Proposition (5 page)

Amy knew that her father was worried about her and, in his opinion, the rather lonely life she led. For some time he’d gotten into his head the strange idea that he must see her safely married to some decent guy, the sooner the better.

Jake Barry was exactly the kind of man her father wanted her to marry and have children. Moreover, more than once, her father had mentioned that he’d love to enjoy grandchildren in the near future. Obviously, he didn’t see Peter as the one who could provide them, which wasn’t surprising. Her brother always kept some girlfriend around, but never longer than for a few weeks. And there was no doubt that he knew how condoms worked. The first time Amy had found the shiny packets under his bed, he’d been a few days shy of fourteen.

She checked her watch. Only fifteen minutes had passed. She spotted a long leather sofa and sat on it with her legs curled under her. A few minutes later, she stretched out on it. Amy tucked her hand under her cheek as a cushion and twenty minutes later, she fell asleep.

When she woke up, the sun was considerably lower in the sky. The office windows were to the west and the warm light of the setting sun filled the room. Jake sat in the chair beside her and looked at her, his chin supported on his fist. He was only in his shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He’d loosened his tie, and the top buttons of his shirt were open. He looked tired, and at the same time ...vulnerable.

Amy shrugged away the last thought and lifted herself on her elbow. She rubbed her eyes and yawned when she noticed that she was covered with his jacket.

“What time is it?” she murmured.

“Almost five o’clock.”

“I’ve slept so long,” she groaned as she lifted herself to a sitting position.

“You really are a sleepyhead, aren’t you?” he asked warmly.

Amy glared at him. “I was tired, that’s all,” she said defensively in a cool tone. “I haven’t been able to sleep much lately. I’ve been thinking about Dad and everything. I told you.”

He kept looking at her without saying a word.

“You made a complete fool of me in there,” she reminded him grudgingly. “You gave them the impression that I stormed in there to have wild sex with you right on the conference table.”

He chuckled, and bent his head. Amy thought that she heard him murmur. “That’d be nice.”

She frowned in anger. “That’s not funny,” she muttered through clenched teeth.

His jacket slipped off her to the floor. She picked it up quickly, and placed it carefully on the backrest of the sofa.

“I recognized those men, some of them do business with my Dad,” she said. “They must now think me to be some cheap, lusty, shameless chit.”

“Amy, no one who knows you, or even saw you once, would ever think you cheap or shameless. Such a thing wouldn’t cross anybody’s mind,” he assured earnestly. “Don’t you know that there’s a quality in you that nothing can overshadow. If anything, they’ve probably thought we’re in love, that’s all. And that I’m one hell of a lucky bastard.” Ignoring her snort, he continued, “Marcia told you not to enter. It wasn’t very tactful of you, you must admit that. It’s was a very important meeting.”

She looked up at him with some remorse, but then she cried defensively. “What did you expect after calling my father with the news that I agreed to marry you?” she demanded. “You introduced yourself as his future son-in-law when you have no right to do that. You thought I would just sit at home and wait for you to pay me another unannounced and uninvited visit?”

He said nothing to this but averted his face.

“Look,” she sighed. “I’m sorry that I stormed into your important meeting like that, I really am. It wasn’t my intention to spoil your business meeting, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. When Dad called me, and told me how thrilled he was that I was marrying you, I just saw red and came straight here. But I do hope that I didn’t ruin anything,” she added quietly.

Lounging back in the chair, he appeared very relaxed. “No, you didn’t ruin anything. I would even say that you helped to break the ice. They started joking around that I would have an interesting married life.” He raised his eyebrows with a smile as he said the last words.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, really?”

“Amy, listen to me.” He reached for her hand. “Your father was very happy with the news. Not only because the company will be saved, but because you’ll have someone to take care of you. You must know that he’s worried about your future. He wants you happy, and protected, with your own family, a husband, perhaps children one day and not living all alone like now.”

“I like living alone!” She stood up, her hands curled into fists on her hips. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I can take care of myself, and I’m happy with my current life. I like it! Neither you nor my father have any right to interfere in my life, telling me how I should live it.” She paused, her breathing labored as she tried to gain control of her emotions. “Why are you doing this? All this nonsense?” she demanded after a moment when she regained her power to speak with some semblance of control.

He sat next to her, his hands joined together, resting on his thighs, while she hovered above him.

“Couldn’t you just simply help my father? I’m sure the company will make profits soon and...”

“It’s not about the money and the profits,” he said.

He stood up and moved past her towards the floor length window.

Amy stood for a few moments where he left her. “Why are you doing this?” she asked again, in a very quiet voice this time.

He shrugged his shoulders. He stood with his back to her, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his slacks.

“I told you, I want a wife and a family. My mother practically demands grandchildren from me almost every time she calls.” His voice sounded almost disinterested, emotionless. “I am thirty-four, and it’s high time. I always liked and respected your father. He was like a father figure to me, in some way making up for the father I barely remember.”

“So perhaps you should ask him to adopt you, instead of involving me in all of this,” she blurted, before she’d thought how it would sound.

She saw him still. She’d gone too far. Jake’s father died when Jake had been just a kid. Mrs. Barry had been a nurse, worked double shifts to support both of them, until Jake had been old enough to help her. Amy had met her only once, years ago, and found her to be genuinely kind. She knew, as well, from her father that Jake had bought a nice house in Florida for his mother, where she lived for the most part of the year, especially during the harsh Minnesota winters.

Amy walked to him. “I’m sorry,” she said softly and touched his arm.

Jake didn’t look at her, his gaze focused on some point in front of him. “I don’t want to be cruel, please believe me.” She let a miserable sigh. “I just don’t understand you. You say you like and respect my father, but at the same time you try to blackmail his only daughter into marriage with a total stranger. It doesn’t make any sense.”

He turned to her. “It does make sense to me,” he persisted, his eyes solemn.

“So, please enlighten me, because I don’t understand,” she cried as she lost her patience again.

“You really can’t guess?” he asked, and there was a kind of pleading expression and a new vulnerability in his eyes.

She only stared at him in confusion.

He sighed, closed his eyes, and started again, patiently. “You have wonderful qualities, even if you tend to underestimate yourself. You would be a wonderful wife to any man. I’d be an utter and total fool if I didn’t grab the opportunity before me.” He took her hands into his, stepped closer, and looked deeply into her eyes. “I do believe that our marriage can stand a chance and be successful.”

She shook her head, and freed her hands. “It’s crazy.”

“You’re repeating yourself,” he said tiredly.

“Because it is,” she insisted stubbornly.

“Look, give us a chance.” He moved closer again, and put his arms on her shoulders. “I promise to do everything in my power to make you happy, keep you safe.”

She bit her lower lip. “Perhaps we could start with going out together once in a while, to get to know each other better and later ...” she started hesitantly.

“No, I’ve had enough of waiting.” his voice sounded harsher now. “It’d take ages for you to make any decision. You agree to go with me to Vegas on Saturday morning to get married or it’s the end.” He took a deep breath. “No marriage, no help for your father.”

She didn’t say anything to this, but collected her bag, and headed toward the door.

His voice stopped her when she reached the door. “Think about this. You have a few days to consider everything carefully. I will come to pick you up at ten in the morning, Saturday.

Amy’s face tensed even more, her lips pressed in a tight line. She opened the door and marched straight to the elevator, ignoring Marcia who said something to her.

All the way down, she concentrated on fighting back the tears filling her eyes, but when she got off the elevator on the ground floor, she couldn’t stop them any longer, and allowed them to run down her cheeks freely.

She all but ran out of the building, but stopped in her tracks at seeing her car, hitched to the back of a towing truck disappearing round the corner.

“Oh, no,” she gasped.

“Was it your car?” A police officer stepped to her. “Ms?” he spoke louder, when she didn’t answer. “That’s your car?”

“Yes,” ” she said, her shoulders slumping.

“Here’s your ticket and the address where you can pick it up.” He handed her the paper. “You must’ve known no parking is allowed here.”

Amy lifted her hand to her face and dried the wetness from her cheeks. “Yes, I knew,” she sighed shakily. “It’s just, I wasn’t thinking when...”

She stopped as she heard the voice of the man who was the reason for all of this, calling her name.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked a little out of breath as he reached her side. “Amy?” he touched her arm.

“We had to haul the lady’s car away,” the policeman informed him. “She’s got the address of where to pick it up.” He glanced at Amy’s pale, tear-stricken face and turned to Jake, “You’d better put her in a taxi, she looks shaken,” he spoke in a lowered voice.

The men exchanged knowing glances between themselves, but Amy was oblivious.

“Thank you, officer. I’ll drive her myself.” Jake wrapped his arm around her.

The moment the policeman walked away, she backed away from him. “It’s all your fault!” she cried, tears gathering in her eyes again. “It’ll cost me a fortune to get my car back.”

He touched her arm, his voice gentle. “Don’t worry. I’ll get your car back and pay for everything.”

“I don’t need your help or your money!” She burst into new tears, and walked away from him quickly.

“Wait!” he cried, catching up on her. “Let me drive you home, or at least call a cab for you. You can’t walk all this way on foot.”

Amy didn’t stop walking, ignoring him until he crossed her way.

“Please, let me drive you home.” He put his hands on her shoulders. She stubbornly avoided his gaze. “I’ll be worried,” he added.

At last, she looked up to him. “Look, just leave me alone for now,” she said in a tired voice. “Please. I’ll be fine. I just want to walk for a bit and think everything over again. I don’t know, perhaps I’ll catch a bus later or something.” Her eyes locked with his. “Please.”

His hands let go off her shoulders and he let her go past him.

“I’ll be waiting Saturday morning in front of your building. Ten o’clock,” he called, but she didn’t turn back to him and kept walking.

Chapter Five

Amy sat in the comfortable, plushy, deeply cushioned leather chair, and the stewardess helped her to fasten her seat belt. She thanked the woman with a smile, and turned her head towards the small window to observe as the plane was taking off. Any other time, she would have been delighted to fly first class, and not economy, as usual, but today she wasn’t in the mood to enjoy the experience.

She stilled when Jake, who sat beside her, took her hand in his, and lifted it to his lips.

“I haven’t told you how happy I am that you decided to come,” he murmured as his lips lingered on the top of her palm.

She all but snatched her hand away.

“Don’t read too much into it,” she said sharply. “It’s only a business matter. Do you have the pre-nup with you?”

She could swear that she felt the wave of irritation and frustration building in him, but she didn’t care. The sweet and obedient bride-to-be was the last thing he should expect of her in this situation.

“Yes,” he said at last.

“Good. I want to read it one more time before signing,” she informed him, without even a single look in his direction.

She heard him reaching for his briefcase and then the rustle of papers.

“Here you are.” He gave her the file.

Amy took it, and started reading diligently, paragraph after paragraph, page after page, as she tried ignoring his presence.

“You’ve signed it already,” she noted coolly as she finished.

“Yes, all three copies.” He handed her the pen. She took it and very carefully signed in all of the necessary places, beside his signature.

“I understand that one copy is for me,” she more stated than asked, and when he nodded, she passed him two copies. She folded and put the third one neatly into her bag.

For the rest of the journey she made a point of neither looking at nor touching him. She stayed turned with her back to him, and stared out of the window the entire time.

The wedding would take place the same day in a truly lovely garden at the hotel where they would stay for the night. She admitted that for such a hastily arranged wedding, everything was truly perfect. She learned there would be beautiful flowers, a pianist, champagne, and a photographer, even a huge wedding cake. She was surprised that he remembered about her wedding dress. It was waiting for her on the bed in the suite he led her to after they checked in.

On first impulse, she thought to throw it out of the window, and say the vows as she’d previously intended, in jeans and the blue striped shirt she had on that day. But then she reminded herself that it was her own wedding after all. Shabby or not it was the first wedding in her life. As a little girl, she’d always dreamed about a wonderful dress, something in the style of Cinderella in the Disney movie. Over the course of years, her taste had changed and matured, but still a nice white dress seemed to be a priority. Besides, she knew her father would like to see the photos, and the bride in casual clothes would have been rather difficult to explain.

Not to mention that the dress itself, which for certain Jake’s assistant or someone else had chosen, was more than lovely, simple, but beautiful. Amy was curious whether it would fit and how she would look in it. When she put it on, she all but gasped. It fit her perfectly, like a second skin, and she liked the way she looked in it. It showed just the right amount of her delicate, freckled shoulders, and the tops of her breasts, gently hugging the rest of her form, especially enhancing her small waist. She knew she was being silly, but she could barely stop admiring herself in it.

Another huge surprise was when two women knocked at the door of the hotel room, just when she was trying on the dress. They came with a lot of beauty accessories, introducing themselves as a hairstylist and the make-up artist. Both of them were around her own age and in an hour they managed to change her into a completely different person. When she put the dress back on, which she’d removed so as not to ruin it as the women worked their magic, she’d barely recognized herself.

The hairdo flattered her features, and her face, quite surprisingly, seemed to look so pretty that it put her usually critical self in awe. Thanks to the skillful make-up her eyes seemed to be much darker, and appeared prominent in her small, rounded face. She sincerely thanked the women, who only smiled with satisfaction at her enthusiasm and wished her all happiness.

Amy knew that she shouldn’t enjoy all that dressing up so much. She forced herself to remember the circumstances, which led to this wedding. It cooled down her enthusiasm effectively. She was marrying a man she barely knew, a man who ruthlessly used her love for her father for his own interest. It sobered her, but she couldn’t stop one little smile when she caught her reflection in the mirror for the last time, before she left the room.

The ceremony was short, and after a few moments they were announced husband and wife. Jake leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She felt so unreal that she wasn’t even nervous. It was as if some strange woman had stood there in a beautiful dress as a bride and not her.

They posed for photographs for some time. She managed a few mechanical smiles, stiffening when Jake pulled her closer, his strong arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Later, he insisted on taking her to dinner, but she refused, saying that she was tired and would prefer to go to her room directly and rest. Her husband looked disappointed, but he escorted her to her room, kissed her on the cheek, and walked away.

She was a surprised that he didn’t try to... well to do something about the wedding night, perhaps try to push her into sleeping with him. After a moment, she shrugged those thoughts aside. Perhaps he was honorable enough to respect their agreement.

Alone in her room she walked again to the floor length mirror and started to admire herself one more time in her wedding dress. She knew that she acted shallow, but honestly, she hadn’t remembered ever looking so pretty. It was almost a shame to take the dress off, take a shower, ruining the unforgettably beautiful hairdo and make-up. But she could hardly sleep like this, with the eye shadow and mascara, not to mention having dozens of little hairpins in her hair.

She took the dress off carefully, and hung it on the closet door, so she could look at it later when lying in bed. She decided that a bit of relaxation was a good idea so she took a long bath, enjoying the huge whirlpool tub. After soaking for what seemed to be hours, which caused her skin to wrinkle, she wrapped herself in the big soft hotel bath robe. She slipped her feet into her own low heeled satin slippers, and walked out on the spacious balcony. Las Vegas by night looked incredible.

With her eyes closed, she enjoyed the cool wind on her face.

“Stargazing?” the deep soft voice rang just above her ear and two strong arms wrapped securely around her waist from behind. She didn’t hear him come.

“It’s you.” She turned into his arms, at the same time attempted to free herself from his embrace.

“Were you expecting somebody else?” he asked, his voice still deep and husky as he released her.

She tightened the robe belt around her waist, straightened herself and said, “I expect you to go to your room.”

“This is my room,” he informed her calmly.

Her eyes narrowed. “You must be kidding. You swore to me not to invade my privacy.”

“I am not going to sleep in a separate room, when I’ve just got married, making a fool of myself,” he said flatly, his voice deprived of the previous seductive quality. “I saw one of my business associates here. Such things spread quickly.”

“I don’t care,” she announced harshly. “I want you to leave me alone and go to some other room.”

“No,” he said, his face expressionless.

Amy gritted her teeth, and was about to defy him, but then she thought there was no point to it. He was stronger and bigger than she was, so there was no chance she could physically remove him from here. Creating a scandal by asking the security to remove him didn’t lie well with her. She hated scenes like that. Quarrelling with him wasn’t the best idea either. He was her husband after all, and had every right to stay here. And she knew how the confrontation would end, she in tears and hurt, probably with a major headache. Now she knew how he made all this money in such a short time. He was capable of ruthlessness if he was after something.

Defiantly she turned with her back to him, and stared down at the bright lights of the city. Telling herself that she wouldn’t cry, didn’t obviously work. She already sensed hot tears gathering in her eyes. She’d had enough of all of this. She had no strength left to fight him at every corner.

She jerked a bit when the strong arms wrapped around her again.

“Easy,” he murmured, as he pulled her against his broad chest. “Relax.”

Surprisingly she did. She let herself lean against him, and closed her eyes.

“Everything is going to be all right.” he crooned close to her ear, and rocked her in place. “You don’t have to fight me all the time.”

“But I do have to.” she contradicted defiantly, but it came out sounding miserable.

His hold around her tightened. “This only wears you down both mentally and physically,” he murmured, moved her hair to the side and kissed her neck.

She stiffened immediately and tried to back away from him.

He held her to him. “I only wanted to kiss your neck.”

Amy turned her head and looked up at him. “You promised that you would not...”

“Come on. It’s not exactly heated sex,” he teased her, “I just wanted to kiss you, touch you, there’s nothing wrong with that. You looked so beautiful today. When I saw you it was as if lighting struck me or something.”

Amy shrugged off the compliment. “It’s just make-up and my hair done differently.”

He kissed her neck again. “Did you like the dress?” he murmured into her ear.

“It’s beautiful,” she admitted reluctantly. “May I keep it?”

He cupped her cheek. “So you really do like it,” he murmured with a smile.

She rolled her eyes at the deeply satisfied expression written all over his face.

“I’m happy that you do,” he said as he pulled her closer, “And what a question is that? Sure you can keep it. It’s yours.”

“I must congratulate your assistant on her taste,” she said tartly.

“My assistant...” He frowned and added after a moment, “I chose it.” He sounded hurt.

“And you think I’ll believe that?” she asked, her irritation rising, “Let me go.” She tried to move away from him and remove his hands from her waist.

“No yet,” he whispered, leaned over, and captured her mouth with his own.

It was a gentle kiss. In comparison to the only man she’d ever really kissed, Michael, it was surprisingly innocent. She closed her eyes and let him kiss her more. She could always push him away, or slap him if he started trying something below her neck. To tell the truth she was rather curious. He had to have felt her acceptance because he turned her completely to him, and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into his body.

It felt nice, though the kiss was so innocent. He nibbled at her upper and lower lip, sucked at them gently. She sighed when he started kissing her neck again. That felt even nicer. Especially when she refused to remember who kissed her. She almost regretted the loss of his arms around her when he stopped.

“You’re tired.” He stroked her face with the back of his fingers.

Amy nodded. “I’ve slept so little for the last three nights. I’ve been thinking and thinking and I couldn’t decide.”

“It’s time to go to bed. You go change into your pajamas and straight to bed, understood?” he murmured and gave her a small push.

With a frown, Amy walked past him to the bathroom where she’d left her nightdress. When she came back to the bedroom, she purposively didn’t even look where he was. She slipped under the covers, scooted as far as possible to one side of the bed, and closed her eyes with desperation. Her attempts to fight her exhaustion and stay alert turned entirely fruitless. The stress of the last weeks took its toll, and she was fast asleep short minutes after.

* * * *

When she woke up the next morning, she found herself wrapped tightly into Jake’s body from behind. His face was in the crook of her neck, his breath ticking her skin, his heavy arm resting over her waist. She noticed he had very hairy legs.

Good God, had she slept like that the entire night? She hadn’t woken up even once to go to the bathroom.

She lifted herself gingerly on her elbow and peeked under the covers. They were both dressed, she in her nightgown, which unfortunately had rolled up to her waist, revealing her sensible cotton panties. She managed to pull her gown down, covering at least her bottom. He wore just a t-shirt and white cotton boxers.

Amy gathered her courage, counted to three, and glanced back at her husband. Her husband, how strange it sounded! His eyes were closed, face relaxed, but his light snoring, which she’d heard just after waking up stopped. Very slowly she tried to remove his hand from her waist to free herself, but the arm wrapped only more securely around her and he brought her back closely to his warm chest.

“Good morning, sweetheart. Sleep well?” he murmured in a thick voice. He nuzzled her neck and the bare shoulder, revealed by the loose neckline of her nightgown. “How are you feeling?”