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Jenna’s eyes closed briefly and her face lost all color as she was immediately swamped with the same distress she felt every time she found his eyes on hers. But now it was magnified a hundred fold. She sat as still and silent as a woodland creature trying to remain camouflaged from a predator.
His posture straightened as he began laying out his requirements. “I need an arrangement more than a marriage. A business partnership, if you will. Somebody that will agree to marry me for a short period of time. I’m not looking for a love affair, or happily ever after. I just need a marriage façade, and I’d be happy to pay for it.”
Bells started clanging in her brain and nerves tightened her stomach into twists of apprehension so thick it threatened to make her hysteria rise. He seemed perfectly serious and she didn’t want to offend him in any way, shape, or form. Marry him? No way. He was off his rocker. She silently castigated herself for this. This was her own fault she was sitting here. If she had only kept her damn mouth closed. But it was too late to look back and she needed to handle this carefully and diplomatically. This job was the only thing that stood between Jenna and the bread line. Her parents were far away and struggling to make it themselves. She searched his eyes for a hidden motive and tried to answer him without causing offense. “Thank you, n-no. I don’t—”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” David waited for her answer with hooded eyes, his mind already clicking ahead to getting rid of an encumbrance that had his teeth grinding.
“No. It’s j-just that I don’t really think—”
“So, there’s nothing stopping you from considering it? No boyfriend and your family lives in Texas, right? They’d never even have to know. Do they come here often?” He was glad she didn’t jump at the chance right away. A mercenary bitch wasn’t what he was looking for, and his legal team would throw a fucking fit, no matter what kind of spin Craig put in front of them.
Jenna stiffened. He knew her background. She was sidetracked by that question and had to think to answer it. “No, they don’t have a lot of extra money for plane tickets. It was—it was really n-nice of you to consider me, I’m s-sorry if I gave you the wrong impression the other day. I was joking, I didn’t think you were serious about it.” She stopped rambling and the silence in the room was deafening. She tried again. “I thought it was a joke and I was only kidding.”
She waited while he studied her.
“Do you have debt, Jenna?”
A cold, sick feeling of dread slipped down her spine. What did he know?
“Why d-do you ask?”
“A lot of young people your age have debt, need money. I can help you out with that. I’m not expecting you to do this favor for me for free.”
She hesitated, then slowly answered him. “I have a small amount of debt.” Her eyes watched him, watching her, and guilt washed through her at the white lie. Then she continued. “But this is more than just a favor.” Her voice remained soft and gentle.
His eyes searched hers. “Look, we need to talk privately about this some more. We can’t do that here. I’ll pick you up at seven, we’ll have some dinner and continue this conversation.”
He was already looking down at the thin gold watch strapped to his wrist and pushing his chair back.
Jenna knew she was being dismissed, but didn’t want to meet him tonight. She came to her feet and stood next to the chair. “I don’t want to m-marry anybody. There’s no way I can—”
He came around his desk and advanced on her. He took her chin in his hand and casually threw out a bomb. “How about a hundred grand? Will that help sway your decision?”
Jenna hung in silence, shocked at the feel of his rough palm holding her face up to his. Her heart tripped out of time from the effect of his hard body so close to hers and her vocal chords wouldn’t function. His heady scent hit her nostrils. Masculinity radiated from him, and she wasn’t immune to it. Far from it. Her breathing fractured and she bit her bottom lip as his thumb grazed slowly across her cheek.
In the back of her mind, the amount of money he was offering was staggering.
He felt the currents of awareness between them, her soft skin silky against his fingers. As shock held her immobile, the throbbing in his groin intensified as her scent went to his head and he found himself sweetening the deal, extending the length of the commitment he had originally planned. “A hundred grand a year. I need two years, so two-hundred thousand dollars.”
Jenna shook the cobwebs from her mind. She could pay off all her debt with that amount of money. Then she could concentrate on getting a better job, something she could use her education with. She could at least listen to what he had to say, right?
“Just dinner? I’m not agreeing to anything yet.” She managed to pull away from him and with jerky movements turned toward the door. She stopped, looked back at him with an expression that conveyed that she didn’t know what the hell she was getting into.
****
That night, David had one thought only. Getting her to agree. He wanted her to agree to his plan, and get the marriage underway as quickly as possible. He had a vague idea of hustling her to Vegas for a quick ceremony.
At seven o’clock, she was waiting for him on the sidewalk of an old brownstone where she rented the basement from an older couple.
He pulled up to the curb and without giving him a chance to get out, she slid in the vehicle. She avoided his eyes and began to fasten her seatbelt.
Jenna hadn’t known what to wear, so she had opted for the middle ground, dress slacks with peep-toed pumps and a red sweater. Fall was definitely in the air, and she knew it would be chilly tonight.
She had been having nothing but second thoughts about this. They weren’t really second thoughts, because he had railroaded her into this dinner meeting. That was the only way she could think of this outing, because it certainly wasn’t a date. Her aim tonight was to make him see reason, and have some really nice food for a change. Counting every penny sucked, and it was a rare treat to get to have a nice restaurant meal. She just hoped her nerves would allow her to eat.
She softly cleared her throat and began to try to make him see reason. “Mr. Bennett—”
“David. My name’s David.”
“Okay. David.” She lost her train of thought as she glanced his way. His eyes were on the road, and she watched him silently. His profile was rugged, his hair badly in need of a trim. All at once it hit her exactly what her co-workers saw in him. She had a moment to study him, without his intense gaze focused solely on her. That predatory attention that usually had her so flustered and disturbed was not focused on her at the moment, and she had a chance to observe his features, to notice the dark beauty his eyes imparted to the rest of his face.
The silence continued until finally, he broke it. “What were you going to say, Jenna?”
Her name rolled off his tongue and slid like molten lava through her. She shook herself and tried to get a grip. She couldn’t remember what she was going to say. She saw the world passing outside the window, and realized they were heading south, toward the river. “Are
we going to the riverfront?”
The Ohio River was a natural border between Ohio and Kentucky and separated Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. The two cities were connected and divided by the river. The stadium of the Cincinnati Reds was on the Ohio side of the river, and the River Center in Covington was a famous tourist spot with lots of floating bars and restaurants. Jenna had been there a couple of times and loved the whole atmosphere.
“Yeah, that okay with you?” His voice was deep and controlled, his Midwest accent vibrating through her.
“Mmm-hmmm.” She continued to stare at the night sky out the window, wondering why she suddenly had that soft, satisfying feeling of safety she usually only felt when it was raining in great sheets of water and she was at home in her bedroom in Texas. It was a pleasurable feeling. It was probably just a visceral reaction to an enclosed space that reminded her of the coziness of home. It confused her, but she didn’t dwell on it.
Soon they were crossing the huge suspension bridge and travelling parallel to the river. She sat up straighter when they continued to pass the restaurants, one by one, and he never chose one. Minutes later, the pleasurable feeling in her stomach was replaced by nerves as he pressed a button, and a black, wrought-iron gate began to open. He pulled into the long drive, and pulled up to a house that was so impressive she thought for a moment they were at a restaurant. But it was too deserted to be anything but a private home, and a feeling of trepidation grew.
She turned to him as he parked the car. “Where are we?”
He pulled the keys from the ignition and popped the handle on his door before answering. “My house.” With that, he swung out of the car and moved around to open her door while she sat, still as a statue.
Chapter Four
Her door opened and he took her hand in his and began leading her to the front door.
David didn’t entirely understand the reasons behind his actions. He knew he wanted her to see his house. He felt like a kid trying to impress a girl at school. But if he could get her to want to live here, see what it was like, maybe it would be one more reason for her to agree to his proposal.
