An Offer He Can't Refuse (21 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Madison held her phone to her ear and said, “Only three more days until the three months are up, Jen. What am I going to do? Ever since the kids were here, Jackson has been acting strange and he’s working late again.”

“You need to ask him what’s going on. See where the two of you stand.”

“What am I supposed to say? Remind him that our three months are up and ask him if he wants to make a new deal?”

“That might just work!”

Madison rolled her eyes. “I’ve got to get to work.”

“Call me as soon as you talk to Jackson. And don’t worry. It will all work out.”

“Thanks, Jen. I’ll call you later.” Madison hit the off button on her phone. Today was the day. It was time to talk to Jackson. She loved him, and he loved her. And darn if she wouldn’t get him to admit it. On the other hand, if he told her he couldn’t handle being married—then such was life. She’d just have to deal with it.

She grabbed her purse and headed for work where she planned to head straight to Jackson’s office to have a talk with him.

Three hours later, Madison sat at her desk, drumming her fingers against the smooth oak, waiting for Jackson’s administrative assistant to call her and let her know when he returned from a meeting.

“Hey, what’s the frown about?” Jamie asked as he brought her more work.

Madison forced a smile. “Better?”

“Much.” Jamie handed her a file. “Would you mind taking this to that grouchy husband of yours when you get a chance? For some reason he’s friendlier to pretty women than he is to his own brother.”

“Is that right?”

“Well,” he amended, “only to pretty women he’s married to, that is.”

“Give it up, Jamie. You’ve already blown his cover.” She waved the file at him. “How important is this? I don’t think Jackson’s back yet.”

Jamie glanced at his watch. “He should be back by now. We have a meeting with Mr. Bingham in less than twenty minutes.”

“Another one?”

“Afraid so. And I have a feeling Bingham expects you and Jackson to give him your first born.”

Madison laughed. “I’ll see if he’s back.”

“If not, just leave the file on his desk if you don’t mind.”

The thought of giving birth to Jackson’s baby made her insides flitter. It was something she’d thought a lot about lately. Jackson had been so good with the kids when they were at the house. He’d make a great father.

As she approached his office, she noticed the door was ajar. His assistant was gone--more than likely left for lunch before Jackson returned. Madison was about to knock when the sound of Heather’s voice stopped her.

“I need those annulment papers signed today, Jackson.”

Annulment papers
? The file nearly slipped from her hands. Madison couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“If I don’t get the papers to Mr. Razzano by tomorrow morning,” she heard Heather say, “Madison’s going to get my inheritance.”

Madison kept hoping, praying that Jackson would laugh Heather right out of his office. But she didn’t hear him say a word in response.

Jackson had lied to her. For three long months, she’d been living a lie…a double lie. Knowing where they stood as temporary man and wife was one thing, but realizing Jackson had purposely set her up was quite another.

Handsome, charming, debonair—Jackson Lang in a nutshell. And he knew it. He had enough confidence to know she would pick him out of a room full of men.

Conceited, arrogant, egotistical. That’s what he was…and yet she’d given herself to him, openly and honestly. She’d given him everything. And all the while he knew he wasn’t going to be there for the entire three months. What took him so long? Why hadn’t he served her the annulment papers weeks ago? She still wouldn’t have had enough time to find someone else, and Heather would have gotten what she wanted. Did he just want to string her along for a few more days, a few more hours?

The worst part was that it all made so much sense: all the shared whispers between Heather and Jackson since she’d met him. He’d acted so stiff and peculiar whenever Heather was around.

Madison shook her head. It was all right there in front of her, but she’d been too “in love” to see the light.

Give me a break. Get a life, Madison.

How many times was she going to be jilted and betrayed before she woke up and smelled the roses?

What a fool she was. She put a trembling hand to her temple.

Heather had hired Jackson to marry her and then dump her before the required three months were up. It was too horrible to comprehend.

The desire to see Jackson’s face struck her, prompting her to peek through the partially open door. Jackson’s arms were clasped in front of him on his desk. She had a view of his profile. He had a pained look on his face, but then he turned to peer out the window behind him. Was he wondering how and when he was going to tell his naïve little bride that she’d been duped?

Madison felt suddenly calm. Disappointment caused her eyes to become as dry as the summer grass. With every beat of her heart, anger rose up to replace any misplaced sadness.

The idea that Jackson had known exactly who she was before she and Jen had ever approached him was incomprehensible. At least she had been honest with him. Not only had he known who she was—the arrogant, heartless man knew she was going to march across the bar that night and ask him to marry her. The thought made her sick to her stomach.

She went back to her desk to find her phone ringing. She sat down and began gathering her things with one hand while she picked up the phone with the other. The person on the other end was talking fast. Adam had run away. He’d been missing for twenty-four hours. Hastily, she gathered her things.

She heard footsteps and looked up to see Jamie approaching her desk.

“What’s wrong?” He looked genuinely concerned. She didn’t dare allow herself to entertain the idea that Jamie knew what was going on between his brother and Heather.

“I’ve got to go, Jamie. One of the kids from CFC has run away. Adam is only fourteen. He needs me.”

“You look pale—are you all right? Let me drive you.”

Fumbling inside her purse for her keys, she handed them to Jamie. “Here, these are your brother’s. I had car trouble this morning. Thanks for the offer, but it’s not necessary. Jen’s picking me up.”

~~~

“What do you mean she walked out of here and never came back?” Jackson’s stomach lurched.

Jamie straightened his silk tie. “She mentioned something about a missing kid and took off. What was I supposed to do, tie her to a chair?”

Jackson’s hands curled into tight fists. “Did she say anything else?”

Jamie reached inside his pants pocket and handed Jackson his keys. “She gave me these before she left. Said she was getting a ride with Jen.”

“This doesn’t make sense.”

Jamie thought for a moment before he said, “I gave her a file earlier today and asked her to take it to you. She came back looking deathly pale, but I assumed it was the phone call about Adam that caused the change in her. Did you get the file she brought you?”

With a sense of impending doom, Jackson gritted his teeth. “She must have overheard Heather talking about the annulment papers.”

Had Madison left him for good? He felt certain she had. He could sense it, like a dog sensed a change in the weather.

“I thought you were going to tell her about your absurd deal with Heather weeks ago?”

Taking a seat behind Madison’s desk, Jackson picked up the phone and called home. No answer. He leaned back, shut his eyes. “The time was never right.”

“Did you at least tell her how you felt about her?”

“No.”

Jamie made an irritating tsking sound. Then he said, “Maybe she’s just not picking up the phone.”

“I’ll go by the house and check.” Jackson stood. “Did she happen to say which kid was missing?”

Jamie tried to remember.

“Was it Adam?”

Jamie snapped his fingers. “That’s the one.”

~~~

Her room was empty, everything in its place. Jackson went to his bedroom next, the room they had shared for the past two months. Most of her things were gone. Her makeup bag, hair dryer…the only thing remaining was her lingering scent. He slid open the closet door. Her clothes were gone, too. “Damn!”

Making his way from one room to another, he pushed the buttons on his cell phone. Still no answer at her house. Her broken-down VW was gone. He walked into the kitchen and sat on one of the stools. He tried to think. An irritating tic started in his jaw.

He should have told her about Heather. Damn! He should have told her a lot of things. The thought of begging her to come back to him made his head throb. His life had been perfect before he’d met her, hadn’t it? No kids running around, all that peaceful quiet.

The phone rang. He snatched up the receiver. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Jamie. Is she there?”

“No.”

“Not to sound coldhearted or anything, but we can’t blow this deal now. I wanted to let you know that somehow Archer has enticed Bingham to look at his offer. They met this morning. It seems Bingham is weighing his options. We’ve got to sweeten the deal.”

“Archer gave Bingham a black eye, for God’s sake! Why would he even consider it?”

“I talked to Bingham’s wife,” Jamie continued. “Archer has been filling their heads with stories about you, telling them you’re not reliable—that you can’t be trusted. He told them how you’d left his sister in a jam and how you pulled the Wilson contract right out from under him.”

“Archer’s sister and I went on one date! And only because Archer harassed me until I agreed. As for the Wilson deal, Archer screwed that up all by himself!”

“I told Mrs. Bingham everything. Her hands are tied. It’s up to us to convince Mr. Bingham now.”

“Meet me in my office in twenty minutes,” Jackson ground out.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Jamie said.

“What’s that?”

“An old friend of mine, Jonathan Blake, was just here. Remember him from my old college days? Funny thing was, he mentioned seeing Heather in Las Vegas the other night. Said she lost thousands of dollars at poker in one sitting. What’s that about?”

“Must have been someone else. I’ll see you in the office.”

Jackson hung up the phone, went to the refrigerator, and grabbed a bottle of water. An unopened jar of mayonnaise caught his eye. For a moment, he forgot all about Bingham. Madison’s contagious laughter would be something he’d miss. The way she’d swing her hips and bat her eyes to catch his attention. It worked every time. His smile disappeared at the thought of never seeing her again. Why Madison? What was it about her that made him want something more?

And yet, he thought sourly, if she was going to walk away without talking to him, what would be the use of going after her? Married people needed to work out their problems, not run away from them.

But they weren’t really married, were they?

He slammed the refrigerator door shut. And he hadn’t exactly been up front with her. Their sham of a marriage was based on deceit. Stepping outside, he kicked a small rubber ball that one of the kids had left by the door. A small pair of shoes caught his attention. He picked the shoes up and examined them. Little girl shoes, faded pink, with a missing bow. Hard to believe there were feet small enough to fit in them. He set the shoes on the ground. Working the kinks out of the back of his neck, he reminded himself of how much he enjoyed living alone—how he thrived on peace and quiet.

~~~

“Cheer up,” Madison said to the kids huddled around the table in her cramped living room. “The police are doing all they can.”

But the truth was, she didn’t feel as brave as she sounded. It was Saturday. Adam had spent three nights outside alone all by himself. Where did he go?

With no breeze to speak of and no air conditioning, the August heat was unbearable. Using a wet towel, Madison wiped the perspiration from her neck as she made her way to the kitchen to watch Jen frost the cake.

“Where could Adam be?” Madison asked.

Jen set the knife down. “You said he’s run away before. Where did he go last time?”

“I don’t know. Sally and I found him walking towards home before nightfall on the very same day we realized he was missing.”

“You’ve been to all of his favorite spots: the arcades, Griffith Park, his best friend’s house. You’ve called every teacher and adult he’s ever come in contact with. Let’s wait until the police call with an update. Then we’ll figure out what to do next.”

Madison went to the window and peered out onto the street.

“Sure is a crummy way to celebrate your birthday,” Jen said.

“At least I’m surrounded by all the people I love best.”

“Except for Adam…and Jackson,” Jen reminded her. “Why don’t you give Jackson a call?”

Madison paused for a moment, listening to Erin reprimand Tommy for breaking all the crayons in half. “We had something good together, Jen, really good. But it’s over. He’s not ready to commit himself emotionally to me right now. I’m not sure if he’ll ever be ready.”

“You said he loved you, though.”

“I was wrong.”
Why couldn’t she have been right
? Being held in his arms felt right; his kisses felt right. If only the pangs in her belly would go away. Maybe then she could get a good night’s sleep and things could get back to normal. She was tired of seeing Jackson’s face in her dreams. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone?

“I can’t believe Jackson would have anything to do with Heather. She’s so sneaky, such a snake.”

“I don’t know what to believe any more, Jen. Obviously Jackson wanted to make Heather happy.”

“Donald Trump couldn’t make Heather happy!” Jen spouted. “If Jackson has the marriage annulled, I’m going to go right over there and knock him senseless. I didn’t take all those karate lessons for nothing.”

Madison cracked a smile. “Don’t you dare.”

Jen peeked into the family room. “Look. They’re making presents for you.”

At the sound of the doorbell, their gazes locked. Madison walked briskly to the front door, praying she’d see Adam on the other side.