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But what else could he possibly want with her? Realistically, she knew her teasing comment couldn’t be it. Could it?
She swallowed hard and answered the woman on the other line. “Yes, ma’am. When would be convenient?”
“Would now be too much trouble?”
“Now?”
“If you can’t get away, I’ll relay the message to Mr. Bennett, and we can set up a better time.”
Jenna thought frantically. She could go now, she just didn’t want to. She was scared to go. Whatever he wanted, it couldn’t be good.
Apprehension tightened her stomach into knots of stress. One thing she knew for sure, she didn’t want to wait. Today was Friday. There was no way she wanted to wait until Monday to find out what this was all about. The waiting would kill her. She would stress out so much it would make her ill.
“I can come now. Where, please?”
“Executive corridor, fifth door on your right. See you in a minute.”
Jenna was left holding the receiver when the other woman hung up.
Nerves were eating her alive, and she quickly stood to her feet, moving toward mahogany row. She attempted to give herself a pep talk. It was best to get this over with. It was probably nothing, just some minor little glitch.
She walked quickly down the corridor until she came to the fifth door on the right. It stood open, and she peeked in and saw a slender woman of about fifty manning the desk outside another office. Jenna tapped lightly, and when the woman looked up and smiled, she walked inside.
“Miss Hardin, Mr. Bennett is expecting you. This way please.” The older woman stood, and swiftly walked across the carpeted room and knocked briefly. Jenna heard a harsh bark to enter from the inside, and the woman opened the door.
“Jenna Hardin to see you, sir.” She smiled at Jenna and stepped back for her to enter.
Chapter Three
When Jenna entered the room, two things happened simultaneously. The secretary closed the door with a firm click, and Jenna looked up and saw the man behind the desk. She heard the door shut her in at the same time she recognized the blistering scowl directed at her. Dear God, she was about to get fired. Her face blanched white, and she froze in the act of moving into the room.
David saw the fear hit the girl full force at the same time as an uncomfortable arrow of arousal hit him in the groin. Damn it! He needed to keep this professional. He didn’t need a goddamn boner fucking with his brain right now.
His eyes wandered up and down her length as he focused on what it was about her that kept screwing with his head. And his body. She was only of medium height, and she wasn’t reed thin like so many of the women he dated. This girl was full of curves. He figured she probably hated the fifteen or so extra pounds that clung to her frame. But, Jesus Christ, he didn’t. She was curvy, no question about it. Her tits were large and full and bouncy, and his fingers itched to sink into her hips and hold her as he slid between her thighs. He knew the ride would be a soft one. He’d fantasized about it more than a few times. He fought to bring his brain back into order and focused on the strained look in her eyes. “Sit down.” The arousal hardened his vocal chords and he grimaced when he heard the bark in his voice and saw her jerk in reaction.
Jenna stumbled to a chair in front of his desk, and collapsed into it. Her legs had barely held her up they were shaking so violently. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair and she couldn’t meet his eyes. She focused on the gold pen on the desk in front of him and tried to slow her breathing.
“I’m David Bennett.” His announcement was unnecessary and blanched any remaining color from her face as she tried to respond.
“Y-yes, sir.” Her voice shook as she lifted her face to his and tried to hold his eyes with hers. He wasn’t smiling, and his face was harsh and almost satanic, except for those dark, liquid filled eyes that held a beauty and depth that swallowed her whole. He was probably mid-thirties, she remembered how tall he was, and his shoulders filled out his dress shirt in a way that had her breath catching again. Really, Jenna? You’re about to get fired and you’re thinking about his shoulders?
The jacket of his suit was casually tossed on the couch a few feet away, and he had loosened his tie already and rolled up his sleeves to reveal thick wrists and muscled forearms glistening with dark hair. His face wore what looked to be a perpetual scowl, and try as she might, Jenna’s eyes dropped away from his.
“You overheard a private conversation, Miss Hardin.” His voice blasted her, and she nodded slightly in acknowledgment. “I guess I don’t need to tell you to keep it to yourself?”
Jenna knew he was waiting for her to respond, but she was too relieved by his opening gambit to speak yet. She had prayed this had nothing to do with her finances, and everything to do with making sure she didn’t repeat what she had inadvertently heard. “I h-haven’t told anyone. I won’t.”
“Thank you.” He picked up the pen and tapped it on the desk and Jenna sat still without saying a word while he continued to watch her with those penetrating eyes. Finally, he spoke again. “What you heard was accurate. I need a wife.”
He stopped speaking and Jenna knew she needed to say something, anything. She took a deep breath and reminded herself if she played this right she could be back at her desk inside of five minutes. “Why—why do you need a wife?” She was curious, but the relief she felt was too new to wonder much about his reasons and this strange conversation they were having. She looked back into his dark eyes and felt that damn impetuosity that always got her in trouble rearing its silly head. “Tired of doing your own laundry?”
He didn’t even crack a smile and a scary premonition slinked through her system.
He continued to watch her until finally he spoke. “I need a wife for stability. To solidify a persona of family values, to imply a conservative bent that people might otherwise miss if they are on the outside of my life looking in.” He punched the words out, then questioned softly, “Know anyone that could help me out with that?”
This guy needed help finding a wife? That in itself was impossible to believe. Her blood pulsed quickly through her veins as her mouth went dry and speech became almost impossible. Please don’t let this go where she thought it was going.
She tried to calm her nerves so she could answer his question and get the hell out. “I’m afraid not. I’m new to Cincinnati. I don’t have many girlfriends here yet.” She began to stand. She needed out of this room before he said anymore. “I’m sorry I can’t help you—”
“Sit down.” The demand was sharp.
She sat, her tummy clenching and the butterflies churning.
He continued to tap the pen on his desk as he contemplated her. “What about you?” Tap, tap, tap. “Did you mean what you said in the break room?” Tap, tap, tap. “You want to apply for the job?”
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 strugglin
g 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 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 hadn’t jumped 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 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 became 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?”
