Читать книгу Colton's Convenient Bride - Jennifer Morey - Страница 11

The next morning Kendall drove the short distance to her parents’ house. Her mother had asked her to accompany her for breakfast. While not the mansion of Russ and Mara’s scale, it was still an impressive piece of architecture. Her parents didn’t like to feel like they could get lost in their own home, or have so much space that most of it was never used. They liked a homier environment, which this six-bedroom abode offered. White and with lots of grouped, tall and arch-topped windows and a varied roofline, it had a sprawling, modern look.

Kendall entered the foyer, a half-circle room with a grand staircase on one side and a small sitting area with a fireplace on the other. Upstairs were two master suites, Kendall’s bedroom that her mother had kept for her, a guest room and a study. The landing at the top of the stairs had another sitting area with views of the mountains through high windows above the open foyer.

She walked through the informal living room—the formal living room was off the dining room next to the kitchen. There were also two guest suites on this level along with another study.

Kendall could see her mother in the kitchen talking cheerily with the cook. They only employed a cook and a housekeeper, not a full servant staff like Russ and Mara. A round table in a turret area could seat six.

Kendall passed an arched double entry to an entertainment room with a wet bar and casual seating. Although she couldn’t see them from here, a wall of windows could be opened to allow access to the pool. Her parents had divided it to better control humidity.

“There she is.” Her mother came to her and gave her a hug. “I asked Carol to make your favorite.”

Kendal’s favorite breakfast was a veggie omelet, strawberries and rye toast with a good amount of butter.

“You’re awfully chipper this morning.” Kendall took a seat next to Marion, enjoying the view of the glassed-in pool and the mountainside beyond. The ground was still covered in snow. Still early March, there would be no real thawing for several weeks.

“I want to hear all about your dinner. You weren’t very talkative last night. I thought if I gave you some time to process you’d be more of a fountain.”

She had always been very close to her mother and wasn’t at all surprised that she’d known Kendall needed time to absorb, especially big moments like the one last night.

“It was lovely.”

“You already said that last night.”

“Decker is...not what I expected. He’s a gentleman and ambitious but not obsessed with wealth.” To Kendall, money was a necessity and a lot of it definitely made life easier, but it had a purpose and that wasn’t to exploit excesses. Decker had struck her as having the same view. “It was refreshing. He’s grown up since high school. He doesn’t keep in touch with any of the people he hung around with back then.”

Her mother smiled fondly. “You’ve both grown up. I could tell you really liked him last night, and the way he looked at you.” She lifted her eyes up in wonder. “He’s very attracted to you.”

“I’m attracted to him, too, but it’s only the first day.”

“Are you going to go through with the wedding?” her mother asked.

“I don’t know.”

“He doesn’t want to lose this opportunity. He wants you, Kendall.”

“He doesn’t even know me,” she protested. “I need more than physical attraction.”

“He knows you enough and you know him enough. He’s got a solid reputation. The physical attraction is important. The rest will come in time.”

Kendall sat back and angled her head, perplexed. “Yesterday you were worried about me marrying Decker.”

“That was before I saw the two of you together. I still want you to be sure this is what you want, but I feel better about this arrangement now.”

Because she knew Kendall had a crush on Decker in high school and she had witnessed what Kendall had felt with Decker during the dinner. Undeniable chemistry.

“I will be sure,” Kendall finally said. At least, she hoped she would be. Given the flutter of attraction she felt for Decker, even now when he wasn’t in sight, she just might be able to take the chance on him.

“I can’t wait to go dress shopping,” her mother said, full of excitement.

“Mother...!”

“We don’t have much time. I thought we could start this afternoon.”

“I have to work,” Kendall protested.

“Your father told me you could take as much time off as you need this month.”

Holy bejesus. What had happened to her mother? She had been bitten by a wedding bug for sure.

“I know you, my dear. When you like something you recognize it right away, and I can tell you really like Decker Colton.”

She did like Decker. Kendall withdrew from how much. She had felt that and more for her last long-term boyfriend when she had caught him with another woman. He’d broken her heart. She never wanted to feel that way again. Maybe that had more to do with her reason for accepting an arranged marriage—or the possibility of one—than curiosity. Because the truth was, she felt oddly safe entering into this kind of relationship. She’d be the one in control and Decker would never be able to hurt her.

But, on the other hand, what her mother suggested made her wonder if she might be too reckless marrying like this.

“He is different than I remember,” she conceded, yet still feeling as though she was trying to convince herself that meant he’d be worth the risk. But, honestly, did it really matter if he was different? So he’d grown up. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t end up hurting her.

“How so?”

“Not... showy, or...”

“Immature?” her mother provided.

Kendall wouldn’t talk about the popular crowd that had surrounded him in high school and made him seem so untouchable. Unobtainable.

“Yes, but he’s so focused on his business. It’s the only reason he agreed to this arranged marriage.” She didn’t want to be second to a man’s profession. Then again, she placed high standards on her own career. She was passionate about saving animals and preserving nature.

“Well, you’ve been consumed with your work, too, Kendall. Ever since that man you were with toward the end of college, you’ve been driven that way.”

Sometimes she wished her mother didn’t know her so well.

“Seems to me you both have your reasons why a marriage like this would work,” her mother continued.

She wasn’t helping Kendall’s internal conflict. She’d basically just given her a green light to follow her heart and her heart wanted the excitement of marrying a man like Decker, to see where it would lead.

“Come on,” her mother said, “Let’s go shopping.”

* * *

Decker wanted Kendall. He sat at his desk in his large modern office with a seating area before a gas fireplace and a conference table, staring at his computer but thinking of nothing but her.

For once he wanted something for himself and not for his father. Yes, this had been his father’s idea, but last night’s dinner had changed everything. Kendall was perfect for him. She’d fit his lifestyle better than any other woman he’d met. He’d never been more certain this early on in the relationship game. That served as a reminder that maybe he should tread more carefully. He couldn’t afford anything getting in the way of taking over the company.

Kendall didn’t appreciate her father using her as leverage. She was smart and didn’t have to settle for less than she deserved. Maybe an arranged marriage wouldn’t be enough for her. He’d have to work hard convincing her this would be a good union, even if they didn’t love each other.

As far as Decker was concerned, love was overrated and marriage was more of a financial investment than anything. He didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day and he didn’t think wedding anniversaries were anything special. So a couple stayed together for x number of years. Who cared? In this modern, fast-paced world, lasting marriages were becoming rarer and rarer. He’d rather celebrate windfalls or career advancements.

Maybe Kendall wouldn’t agree. That’s why he’d romance her the traditional way to get her to the altar. Like any business deal, he would go after her aggressively.

“Distracted?”

Decker looked up to see his father enter his office. He never knocked. Seeing his shrewd grin, Decker realized his father meant thoughts of Kendall had distracted him. Russ was clearly pleased with the way things were going, the melding of the Coltons and the Hadleys into one powerful unity.

“A little.”

“What’s your next move?” his father asked, going to one of the seats before the desk and sitting. He propped his ankle on his knee.

“Maybe flowers or dinner out.”

“That’s mediocre. Kendall is accustomed to riches. You should fly her to Paris for dinner or something equally grandiose.”

“I don’t think Kendall is that materialistic.” She was into nature, not what money could buy.

“How often does a man take her to Paris for dinner?”

Not often he was sure, but that wasn’t the way to win her heart. “I’m old enough to manage on my own, Dad.”

Russ’s smile broadened. “We can’t lose this deal. With Hadley money added to ours, we can expand to a level we’ve never reached before.”

That did appeal to Decker, but his dad didn’t understand. “I’m the one who had dinner with her last night. Let me handle the courtship.”

His dad’s smile faded and he nodded. “You’ve got a good head for business, Decker. I’ll trust you to do a good job with this marriage.”

A good job. That sounded cold even to Decker. “Kendall won’t go through with this marriage unless she feels it’s a smart move on her part.” He had to plant that warning in his father’s head, prepare him for the possibility that Kendall wouldn’t marry him after all.

“Draft up a contract so we have her written agreement to marry by the end of the month.”

Decker barely smothered a scoff. One dinner with Kendall and he knew she’d never sign a contract to tie the knot.

“Our lawyers can write it so she’ll feel comfortable but we’ll have assurance that she’ll marry you. If she wants to end it afterward, then we’ll get something out of it.”

Decker began to feel ill over how Russ reduced something personal to a bottom line. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Russ nodded. “Very good.” He placed his hands on his knees. “Any progress on boosting reservations since that woman’s murder?”

Decker had been working tirelessly on a strategy to improve revenue, to replace the losses that homicide had caused. He worried he wouldn’t be able to turn things around before the film festival this summer. “I’ve got meetings scheduled to come up with a mitigation plan.”

“Good. Let me know how it goes.”

“As always.”

“Even though Bianca Rouge was one of the most expensive call girls you can buy in Vegas, her untimely demise still tarnishes our reputation,” his dad said. “She stayed at The Lodge. Some people aren’t comfortable staying here because of that, a murder victim.”

A European millionaire had brought the Rouge woman to The Lodge. While he had suffered his own shame in being caught with a prostitute, he had not been the killer. A man named Nolan Sharpe had written a suicide note confessing to the crime.

“I’ve got a weekly call with Deputy Sheriff Daria Bloom to get status on her investigation,” Decker replied.

“That’s all good, but I need to see results. If you’re going to be CEO, you should be able to handle a PR disaster like this in a timely manner.”

Decker felt his ire rise. His father frequently threw veiled threats like that at him.

“Have I ever failed you?” he asked.

“I can think of a few occasions.”

Decker met his father’s hard eyes dead-on. “No one else can run this lodge better than I can and you know it.”

“All I’m saying is I need more convincing before I promote you to CEO.”

No, his father just enjoyed his position of power. Decker had to bite his tongue before he told Russ his ego was the only thing that needed convincing.

“I often wonder how much more successful we’d have been had Wyatt done what he was supposed to and joined our business,” his father added, further grating Decker’s nerves.

“I doubt he’d have made any impact, given he had no desire to be part of this,” Decker said, knowing that would irritate his father. “Unlike me.”

Russ’s face grew stern with displeasure. “I know you respect him for going off to do what he wanted, but a rodeo star is hardly up to this family’s standards.”

Decker suspected that could be debatable. “He runs the Crooked C Ranch. That’s up to your standards.” Decker watched his father catch that he’d said your standards.

After a while, Russ’s annoyance eased and a new, slightly shrewd grin inched up more on the left side. “That’s what I like about you, son. You never back down. That’s what makes the difference between a good CEO and a great one. You have to have the balls to run a business like this.” Russ stood.

Decker didn’t know what to say. His father had actually complimented him.

* * *

Kendall indulged her mother and went with her to Roaring Springs’s most elite bridal shop, a boutique that offered both top designer labels and custom-made gowns. She had wavering feelings about this outing. Inner excitement clashed with anxiety over whether she should even be looking at wedding dresses when she was not at all sure she would go through with this absurdly concocted idea of an arranged marriage.

Her leather boots tapped on the wood floor as she passed white-trimmed, inlayed arches in the walls on each side, beautiful wedding dresses hanging next to each other. Manikins in the front windows and placed throughout the shop showcased more. Even if Kendall were certain she’d walk down the aisle to meet Decker at the altar, she’d have a difficult time choosing. But one dress across the shop snagged her attention before she could even scan the rest.

Her mother stopped at a dress hanging in one of the left inlayed arches. It had a lace bodice and off-the-shoulder sleeves; its skirt was sheer over silk and the train not overly long. Meanwhile, Kendall went to check out the dress on a manikin that had caught her eye the moment she’d entered. She often found things that way; something struck her fancy and nothing else matched her taste. Shopping went fast when that happened. She began to let her earlier anxiety go and the excitement take over. What girl didn’t like wedding dresses?

Sleeveless and dipping just enough to show a modest amount of cleavage, the bodice was made up of stunning silver-white reflective beads of varying sizes and shapes and round white pearls. The pearls ran down each rib of the corset and the beads thinned over the stomach, revealing see-through lace. The beadwork picked up again at the waist and dipped to a V at the lower abdomen. The Cinderella-style skirt had no train, just a puff of tulle.

“That’s lovely,” her mother said.

Kendall realized she’d fallen into a distracted study of the dress and hadn’t noticed Marion appear beside her.

“Yes. Quite.”

“Try it on.”

A clerk approached, having seen them admiring the gown. “Would you like a dressing room?”

“Yes, she would,” Kendall’s mother said.

Kendall sent her an unsure look.

“Go, go, go.” Her mother shooed her beneath the smiling clerk’s eyes.

After the clerk retrieved her size, Kendall went into the dressing room. Moments later she just stared. The beadwork and pearls were magnificent. She indeed felt like Cinderella. And she could imagine herself walking down an aisle toward Decker. The image was vivid, with Decker so handsome in a tuxedo and her own heart beating with sexual attraction. Not love.

Her excitement waned just then.

She should just take this off and give it back to the clerk and leave the shop. Tell her mother to back off too.

But instead, she left the little room with nerves churning her stomach.

As soon as Marion saw her, her mouth dropped open and her blue eyes seemed to gobble up the sight of Kendall. The dress was that magical.

“Oh, sweetie,” her mother said. “You look absolutely stunning.”

“You do look beautiful,” the clerk concurred. “I’ve never helped anyone who found the perfect dress for them in such a short amount of time.”

Despite her inner turmoil, Kendall did feel like a princess in this dress. It was okay to enjoy this. She did not have to think about the end of the month and what it would bring, not yet. “Maybe I’ll spend more time on the veil,” she said.

“We’ll take the dress,” her mother said.

Kendall felt tugged along by an invisible force, pushed ever closer to some unknown precipice. Would she be carried on clouds when she reached it or would she fall to a rocky bottom?

She changed and gave the gown to the clerk. Her mother paid, even though she really didn’t need to. The dress was very expensive but Kendall could afford it with her trust fund. Her mother was traditional that way.

She left the shop with her mother smiling all the way.

As she walked toward their sedan, where the driver waited at the rear door, Kendall noticed a man sitting in a parked car across the street, watching them. She didn’t recognize him. Wearing dark sunglasses and a black beanie, he looked like a big man, with his shoulders above the back of the seat and his head topping the headrest. His arms were large, as well.

Although she couldn’t see his eyes, she could tell he looked right at them, or maybe only her. His mouth remained in a flat line.

“Who is that?” she asked.

Her mother looked across the street, stopping at the sedan. “I don’t know.”

“He’s staring at us.”

Her mother climbed into the back of the sedan and Kendall followed.

“He’s staring at you, not me,” her mother said, adjusting herself on the other side of the car.

“In a creepy way.”

“He was probably just noticing a pretty woman.”

Kendall wasn’t so sure. She had a feeling he wasn’t looking at her for her looks. Maybe he’d watched a strange woman come out of a bridal shop and had his own thoughts on that. Maybe he’d been dumped by a woman or his bride-to-be changed her mind. Who knew?

What other reason would a man have to park along the street and watch her? Kendall had no enemies.

Then why did she have this bad feeling?

She glanced back as their driver pulled out into traffic. The other car turned out onto the street and made a U-turn.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” her mother asked, looking back like Kendall was.

“That car.”

“It’s that same man,” Marion said. “Is he following you?”

The driver glanced in his rearview mirror. Kendall was glad he’d listened and was now alert to the potential danger. She glanced back again. The other car stayed three cars back but followed them down Main Street. As the town faded away and they headed back up the mountain toward home, the car remained behind them.

The driver didn’t try to lose the other vehicle. Kendall wondered if that was a mistake. Would they lead the man to their home?

As they approached the turn to the road that would lead to their property, Kendall and her mother watched through the rear window. Their driver made the turn.

Kendall’s heart pounded as the other car neared the turn. He didn’t appear to slow and she breathed a sigh of relief when the driver passed on by without so much as a glance their way.

Kendall faced forward and leaned back against the seat.

“You sure are jumpy,” her mother said.

“Maybe it’s just the day. Buying a wedding dress is kind of a monumental event.” Or maybe she hadn’t imagined the man watching her and maybe he had deliberately followed them. Was it a message? But why on earth would a stranger be after her?

After hugging her mother goodbye, she got out of the car when it stopped by her house.

She locked the door and set the alarm, not understanding why she still felt so unsettled. She removed her jacket and other winter clothes and started farther into her house when the doorbell rang.

She stopped and stiffened. Could that driver have turned around and driven up the road and found her? She didn’t see how. There were other driveways along the road they’d turned onto. Turning to the door, she went there and cautiously peeked out the side window. A florist stood there, holding a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers and a stuffed wolf. Instantly lighter of heart, she disarmed the alarm and opened the door.

“For you, ma’am,” the middle-aged man in a baseball cap and a maroon puff jacket said.

She took the flowers and then the wolf. “Thank you.”

The wolf felt soft and furry and the flowers wafted a sweet summery scent, a refreshing difference from the chill in the air today.

Closing and locking the door and rearming the security system, she took the stuffed animal and the flowers and left the entry, passing white-and-dark-wood-trimmed stairs and a console table. In the spacious, high-ceilinged living room, she went to the seating area, which was furnished with off-white chairs and a sectional sofa around a rectangular wooden coffee table.

Smiling to herself, she put the flowers on the coffee table and inspected the wolf, thinking this quite a creative gift. Looking for a card, she found it in the flowers.

Dinner was nice, but just a taste. I’ll have a car pick you up at seven for another. Just you and me this time. Formal attire. D.

He’d gotten her wildflowers because she’d told him she loved the outdoors and he’d gotten her the wolf because she’d told him about the pack she’d spotted. How very thoughtful of him. She hadn’t expected that.

Nevertheless, she wasn’t sure if she liked his boldness. What if she had plans tonight? Did he expect her to drop everything just to go out with him? She’d have to ask. One thing she’d establish right from the start—she would not change her life to suit his schedule or his business aspirations. She had her standards and she would not compromise herself for him. He had to respect her.

Would he?