“Good afternoon,” the man said. “May I help you, sir?”
Instantly, John decided he was hired help. The house’s owner would’ve simply looked at him and said, “yes?”
John said, “I’m looking for Deidra Ferguson.”
“Is Ms. Ferguson expecting you?” the guy asked, but John got the feeling he knew she wasn’t.
John shook his head. “No. I gave her a ride back to the mainland from Hawaii a couple of days ago. Could you tell her I’m here? My name is John Sinclair.”
The butler, John presumed, nodded as if he knew all about Deidra’s impromptu flight back home. “Would you care to wait in the living room?”
“Sure. Thanks,” John said, stepping inside the entryway. John followed the butler across the foyer, in awe of the ornately-laid tile floor that reminded him of a southwestern-styled rug. A rugged walnut table sat on one side of the hallway. It had two large candles atop it and a matching mirror that was nearly the length of the table hanging on the wall above it. A large painting that looked like a garden patio overlooking the Mediterranean hung on the other side of the hall.
The entryway opened up into a rustic living room where the butler left John and disappeared through a doorway off to the right. John’s eyes drifted around the room. There was a huge stone fireplace on the left that reminded him a lot of the fireplace in the main living room of his family home in Nevada. There was a brown leather couch facing a wall of windows that showcased a beautiful back yard filled with a variety of flora. He took a seat in the middle of the couch. It was, he suspected, made of the finest leather money could buy.
He rubbed his palms together and realized his hands were sweating. He swabbed them over the legs of the Armani suit he was wearing.
Upon hearing voices coming from another room, one of which he recognized as Deidra’s, John stood and fiddled with his tie.
Deidra walked in wearing a colorful sleeveless blouse she’d probably gotten in Hawaii and a pair of tan shorts. John’s heart leaped into his throat. She looked good. “Hi,” was all he could say.
“Hi...” The word rolled off her tongue as she moved across the room toward him. She eyed him, waiting, as she sat down on the couch.
John returned to the couch and looked at her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. Something flashed in her eyes. For a split-second, he thought she was happy to see him, but it faded so quickly that he thought he might’ve imagined it.
“I had to come see you,” he said, then clasped his hands together. “Look, I don’t know what I did...” Well, that was not exactly accurate. John knew exactly what he’d done to bring about this rift between them. Since he’d decided to come here and pour his heart out to her, he’d better come clean. He shrugged and struggled to find the words. “My behavior at the luau was deplorable.”
She didn’t disagree. Nor did she speak. She just sat there looking at him like she whole-heartedly agreed.
John shook his head, then shrugged. “I led you to believe...hell I believed it myself...I wanted, I do want something more from you than friendship. And I’m sorry that I tried to stop you from being exactly what I wanted.”
“Let me ask you a question.” She got up and moved away from him to stand beside the wall of windows. The Pacific loomed in the distance behind the garden oasis. It was a beautiful sight—almost as beautiful as Deidra. She said, “How would Amy’s mother have felt about her getting her hair streaked?”
John chuckled. “She would’ve taken her to the salon. Her words might not have been exactly the same as yours, but the sentiment would’ve been the same...that we cannot teach our daughter to let a man control her.”
“Look, I care about Amy and Emily.” There it was again. That light in her eyes that suggested she was happy to see him. “But I’m not trying to take their mother’s place.”
“I know.” He stood and moved toward her. “But they certainly could benefit from having a mother-figure in their lives. Someone they trust. Someone they can confide in.”
“Don’t you have plenty of sisters to fill that position?” Deidra crossed her arms in front of her as he moved closer to her. If she thought that was barrier enough to keep him away, she’d better think again.
“Yes,” he said, standing a foot or two from her. He followed her gaze, unwilling to relent until he’d commandeered her attention. “But they’re particularly fond of you.”
She blushed a little.
He stepped closer, just inches away. He could smell her perfume. It reminded him of flowers, roses maybe. He breathed it in, letting it intoxicate him.
“You are not as charming as you think you are.”
“Maybe not.” He grinned. “But I’m getting to you.”
“You think so, huh?” Arms still folded in front of her, she moved back against the window, a smile tipping the corners of her mouth.
He moved closer, still stalking her gaze like a tiger stalking his prey; and she was avoiding getting caught, just like a gazelle evading the tiger. “I think that if I tried to kiss you right now, you’d let me.”
“Give it your best shot, tiger.”
John pulled her to him and kissed her long and hard and deep.
Lecie de Laurent Matthews patted her bulging tummy and smiled. “John Sinclair sounds like a dream.”
Deidra nodded. “Yes, and roughly a nine-hour drive away.”
Lecie shrugged. “Flying takes a little over an hour.”
Deidra shook her head. “I can’t fly back and forth to Reno every day.”
“So move up there for a while. Get to know him. Find out if he’s the one.”
“Move up there?” Deidra couldn’t believe Lecie was suggesting it. “But I can’t leave you now.”
“I...we...will be just fine. Nick will call you when I go into labor.” Lecie sucked in a breath. “Deidra, I don’t want you to miss out on your chance at happily-ever-after because you think you’re beholden to stick close to me.” She shook her head. “I’m always going to be here. And if you do end up staying up there, I’m going to come see you a lot. And you’re going to do the same. We will always be friends.”
CHAPTER 13
Three months later...
A MEADOW ON THE Sinclair property sloped down toward one of the larger fingers of Whisper Lake. It was one of the first places John had taken Deidra while horseback riding after she rented a house in town. Five miles, the distance from his family home to Whisper Falls, was definitely easier to travel than southern California to northern Nevada.
Today, Saturday, John and Deidra had ridden the horses up to the lake for a picnic lunch, just like he’d promised her when they were in Hawaii.
They were lounging together on a blanket not far from the shoreline. The horses had been tethered to a nearby shrub and were grazing on the meadow’s grass.
John and Deidra had been nibbling on fruits and sandwiches, and sipping wine from a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.
It was good to see him out of his suits and back into casual wear. It reminded her of Hawaii, even though his casual wear at home was Levi’s and a t-shirt. But there was something to be said for his suits, too. John wore them well. Heck, he wore anything well. And she suspected he wore nothing at all just as well.
She felt the blush rising up her neck as he raked his fingers through her hair. He said, “I’ve been thinking.”
“Yeah?” she said dreamily.
“I think you should take Amy into town to get her hair done.”
Deidra sat up and looked at him. “What?”
John nodded. “If she still wants to get her hair done...I think you should take her.”
“Really?” Deidra asked cautiously. The last time they’d talked about Amy’s hair, it hadn’t ended well. Things had been going so well, and she didn’t want to spoil it.
He nodded again. “Besides, I’m sure she’ll want it done before...” his words trailed off.
“Before what?”
John flashe
d her a smile and sat up far enough to shove his hand into the front pocket of his Levi’s. He came out with a little black-velvet box.
Deidra’s heart thudded against her chest. Could it be? No. Things like this didn’t happen to her. She sucked in a breath.
He sat up on his knees and cracked open the box. “Deidra Ferguson, I know that I may not look like the ideal knight in shining armor, because I come as a package deal.” His words painted a portrait of his fear of rejection. But his eyes sparkled with hope. “But my girls love you, and I love you.” He cracked a little smile and turned the opened jewelry box to face her. “And I would feel like the luckiest man on Earth if you would consent to be my wife and the mother of my children, including Amy and Emily.”
Deidra’s heart swelled as she looked at the ring. A single emerald-cut diamond—that had to be at least five or six carats—set in white gold sparkled against the black velvet. “Yes.” She nodded.
Her hands were shaking when he placed the ring on her finger, and she thought his might be shaking a little too.
“There,” he said. “Now I can breathe a little easier.” He laughed at himself. “And Amy and Emily are going to be thrilled.”
Deidra threw her arms around him. “I feel so lucky.”
John embraced her and began laughing cheerfully, happily. “I love you so much, Deidra.”
“I love you too.”
Their lips met, sealing his proposal and her acceptance with a kiss.
The voice of John’s sister Dana echoed through the woods beyond the meadow. “John! Deidra!”
John pulled away from Deidra, looked at her warily for a moment. “Over here!” Deidra shouted.
Dana trotted up on horseback, pulling on the reins a few feet from them. She said breathlessly, “Nick Matthews called!” —Nick had called John’s house? Of course he had. There was no cell service up here in the meadow.— “Lecie had the babies this morning. A boy and a girl.”
“Oh my God.” Deidra’s hand flew to her chest. She’d missed it. She looked at John.
He must’ve seen the uncertainty in her eyes, and said, “Go to her.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. She’s your best friend and she just gave birth. To twins!”
“I wonder when I can get a flight out?”
“As soon as we can get you to the airport. A Sinclair jet will be waiting to take you to southern California.”
Deidra hated the thought of leaving John, and just as they’d gotten engaged, but she wanted, needed, to go to her friend. And boy did she have a story to tell Lecie, she realized, gazing at the colossal diamond on her finger.
Deidra looked up at John. “Do you think I could take Amy and Emily with me? It’s summertime, so they won’t be missing any school. I’d love for them to meet Lecie and Nick and the new babies. We’ll only be gone a few days.”
John smiled and his eyes watered a touch. “I think that’s a fine idea. And you stay with Lecie as long as you feel you need to.”
John didn’t accompany Deidra and the girls to LA, only to the airport. He thought it was important to let them go alone, so Deidra would know that he trusted her with the girls, that he was willing to let her be their mother.
After seeing them off, he returned home and went to find his father, who was out on the back deck overlooking the patch of Pinion Pine at the far edge of the grass in the back yard. His father, Raymond Sr., who would turn sixty in the fall, had been spending a lot of time on the back deck lately, ever since he’d retired almost three years ago and turned the reins of Sinclair Enterprises over to John and his sister Laurie. John had often suspected his father had done it to save him (John) from drowning in a pit of despair over Jessica’s death. If that had been his father’s intent, it had been a good call, because Sinclair Enterprises had given him something to focus on, something that he could control.
John supposed that if Amy had had something to focus on, something she could control, it would’ve helped her after losing her mother. John and his daughters had survived, and now they’d found Deidra and would be a whole family again with Jessica’s blessing.
John sat down in the chair beside his father and gazed out over the yard and the pine trees in the distance. He did love this place and wouldn’t mind building a house for himself, Deidra, and the girls off to the left of the clearing.
“So,” his father spoke. “Are you going to marry the girl?”
“Yes, Father. Yes, I am.”
“I figured as much,” he said. “That’s why I asked her if she’d sign a pre-nup.” His father went silent, but John could see him turning to face him. John looked at him. His father laughed. “You know what she said? She said she’d sign one if you would.”
John chuckled. That sounded about like Deidra.
“Why in the world would she want you to sign a pre-nup?” his father asked incredulously.
“You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“Come on, Father, don’t play coy with me.” John shook his head. “I know you had her checked out.”
“I did. I just don’t have the reports back yet.”
“Well, let me clue you in.” John leaned toward him, feeling a measure of pleasure at knowing something his father didn’t, and said, “Deidra is worth about seventy-five million dollars.”
“Really?” His father’s eyes grew wide.
John shook his head. “Uh uh.” He knew that look all too well. “My fiancee’s money is her own. I will not talk her into infusing it into Sinclair Enterprises.” Besides, it wasn’t like the Sinclairs needed it. They were one of the wealthiest families in the US and Sinclair Enterprises reflected that.
“Well, it was just a thought,” Raymond Sr. said, slightly wounded.
“Sinclair isn’t hurting for cash, Dad.”
“I know, I know.” He looked at John and nodded. “But you can never have too much cash.”
“Or too many grandchildren,” John said. “Right, Dad?”
EPILOGUE
A LATE SUMMER WEDDING in northern Nevada suited Deidra Ferguson just fine—especially since John Sinclair was the one waiting for her at the altar.
A massive tent had been pitched out back between the house and the patch of Pinion Pine trees. The ceremony and the reception would take place there, and afterwards, John had promised her two weeks in Maui. He’d said their honeymoon could be any place she wanted. Maui was her first choice. She wanted to see more of Hawaii—the place that’d brought them together.
Lecie was painting Deidra’s fingernails and didn’t look up when she said, “You look so happy. John’s a keeper...not to mention a looker.” She finished her declaration with a delightful giggle.
“I did do well, didn’t I?” Deidra nodded and grinned.
Lecie paused to look up at Deidra, and said, “Exceedingly. Your mom and dad would’ve been so thrilled to see you this happy. I’m sure they’re smiling down on you right now.” She smiled thoughtfully, then she went back to painting Deidra’s nails.
A soft knock echoed through the door, then it opened enough for Laurie, John’s older sister, to peek in. “Sorry to bug you, but I’ve got a note for you from John.”
Deidra’s heart skipped a beat. “I hope it’s a good note,” she said, waving Laurie inside.
“Oh, I’m sure it is,” she said, approaching Deidra and offering her the petite envelope. Her eyes bounced between Deidra’s hands, one of which had wet nail polish. “Do you want me to take the note out of the envelope for you?”
“That’d be great, thanks.” Deidra tried to conquer the fear smoldering inside her that this might not be the lovers’ note Laurie believed it was.
Laurie slipped the note from the envelope and opened it, but made it a point not to look at it as she handed it to Deidra with a grin.
Deidra held her breath as she looked at John’s handwriting.
Hurry up! I can hardly wait to call you my wife!
* Thank you for reading The
Marriage Promise. I hope you enjoyed the book. Look for more books in the Billionaire Games series, featuring the Sinclair siblings beginning next year. I can’t begin to tell you how important reviews are, so if you enjoyed The Marriage Promise, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave a review at Amazon.
Want to win a brand new KINDLE FIRE? Just sign up for my VIP List and you’ll be automatically entered into the giveaway. I give a new Kindle Fire to one member from my list every month. bit.ly/VK71FP *
Books by Sandra Edwards
Crazy For You
Sara’s Song (A Crazy For You Novella)
Incredible Dreams
Secondary Targets
Forgotten Soul (Soul Searchers: Book 1)
Vegas, Baby (Soul Searchers: Book 2)
Staked (Time Brokers: Book 1)
Saving Katya
The Memory Bouquet (A Prequel to The Lonely Hearts Club)
Trading Up
California Girl (West Coast Girlz: Book 1)
Glamour Girl (West Coast Girlz: Book 2)
Party Girl (West Coast Girlz: Book 3)
The Marriage Bargain (Billionaire Games: Book 1)
The Marriage Caper (Billionaire Games: Book 2)
The Marriage Fix (Billionaire Games: Book 3)
The Marriage Promise (Billionaire Games: Book 4)
Summer Breeze
Second Chance Bride (Sapphire Bay: Book 1)
Coming Soon
Christmas Bride (Sapphire Bay: Book 2)
The Lonely Hearts Club
About the Author
NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY Bestselling Author Sandra Edwards writes award-winning romance in a variety of subgenres such as paranormal (mostly time travel and reincarnation), contemporary, and suspense. She lives in the U.S. (west coast) with her husband, two kids, four dogs and one very temperamental feline. Sandra’s books often push the envelope and step outside the boundaries of conventional romance. For more info on Sandra’s books, visit her website at SandraWrites.com.
Sandra’s on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SandraEdwards.Author.
The Marriage Promise (Billionaire Games Book 4) Page 10