Proposition (4 page)

He took her hand and kissed it. It was more a caress than a kiss.

“I swear I will not make love to you unless you’re ready and willing,” he stressed as he held her gaze, and stroked her knuckles with his thumb.

“In that case, we wouldn’t even have to go through the divorce after those two years,” she noted coolly and snatched her hand away.

“We wouldn’t?”

“A marriage that is not consummated is not a marriage,” she clarified. “In such cases, annulment is the easiest solution.”

He leaned towards her again, and spoke in a low, deep, resonating voice. “Do you seriously believe that you would manage to live for two years with me, beneath one roof without even the slightest temptation to sleep with me?”

She stared at his face for a long moment.

“Yes, I do,” she said at last and averted her gaze. It sounded unconvincing even to her. She didn’t dare lift her eyes, afraid to see his surely mocking expression.

“I’m glad that we’ve come to an understanding, sweetheart,” he said casually after a minute or so of awkward silence.

She gaped at him in utter surprise. He stood up, leaned over, and cupped her cheek.

“Thank you for the coffee and pie. It was delicious,” he brushed his mouth over hers.

Before she managed to protest, and push away from him, he picked up his briefcase, and walked towards the back of the apartment.

When the shock wound down, she jumped from her place and ran after him. “Wait!” she cried.

She caught up with him, when he was already almost at the door.

He turned to her and grinned. “Want another goodbye kiss?”

She rolled her eyes at his tomfoolery. “I haven’t agreed to anything and we certainly haven’t reached an understanding as you call it,” she informed him firmly.

He acted as if he hadn’t heard her. “My secretary will send you the details concerning our wedding. We’ll fly to Vegas on Saturday morning.”

“Are you deaf? I said no!” she almost screamed the last words at him.

He stared at her silently for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then he reached for the doorknob and left the apartment.

Chapter Four

Her first instinct was to run after him and quarrel, but she decided against it. She didn’t want to make a spectacle of herself in front of her neighbors.

She returned to the living room and saw the file with the pre-nup still lying on the table. Good God, he was serious about this. It wasn’t some weird game or a lame joke on his part. He did want them to marry.

In an attempt to distract herself, she started to clean off the table. She couldn’t understand his reasoning. She’d always thought him to be an intelligent and reasonable man. There was no doubt that he was a sharp businessman. He wouldn’t have achieved so much in such a short period of time if he hadn’t been smart.

He was definitely good-looking, with that tall, broad physique and blue eyes. His appearance made him handsome in what could be called a good old-fashioned style, like a guy from the advertising posters from the forties or fifties. Though, perhaps to some people, the lines of his face might lack the originality.

Jake Barry was an attractive, young, rich, and influential man. All those things made him quite a catch for most single women. For sure, he shouldn’t have much problem finding a woman who would agree to marry him and have his babies.

So why her? There was always a slim possibility that he wanted to get even because she’d refused to date him years ago. If that was the case, he was simply ridiculous, not to mention childish in his reasoning. His proposition was nothing more than plain manipulation. It could even fall into the category of emotional blackmail. He knew very well how much her father’s peace and happiness mattered to her. He used her weakest point.

There was one thing she was sure of; Jake Barry was a lunatic if he thought she would agree to his crazy idea of marrying him.

Amy loaded the dishwasher and set the right program. She leaned against the counter, her fingers went to her mouth, and she started to bite her fingernails. Jake’s offer was crazy and impossible to accept, but what if he was her only chance to rescue Carpenter & Sons? Amy firmly believed that she would manage to convince her father to gradually retire on the condition that he was sure the company was in good hands.

Carpenter & Sons was Thomas’s joy and life, not just a mere job one needed to perform to pay the rent, and sustain the family. Moreover, the company had been founded over eighty years ago, and during this time had written itself into the history of not only the town but also the entire state. People who worked there were true artists as most of the furniture was entirely handmade. Very often, whole generations of local families worked there.

She herself couldn’t imagine the factory to stop existing, or even worse to be taken over by some outsider who would probably change it into one of those places where assembly line plywood furniture was made. Most of her happiest childhood memories were connected with Carpenter & Sons. As a little girl, she’d come almost every day after school to the factory and with fascination, observed how the furniture had been made. Her father himself liked to make some elements. He could forget about the whole world while working with a piece of wood that later would become a part of a stylish vanity, or the frame of someone’s marriage bed.

Amy was afraid of one thing. She feared that Thomas’ heart would break if he witnessed the downfall of his beloved company.

Had she accepted Jake’s conditions it would have solved all their problems at once. But she would have condemned herself to the... arrangement. She didn’t even know what to call it.
Definitely it wasn’t that something she wanted and dreamed of deep in her heart; the union of two people devoted to each other; people who trusted each other completely and supported one another against the hardships of the outside world, lastly the people who wanted to be together and spend their life together.

She frowned. Perhaps it was better to accept the fact that her youthful vision of love was a far cry from the real world. How many marriages like that did she know? Not many, perhaps her co-worker, Laura’s marriage was close to that. She’d met Laura’s husband and really liked him. He was like a huge teddy bear, and they had two great kids. So perhaps it was possible, but rare. She had once burned herself with Michael, who obviously hadn’t cared for her enough to take a risk to be with her.

Her stomach growled loud enough to turn her thoughts on more everyday life matters. She hadn’t eaten anything substantial since yesterday morning. She opened the fridge and didn’t find much there. She needed to buy some groceries. First, she would wash her hair. It would dry on her way to the grocery store, she decided.

About an hour later when she was trying to decide between the three different kinds of lettuce for her salad, her mobile rang. She flipped it open, to see her father’s phone number.

“Daddy?” She smiled warmly. “Everything all right? How are you feeling?” she asked.

As she listened to her father, her smile started to vanish.

“But Daddy, who told you that?” She listened carefully at his answer, then said, ““Jake himself?”

She stared at the vegetable in her hand, while her father kept talking.

“No, Daddy of course I’m happy.....”

She didn’t know what to say or how to answer her father. Her father seemed to be over the moon with the news Jake had presented to him, behind her back, and without her knowledge, not to mention her consent.

“Yes, I know he’s a good man.” she said, her throat tight.

Her tone must have alerted him because he asked if something was wrong. She swallowed hard and made herself speak in normal voice, trying to get a grip on herself. The last thing she wanted was to upset her father, especially now, in his present condition.

“No...” She shook her head. “I’m only surprised, that’s all. It all happened so suddenly and.....” she swallowed. “Listen Daddy, I have to finish now but I will call you later. Ok?”

She switched the phone off, left the basket with all the produce she’d picked earlier, on the floor just where she stood and ran out of the grocery store, straight to her car waiting outside. Less than half an hour later she reached the headquarters of Barry Contractors. It was sheer luck that some police patrol hadn’t stopped her.

She left her small car just outside and ran into the building, straight toward the elevator. She ignored the receptionist and security workers who called after her to stop.

She got off the elevator on the tenth floor and walked straight to the office she’d been in yesterday.

Marcia was behind her desk, and by the time she got out of it, Amy had already entered the room.

“Miss Carpenter, you haven’t an appointment,” Marcia protested from behind her back.

“No, I haven’t. But I must see him,” Amy stressed as she turned to the woman. “Where is he?” she asked, her eyes searching the empty room.

“He’s in a meeting.” Marcia sounded polite but at the same time determined. “A very important one,” she added seriously.

Amy took a deep breath. She needed to calm down. None of it was the assistant’s fault. She shouldn’t take it out on the poor woman, who was just doing her job, by being rude to her.

“Could you please tell him that I want to see him now?” she asked as politely and calmly as she could muster at that moment.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible now,” Marcia answered, mimicking her tone. “But I am sure that Mr. Barry will contact you as soon as he’s able to.”

“Please, I must see him now. I really can’t wait.” Amy gave the other woman a pleading look. “I must talk with him.”

Marcia was like a rock. “I really want to help you, Miss Carpenter, but he’s with very important clients.” She leaned forward and added with a degree of confidence. “It’s about a major deal in building a new sports centre.”

It was Amy who relented first. “In that case, I shall wait.”

“But it’s only just started,” Marcia protested gently. “It may last for several hours.”

“Still, I would like to wait.” Amy was determined not to move from the place before having a good talk with Jake Barry.

“Yes, of course.” Marcia smiled at her. “May I offer you something to drink?”

Amy shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“I am sure that Mr. Barry will have nothing against you waiting for him in his office.”

“No, I prefer to stay here.” Amy inclined her head in the direction of the small sitting area.

Marcia nodded and sat down behind her desk. Amy sat in a comfortable chair under a big green tree planter, and took a magazine from the pile in front of her. She pretended to leaf through it, but in truth she was looking around carefully. She wanted to guess which doors led to the conference room. If he wasn’t in his office with his clients then he should be in the conference room. That must be the double door, she decided after a moment. She glanced at  Marcia. The woman had returned to her own work and appeared to be completely engrossed in some documents. Amy seized the moment when the assistant was on the phone, and sprinted to the double door, opened them with a bang and marched inside.

There were more than ten men at the long dark conference table and Jake presided over them.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Barry, I’ve tried to explain to Ms Carpenter that you’re busy, but she refused to listen to me,” Marcia cried, slightly out of breath from behind Amy’s back, her voice lacking its usual calm quality.

Jake stood up and moved toward them. From what Amy could observe, he didn’t look angry because of the interruption. On the contrary, he walked to her, took her arm gently, and asked with a warm smile, “What are you doing here, Amy?”

She stared at him incredulously. He actually dared to ask her what she was doing here after all that crap that he’d told to her father. Was he making an idiot of himself or her?

“It’s all right, Marcia.” He inclined his head toward his assistant. “Thank you, I’ll take care of her.”

The woman nodded with what Amy thought was huge relief, and closed the door after herself.

Before Amy managed to say anything, Jake clasped her hand into his, and pulled her closer to the group of men who sat at the table.

“Gentlemen, may I introduce you to my fiancée, Amelia Carpenter?” he asked, and she could swear there was a genuine pride in his voice.

She blushed instantly, not so much because he’d called her his fiancée, but because she suddenly became painfully aware of the fact that she must look a fright. She wore old faded jeans with a hole on the knee and a tank top, a good outfit to shop for groceries, but not to be introduced to a bunch of prominent entrepreneurs as someone’s wife-to-be. She was of course without any make up, at all. Even worse, she was positive that her too long hair had gone wild, as it’d been still wet when she’d left her condo earlier in the morning. To cut things short, she stood there, in front of all these men, among whom at least three she recognized as her own father’s business associates, looking like some crazy hippie.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened, inclined her head towards the men, and smiled at them. To her surprise, all of them smiled back at her. She turned to Jake. “I need to speak with you,” she said quietly. “Now,” she stressed.

He smiled strangely at her, and his hand wrapped possessively around her waist. He leaned over and whispered into her ear, but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“You know I always want to speak with you as well, but this meeting is very important. My guests came from far away. I will take care of you later.” He bent his head and nuzzled her neck. “I promise.”

Amy opened her mouth to answer him when a chuckle came to her. She looked around. The men smirked at one another and exchanged amused glances. This time she went as red as a beetroot. She realized what they thought of Jake’s words to her; they thought that the main reason for her sudden visit was of a far more intimate nature.

“I can’t wait,” she insisted, embarrassment flooding her.

“Gentlemen, will you excuse us for a moment?” Jake asked his guests.

All of them nodded in unison, and Amy was pretty sure that one of them murmured wistfully something about being young again.

She let him lead her to the side door. As he opened it, he whispered, “Wait for me in my office. This should end in an hour or so.”

He kissed her on the cheek, pushed her gently inside, and closed the door in front of her before she managed to say a word. All she wanted to do was kick this door back open and later, kick him. She didn’t do that, of course.

She glanced around the room with a resigned sigh. She recognized it as the same office she had visited yesterday. Somehow she hadn’t noticed that it was connected with the conference room when she’d come here yesterday. Perhaps she’d been too nervous to notice.

She had little choice, but to wait for him. She wasn’t going to go back, and demand an explanation from him in front of all those strangers. She’d already made a complete idiot out of herself, and didn’t fancy repeating it again.

Still she was determined not to leave the place until Jake Barry answered questions. Although, she couldn’t think how he could explain his behavior in a reasonable way. He had absolutely no right to tell her father that they were getting married. And the worst of it was that her father was delighted with the idea, judging from his enthusiastic tone when he’d talked with her on the phone. He’d seemed so happy and optimistic, and so relieved. How could she tell him, now, that it wasn’t true? He’d be so disappointed.