Читать книгу Hired Bride - Jackie Merritt - Страница 9

R amona Garcia was two things to Gwen—a reliable, loving baby-sitter and a good friend. The baby-sitting had come first, and the friendship had developed because Ramona and Gwen had so much in common. Very close in age, they were both widows with small children—Ramona had two little ones and Gwen had three. In one way, however, Ramona was more fortunate than Gwen. Ramona’s husband had left her a sizable insurance policy, which, while it didn’t make her a wealthy woman, certainly made her life easier than Gwen’s. Ramona had invested the insurance money in an annuity with monthly draws, and she supplemented that income with childcare in her own home. When Gwen became a steady customer, Ramona stopped taking in other children. At that point her income had become satisfactory.

Gwen had often asked herself why she had permitted her husband Paul to procrastinate on buying life insurance, but in her heart she knew the answer to that question as well as she knew anything: Paul simply had not been a worrier or a planner. Like many people with happy-go-lucky personalities, Paul had enjoyed today and rarely thought of tomorrow.

At any rate, Gwen had been left with a mortgaged house, two cars and a boat with monthly payments, and no income beyond a modest monthly social security check. If her parents hadn’t helped her out financially after Paul’s fatal accident, Gwen would have lost the little she did have. Her father had stepped in and sold the boat and one of the cars, eliminating two of her debts, and he had made the payments on her mortgage and the other car for two months. By then Gwen had pulled herself together and faced her situation; she could not live off her folks indefinitely. It was time she shaped up and started supporting herself.

Her biggest hurdle to finding a job that paid enough to support herself was her lack of training. Before meeting Paul, she had been in college to become an art teacher, and though she was talented in many art forms, there weren’t a lot of jobs for wannabe artists out there. She had wished many times that she had the abilities to work as a secretary, but wishes didn’t produce income. She had begun working two and three minimum-wage jobs at a time and still never made enough money to keep her head above water. Besides, with that kind of work schedule she’d rarely seen her kids, and she’d hated it that strangers were raising Mindy, Ashley and Donnie.

Her next attempt to pay her own way had been to quit all of her jobs and start a home business. She had shopped yard and garage sales and bought things that she could fix up and sell for a higher price. She had a natural knack for spotting a good piece of furniture hiding beneath layers of old paint, and the best part of that business was that whenever she left the house, her kids could go with her. She made money too, but it wasn’t steady money, and after a few months she’d finally had to admit that what she was doing could only be a sideline venture. She had to come up with something that brought in money on a regular basis.

By that time her garage was crammed with furniture that needed restoring, and she usually worked at night, after the kids were in bed, finishing pieces that could then be sold. During those quiet hours Gwen had racked her brain for a solution to her financial quandary, and gradually the concept of Help-Mate had taken shape. It had excited her.

Getting the company started had taken time and money; the time she could provide herself, but not the money, and she had approached her parents for a loan. Jack and Lillian Lafferty had thought her idea a good one, and had agreed to loan her the money to get started. Gwen had vowed to pay back every cent her generous parents had ever given or loaned to her, and now, a year later, she was trying very hard to keep that vow. Some of the two thousand that she would receive from Zane Fortune was going to them.

After completing her appointments on that fateful day, Gwen drove to Ramona’s house to pick up her kids.

Ramona met her at the door, and her expressive dark eyes became concerned. “Gwen, you look so tired. Come in and sit down for a few minutes. The kids are playing in the backyard and are fine.”

Gwen followed her friend to the kitchen, and Ramona brought two glasses of iced tea to the table before asking, “Gwen, is something wrong? You look a little pale around the gills.”

Sighing, Gwen took a drink of her tea. “I agreed to do something today that’s been bothering me ever since.” She stared broodingly out the kitchen window and watched her kids and Ramona’s running and playing in the fenced yard. She was incredibly lucky to have found Ramona, and they were both lucky because their kids got along so well.

Ramona sat down and sipped her own tea. Finally she said, “Well, are you going to tell me what you did, or are you going to just sit there and let me die of curiosity?”

That brought a smile to Gwen’s lips. Ramona was a very pretty young woman, but like herself, Ramona hadn’t dated since her husband’s death. They talked about men every so often, though, and both of them felt the same way. Their kids came first, but if some really great guy should stumble into their lives, neither of them was against a second marriage. However, they weren’t actively seeking a man, and sometimes they giggled together over some guy’s bumbling efforts to make time with one or the other of them.

Gwen was grateful that she had a friend like Ramona, someone in whom she could confide her innermost thoughts. Today she definitely needed to do some confiding.

“I’m sure you recall my mentioning that Zane Fortune is one of my clients,” Gwen said quietly.

“Yes. What about it?”

“I met him today.”

Ramona’s eyes got big. “You did? Is he as good-looking in person as he appears to be in photos?”

“He’s even better looking in person. But that’s neither here nor there, Ramona. He asked me to do something that…” Gwen frowned, then went on. “He offered me two thousand dollars to attend a wedding with him this weekend.”

“You’re kidding!” Ramona frowned too. “Why on earth would Zane Fortune have to pay a woman for a date?”

Gwen groaned. “You just hit the nail on the head. I agreed to take money for going out with a man. Ramona, there are names for women who do that.”

“Oh, but surely he doesn’t expect…” Ramona’s voice trailed off, and she weakly added, “Does he?”

“I asked him point-blank what he expected for his money, and he made it sound… Well, let me explain how this all came about.” Gwen related the incident with Alamo, then how Zane Fortune had offered her the business deal.

“He said that the most I would have to do was to act a bit love-struck, and maybe hold his hand.”

Ramona sat back, appearing dumbfounded. “That is the strangest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Yes, isn’t it?” Gwen agreed. “I asked him why he didn’t simply tell his female relatives that he didn’t want a wife, and he said that he’d tried but never quite made the grade. Apparently he doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Ramona, I admit that I saw dollar signs when I agreed to his request, and you know how badly I need the money, but would I be selling myself? It’s been driving me crazy since the moment I left his house.”

Ramona held up her hands. “Let’s look at it this way. You’re in the service business, and wouldn’t this just be another service? Gwen, with his looks, position and money, Zane Fortune could have any woman he wanted. I don’t think he would have to pay for any sort of hanky-panky. But if he is one of those men who does pay for it, wouldn’t he go to a professional?”

“I…suppose so. Actually, I’m not worried about his motives or morality, I’m worried about mine. Just how far would I go for money? There has to be a point where a decent woman says no. Did I go past that point today by agreeing to accept money for two days of my time?”

“Two days?”

“Yes,” Gwen said with another sigh. “It’s a two-day wedding party at the Fortunes’ Double Crown Ranch. Big doings, apparently. Nothing at all like any event I’ve ever attended.”

“It might be fun,” Ramona exclaimed, startling her friend. “Gwen, you haven’t done anything just for fun since you lost your husband. I think you should stop worrying, and go to that wedding and enjoy yourself.”

“You really feel that way?”

“Yes, I do. Gwen, you know you’re a respectable woman and so do I. Apparently Mr. Fortune wants an uninvolved escort, and since he talked about needing an attractive woman to play the part, I think he paid you a very nice compliment. And as you said, you could certainly use the money. I believe that if you turn down his proposal, you’ll regret it for a very long time.”

“I have thought of that,” Gwen said. “Maybe I just needed a pep talk. Usually I’m pretty optimistic and open to new ideas, but this one really threw me for a loop. Are you sure you approve?”

“Of course I approve. Now, let’s do something else fun and figure out what clothes you should take with you.”

Before they discussed clothes, Gwen needed to ask one more question. “Will you be able to watch my kids for the whole weekend? I’ll pay double, Ramona.”

“I’ll watch the kids and you don’t have to pay me double, for heaven’s sake. In fact, let’s call this weekend a trade-off with no money involved.” Ramona grinned. “Maybe something exciting will happen to me one of these days, and I’ll need a baby-sitter.”

Gwen smiled. “You’ve got yourself a deal, my friend.”

Gwen was glad she had talked to Ramona about Zane Fortune’s proposition. If nothing else, it had made her realize that the issue of her own morality hadn’t been the cause of her reluctance at all. She’d never been a Goody Two-shoes, after all. She’d been pregnant when she and Paul got married, which was the reason she hadn’t finished college.

So what she had really done, after leaving Zane’s home yesterday, was hide her true concerns behind questions about right and wrong. That had been much easier to do than face what had really been bothering her: spending two days with Zane Fortune, meeting his family and friends, and pretending that she and Zane were lovers.

She faced it squarely the next day while getting ready for Zane to pick her up. She had already driven her kids over to Ramona’s, each of them with a small overnight bag, then had returned home and started working on herself. It was no small task to turn herself into a lady of some leisure. While she filed and polished her short fingernails, and gave herself a pedicure, she worried about whether she would be able to fool anyone into thinking that a man like Zane Fortune would find a woman like her attractive. And if she were to believe Zane’s story to the letter, she was going to be under a lot of scrutiny. From people who were millionaires, yet! Probably not one woman she would meet at that wedding had ever done her own fingernails or given herself a pedicure.

But all that aside, Gwen’s biggest worry was Zane himself. He was too good-looking, too rich, too sure of himself. She’d never met anyone even remotely similar before, and there was some part of her that was uncomfortably drawn to the glamorous appeal Zane exuded. Gwen was positive that her pragmatic side would never let her actually fall in love with anyone like Zane Fortune, but was it strong enough to prevent her from developing a silly, futile schoolgirl crush on the man?

She couldn’t deny the possibility, and it bothered her so much that she dialed Ramona’s phone number. “How are the kids doing?”

“You should be getting ready instead of worrying.”

“I am getting ready, but I just realized something. Last night I talked about morality versus money and that wasn’t what was eating at me at all. I—I’m afraid of Zane Fortune.”

“Oh, God, there’s something you didn’t tell me. Do you think he’s a pervert, or something?”

“Ramona, no!” Gwen was appalled that she’d given her friend such a horribly false impression. “The truth, Ramona, is that I’m going to be spending two days with the most incredible man I’ve ever met, and what if I…well, end up liking him?”

“Well, think about this,” Ramona said wryly, “What if he ends up liking you?”

“Oh, he wouldn’t! I mean, how could he?”

“For heaven’s sake, Gwen, are you deliberately looking for a reason to drive yourself crazy? In the first place you might not like him at all. In the second, why are you so positive that he could never like you?”

“I just know it. Compare his life-style to mine and you’ll know it too.”

“Because he’s rich and you’re not? So what? Gwen, I think that what you’re really afraid of is meeting his wealthy family and friends. You’re as good as any of them, and don’t you dare act like you’re not.”

“What if I can’t pull it off?”

“Good grief, you’re the most creative person I know. Create a persona for yourself that will knock everyone’s socks off, Zane Fortune’s included.”

Gwen glanced at the two dresses hanging on the closet door that she’d thought would be best for the charade Zane had hired her for; she hadn’t yet decided which one to wear for the wedding today. Although they were both pretty dresses, neither of them would knock anyone’s socks off.

But she had one in her closet that just might do that. “Create a persona for myself, hmm?” she murmured, more to herself than to Ramona.

“And make it a noticeable one. Now hang up and get to it. I’ll be on pins and needles till you get back tomorrow, and you’d better have some darn good stories to tell me.”

“’Bye, Ramona,” Gwen said absentmindedly, and put down the phone. Hurrying to the closet she took out a plastic bag, then removed the bag and studied the dress it had protected for well over a year. She was pleased to smell no mustiness but rather the faint scent of her favorite perfume; she had dropped several sachets of the fragrance into the bag when she’d put the dress away. Next she reached to the top shelf of the closet for a shoe box, and in it were the stunning high heels that went with the dress.

“You want to impress your family, Mr. Fortune?” she said under her breath. “Fine, we’ll impress your family.”

Zane had instructed Gwen to dress for the wedding ceremony and reception afterward, because he would be picking her up just early enough to allow for the drive to the ranch. “Bring an overnight case with whatever else you think you might need. Along with Saturday’s big event, there’s going to be a Sunday morning brunch. It will be casual, so slacks or even jeans will do for that.”

She realized it hadn’t even occurred to him that she might not have appropriate clothes for a formal wedding—which didn’t surprise her considering how he lived. He was in for at least one surprise.

When she was finally made up, coiffed and dressed, she stared at her own reflection with a feeling of wonder. Was that woman in the mirror really her? It had been so long since she’d worn anything but jeans, shorts and old tops, and just as long since she’d put on makeup and spent time on her hair, that she could hardly believe her own eyes.

Charged up over looking so good, Gwen finished packing her overnight case, and was ready and waiting when her front doorbell chimed. She was carrying her handbag and the small suitcase when she opened the door.

“Hello,” she said, and then watched a wash of confusion erase his smile.

“You…you’re gorgeous!” he blurted, alerting Gwen to the fact that he hadn’t expected her to look as she did.

She smiled. “Save the flattery for later, when we have an audience,” she said pertly, and pulled the door closed behind her. Brushing past him, she started down the front steps.

Zane wondered about his almost stupefied reaction to Gwen’s appearance. He never had trouble talking to women, and compliments had always rolled off his tongue smooth as silk. Blurting was not his style, and yet he had definitely blurted when Gwen opened her door. In fact, he was still amazed at her astonishing transformation from the soggy but pretty woman in his mind to this glamorous creature.

Regaining his wits, he hurried to catch up with Gwen and take the overnight bag from her hand. “I’ll put this in the trunk.”

“Thank you.”

He opened the passenger door of his luxury car and she got in. Because her skirt was split, he caught a glimpse of a long, sensually shaped thigh as she brought her legs around, and a jolting awareness of Gwen Hutton as a highly desirable woman suddenly buffeted Zane. Frowning, he rounded the back of the car, paused to put her bag in the trunk, then continued to the driver’s side.

After starting the engine, he looked her way and gave her another amazed once-over. When she turned her head and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he stammered, “Guess I’m staring, huh?”

“I’d say so,” Gwen said dryly.

Since stammering was another thing Zane never did with women, his doing so now unnerved him. Gwen appeared to be cool as a cucumber, and he felt like a tongue-tied boy. Unusual, damn unusual, he thought uneasily as he pulled away from the curb.

Of course, he hadn’t expected her to look like a fashion model, he thought in defense of his behavior. Her dress was really a stunning black suit with pale gray satin piping around lapels that were just far enough apart to permit a glimpse of cleavage, which was sexier to Zane than if her entire bosom was on display. Her hosiery was gray and her high-heeled pumps were black. Her hair had been piled on top of her head in a mass of curls, with floating tendrils around her face and nape that tormented Zane.

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, he tried to concentrate on driving instead of on the way Gwen looked. But inhaling the subtle scent of her perfume with every breath worked against him, and he kept stealing peeks at her.

Finally, he couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “You’re going to knock my family out,” he said. “My friends too.”

“That’s what you wanted to accomplish, wasn’t it? I mean, isn’t this entire charade aimed at impressing your family and friends?”

“True.” Zane laughed then, albeit weakly. “Guess I didn’t expect to be impressed myself.”

Uh-oh, Gwen thought warily. If she let herself, she could be very impressed by him. He looked fabulous in his dark suit and white shirt, and she would bet anything that the tie he was wearing had cost as much as her entire outfit—which she’d bought on mark-down.

But she had not dressed to impress him, she insisted to herself. She was only keeping up her side of their “business arrangement,” and she didn’t want to hear any more compliments from him while they were alone.

“Let’s keep this strictly impersonal,” she said coolly. “I have a few questions. Since you want your family to believe we’re a…couple, I should know a little more about you than I do. For instance, how do you take your coffee, and what’s your favorite drink as far as alcoholic beverages go?”

“I suppose you’re right, but remember that I should know more about you too. Coffee strong and black, and while I’m not much of a drinker, I prefer scotch. What about you?”

“Coffee with cream, no sweetener. Wine or champagne only. Are you a reader?”

“I run in spurts. I doubt if anyone’s going to ask you what book I might be in the middle of reading.”

“Probably not. I enjoy reading but have little time for it. Same with TV.” Gwen paused, then asked, “If someone asks me what I do, what would you like me to say?”

Zane sent her a frown. “Is there anything wrong with the truth?”

“Not to me there isn’t, but bathing dogs and running other people’s errands is hardly a glamorous job.”

“It’s an honest living. Just be yourself, Gwen, except for our supposed relationship. Now that subject might raise some questions. How we met, for example.”

“Well, if I’m going to be honest about my job, I might as well be honest about that, as well.”

“Might as well be,” Zane agreed, then chuckled. “It was pretty funny, wasn’t it? Your chasing Alamo through the house, both of you sopping wet?”

“Hilarious,” Gwen said wryly.

“Of course, you can’t say it happened only yesterday. I’d like everyone to think that we’ve been seeing each other for at least two weeks.”

“Fine,” Gwen snapped.

Zane sent her a look. “You don’t like lying, do you?”

“Never did, never will. But it’s what you’re paying me for, and I’ll do what I can to help you pull the wool over your relatives’ eyes.”

“When you put it that way, it seems pretty underhanded,” Zane muttered.

“It is underhanded.” Gwen sighed. “But it’s your family, and I’m just the hired help.”

That last remark hit Zane the wrong way, and he fell silent to stew privately. It was too late to wish he’d met Gwen under different circumstances and hadn’t instantly seen her as a replacement for Heather, but the thought was there, all the same. He didn’t like Gwen thinking of herself as the “hired help,” but what could he do about it now? They were almost to the ranch, and he knew they would be rushed by relatives the minute they arrived. Everyone would want to meet his lady friend; he and Gwen would instantly have to go into their act.

No, there was no turning back now. He was caught in a trap of his own making, and wishing that he’d never thought up this ridiculous scheme was an exercise in futility. He’d forever set the tone of any possible relationship with Gwen Hutton, and he would have to live with it.