Alarm shocked through her. “How’d you get a key to my room?”
He winked. “Connections, my dear. The room is being paid for by Foster and Jones. I have every right to have a key to make sure our interests are protected.”
Fine. She’d just move into a cheap rat motel, one she could afford. She’d prefer that over having to worry about someone slipping into her room at any hour. Did Will have a key, too?
Probably.
Oh, that man was in so much trouble.
She grabbed the card from his hand and marched back to her room. She turned to hand the key back to him, but he pushed her into the room and let the door close behind them.
She swung around, fists clenched, ready to swing. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
He turned and put his eye to the peephole. “The elevator was opening. I didn’t want anyone to see us and get the wrong idea.”
Hanna tightened the robe around her. “And barging into my hotel room helped how?”
Ignoring her, he glanced around and nodded toward her suitcase. “Get dressed. You can leave first, and I’ll follow in a few minutes after you’re gone. If it was someone who mattered, they’ll follow you and won’t even know I was here.”
The man must think she was completely naive. Just because she knew Jesus, didn’t make her stupid. In fact, she’d argue that it should give her a boost up in the intelligence department, but given her current situation, that probably wasn’t a great debate to start. “There is no way I’m getting dressed with you in here. Get out. Now.” She marched to the door to open it, not caring about the consequences.
Doug stepped in her way. “It’s called a bathroom, Hanna. With a lock. I’m not looking to ravage you. I have plenty of women who are willing, including my own wife. I don’t need to force myself on one. And I’m looking to help save our company, not add to the scandal. Despite what William might have told you, our goal is one in the same.”
He had a point. His job was on the line, too, if he got caught up in this.
And she’d googled Foster and Jones last night. She hadn’t realized all the details behind William’s original promotion. He’d gotten the job at the shock of pretty much everyone in the business community after the previous CEO, Greg, was ousted by the board due to some accounting irregularities that pointed straight to him.
She had to wonder how that sat with Doug since articles leading up to the announcement had noted Doug was the presumed replacement.
Regardless, the CFO obviously needed to steer clear of all this if he wanted to save his own hide.
The knowledge made her feel a little better. “Fine. But I’m keeping the spare key, and you will not come here again for any reason.” She grabbed her hefty suitcase and headed for the bathroom. No way would she pull out clean underwear in front of him. Before she closed the bathroom door, she turned. “Speaking of. Why did you come up here in the first place?”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Will mentioned he’d been busy and hadn’t been able to see you, and I wanted to check on things. Make sure our get-out-of-jail-free card hadn’t gone all crazy on us, sitting up here by herself.”
Something smelled fishy, but Hanna ignored the stench and shut the door. Dressing in record time, she slapped some water on her face, put on a pair of earrings so she didn’t look too drab, and glided some gloss on her lips.
She brushed her rod-straight blond hair and fastened the top portion of it into a large barrette to keep it out of her face.
The proper look of the style made her seem…professional.
Yup. She was a corporate beauty queen in the making. Ha.
As she turned to open the door, her phone, which she’d set on the counter, vibrated. She looked at it and saw a text from Will.
HOW’S IT GOING, FIANCÉE?
If he only knew. JUST PEACHY. I HAVE A MAN IN MY ROOM.
The moment she hit SEND, she regretted it. He’d think she was joking, but should she tell him the truth?
UM, SHOULD I BE WORRIED…OR COME AND RESCUE YOU?
Hanna put the lid down on the toilet and sat. YES. LONG STORY. DOUG IS HERE. NOT MY CHOICE OR FAULT. DON’T CALL THO, HE’LL HEAR ME TALK.
It only took two seconds for the reply to come. ON MY WAY.
That’s what she was afraid of. NO. THAT’D MAKE IT WORSE. I HAVE IT HANDLED. WILL TELL U MORE 2NIGHT.
U SURE?
The man obviously thought she couldn’t handle problems on her own. Mr. Fix-it assumed he was the only one who could solve problems. YES. DON’T WORRY. GOTTA GO.
Opening the door, she bit her lip to control her temper and not throw the shoe that lay on the floor directly at the man of her recent nightmares.
Doug sat propped up on her bed, feet crossed, watching TV. He clicked it off and smiled. “Ready, princess?”
Her fingers itched for the shoe. “I am not a princess, and get off my bed.”
He complied. “Now, I’ll stand out of sight as you leave and will follow in about ten minutes. You have plans for today?”
Her stomach churned at the thought of him in her hotel room for even a minute by himself, much less ten. But she had no other choice. She grabbed her hotel card and purse. “Sightseeing, if you must know. And maybe a little shopping.”
“Good, you need to spruce up that wardrobe of yours. You look like a little country bumpkin.”
Her modest, purple cotton shirt and jeans looked fine to her. “My goal isn’t to revolutionize the fashion world. And besides, I’d rather look like a country mouse than an uptight, overstarched shirt.”
With that, she flung open the door and let it shut behind her.
Thankfully, the hallway and elevator foyer were clear.
On the way down to the first floor she fingered the purple shirt she and Carly had gushed over at Target just weeks before. She’d actually picked it because it was the most fashionable item of clothing she owned.
In Embarrass, she wasn’t judged by her clothing. More than likely, she’d be laughed at if she was all high-and-mighty. She’d already donated the flashy clothes she’d gotten to wear when she was on The Price of Love. She was ashamed to admit it, but they all showed too much cleavage or clung too tight to her body than she’d ever been comfortable with. Yet, on the show, she’d felt—sexy. For the first time in her life. To see men, Will specifically, eye her curves with a glint in their eyes had been exhilarating.
She sighed as the elevator dinged, signaling her arrival back in the real world.
Maybe she did need a shopping trip.
Regardless of his staunch support of tighter gun control, William would give anything for a nice semiautomatic at the moment. In fact, this was the exact reason people shouldn’t own guns. Because as mad as he was right now, he could easily do some serious damage.
He’d tried to work for the last hour since getting Hanna’s text, but his anger at his CFO made it impossible.
He pounded a fist on his desk and yelled for Emma. He should have used the phone, but he needed to yell, and it was a good excuse.
She poked her head in the door. “Everything okay, boss?”
“No.” He motioned her to sit. “I still have a hundred things to address today and that meeting this afternoon, but I have to go see Hanna.”
“Well, let me know how I can help. Did she find the mall okay?”
Will’s head shot up. “Mall?”
“She called me awhile ago and was lost. I gave her directions to Opry Mills. Hope that’s okay?”
He tapped his pen on the desk. The mall was good. But— “Did she recognize your voice?”
Emma shook her head. “Not that I could tell. Would it matter if she did?”
“I’m not sure. But I’d rather not go there just yet.” No one except the ENC executives and the board knew that Emma had posed as a member of the show’s crew while he was there. She was his inside connection to the women, making sure he didn’t pick someone who would have disastrous effects on
the business.
In the end, it hadn’t mattered. Hanna had been his choice, and Emma had wholeheartedly approved.
But if Hanna was already a ball of nerves and mad at him— If she thought he hadn’t really picked her—
No. Best she not know who Emma was.
Glancing at his watch, he calculated the time it would take to get to the mall, shop with Hanna a bit, eat a quick lunch, and get back here. “I think I’ll go to lunch a bit early and meet up with her there.”
“Will you be back in time for the staff meeting this afternoon?”
A throat cleared at the doorway. He glanced up to see Doug leaning against the doorjamb, a cocky smile pricking his lips. “No need to go check up on your prize possession, Will. I already did that this morning.”
Fury slammed into William’s gut. How dare he— “Emma, I’ll be back in time. That’ll be all.”
She gathered her notebook and made a wide berth around Doug to exit.
Doug walked to the vacated seat with his trademark arrogant stride. “Hanna seemed well. Relaxed.”
William tightened a fist on the desk. “You could have ruined everything, going there like that.”
“She could have ruined everything, prancing around the hall in her nightgown that didn’t hide a thing. By the way, you have very nice taste in females.”
Confusion swirled in William’s usually clear head. “The hall in her nightgown? What are you talking about?”
“I went there on my way to work, just to make sure that she didn’t need anything. Made sure no one saw me, but when I got to her floor, she was prancing around the hall in her nightie. You really do need to talk to her about that. Anyone could have seen her.”
“Then why did you go into her room?”
He shrugged. “The elevator was opening. I didn’t think you’d want me seen with your half-dressed fiancée, so I grabbed her and put her back in her room where she belonged.”
Hanna was going to have a long lecture ahead of her. Yet— “She’s not an object or asset that we own, Doug. She’s a woman with a mind of her own. She belongs to no one. But I am going to have lunch with her, so I’ll talk to her about it. In the meantime—” He stood and grabbed his jacket. “Leave her alone, Doug. She’s my responsibility, not yours, so you don’t need to be checking in on her. Got it?”
Doug stood and squared his shoulders. “What I get, William, is that you’re on thin ice. You need to control your trashy reality TV bimbo before she sends us all packing to the poorhouse. I care about this company, and I won’t see you put the final nail in its coffin.” He turned around, his steps heavy on the ground as he left.
William walked out of the office after him, but slower.
There was only one thing that thin ice reminded him of. Driving that pickup onto the lake with Jim.
How appropriate to how he was feeling.
His company was a big 4x4 Dodge Ram, and Hanna was the waif thin ice that it was all riding on.
Hanna would have kissed the tiled mall floor if not for the fact that people were already looking at her oddly, and they probably all had cameras on their phones.
The concierge had given her directions, but the interstate system was beyond confusing. She’d taken so many wrong exits that she had absolutely no fear that she’d been followed. They would have gotten dizzy just trying to keep up with her.
But she’d made it after she’d called William’s sweet assistant, who’d given her much better directions to what she claimed to be a much better and closer place to shop.
Now that she was here, though, she had no clue what to do. She’d always shopped with Carly before because it wasn’t her favorite thing to do, especially alone.
Checking out the first store, her enthusiasm crashed even further.
All the price tags were laughable when compared to her meager bank account balance.
And each one was a reminder of the insane amount of money she’d spent a year prior when preparing for the show. Almost her entire savings.
What had she been thinking?
Oh, yeah. Adventure. Romance. Breaking the bondage of small-town living. Realizing the potential her best friend insisted she had.
“You’re more than a small-town kindergarten teacher, Hanna. You need to stop doing what everyone expects of you and do something daring, something spectacular, something fun.”
Oh, it had been spectacular all right.
And for those three months—wow. It had felt good.
She’d convinced herself it was God’s will for her life, too. That was the real element of hilarity. She’d been able to keep her “Christian witness” and remain chaste and let the world know that Jesus was her Lord.
But then she’d shamed Him. Royally.
According to a handful of letters from some particularly zealous watchers, she was now destined for hell because of the bad name she’d brought to God.
She walked by a skin cream vendor and shook her head, turning down an offer of a sample. That’d be really nice, sampling Will’s competition.
Stopping at a little couch probably reserved for men to sit on while their women shopped, she watched the other shoppers walking past.
Maybe she had brought God a bad name. But in her heart, she knew that God had done that on His own. The people He’d created had been cursing and disgracing Him since, well, the beginning of time. That the world hated Him was not this new, Hanna-induced phenomenon.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
She started at the familiar voice then scooted over as Will lowered himself beside her. “How did you know I was here?”
“Emma. Once I got here, it was pretty easy to follow the whispers and points of various people.”
Nice. She’d been so involved in her thoughts she hadn’t even noticed. “They can point on. I don’t even care anymore.” Almost true. She didn’t want to care anymore.
“I heard about your escapade this morning.”
“Doug?”
He nodded. “You really need to be more careful. Being out of your room, uh, dressed like that isn’t a good idea. It’s probably a good thing Doug came along.”
Hanna sat up straight and turned to him. “Excuse me?”
He grabbed her arm, pulled her to him, and muttered in a hushed tone. “Don’t cause a scene. All I’m saying is if you’re going to be out in the hall, make sure you’re properly clothed. That’s all. I’ve told Doug to stay away from the hotel.”
She shrugged off his hand. “I don’t know what Doug told you, but I wasn’t out there nak—”
He cut off her words when he tugged her to him and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. He looked into her eyes with a look that held pretend warmth and real warning. His breath tickled her cheek as he whispered, “People around, Hanna. Remember that.”
How could she forget?
He released her and then stood, offering her a hand up. “I came to have lunch with you and help you shop a bit. That all right with you?”
Thirty minutes ago, she would have welcomed company that wasn’t threatening to take her picture. But now…“Fine.”
William tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I love you, Hanna.” He said it loud enough for bystanders to hear.
I’m trying not to hate you, William. She hooked her arm into the outstretched crook of his elbow. “Love you, too, sweetums.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Hanna closed her eyes, relishing the distinct smell of all things beef that came along with a visit to a steak-house. She allowed herself a moment to imagine what thrill she’d receive by taking the glass of wine that sat in front of her fake fiancé and flinging its contents in his face. It would be a fantastic shot for all the people with camera phones and would satisfy the urge that had been building all day. It had started during their shopping trip when Will insisted on buying her three over-the-top expensive outfits at Saks Fifth Avenue, and blossomed to full bloom a moment ago when Will laid out his plan.
“Hanna? Did you hear
me?”
She brought her own glass of water to her mouth and took a sip to keep her hands occupied and out of danger. “Yes. You expect me to fly to New York City and do some crazy talk-show interview and subject myself to even more humiliation. Yup, I definitely heard.”
Will’s frown was slight enough that she was probably the only one who would notice it. “I thought you’d like the idea.”
For being a CEO, the man was as clueless as a fishing pole with no hook. “Of jetting off with you to yet another big city where I feel totally uncomfortable? Yeah, not so much.” She could just imagine it. Being shut-up in another unfamiliar hotel. Will spending all his time on his laptop or stupid iPhone. Interviewing with some daytime talk-show duo who were known for their silly antics, then being on a late-night talk show that had featured her as the butt of the comedy intro on more than one occasion.
Not that she’d ever watched it. Carly had informed her but spared her the details.
“I suppose you’d prefer Jerry Springer?”
Ha. Ha. Ha. “I’d prefer just to sit down with ENC right here from Nashville and do a quick interview then call it a day.”
Will jabbed a piece of steak with his fork. “They’d see right through that. No one would believe it, and you know it.”
Hanna bit her lip. No, it would work. It had to. She just wanted to do the interview and go wee wee wee all the way home, just like the little piggy. Fitting given the french dip on the plate in front of her. She’d trade the middle roast beef–eating piggy for the pinky-toe piggy any day of the week.
“Go, Hanna.”
She wiggled in her seat and stared at her sandwich. God had been totally silent for the last year. Why did He choose now to speak up?
It was probably just in her head. She’d also thought she heard God tell her to go on The Price of Love, too, but obviously that had been the devil in disguise, because everyone knew how well that turned out.
Maybe this was that same voice.
Go to New York City? Fly somewhere else other than home?
No. She couldn’t. No. No. No.
“Go, Hanna.”
Maybe—maybe God was telling her to go home. Yes, that was it. She’d shake her boots off as she left Nashville and head home. Hide away for a couple of years until this all really had blown over. She could maybe find a babysitting job. Continue doing substitute teaching until she felt like she could start teaching again full-time. Maybe find some nice logger or farmer to marry…
The Engagement Plot Page 10