Hired Bride (16 page)

“Your engagement, silly. Your family shouldn't have to learn of it through the grapevine. Goodness, Zane—”

Stunned, Zane broke in. “My engagement?” His mouth went dry as he tried to make sense of this. Like every town and city in the country, San Antonio had a thriving grapevine, but how would something said by Jack Lafferty—he was the only one who could have started this rumor—reach Vanessa's ears?

“Your engagement to Gwen. Now I happen to think very highly of Gwen, but one or both of you should have let Dad and the rest of the family know how serious your relationship was becoming.”

“Uh, how did you come by this news?”

“How did I come by it! Apparently I'm one of the last to hear that my brother is getting married, because the whole town is buzzing. Three of my friends called to talk about it, and the finale was receiving a call from that society columnist newspaper snoop, Maureen Hardeman. I told her that it was your business and that she should phone you if she wanted details. Hasn't she called you yet? Well, I'm sure she will. Zane, I simply do not understand why no one in the family knew anything about this until I called them.”

“You talked to Dad?” Zane said weakly.

“And everyone else I could reach by phone. I finally decided to stop circling the issue and talk directly to you. When, exactly, did you and Gwen become engaged?”

Zane was thinking fast, or trying to. The whole city had him and Gwen engaged. Did Gwen know? Had she heard the gossip? He had to talk to Gwen about this before discussing it with anyone else, and that included his sister and even his father. Certainly he wasn't going to take any calls from Maureen Hardeman or any other reporter.

“Vanessa,” he said quietly, “the reason I haven't talked to the family is that nothing's definite.”

“Are you saying you're
not
engaged?” Vanessa sounded shocked and disappointed.

“I'm saying that nothing is definite,” Zane repeated as firmly as he could manage, which came off pretty well considering his erratic pulse and internal upheaval. What had Lafferty done, bought a spot on the evening news to broadcast his daughter's engagement? Damn the man! He'd promised to keep quiet, but he'd obviously done some heavy-duty blabbing.

“Well, answer me this,” Vanessa said sharply. “How does a rumor like this one get started if there's no truth to it?”

“Now you sound angry,” Zane muttered, and then hastened to soothe his sister by adding, “Vanessa, you'll never stop gossip with anger. People have always loved to talk about the Fortunes, and they probably always will. You know that as well as I do.”

“And that's all there is to it? Zane, are you telling me everything? You have been seeing quite a lot of Gwen, haven't you? And you did bring her to several family functions, you know. Zane, have you and Gwen talked about marriage? Maybe she told someone and that's how the rumor got started.”

“No, neither of us has even mentioned the word,” Zane said flatly. “And if we had, Gwen's not the type of woman to let the whole world into her personal life.”
It didn't come from her. It came from her dad! Why didn't Jack keep his word?

In the next instant Zane knew precisely why Jack hadn't kept his word. He was too thrilled and proud that his daughter had drawn the attention of a Fortune to keep it to himself—hardly an unforgivable offense.
And possibly, taking it one step further, Jack Lafferty would have been just as thrilled if his hardworking, spunky daughter had caught the attention of
any
decent guy. The Laffertys probably worried a great deal about their widowed daughter and their three little grandchildren.

“Listen, Vanessa,” Zane said, “I have to run.”

“All right,” Vanessa said with a quiet sigh. “Thanks for taking my call.”

After hanging up, Zane stared blankly out a window. If the city was “buzzing,” as Vanessa had said, then the gossip would eventually reach Gwen's ears. Maybe it already had. Maybe it was the reason she'd called off their date last night. It would be an awful blow for a woman to hear that the town had her engaged to a man who had never even hinted at anything permanent between them.

“Damn!” Zane mumbled as he got to his feet. He grabbed his suit jacket and strode from his office to Heather's desk. Pulling on his jacket he said, “I'm leaving for the day. Please tell David Hancock to take over, and tell anyone else who might be looking for me that I can't be reached. Also, you might be getting some calls from reporters. Get rid of them. I'm not interested in interviews or anything else.”

“You plan to be completely out of touch for the rest of the day?” Heather asked.

“Totally. I'll see you tomorrow.”

Zane walked out.

 

Gwen was so on edge after leaving her parents' home that she drove straight to her own. Humiliation over her dad's going to Zane and asking his intentions tangled with curiosity over Jack's interpretation of the
event.
So he could tell me that he wanted to marry you, of course. Why else?

Why else, indeed? Why had Zane talked to her father in such a personal manner and then said nothing to her about it? For that matter, why hadn't Zane mentioned her father's visit? How dare the two of them discuss her and then not have the courtesy to tell her about the meeting? She was not a witless child, dammit!

Zane Big-Shot Fortune had no right at all to intrude on her little world and make her fall in love with him. Oh, yes, it was all his fault that she loved him, the rat. How could a woman like her
not
fall in love with a man like him? He should have left her alone.

Her head had started aching, and she knew the pain was caused by the tension in every cell of her body. Gwen fell onto the sofa and lay with one arm draped over her eyes.
Why did Zane tell Dad he was going to propose?

She was still lying on the sofa, still angry, unhappy and disgusted, when her front doorbell rang. Slowly but with sudden anxiety, she lifted her arm from her eyes. It could be one or both of her parents at her door; it could be someone from the neighborhood who had seen her come home; or it could be a stranger—a salesperson perhaps. But something, an inner voice, told her it was Zane.

The anger she'd carried home with her brought her to her feet. She hadn't anticipated talking to Zane this soon, but maybe it was best. It had to be done, and she needed to be free of him and his persuasive ways. And, by heavens, this time she was not going to be influenced by his good looks or charm! This was it. The end. And the quicker he got the message, the better off she'd be.

E
ven though Gwen had known in her soul who was at her door, and even though she had approached the door with a nervous energy borne of anger and humiliation, when she actually saw Zane face-to-face and registered his remorseful, downcast expression, she experienced a strong sense of sympathy for him that came close to shattering her resolve.

“Gwen,” he said sadly, taking in her pale complexion and the terrible disappointment in her eyes. “You know, don't you? Will you let me explain what happened?”

The sympathy faltered, and her mind became active again. She couldn't be soft about this. She'd been treated as a pawn, by Zane and her own father, and immediate forgiveness simply wasn't an option. She would have to get over it with her dad, just because he
was
her dad and had always been there for her. Things might be awkward between them for a while, but family bonds were not easily broken.

Zane, however, was a whole other ball game. They had no bond at all. Their one area of common ground was an insult to her sense of respectability. He'd barged into her little world without finesse or tact, and if she had encouraged him in any way it was because he was a daunting, overwhelming person and she'd
had no experience whatsoever with a man of his nature and stature.

“I have only a few things to say to you,” she said dully.

“All right, I agree that you deserve your day in court,” Zane said slowly, “but may I come inside for the proceedings?”

Gwen didn't have to think about that request for long. She didn't trust Zane. And could she even trust herself when he'd proved again and again that she was definitely the weaker sex where he was concerned? She'd let things go much too far with Zane Fortune, and it was not going to happen again. Her heart was already broken; she didn't need it crushed into a million irreparable pieces.

“No, I don't think so,” she told him.

“Gwen, we really do need to talk about this,” he pleaded. “I should be entitled to present my side of it.”

Her voice rose slightly. “Entitled? Do you actually have the gall to make reference to a person's rights? Were you thinking of
my
rights when…?” She shut her mouth tightly, though her eyes were practically shooting daggers at him.

“I don't intend to get into a debate with you,” she said icily. “I don't want to ever see you again, and to ensure that, I'm giving you notice here and now that as of this moment your arrangement with Help-Mate is canceled.”

Ignoring his stunned expression, she took a step back and started to shut the door, but then her gaze went beyond Zane to a blue minivan pulling up to the curb directly behind Zane's car. An attractively dressed woman got out; she smiled and waved, as
though she were an old friend, then headed across Gwen's front lawn toward the house.

Gwen vaguely noticed that a young man also got out on the driver's side, but he merely walked around the minivan and stood there. He seemed to be holding a camera.

Zane turned to see what was going on behind him and groaned out loud, startling Gwen. By that time the woman had reached the small stoop, though she remained standing on the grass.

“Hello, Zane,” the woman said with another big smile. “And this lovely lady has to be Gwen Hutton. Gwen, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Maureen Hardeman, and I'm a society news columnist with the
San Antonio Daily Star.
”

“I…I've read your column for years,” Gwen stammered, while wondering what on earth a well-known journalist was doing here.

“Have you really? How nice. I always enjoy meeting a fan.”

Zane could tell that Gwen was mystified. But he wasn't. He'd had this tenacious reporter on his tail before, and he knew outright rudeness was really the only thing she understood.

“You're not getting an interview from either Gwen or me,” he said brusquely. “So you might as well pack yourself back into that minivan and get moving.”

Gwen gasped. “Zane!”

“Since Zane is throwing attitude around, I'll address my questions to you, Gwen,” Maureen said, shooting Zane a dirty look, then smiling at Gwen.

“Questions?” Gwen echoed uneasily. “I don't understand.”

Maureen pulled a notebook and pen from her large
shoulder bag. “Of course you do, dear. Have you and Mr. Fortune here set the date yet?”

Zane saw Gwen's skin go even paler than it had been. “Is
that
why you're here?” she asked weakly.

“It's exactly why she's here,” Zane growled. “I'm not going to be a part of this, Gwen, so I'm leaving. You shouldn't be, either, but I guess that's up to you.” He took the stairs to the lawn, then noticed the young man with the camera sneaking furtive shots of Gwen's house.

Gwen just happened to see the same thing at the same moment, and she didn't stop to think but instead rushed pell-mell down the few stairs, shouting, “Stop taking those pictures! How dare you intrude on my privacy?”

She tripped on something, tried desperately to regain her balance, got twisted up in her own feet and somehow ended up flat on her back, dazedly staring up at the sky. But she only saw cloudless blue for a moment. When Zane had seen her heading for a fall he rushed forward to save her, tripped himself and landed right on top of her.

“Get that shot!” Maureen yelled gleefully, and the
snap
and
whir
of the camera as the photographer took shot after shot seemed to deluge Gwen's brain. “Thanks, Zane,” Maureen called cheerily as she and the young man climbed into the minivan and drove off laughing.

Zane looked into Gwen's eyes. “You're going to be in tomorrow's society section of the
Daily Star,
” he told her. “We both are, and it's not going to be a flattering picture. Can you deal with it?”

“Do I have a choice?” Gwen pushed at him. “For crying out loud, get off me!” Freed from his weight,
she got to her feet and brushed dry leaves and grass from her clothes. Then she turned on Zane. “You have brought me nothing but trouble from the day we met. I told you to leave me alone. I told you I don't date. Do you ever pay attention to anything anyone says? Don't bother to lie about it, I know you don't. You think you can do whatever strikes your fancy, never mind how someone else might feel about it.”

He didn't like the deadly calmness of her voice. It gave a finality to her words that screeching at him never would have. He realized that he was losing her, right here on the front lawn of her home, before God and any neighbors that might be watching.

It was a completely unacceptable, devastating thought, and at that moment he knew he loved her, that he was
in
love with her. Madly, wildly in love. Gwen was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and yes, her three kids were in that picture too. Not only that, he'd like to have children of his own.

Was this how it happened? he wondered in awe. One moment doubtful, the next so certain that a man felt thunderstruck?

He cleared his throat in preparation of telling Gwen his thoughts. There was no way, after all, that he could keep this from her. He didn't even take a few seconds to plan an opening, he just plunged right into it.

“I told your dad I wanted to marry you, if you would have me. I'm asking you now.”

Gwen wondered if she'd hit her head when she'd tripped and fallen, and now she was imagining things.

“You're staring,” Zane said softly. “Did I shock you? Scare you? Tell me what you're thinking.”

She started crying. “You're always doing that.
Whenever I tell you to stay away from me, you come up with something that…that makes me sound silly. And foolish. And…and immature. And I'm not silly or immature. Or I wasn't until I met you. Now I don't know…what I am. Or even
who
I am. All I know is that I'm not the s-same person I used to be.”

He took her hands in his. “That's because you're in love, and people in love behave strangely. I'm a perfect example. I didn't know my own mind until ten seconds ago, and now everything is so clear that I wonder what happened to the blinders that I had to have been wearing. Gwen, I love you.
I love you!
”

“No,” she moaned. “Don't say something you don't mean.” She tried to pull her hands from his, but he hung on tightly.

“I
do
mean it. I love you and want to marry you. For God's sake, don't shoot me down when I'm flying so high. You have to love me back, you just have to.” He ducked his head to be more on her level, and peered into her eyes. “Go on, say it. And if you can't say it because it isn't true, then say
that.
But I have to know one way or the other. Sweetheart, do I stand a chance?”

Even though her eyes were still spilling tears, her throat and mouth were suddenly dry. Surely he wasn't serious. “I…”

“Go on,” he prompted. “You what?”

With a desperate tug she managed to yank her hands free of his, and she started walking quickly toward her front door, which she'd left wide open.

Zane almost had to run to keep stride with her. “I know why you're going in now,” he said. “So I'll follow and we can make love.”

She spun around so fast that she saw stars for a
second. “Do you get a kick out of taunting me? Tormenting me?”

“If you weren't in love with me, nothing I could do or say would torment you, Gwen. Damn, it's great to finally see the light. Now I know why some of the things you said and did drove me crazy. I was in love and didn't know it. And I would bet anything that you're having the same problem this very minute.”

Throwing up her hands in a sign of absolute incredulity, Gwen continued on into the house. Zane was right behind her, of course. She hadn't even attempted to keep him from going in when she did.

After closing the door, she leaned against it, feeling weak and shaky and as though she were on an emotional roller coaster. “I…don't believe a word you said,” she finally got out. “I think you would say anything to—to keep me in line. To keep
any
woman right where you want her until you're through with her.”

“Even to propose marriage?” Zane let out a whoop of laughter. “Gwen, you obviously know nothing about my views on marriage.”

“I know that you've done your damnedest to avoid it,” she snapped. “The whole city knows it.”

“Thanks to people like Maureen Hardeman, the entire population of this city
thinks
it knows all of the Fortunes,” Zane snapped back. He gentled his tone. “But let's not digress. I
have
avoided marriage. More to the point, I've avoided marriage-minded women. But doesn't that very fact prompt an interesting question? Why didn't I avoid you, sweetheart? It's as obvious as the nose on your face that you're the marrying kind of woman, so why didn't I leave you be, as you
asked me to? The answer is simple, so don't strain yourself.” Zane grinned. “Isn't it?”

“You're the most egotistical person I've ever met!”

“Quite possibly,” Zane said agreeably.

“And you're spoiled rotten!”

Zane thought a moment. “Probably.”

“And…and you think every woman you meet is—is fair game!”

“As a result of your first two observations, that one is quite likely. However, we are discussing the
old
Zane Fortune, not the man standing in front of you today with love in his heart and a marriage proposal on his lips.”

“Oh, please,” she drawled, but try as she might she could not maintain the stern, forbidding expression she'd been holding since entering the house, and her lips twitched.

“Don't tell me!” Zane cried dramatically. “Could that be the start of a smile? Methinks it is possible.”

“Oh, for Pete's sake. What woman would want to marry such a hopelessly bad actor?”

“You?” Zane held out his arms. “Maybe?”

Tears sprang to her eyes as she stepped into his arms. “Yes,” she whispered. “I'm a sucker for bad acting.”

“Say you love me. I am not going to kiss you until you say it.”

“I love you, you big jerk. I've loved you since the day we met.”

Zane chuckled, then sighed contentedly. “Me too, sweetheart, me too.”

 

Gwen moved through the following days in a daze. As she said to Ramona, “It doesn't feel real. Why
would a man who could have any woman in Texas fall in love with me? I will probably never understand that.”

She said something similar to her mother when Zane drove her to the Laffertys to relate the good news. Lillian was appalled at her daughter's low self-esteem. “My goodness, Gwen, your father and I are so happy for you, and instead of counting your blessings you're looking for reasons why Zane shouldn't love you. Well, when I look at you, I see the many reasons why he does love you, and in my opinion he's a very lucky man that you fell in love with
him.
”

Gwen's family and friends were ecstatic over her engagement, and when Zane began taking her to
his
family's homes to present his bride-to-be, no one gave Gwen any cause to doubt that the Fortunes, too, were thrilled with the liaison.

Regardless, when Gwen was alone she trembled with uncertainty. Not because she didn't love Zane, nor because she didn't believe in his love for her. It was the idea of becoming a Fortune that shook her very foundation. How did a woman who had squeezed every cent out of every dollar she'd gotten her hands on for most of her adult life make such a major transition?

The Fortunes' immense wealth was obvious in every home Zane brought her to. Gwen truly felt like the country mouse calling upon the city mouse. She saw such splendor in the expensive clothes and jewelry her soon-to-be relatives wore so casually and comfortably, and she tried to imagine herself graciously hostessing a dinner party in a fabulous dress, and carrying it off with style and panache while making her guests feel completely at ease. It simply didn't
compute, and the awful thing was that although she knew she should talk to Zane about her fears, she couldn't quite bring herself to do so.