To Catch a Man (In 30 Days or Less) (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (3 page)

Tessa burst out laughing.  “You mean
Gorilla George from New Orleans?  From what you told me he's three times your
size and twice your age.”

“Yeah,” Indie said with a shake of
her head, “but he’s available.”

Tessa glared at her.  “We’re
desperate but not that desperate.”  Then her look softened.  “Don’t you know
anybody?  What about an old boyfriend?”

“I don’t have time for boyfriends.”

“Which is exactly why we’re in this
situation right now,” Tessa said, looking none too pleased.  “You’ve got to
make time for social life, Indie.  Life’s not just about saving the world. 
It’s also about love, and family and kids-”

“Okay, stop right there.  That’s
your idea of life, not mine.”

“You’re right.” Tessa’s shoulders
fell and she stared off toward the cashier.  Then, her mind obviously working
overtime, she turned back to Indie, an excited look on her face.  “I know
exactly where to find men who want to get married.”

Indie frowned.  Nothing good ever
happened when Tessa got that excited look.

“Where?”

“In a church, where else?  Men of
the cloth – not priests, of course – are always looking for good women to
marry.  And the men in the congregation, too, they're looking for wives, aren’t
they?”  She began to push the trolley toward the cashier’s counter.  “Come on. 
We’ve got some church services to crash.”

At that point Indie knew Tessa had
finally gone off her rocker.  “Stop.”

That brought the little blonde
dynamo to a halt.  She looked back with an expression that said Indie was the
one who had gone bonkers.  She put her hands on her hips.  “Okay, that’s it. 
I’ve been the one coming up with all the ideas and you’ve killed every one of
them.  There’s got to be even one man in this whole world who you like.  Come
on, woman.  Give me something to work with.  Anything.”

That made Indie pause and think.  One
man who she liked…

“Well,” she began, her voice
uncertain, “there is one man…”

“Thank you, Jesus.”  Tessa raised
her hands in an expression of praise then she ran to Indie.  “So, who is it? 
Tell me who you like and I’ll pull out all the stops to help you reel him in
even before the thirty days are up.  Who is he and where can I find him?”

“I remember his name,” Indie said
with a chuckle, “because it’s real funny. Gladstone Hudson.  Gladstone.  Can
you believe it?"  She was grinning now.  “Although he calls himself Stone
so he can sound more macho.  I have his address in my notebook.  It’s in the
car.”

Tessa frowned and cocked her head
to one side.  “Something's fishy here.  It sounds like you hardly know this
Gladstone fellow.”

Indie shrugged.  “Just met him
today.  In the car accident.”

Tessa opened her eyes wide.  “No. 
He’s the one who ran into the back of your car this evening?”

“The same.”

“And he’s the one you like?  But
how do you know you like him?  You spent all of ten minutes together.”

Indie shrugged again.  “All I know
is, he’s the only man I’ve ever met who made my heart race just at the sight of
him.”  Then she laughed.  “Of course, I never let on that he had any effect on
me.  I was cool as cucumber.”

 Tessa nodded as she stared at
Indie.  “I can bet.”  Then slowly her dazed look melted and the old Tessa was
back.  A mischievous grin tickled her lips.  “Okay, Miss Indiana Moon Lane,
let’s get on home and start planning Operation Catch Mr. Gladstone Hudson right
away."

And as she headed off to the
cashier, pushing the trolley as she went, Indie could only shake her head and
smile.  With Tessa Tyndale on the case Stone Hudson was going to be in for a
bumpy ride.

******

“Indiana Moon Lane.”  Stone said
the name softly to himself as he stared down at the blank page on which he’d
written the information.  A day had passed since he’d run into her – literally
– and he was just as intrigued now as he’d been when he first laid eyes on her.

And he was determined to see her
again.

It wasn’t just that he found her
fascinating – her boldness, her exotic look, her name.  For some reason he felt
that their meeting, although not under the most ideal condition, was meant to
be.  For a long time he’d been looking for someone like Indiana Lane and just
like that, when he hadn’t even been looking, she’d fallen right into his lap. 
Of course, he had no idea if she would agree to work for him but he intended to
make the proposal and do his best to convince her to come on board.

But first he had to call his
project manager.  Although it was just one-thirty in the afternoon in Ontario
it was already seven-thirty in the evening in South Africa.  He knew Jenna had
already signed off for the evening and he hated calling her so late but she was
so easygoing.  She never complained.  In fact, if he would be perfectly honest,
she spoiled him.

Jenna picked up on the third ring. 
“Yeah, boss?”

Stone chuckled.  “Didn’t I tell you
to stop calling me that?”

“Can’t help it,” she said, laughing
into the phone.  “I happen to enjoy teasing you.  What can I help you with,
Stone?”

“Good news.  I’ve finally found the
perfect person to replace you.”

He heard Jenna’s happy gasp then
the words came tumbling out in a breathless stream.  “Oh my Lord, that’s great
news.  Who is it?  When can he start?  Or is it a she?  Get them on the plane
right away because this baby is not gonna wait-”

“Hold on, not so fast.”  He
practically had to shout to get the words in above hers.  “It’s a her and I
haven’t hired her yet.”

Silence on the other end of the
line.  A full five seconds passed before Jenna spoke again.  “What do you mean
you haven’t hired her yet?”  Then, before Stone could respond she continued. 
“Oh, you’ve done the interviews but you just haven’t told her she’s hired.”

“No,” he said, dragging out the
word.  In her state he didn’t want to give her too many shocks.  “I haven’t
actually asked her yet.”

“What?  Stone, I’m going to have
this baby any day now.  You need to find me a replacement.  Like yesterday!” 

“I know, Jenna.”  He rubbed the back
of his neck.  Damn him for being such a perfectionist.  There were so many
other people he could have hired to cover for Jenna but no, he had to find the
perfect one.  And it had taken him this long to identify her.  He'd be up the
creek if he reached out to Indiana Lane and she said no.

“Don’t you worry your little head,”
he said, his voice sounding a whole lot more confident than he felt.  “I’ll be
back on a plane to South Africa in no time and I’ll have your replacement with
me.”

CHAPTER
THREE

“Oh… my…gosh.”  Tessa stared at the
computer screen, her mouth falling open.  “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.”

“What?”  Indie gave her a stony-eyed
look.  Tessa, ever the drama queen, was famous for getting all excited over
nothing at all. 

“Come here, Indie.  Come look at
this.”  Her eyes glued to the screen, Tessa waved Indie over.  “You’ve got to
see this.”

In no hurry at all, Indie laid down
the list she’d been working on – a list of tactics to snag Stone Hudson, no
less – and got up from the armchair then walked over to the computer desk where
Tessa perched on the edge of the rolling office chair.  If she wasn’t careful,
that thing would roll back and she’d find herself flat on her face.

Indie pushed Tessa’s chair closer
to the desk and set her foot behind the wheel so it wouldn’t run back.  Just
one more thing in her constant task of keeping her accident-prone friend out of
danger.  “What’s up?” she asked, as she bent down to see the screen.

Tessa reached out and turned the
screen so that Indie could have a better view.  “Is this the guy who ran into
you?”

Indie leaned forward.  “Yeah.  Is
he a criminal or something?”

“Did you know,” Tessa said in a
voice rising higher with each word, “that Stone Hudson is the owner of Hudson
Broadcasting Corporation?”

Indie jerked upright then fixed her
friend with a narrowed gaze.  “Get outta here.”  Tessa was a flighty one but
this story took the cake.

“No, it’s true,” she said, her eyes
wide.  “Look.”

As she pointed to the screen
Indie’s eyes followed her finger.  Wikipedia.  And the heading read. 
“Gladstone ‘Stone’ Hudson, chairman and CEO, Hudson Broadcasting Corporation". 
And there, staring back at her, was the face of the man she was busily planning
to catch.

“Well, hot damn.”  The words
escaped her in a whisper that was breathless with disbelief.  Who would have
thought…

“You know, we should have put two
and two together,” Tessa said, still staring at the screen.  “I’ve heard the
name Stone Hudson before.  Why didn’t it come to me that it could be him?”

Indie gave a snort.  “Probably
because you wouldn’t think that, of all the people in the world, it would be a
billionaire who would slam into my car.  How many billionaires do you know?”

“None.”

“Me neither.  And that’s why you
wouldn’t expect…” Indie’s voice trailed off as another thought came to her. 
“Now that I think of it, his car seemed pretty darned expensive.  All black,
sports car type, with a funny-looking symbol like a crown with three points.”

Tessa gave her an incredulous
stare.  “A trident?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“A Maserati,” Tessa said with a
gasp.  “He ran into you with his Maserati.  Do you have any idea how much those
cars cost?”

Indie shrugged.

“You’re looking at about two
hundred thousand, easy.”

“Good to know.”  Indie folded her
arms across her chest and nodded, momentarily lost in thought.  Then, with a
sigh of resignation, she walked back to the armchair and picked up her list. 
She walked over to the garbage can in the corner and began to rip the paper,
dropping the slivers into the bin.

“Well,” she said with a wry smile,
“there goes Plan A.” 

Tessa whipped around and stared at
her.  “What are you doing?”

“Getting rid of my list of ways to
attract Stone Hudson.  It was hard enough coming up with ideas to catch a
regular guy.  What hope would I have with a billionaire?”

“Are you crazy, Indie?  He’s the
only man you like and he’s single.  We have to keep going.”

Indie shook her head.  “That’s
where you and I are different, Tessa.  You’re a dreamer.  I’m practical.  And I
know I don’t have the chance of a snowball in Hades with a man like Stone
Hudson.  Heck, I probably wouldn’t have a chance with him even if he were a
regular guy.  Who am I kidding?”  She dropped the last scrap of paper into the
bin, patted her hands together in finality then walked back to the armchair
where she flopped down.

So much for finding a man in thirty
days.  Correction – twenty-nine.  She might as well practice pursing her lips
so she’d be ready when it was time to kiss the fourteen million dollars
goodbye.  Oh, well…

“Indiana Moon Lane, I can’t believe
you, the great granddaughter of a Mohawk Chief, are behaving like this.  Shame
on you.”  Tessa marched over to where Indie sat, pretty much ignoring her, and
swatted her on the arm.

“Hey, you.”  Indie jerked back and
rubbed the wounded limb.  “Settle down, squirt.”

“I will,” Tessa said in a huff, “as
soon as you get your act together and we start planning again.  Now, it’s…"
she glanced at the clock on the wall, “…three minutes before two and we have to
figure out a way to reach this man before the day is out.  We need to get an
appointment and fast.”

“All right."  Indie got up and
strolled over to the desk.  She picked up the phone.  “You want an appointment,
I’ll get an appointment.  Where we go from there, that’s anybody’s guess.”  She
flipped open her notebook with Stone’s number, picked up the phone and dialed. 
It began to ring and she held her breath.

“Hello.”  His voice was the same
deep mellow timbre she remembered from the day before.  It sent a delicious
shiver up her spine.

Indie grimaced.  This was not the
time to turn into a girly girl, swooning at the sound of a man’s voice.  She
was above that sort of thing.  Upset with herself, she spoke through clenched
teeth.  “This is Indie Lane,” she began then realizing she was sounding angry
and, of course, he wouldn’t understand why, she released her breath, forcing
herself to relax.  “This is Indie,” she said again.  “We met yesterday-”

“Yes, of course,” he said, his
voice carrying a hint of surprise.  “Indiana Moon lane.  I was just about to
call you.”

That made Indie straighten up. 
“You were?”

“Yes.  But I cut you off.  What
were you calling about?”

“No, you go ahead,” Indie said
quickly.  Maybe he had a good reason to call her.  Right now her reason for
calling him seemed just a little bit lame. 
I’d like an appointment with you
to see how I can trap you into marriage.  
He’d call for the straitjacket
right away.

“I wonder if you would meet with me
tomorrow to discuss a possible opportunity…if you’re interested, that is.”  He
cleared his throat.  “Of course, I don’t know your situation but I’m looking
for a project manager to take over the operations of a charity I run in South
Africa.  You struck me as the right person for the job.”

“Oh, is that right?”  Indie
couldn’t keep a touch of sarcasm out of her voice.  Why had he thought that? 
Because she looked strong and tough…for a woman?

“There’s an aura about you,” he
said, “something I can’t explain.  All I can say is, I sense that you’ll love
those orphans and give them the affection only a true loving spirit can.”

Orphans.  He’d said orphans.  And if
there was one thing that pulled her heartstrings and made her spring into
action it was the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of orphaned
kids.  Stone Hudson had read her like a wide-open book – after just one very
brief meeting.