A Convenient Arrangement (2 page)

“I know a lot of women, especially businesswomen and executives, who don’t want the complications of a relationship.” Leo walked to the counter, grabbed one of Nina’s ahi tuna crisps, and popped the appetizer into his mouth.

He was sexy even when he chewed.

“That explains the models, heiresses, and actresses we see you on TMZ with,” Nina said, setting the crisps onto a silver tray.

Leo smiled and little shocks danced over Gwen’s skin. She licked her lip and studied the appetizers. Leo was not a man to date, or become involved with, or to—her gaze slid toward his. He lifted one eyebrow and smiled.

Heat shot through every cell of Gwen’s body. But she could flirt, couldn’t she? They always flirted. In that friendly sort of you’re-a-friend-of-the-family-I-would-never-take-this-anywhere way.

“What about you, Gwen? You’re a business owner, very busy with your event planning, no time for a relationship. Wouldn’t
you
like an app where you could meet someone who wants a similar type of arrangement? A person that you could go to events with and have dinner with and maybe even”—Leo shrugged, raised his eyebrows, and shot her a wicked smile that made her toes curl and her girl parts tingle—“who knows? Take care of some of those,” his voice lowered, “more personal needs.”

“My God!” Nina said, an incredulous smile launching over her face. “Are you kidding? Is that working for you? That pitch? I mean granted, Leo, you’ve got the smooth looks thing going for you and the billionaire bit, but
that
, that’s your pitch to the ladies?” She shook her head and again rolled her gaze upward.

“I don’t know,” Gwen said, “I can see how it might work for him.” She shot Leo a smile. He nodded his thanks, an answering smile spreading over his face.

“I’m telling you,” he continued. “We’re billionaires now, but after this app launches, you might as well drop the ‘b’ and put a ‘t’ and an ‘r’ in front of that word.” Leo winked at Gwen. He turned and exited the kitchen.

“Sounds a little—”

“Incorrigible,” Aubrey laughed. “I’ve married into a family of incorrigible and gorgeous men.”

“Gorgeous, definitely.” Nina grabbed an oven mitt. “The funny helps with the whole god’s-gift thing, though, when it comes to the Travatis. If they didn’t have that sense of humor, then I couldn’t stand any of them. That’d be pretty damn tough, seeing as you’re married to one.” Nina opened the oven and slid a tray of crab puffs onto the rack. “Gwen, you wouldn’t use that app, would you?”

Gwen shook her head. “Probably not. I’d get my heart broken every which way. I’m holding out for real love—the kind with a proposal and a ring and a wedding and then the kids. Call me old-fashioned, but that’s what I want.” She picked up a tray of finished appetizers and walked to the kitchen table.

“Not old-fashioned,” Aubrey said. “I wanted that too.” She rubbed her pregnant belly. “Had to have a child nearly grown and a marriage fifteen years later, but I got what I wanted.” She smiled. “Worth the wait.”

“I guess casual works for Leo,” Gwen sighed. “He gets what he wants and has a new woman on his arm every six weeks.”

“I think the type of woman that Leo dates does want what he wants, a convenient arrangement,” Nina said. She washed her hands in the sink. “I’ll be interested to see how many other women in the world think that will work for them.”

Aubrey lifted a stack of linen napkins and walked to the table. “And to be fair, Leo is honest with them. They totally know what’s up going in.” She pressed her hand to the side of her belly. “Oooo.”

“You okay?”

Aubrey smiled and grasped Gwen’s hand. “Feel that.” She pressed Gwen’s fingertips to her round belly. “Must be from the hot chocolate I drank.”

A thud vibrated against Gwen’s palm. Her chest warmed and a smile broke over her face. “Amazing.”

“It is,” Aubrey said. “I can’t wait to meet the baby.”

“Who can?” Gwen added.

“You still refusing to find out the sex, sister dear?” Nina wiped her hands on a dish towel that hung from her chef’s pants.

“We’re going old school. Justin and I want to be surprised.”

“Damned inconvenient for the baby-gift-buying crowd,” Nina mumbled.

“You don’t have to wait much longer.”

“Just twelve more weeks,” Gwen added.

“Then it’ll be time to get that bun out of the oven.” The timer sounded on the stove and Nina pulled open the oven door. “But these are done now.”

Gwen laughed at the timing. Her life was brilliant and filled with nearly everything she wanted. Loneliness still pinched her insides, but she had good friends and a growing business and who knew, someday, maybe someday soon, she’d have everything she ever desired.

*

Gwen Fleming was not Leo’s type. Not. At. All. She was much too good-natured, with an easy smile and effortless charm. Gwen was rounder and fuller than the typical waifs he bedded, but then that was kind of a casualty of his lifestyle, wasn’t it? He’d found the typical woman who wanted a “convenient arrangement” was a certain type. Usually cool, aloof, and really looking to bed and head out. No commitment. No strings. He wouldn’t admit those facts in that kitchen with the gaggle of girls, but yes, a convenient arrangement did take a certain type of woman.

He walked into the living room, where his brothers and nephew had gathered, the TV blasting pop tunes. The rest of the partygoers hadn’t arrived yet; they had been invited to come closer to eight.

“How’s the new app coming?” Justin asked, handing Leo his usual whiskey neat.

“Business? Do we have to talk business now?” Devon asked. He threw a handful of wasabi peas into his mouth. Devon’s complaint didn’t surprise Leo. With a federal indictment hanging over his head, the youngest Travati brother undoubtedly wanted to think about anything other than work.

“We’re on schedule to launch.” Leo sipped his drink. “Looking at end of March.”

Anthony elbowed Justin in the ribs. “You have a launch then, too.”

Justin took a long, deep breath. “If all goes as planned, and I’m told it often doesn’t with babies, she’ll deliver on the twenty-ninth.”

“Names? Sex?”

“Possibly Nicolette for a girl and Nico for a boy.” Justin took a sip of red wine. “Nothing definite.”

“You still don’t know if it’s a boy or girl?” Anthony cocked an eyebrow at his brother, and Justin shook his head. “How’re you planning? How can you possibly plan when you don’t even know the sex?”

“Aubrey’s choice. She wants it to be a surprise, and since she’s the one who has to carry the ball for nine months, I figure it’s up to her.”

“One way to look at it,” Leo said. A shiver went up his spine. Carrying a baby and then caring for it? The little creature all mushy-faced and squalling. His brother and sister-in-law could call him to come visit on the kid’s first birthday.

“You look sick.” Justin nodded toward Leo.

“Just thinking. If men had to carry babies—” He shuddered.

“The human race would have died out long ago,” Justin finished Leo’s thought. “Don’t know how she does it, really. Watching her body change is amazing. Right now is the good part, though, the second trimester. Lots of energy, not too heavy. She says it gets really tough soon.”

“How so?” Anthony perched on the arm of the couch, an intent look on his face.

Leo tuned out his two brothers as Justin began to go on about cankles, sciatica, and stretch marks, Anthony chiming in with observations and questions. Really? These were men. Titans of industry. Billionaires. Now they were reduced to conversations about cocoa butter versus udder cream. Anthony, newly engaged, couldn’t wait to be a father. He animatedly turned the discussion with their eldest brother, Justin, to the pros and cons of home birth.

Jeez. This was pathetic. Give Leo a football game, some rugby, and some beers. He certainly hoped the baby-making craze that had infected two of his brothers wasn’t catching, because if so, Leo needed to find a vaccine. The scene in the kitchen was testament to what happened when a man married. Eight months ago there had been four brothers. One fell, and now there were four brothers, a sister-in-law, her sister, her best friend, her father, a nephew, an as-yet-to-be-determined niece or nephew, a soon-to-be sister-in-law, and that soon-to-be-sister-in-law’s grandmother. Leo didn’t mind the additional men so much—in fact he downright adored his nephew—but all those women? Too much estrogen. He sighed.

He appreciated women from a distance, as though they were a separate, specialized species that needed to housed away from the male pack. It wasn’t that he didn’t like them. He simply preferred his women on a more contained and scheduled basis, hence the Convenient Arrangement app.

“Leo, did you hear me?”

Leo turned away from the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the Manhattan skyline at the sound of Justin’s voice.

“Sorry, thinking about the launch.”

“The party. Did you ask Gwen to plan the launch party?”

Leo waved his hand and nodded. “Of course, and I’m going to convince Nina to do the food. No use fixing a wheel that isn’t broken. I mean, Nina’s food?” He scooped up one of the crab puffs his nephew Max had pirated from the kitchen, which they had been specifically instructed not to eat before the party, and devoured it. “Gwen killed it at the Teddy Bear Luncheon. I’m sure she’ll do the same for the launch.”

“Should we consider bringing her in-house?” Justin asked. “We’ve got quite a few events lined up, particularly with Aubrey working with the foundation and fundraising.”

In-house. Leo liked the thought of having Gwen in-house. She’d be around the office in those lovely little black skirts she wore and her high heels and the sweaters. Yes, she wasn’t his usual type, but she was a lush beautiful type indeed. No way he could do more than look, though. Gwen was too close to home, and from her blush in the kitchen she wasn’t the demographic for A Convenient Arrangement. Much too old-school where relationships were concerned.

“Shelly’s convinced Gwen to do the wedding,” Anthony volunteered.

“She’s planning Aubrey’s couples baby shower,” Justin replied.

“And a bridal brunch too,” Anthony added.

Oh for fuck’s sake. So this is what an infestation of estrogen did to men? Please God, save him now. They’d gone from udder cream to bridal brunches and baby showers? What next? Baby burping techniques?

“Any football on?” Leo asked, lifting the remote from an end table. He pointed it toward the flatscreen. Perhaps seeing men beat the hell out of each other would remind his brothers that they were indeed men. Men with testicles and manly thoughts, not nursemaids who planned parties.

“That’s kind of loud,” Anthony said. He squinted at Leo. “We’re talking about pain management for the birth.”

“Oh really?” Leo said and turned up the volume.

It was nearly nine when Gwen rounded the corner from the kitchen with another tray of crab puffs in her hand. The party guests in Aubrey and Justin’s penthouse living room chatted and laughed. Not a huge crowd. Family with a smattering of close friends. Gwen knew all of the people present, thanks to Aubrey treating her like family.

Mrs. Bello, Shelly’s grandmother, sat in a leather wingback chair near the fireplace with a plate of ginger cookies on the table beside her. The spot allowed Mrs. Bello to see everyone and everyone to see her. Anthony stood near Shelly, the two of them canoodling. He whispered in her ear and Shelly laughed, her blonde hair glinting in the light. They’d returned from San Francisco the day before and were now engaged and happy. Shelly glowed with a strong comfort she’d not had leading up to the holidays.

Max, Aubrey and Justin’s teenage son, stood at the back of the room with two friends. The boys were tall, with an awkward gawky adolescent stance, wearing their growing bodies like ill-fitting clothes. Max was all Travati. He looked just like a younger version of Justin, except for his eyes. Max definitely had his mother Aubrey’s eyes. Would the baby have those bright blue eyes? Stunning. Max was a good kid, and he seemed to be adjusting well to having a full-time dad, the idea of a new sibling, and a move from a farm in Kansas to New York. Such big life changes could have made him an impossible adolescent, but he wasn’t, he was simply a good gawky kid.

Gwen set the tray on the table in front of the couch. She straightened the cocktail napkins, making certain they were perfectly fanned. A party’s success, once the party began, was about details. Millions and millions of details. Her gaze darted across the room to where Devon, the youngest Travati brother, chatted up a smart looking brunette…was that Bianca Delmont? Her mother, Mrs. Delmont, had been Gwen’s very first client when Gwen started her event planning business. A baby shower for Mrs. Delmont’s niece, which had lead to a bridal brunch for Mrs. Delmont’s friend, then a wedding that led to a dozen weddings in the first two years Gwen had been starting out. If not for Bianca’s mother taking a chance on Gwen, she might still be toiling away at the bridal shop in the Village.

“Hey beautiful, how are those napkins holding up?”

The voice was a wished-for caress against Gwen’s skin. She turned. Leo stood behind her, drink in hand, with a typical flirty McFlirts-a-lot grin on his face.

“It’s not the napkins I’m worried about.” She leaned toward Leo and lowered her voice. “I just hope we have enough liquor,” she whispered.

“You’re kidding, right? Obviously you haven’t seen Justin’s private stash.”

“Private stash?”

Leo’s wicked grin widened. “If you’re a very good girl I’ll show you.” He turned, lifting his hand to crook his finger over his shoulder, beckoning her to follow.

Yee gads, her girl parts tingled with the simple thought of following Leo anywhere. This friend-crush she had on Leo was getting worse. She straightened the skirt of her dress and glanced about the room to check which pair of eyes, if any, might see her sneaking away from the party with Leo. While her girl parts might want more than just insight on Justin’s stash of booze, she knew booze was the only thing she’d be tasting. Her business depended on her relationships and the opinions of those she planned parties for, and she didn’t want anyone thinking… Her eyes darted toward Leo, now standing in the hallway waiting for her. Not that anyone ever would or could think that she, Gwen Fleming, was Leo’s type, but she didn’t want people speculating that she was involved with him.