voice rang through the main suite, followed by an impressive whistle. “Jesus Christ, please tell me this is the wrong room.”
“In here, Trude!” called Clarice. Seconds later, her best friend popped into the bedroom with wide eyes and an approving smile.
“This place is incredible,” she said, whirling around. Her pretty pink sundress twirled around her tan legs as she did. “I am jealous.”
“Only the best for my pretend girl,” said Harrison. Then he turned to Trudy with a frown. “Wait, you are aware of what’s happening, aren’t you? Or is that what you call a spoiler alert?”
“We got the Cliffs Notes last night after your surprise proposal, although I plan on extracting as many more missing details as possible, and I’m prepared to use any means necessary,” said Trudy with a playful glare leveled at Clarice. “But I do approve of you spoiling my girl here, for any reason. She needs it more than anyone I know.”
Clarice huffed. “Gee, thanks, you make me sound delightful.”
“Personally, I think all women need more spoiling,” said Harrison, placing a gentle hand on each of the women’s arms. “In fact, Trudy, you help yourself to whatever you’d like at the boutiques as well. Put it on my tab. I’d be happy to spoil Clarice’s friends.”
Trudy’s mouth dropped open. “You are truly going to regret that.”
Harrison laughed. “I doubt that very much. Now, I must be off.” He turned to leave the room, but then stopped and came back to Clarice. He leaned down to give a small peck on her cheek.
She turned red and felt her chest tighten up, but when she looked up at him with questioning eyes, he just said, “Practice makes perfect, right?”
Clarice nodded, fighting a grin. “Right, of course. We’ll see you in a couple hours.”
Harrison winked and gave Trudy a nod before disappearing out of the suite.
“That man is dangerously charming.” Trudy turned back to Clarice with a loving yet judgmental look, shaking her head slowly. “Girl, I still don’t get how all of this happened.”
“I already told you guys last night, there really isn’t much else to it,” protested Clarice, trying very hard to make it sound like less of a big deal than it was. She was still feeling less than stable about this whole adventure, which she tried to convince herself was half the point. She was worried her sensible, protective best friend would still try and talk her out of it just when she was getting the fires back in her engines.
“I still find this whole thing so hard to believe since it came out of nowhere,” said Trudy, throwing her big designer purse onto the plush bed and then following it with her body. “This guy seriously just… asked you to be his pretend wife? What the hell kind of twilight zone did we land in?”
“You’re the one that dragged us here, I take zero responsibility for any zones or twilights,” said Clarice with her hands on her hips. “Like I said, I met him yesterday when he helped me back to the elevators, and the next time I spoke to him was when he pulled me away from dinner last night. He asked me to pretend marry him last night, and I agreed to do it this morning.”
“How… romantic?” said Trudy with a laugh.
Clarice gave a sarcastic, dramatic sigh. “Yeah, I know, isn’t he great?”
“This is all really goddamn weird, hun,” said Trudy with a serious voice. “It’s not exactly your style lately to just run off with strange British men and their needlessly complicated life schemes. Harrison seems like exactly the type of fuckboy we’ve always hated and avoided — or is that just me?”
A bit of shame bubbled up in Clarice’s gut, and she admitted, “Yes, I know and I see what he is, that’s why this is all just a business arrangement. I’m not actually dating or marrying him after all. I’m just getting paid to pretend I’m a princess for a week. Clearly he’s a guy who loves his job, and his job is being king of a sex resort, so… I’m not letting myself get hurt, Trude. Promise. Anyway, you all told me to come here and have an adventure. Like I said last night, I’m not into the random hookups, so this is my adventure.”
Instead of the berating she was expecting, Trudy tilted her head and gave Clarice a sly smile. “Some serious pride welling up in me to hear you talk like that, girl. I’m finally seeing shades of the old Clarice who used to hop
the fence at Coachella and flirt her way out of trouble with the security guards. I like it when you’re all fired up. You always end up landing miles ahead from where you were before in life.”
She let out a small laugh at that memory. “That’s exactly what makes me want to do this, Trude,” admitted Clarice. She sat on the bed next to her best friend with a huff. “I know it seems ridiculous to be a part of this scheme, trust me. When he first offered it to me, I wasn’t jumping on board right away. He sort of talked me into it.”
“With his dick, right?”
“No!” said Clarice with a laugh. “No, we’re not banging.”
“Yet,” said Trudy.
“It’s not like that!”
“I give you two days.”
“Anyway,” said Clarice with an eye roll. “He talked me into it with promises of luxury, I’m not too proud to admit. I wasn’t feeling totally great about this hedonistic party stuff anyway, so now I have something different to do… and something that’s going to make me richer. Plus, it will be a fun challenge to see if I can pull it off, and if I don’t, who cares? I’ll just never go to England for any reason, I guess, so as to not run into his parents afterwards.”
“Give me a break,” said Trudy. “I know you, girl, and I know you don’t give a flying fuck about being rich. What’s the real reason you’re giving into these shenanigans? And don’t try to bullshit me again.”
Clarice sighed and stared at her friend. She should have known better than to try and pull one over on Trudy in the first place. They knew each other too damn well. “The truth is, Trude, I haven’t felt like myself — my whole self — since Tanner left me. It’s like he took some part of me with him, the part that was brave and tried new crazy things and only wanted to be happy and active. I know it sounds silly to suggest he could have done something that damaging to me just by leaving me, but… he really did. And honestly, I’m terrified he took it for good… that I lost that part of me forever… I have to see if it’s true. I have to know if it’s still in me or if I’m stuck being afraid of living for the rest of my life.”
PRIDE: A Bad Boy and Amish Girl Romance (The Brody Bunch#1) Page 42