by Eden Proctor
“Nate, let’s level with each other,” she said.
Her entire demeanor changed.
The demure, yet aggressive Dahlia was gone, and in her place was a cool, calculating operator. For a moment Nate had a sinking feeling that maybe Gordon had been right. If he had had any level of discernment, paid any attention at all, he wouldn’t have gotten within five feet of Dahlia.
He’d never tell the old man that, but this was one lesson he was going to take with him forever.
“Say what you need to, Dahlia,” he said. There’d be no changing his mind, but he got the impression that Dahlia wouldn’t leave, and he wanted her gone.
“You’re hot, and rich,” she said.
“And it’s the rich part that matters, right?” Nate said.
Dahlia shrugged. “Hot doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t pay the bills either,” she replied.
Nate knew that was the most honest thing she had ever said to him. He didn’t say that though, and instead, waited.
“You have a problem, and I can be the solution. I know you don’t think so, but I can be your was blushing bride. Get the old man off your back. Or wait him out,” she added.
Nate was close to seeing red.
“Dahlia, get the fuck out of here,” he said.
The last of his patience was gone and he didn’t want to see her face anymore. She made no move to leave, though, and instead came deeper into the office.
“What?” she asked, blinking innocently. “I’m just saying what you’re thinking. You want to trick the old man, and I’m the one who can help you with that. I never thought you were sentimental.”
“Dahlia…”
At the warning edge in his tone she paused, looked concerned. But she pushed past it quickly and continued on. “It’s ideal, Nate. It would be clean, and you and I would do a lot of good for each other, and—”
“What don’t you understand about get the fuck out?”
At the sound of the new voice, Nate looked toward his door, almost cheered when he saw Mindy standing there. He didn’t need her to rescue him, but it was a relief to see her nonetheless. Later, he’d try to puzzle out why, after less than ten minutes, he had already started to miss her. But, first, he had other problems to deal with.
Dahlia whirled to face Mindy, gave her an icy stare. “Nate’s busy right now.”
She spoke in a tone that was simultaneously condescending and dismissive, one that threatened retribution if she wasn’t obeyed.
Mindy ignored her completely. “Yes he is, or he will be as soon as you leave,” Mindy said.
The two women glared at each other, and Nate couldn’t help but watch, fascinated. He had no idea what was happening, but Mindy looked as dedicated as he had ever seen her, and he knew she didn’t let things go.
It seemed that Dahlia was digging in her heels as well.
“You’re her. From last night,” Dahlia said.
“Do I need to call security?” Mindy asked.
“You are her. And you’re way out of line. I could have you fired, you know?” Dahlia said.
Mindy looked at her like she had two heads and then began to laugh. “I’d like to see you try.”
Dahlia’s expression turned angry, and Nate could see her face begin to turn a deep red. “I don’t have to try. I’m going to be Mrs. Eaton. You think you want to test that?”
Mindy went quiet, her face twisted in confusion. “You think you’re going to be Mrs. Eaton?” she asked.
Dahlia paused for a moment, her face one of triumph. She clearly thought she had Mindy on the ropes, but Nate knew that wasn’t the case. Still, he watched as Dahlia practically preened, taking the advantage she thought she had.
“Yes,” she finally said.
Mindy didn’t respond, but instead walked past her and stopped next to Nate.
She looked up at him, confused. “Nate, she thinks she’s going to marry you,” Mindy said, her voice bubbling with amusement.
“She’s mistaken,” Nate said.
Mindy smiled brighter, and for a moment he lost himself in that expression. He pulled himself back and then looked at Dahlia. She frowned, whether at his response or how close Mindy stood to him, he wasn’t sure.
“What’s the meaning of this, Nate?” Dahlia asked.
Mindy shifted, putting her body partially between Nate and Dahlia.
It was a sweetly protective gesture, and though it was completely unnecessary, Nate was heartened by it. He could seldom recall a time when someone had sought to protect him, but it seemed Mindy was doing so now. He found he liked that.
“I don’t know where your confusion is, Dahlia,” Mindy said, spitting the word like it was vile. “And I don’t know what you think you heard. But whatever it was, forget it.”
Dahlia smiled, looked at Mindy with something like sympathy. “You don’t know what you’re getting into here, sweetie,” she said.
She was taking a different tact now, one where she was presenting herself as friendly, her tone saying that she was only looking out for Mindy’s best interests. She had turned on a dime, and if Nate hadn’t been so horrified, he might have been impressed.
“And what, exactly, am I getting myself into?” Mindy said. Without looking away from Dahlia, she reached for Nate’s hand, and twined her fingers with his.
The feel of her small, soft hand in his was a shock, but one that soon wore off and left in its place a warm welcome feeling of rightness.
“I know exactly what I’m getting myself into. There must’ve been some miscommunication because Nate proposed to me last night and I accepted,” Mindy said.
The look of shock on Dahlia’s face was nothing compared to what he felt.
He looked down at Mindy, but she was still glaring at Dahlia and holding his hand tight.
Everything in her stance dared someone to contradict her, and Nate knew he wouldn’t be the one.
He looked back to Dahlia, saw that she was quickly recovering.
“Nate,” she screeched, looking at him. “Tell her she’s crazy, that we have an understanding.”
In the next instant, Mindy squeezed his hand a little tighter, and on instinct Nate squeezed back.
“You heard her. Now get out,” he said.
Nate thought Dahlia would scream at him, but after a moment, she scowled at both of them and strode out without another word.
When she was gone, Nate was too shocked to do anything, including untangle his hand from Mindy’s.
And, to his surprise he didn’t want to.
It was nice to touch her, and even more, it felt good to have her stick up for him.
Mindy didn’t seem inclined to let his hand go either, so they stood there for a moment. Nate’s heart was racing, and when he looked down at Mindy, he saw that she appeared shocked.
He let her hand go, but on instinct he reached up, brushed the hair from her shoulder, letting his fingers linger against her jaw.
“If you’re my fiancée, you should be far more excited.”
She glanced at him, then looked back toward the door before she looked at him again. She gave him a tentative smile, and he could see the beginning of embarrassment on her face. “Sorry… I…”
She paused, swallowed, then looked at him again. “I’m not sure what came over me,” she said.
He laughed. “It’s okay to be territorial. You just got engaged, after all,” he said.
“Is there news you’d like to share?”
Nate’s stomach dropped, and he turned to look toward his office door.
Chapter 11
Mindy had been so busy staring at Nate and wondering what the hell had come over her that it took her a moment to respond to the sound of the new voice.
But when she did, she looked toward the door, saw that the inkling of fear that had creeped down her spine had been warranted. Nate’s grandfather was standing in the doorway, looking between the two of them, a curious expression on his face.
Mindy could only imagine the pictu
re they presented. Nate’s hand resting on her shoulder, his fingers grazing her neck. And she was standing far closer to him than she ever had before.
And, if the heat that burned her face was any indication, she was blushing. She knew it was from anger, that same emotion that had driven her to interfere in the first place, but would Gordon? It was just as likely he would think it was something else, happiness at Nate’s pronouncement.
“Grandfather, it’s nothing. Mindy and I were just talking,” Nate said.
As if to emphasize his point, he took a step back, and though she was both nervous and still coming down from the high rush of her anger, she found that she missed his closeness. Her skin still tingled where he had touched her, but she tried to ignore that, and instead looked at Nate’s grandfather.
The man looked utterly unconvinced, and unfortunately he was staring directly at her. “Nothing?”
He hadn’t addressed the question at either of them specifically, but Mindy could still feel his gaze on her. She said nothing, though, knowing that she had done enough.
“Yes, nothing,” Nate said. “Mindy and I were just talking.”
“Really?” Gordon asked.
Nate nodded.
“I’m old, but I still have complete control of my faculties. And if I’m not mistaken, and I’m not,” he added, “I heard you say that Mindy wasn’t acting like she just got engaged.”
Mindy looked at Nate, saw that on the surface he appeared smooth, but she could see he was beginning to fray. But he soldiered on. “Yeah, but I didn’t mean anything. You had to be there, Grandfather,” Nate said.
“Why don’t you explain that to me?” Gordon asked.
Mindy knew how this would end up.
Nate had learned his tenacity from his grandfather, and the man absolutely wouldn’t relent until he got an explanation that he found satisfactory. She had marveled at that tenacity, but had never been the subject of it. She knew she was tough, but didn’t know how she would stand up to his interrogation. And there was something more to consider. Nate had a lot on the line, and she didn’t want to be the cause of a rift with his grandfather.
She cared too much for both of them to allow that to happen.
She looked at Nate, saw that he was fraying even more. And then she looked at Gordon, who had his brows drooping low, his face telling her that he was going to press.
“We got engaged,” she said quickly.
“What?”
Both men spoke simultaneously, and then simultaneously went quiet. Mindy instantly regretted speaking, because both of them were focused on her.
She took a deep breath, and consciously ignored Nate. Some part of her mind marveled that it had come to this, and she wanted to kick herself for following Dahlia and eavesdropping. There’d be time for that later, but now she had made a mess and she was going to clean it up.
She looked at Nate’s grandfather. “Nate told me about the change you made to your will,” she said.
The old man’s brows dropped lower and he tilted his head. “He did?”
She nodded. “I don’t agree with what you did,” she said.
“I didn’t know you needed to,” he replied.
She knew she was treading on dangerous ground, but she had always been honest with him and wanted to do that to the furthest extent possible now. “I don’t. But you know how much Nate cares about the business. And you,” she said.
“Mindy, you don’t need to do this,” Nate interjected.
“I know, but I want to,” she said. She refocused on Gordon. “He told me about the change, and one thing lead to another,” she said.
“So you’re going to marry my grandson?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Is he paying you off?” Gordon said.
“I’m offended you’d even ask that,” she said.
And she was, and from the look of regret that crossed his grandfather’s face, he was sorry for what he had said.
“Forgive me for questioning your integrity, Mindy. I would never do that, but consider it from my perspective,” he said.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Nate asked.
“This? No. I thought you would pick someone else,” he said.
The words were like a stab to her chest and Mindy went quiet. A second later, though, she looked toward Nate, who had stepped closer to her again and now held her hand.
“What is that supposed to mean, Grandfather?”
“I mean… I had thought…” She had rarely heard Gordon stammer, but he was doing so now.
She looked at Nate, who now scowled. “Grandfather, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
“That might be for the best,” he replied, frowning. “So you’re engaged to Mindy?”
Nate didn’t say anything, and Mindy, who had looked down to the floor, lifted her eyes. First she looked at Nate. His eyes were dark, and she couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking. Some part of her worried that he would stop her, that he didn’t want her to save him, but she ignored that. Then she looked at Gordon.
“Yes,” she said.
It was only after she spoke the word that she realized she was squeezing Nate’s hand. She hadn’t intended to do this, didn’t know what had driven her at all, but when she looked at Nate’s grandfather, she knew that she couldn’t take the word back.
For better or worse she was engaged to Nate, and soon enough, she would marry him.
The only question was whether her heart would make it out intact.
Chapter 12
When Mindy looked in the mirror she had to keep herself from pinching her arm. The knee-length off-white satin dress fit her perfectly. So perfectly that she was surprised she had managed to find it on a rack.
She’d pulled her hair back into a tight bun and put on the small diamond studs that her grandmother had given her when she graduated from college. The stones were so tiny that you could barely see them, but Mindy treasured them and only pulled them out for special occasions.
She supposed her wedding qualified, but in that moment she felt a deep sense of confusion. She had lost sight of what this was, and more importantly, what it wasn’t. It was simple expedience and her comeuppance for sticking her foot in her mouth.
Even now, more than two weeks after that fateful day, when she thought back to that moment in Nate’s office, she still couldn’t say what had driven her to speak. But whatever it had been, she couldn’t undo it now, which was why she was preparing for her wedding.
It was a sham, meant nothing really, but she couldn’t help but be excited at the thought of what was going to happen, so she gave herself permission to pretend, at least for this next little while.
There was a knock at the door. “Mindy, you ready?” At the sound of Nate’s voice, her stomach pooled with warmth.
“Yeah,” she said.
She smoothed her dress down, and then, after a deep breath opened the door.
And froze on the spot.
Nate was devastatingly handsome in his black suit. His shirt was open at the neck, but he still looked put together. Perfect. They’d opted for something small, casual, and his outfit was exactly that, formal but not too stiff.
“You look amazing,” he said. As he looked at her she saw the smile in his eyes, the one that curved his lips.
“You look all right, too,” she replied softly.
He chuckled lightly, then lifted his arm, offering it to her. “Guess we should get started. They’re getting restless out there.”
Mindy laughed, and then tucked her hand in the crook of Nate’s elbow.
He had rented a small local art gallery for the occasion, so they walked through the back storage area and out onto the main gallery floor. The space had been sparsely but tastefully decorated with a few tables and chairs, and Mindy had selected a few pieces of artwork to add color. The whole space had a classy but understated appearance.
Exactly what Mindy would have wanted for her own wedding. Her real wedding.
<
br /> She looked over at Nate. “It’s pretty nice,” she said.
“Yes, I like it,” he replied.
Then he looked off in the distance, nodding at some of his acquaintances. Other than selecting the art, Mindy hadn’t had anything to do with the plans, but she was still impressed by what Nate had pulled together, and so quickly. In addition to the art and tables, there was a string quartet and in one corner, a discreetly placed bar and buffet.
It really was perfect.
Her stomach dropped and she felt the frown beginning to turn her face.
“You okay, Mindy?”
She looked over at Nate, saw the alarm in his expression, and quickly tried to lift her own.
“Fine. Fine. I just…” She trailed off, not sure how to express what she was thinking.
He smiled at her, nodded. “Yeah. It’s pretty intense.”
“You have no idea,” she muttered. Then she shook her head. “But that doesn’t matter now. Let’s just do this.”
He frowned slightly, but then nodded.
“Here comes Grandfather,” he said, looking over her shoulder.
Mindy shifted, looked at Gordon approaching. She couldn’t quite read his expression from this distance and his approach didn’t make it any better. The old man had shut down completely, and Mindy had no clue as to what he thought, or whether he was still buying this. She’d been sure he would call Nate’s bluff, but so far, he’d said nothing.
“Mindy, darling, you look lovely,” he said. He kissed her on both cheeks and then smiled at her indulgently. “Forgive the informality. But we’re to be family, so it seems like more than a handshake was in order.”
Mindy smiled, nodded. “Thank you,” she said, still somewhat taken aback by his warm greeting.
“It’s quite irregular for you to see each other before the ceremony,” he said.
“Come on, Grandfather. Don’t be so old-fashioned,” Nate said.
“Obviously not. You’re having your wedding in an art gallery, and I didn’t say a word,” he said.
The displeased expression that crossed his face when he uttered the words “art gallery” made Mindy laugh. She quickly recovered and looked at Nate’s grandfather apologetically, though she didn’t take the smile off her face.