Kitabı oku: «The Substitute Millionaire»
The Substitute Millionaire
SUSAN MALLERY
MILLS & BOON
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Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Coming Next Month
One
Julie Nelson’s first blind date had gone so badly, she’d sworn off them for the next ten years.
The guy in question had flirted with every female but her at the all-you-can-eat buffet, double-dipped in their shared bowl of salad dressing and then skipped out on the bill, leaving her to pay and get herself home. She’d been sixteen and if she hadn’t ended up in the emergency room with a horrible case of food poisoning, she might have been able to put the night behind her.
But throwing up all over the only cute intern had been the last straw. She’d vowed never again, for any reason imaginable in this lifetime or any to follow, to ever go on another blind date.
Until tonight.
“This is going to be a disaster,” she muttered to herself as she handed her car keys to the valet and made her way to the front of a trendy west side restaurant. “I’m smarter than this. What on earth am I doing here?”
Dumb question, when she already knew the answer. She and her two sisters had been faced with a choice of who got the first shot at dating the infamous Todd Aston III. Their time-honored tradition of making all of life’s truly important decisions with a rousing round of Rock, Paper, Scissors had left Julie the loser, and therefore the date. She was a sucker for the scissors and her sisters knew it.
She pulled open the sleek glass door and stepped into the crowded foyer. Apparently tables at this place were as hard to come by as free parking. She wove through the well-dressed crowd until she faced a very young, very thin, very pale hostess.
“I’m meeting Todd Aston,” Julie said as she fought against the need to tell the girl that a sandwich wouldn’t kill her.
The young woman glanced down at her reservation book. “Mr. Aston is already here. I’ll show you to his table.”
Julie followed the waif to the rear of the restaurant, trying not to compare her own size-normal hips to the nonexistent ones in front of her. Although feeling inadequate was actually more fun than sweating a meeting with Todd Aston III. How did anyone live with a number after his name? It made her think of Mr. Howell on Gilligan’s Island, a late-night favorite when she’d been growing up.
She instantly pictured a younger version of Mr. Howell, complete with striped slacks and a white blazer and was fighting the need to laugh when the hostess stopped in front of a table tucked in the corner and pointed to someone who very definitely did not look like an aging, pretentious millionaire.
Todd Aston stood and smiled. “Hello. You must be Julie.”
Losing Rock, Paper, Scissors had never looked so good, she thought as she took in the fact that he towered over her despite the dangerously high heels she wore. Todd was handsome with dark eyes and a smile that reminded her just a little of the one Big Bad Wolf must have given Red Riding Hood.
He didn’t look nerdy, desperate or inbred—and she had a feeling he wouldn’t be sticking her with the bill.
“Hi, Todd,” she said. “Good to meet you.”
He held out her chair, which was a nice and unexpected touch, then moved back to his seat. The hostess left them alone.
She studied him, taking in the dark hair, the hint of a dimple on his left cheek and the subtle power tie that had probably cost as much as her last student-loan payment.
“So, this is awkward,” she said cheerfully, deciding there was no point in ignoring the obvious.
His left eyebrow rose. “No social niceties where we ask about the weather and how the traffic was on the drive over?”
“Sure, if you’d prefer. The weather is beautiful, but hey, it’s Southern California and we expect that. As for the traffic, it was fine. And your day?”
He smiled again. “You’re not what I expected.”
She could only imagine what that would have been. “I’m not too young, too plastic and too desperate?”
He winced. “Again the lack of social niceties. Whatever would your mother say?”
Julie considered the question. “Only have one glass of wine, make sure that he’s nice and if you like him, give him your number.”
He laughed. The sound was low and rich and masculine. So far she’d been existing on nerves and sheer bravado, but when his smile turned into a grin, she felt the tiniest quiver somewhere behind her belly button.
Interesting. Maybe she should have given this blind-date thing a second chance a whole lot sooner.
“That’s good advice,” he said. “I think I like your mother.”
“She’s worth liking.”
The waiter appeared and handed them menus, then asked for their drink orders. Todd chose an eighteen-year-old Scotch while Julie ordered a vodka tonic.
“Not following Mom’s advice?” he asked when the waiter had left.
“It’s been a long day.”
“Doing what?”
“I’m a second-year associate at an international law firm.”
“A lawyer. Pass the bar yet?”
“Of course.”
He chuckled. “You sound confident.”
“Confidence comes easily after the fact.”
“And before?”
“Eighteen-hour workdays and studying. It made for a full life.”
“What kind of international law? Human rights, that sort of thing?”
“Corporate international law,” she told him. “I specialize in contracts and associations with China.”
“Interesting specialty.”
She loved being underestimated, especially by a man. “It was a natural fit for me. I speak Mandarin.”
He was good. He only looked a little shocked and then quickly recovered. “Impressive.”
“Thank you.”
His gaze sharpened slighted as he studied her. “Okay, I think we should start over.”
She laughed. “Why? Things are going so well.”
“Sure. For you. Look, I was told by my aunt Ruth that there was a ‘young lady’ she wanted me to meet. I was given a time and a place and I’m here. I was expecting someone…different. You’re a nice surprise.”
She let her gaze linger on his broad shoulders. Either he worked out or he came from a very fine gene pool. Actually, she could accept either.
“Do you always do what Aunt Ruth says?”
“Most of the time.” He shrugged. “She’s really my great-great-aunt or something. But she’s good to me and I care about her. She doesn’t ask me much so if it’s important to her, I try to say yes. This was important.”
Either he was telling the truth, or he was really, really good with his lines. Right then, she wanted him to be sincere.
“You’re a good surprise, too,” she admitted, deciding to trust him for now. “When I walked in, I was picturing Mr. Howell.”
“From Gilligan’s Island? Thanks.”
Laughing, she asked, “Would you rather be Gilligan?”
“I’d rather be James Bond.”
“You’re not British.”
“I can work on the accent.”
She leaned toward him. “So is it the gadgets or the women that make James Bond so appealing?”
“Both.”
“You’re being honest.”
“You sound surprised.”
She was. “I can adjust,” she said. “Okay, James-slash-Todd, all I know about you is you dress like a businessman and you adore your aunt Ruth. Well, and the whole number-after-your-name thing, but we probably shouldn’t get into that.”
“What’s wrong with the number after my name?”
“Nothing. It’s lovely. I always have to skip over that box when I’m registering on Internet sites, but you get to stop and put in a big three.”
“The three isn’t actually that big. It’s the same size as all the other numbers. It wants to be big, of course, but unfulfilled fantasies are a reality of life. Three has to get used to that.”
Charming, she thought happily. The man was completely charming.
The waiter appeared with their drinks. When he’d left, Todd held up his glass.
“To the unexpected pleasure of a smart, funny, beautiful woman,” he said.
Okay, that was a line, but she was having enough fun that she would accept it in the spirit she hoped he meant it.
“Thank you.” She touched her glass to his.
Somehow she misjudged and their fingers brushed. It was nothing—a brief, meaningless bit of contact. But she was oddly aware of it. Her sister Willow would tell her it was the universe giving her a message and that she should listen to it. Her sister Marina would want to know if Todd was “the one.”
“So what do you do?” she asked.
He set down his glass. “I skywrite. You know, those horrible messages people are always leaving each other in the clouds. Barney Loves Cathy. John, Bring Home Milk.”
She took another sip of her drink and waited.
He sighed. “I’m a partner in a venture capital firm. We buy into small businesses, shower them with money and expertise until they’re big companies, then sell them to someone else and make an obscene amount of profit. It’s disgusting. I should be ashamed.”
She laughed. “I would have thought you’d be running the family foundation.”
“There’s a professional board that takes care of that. I’d rather build than give away.”
“Sounds ruthless,” she teased.
“I can be. Very. People tend to underestimate me because of the number after my name. They assume I’m useless. I’m not.”
She believed him. Funny, powerful and very easy to look at. Especially now, when he stared at her so intently. She sensed she had his full attention—which was both thrilling and a little scary.
“But then they underestimate you, too,” he added.
“You know this how?”
“Because I did. I assumed human-rights law when you said you were working internationally.”
“It’s a guy thing,” she said. “The assumption that women will go for emotion rather than business.”
“You get that a lot.” He wasn’t asking a question.
“Yes, but I don’t mind. I use it. My career is very important to me. The first few years in a big law firm can be tough. I want to get ahead, but I was raised to do the right thing. So I’ll take the advantage of being underestimated and run with it.”
“Ruthless?” he asked.
“I flirt with ruthless, but we’ve never actually been a couple.”
Their gazes locked. Until that moment, Julie had been enjoying her drink and the company, but suddenly tension crackled around them. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. She’d thought Todd would be prissy and he’d thought she would be an idiot. Instead she found herself rethinking her plan of no involvements until after her second year at the law firm ended. While she didn’t have a lot of spare time, with the right incentive, she could make an exception.
She liked that he was smart and cynical and still paid attention to what his aunt Ruth had to say. She liked his smile and the interest flickering in his dark eyes.
For the first time in a really long time, she felt a warmth between her thighs. Good to know that part of her wasn’t completely dead.
“Tell me about the women in your life,” she said.
He’d been drinking and nearly choked. “I didn’t bring pictures.”
“That’s all right. A brief overview is plenty. I’ll pass on the résumés this time.”
“You’re so generous.” He set down his glass. “There were the twins…”
She smiled. “You don’t do twins and I don’t scare that easily.”
“All right. No one serious at the moment.” He frowned. “Make that no one at the moment. A difficult breakup last year. No ex-wives, no ex-fiancées. You?”
“One ex-fiancé from my last year of law school. No one now.”
“What happened to the fool?”
Julie might not be on the dating circuit, but she knew when to sidestep a topic. There was no point in getting into her sad little story. “Things didn’t work out.”
The waiter appeared and asked if they had any questions about the menu.
“As that would have required us to look at them,” Todd said as he grinned at her, “not yet. But we’ll work on it.”
Julie waited until they were alone and said, “Why bother with a menu? You’re going to order steak, close to rare, and a salad. Not because you want one, but because if you don’t eat a vegetable, people will think you weren’t raised right.”
He raised his left eyebrow. “You’ll want the steak, but there’s the whole ‘women don’t eat on dates’ thing, so you’ll get fish, which you don’t really like.” He picked up his glass. “I take that back. You do like fish—but only in a beer batter, deep fried, with fries on the side.”
“I like tuna,” she said primly.
“Something from a can doesn’t count.”
She laughed. “All right, you win. I’ll get the steak and even eat it, but you can’t tell.”
“Fair enough. And I’ll order the damn salad.” He leaned toward her. His dark gaze locked on hers. “I expected to be bored.”
“Me, too. I also thought I’d feel morally and intellectually superior.”
He grinned. “I’m comfortable with the moral superiority.”
“But I can’t be smarter?”
“I’m a pretty smart guy.”
She shifted in her seat as the temperature in the room seemed to climb about sixteen degrees.
She reached for her drink, but before she could pick it up, he captured her hand in his. His fingers were warm and strong as he rubbed her knuckles. Jolts of awareness moved up her arm and from there zipped to all sorts of interesting places in her body. She felt languid and wholly feminine—an unusual combination for her. Normally she went for in charge and intimidating.
“I have a technical question,” he said as he shifted his hand so his thumb could rub against the center of her palm. “It’s about my aunt Ruth.”
“Which is?”
“She’s your grandmother.”
“That’s the rumor,” Julie said, trying to keep her mind on the conversation rather than getting lost in the need stealing through her. She told herself her reaction to Todd was more about the fact that she hadn’t been on a date in over eighteen months than anything he was doing. The problem was, she couldn’t seem to convince herself.
“If she’s my great-aunt and your grandmother,” he said. “That makes us…”
Ah, okay. She understood his concern. “Unrelated. She was your great-uncle’s second wife. They didn’t have any children together. She made it a point to explain all that. She didn’t tell you?”
He withdrew his hand and sat up. “No. She didn’t.”
“Now you know.” Speaking of Grandmother Ruth, Julie was going to have to send her a big thank-you when she got home.
“Now, I do.” He stood and held out his hand to her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Inviting you to dance.”
Dance? As in…dance? She hadn’t done that since high school, and even then she hadn’t been very good.
“They don’t have dancing here,” she said, staying firmly in her seat.
“Of course they do. And now that I know we’re not cousins, let’s dance.”
She was torn between the fear of making a fool out of herself and the thrill of pressing her body against his. Because now that she’d bothered to notice, she could hear soft, slow music in the background. It sounded nice, but it wasn’t nearly as tempting as the man standing in front of her.
“Are you going to make me beg?” he asked.
“Would you?”
One corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “Maybe.”
She rose and put her hand in his. He led her to the rear of the restaurant, where a three-piece combo played and several couples clung to each other on the small dance floor.
Before she could get her bearings, Todd pulled her against him and put his free hand on her waist. She found herself resting her fingers on his shoulder.
He was all hard, lean muscle, she thought as her thighs brushed against his. They weren’t close enough for her breasts to brush against his chest, but she had a sudden wild and inappropriate desire to lean in and rub…like a lonely cat.
Too long without a man, she told herself. And wasn’t this a really inconvenient time to figure that out?
“You smell good,” he murmured in her ear.
“Copier toner,” she whispered back. “Do you like it? I had to change the cartridge today.”
He groaned. “Can’t you take the compliment?”
“All right. Thank you.”
“Better.” He smiled at her. “You’re not easy.”
“Now that’s a compliment I can get behind.”
“You like being difficult?”
“Sometimes. Don’t you?”
He moved his hand from her waist to the small of her back. “Sometimes,” he said, echoing her answer.
She looked into his eyes. “You don’t like people making assumptions about you.”
“You made them.”
“You made them as well. We’re even.”
“More than even, Julie. We’re good.”
With that, he lowered his head and lightly brushed her mouth with his. The kiss was unexpected but delicious. Her stomach clenched and her breasts began to ache. He moved back and forth, but didn’t deepen the kiss.
Public place, she told herself. He didn’t want to embarrass her. She should appreciate that. And she would…in time.
He straightened, then cleared his throat. “We should probably go back and order dinner. You know, be responsible.”
For a heartbeat, she almost asked about the alternative. What would happen if they kept dancing and touching and kissing? Except she kind of had a feeling she knew the answer to the question.
Too much, too soon, she told herself as they stepped apart. She hadn’t been doing the dating thing for a long time—taking it slow made a lot of sense. But the man did tempt her.
He kept her hand in his as they walked back to their table.
“You never told me why you’re here,” he said when they were seated. “I told you Aunt Ruth asked me to come. What’s your excuse?”
He didn’t know? Seriously? Oh, my. This could be good.
“My mother and her mother have been estranged for years. Ruth popped back into our lives a couple of months ago. My sisters and I had never met her before. Mom hadn’t even mentioned her. Last week, at dinner, Ruth said she had a great nephew and suggested one of us go out with you.”
“Interesting.”
“More than interesting. She offered us…it’s not important.”
“Of course it is.”
“You’ll be insulted.”
“I can handle the truth,” he teased. “What did she offer?”
“Money.”
He stared at her. “She’s paying you to date me?”
“Oh, no. The dates are free. Now if I marry you, I get cash. A million dollars. Each. For me, my sisters and my mom. Pretty cool, huh.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched, but otherwise, he didn’t show any emotion. She couldn’t begin to imagine what he was thinking.
“We were all surprised,” Julie said. “We couldn’t figure out what could possibly be so wrong with you that your aunt had to offer that kind of money to get someone to marry you.”
“Wrong? With me?”
“Sure.”
She was enjoying herself, but trying really hard to keep him from knowing.
“We decided that one of us would go on a date and figure out how truly awful you were,” she continued. “We played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine the most likely candidate.”
He actually flinched at that. “Rock, Paper…” He cleared his throat. “So you won.”
She allowed herself to smile. “Oh, no, Todd. I lost.”
Two
The waiter arrived to take their order. Julie placed hers, then waited while Todd did the same. He barely glanced at the menu, instead keeping his gaze fixed on her.
“You lost?” he asked, his voice slightly strangled. “As in, you didn’t win?”
She allowed herself a small smile. “Uh-huh. You know how it goes. The loser has to do the icky thing. That would be this date with you. Total ick.”
“You lost?”
He seemed unable to comprehend the fact that the three of them hadn’t been dying to be his lady for the night. Ah, the foolishness of men.
“If it makes you feel any better,” she said before taking a sip of her drink. “I’m glad I lost.”
“I can’t tell you how that confession moves me.”
“You shouldn’t take it so hard. Look at the situation from our perspective. Your own great-aunt, who has known you all your life, is willing to pay a woman to marry you. We figured at the very least you had a hump on your back and maybe some odd disease that left you twisted and bumpy. Like the Elephant Man.”
He nearly choked on his drink. “You thought I was the Elephant Man?”
“It was a consideration. And yet I showed up anyway.”
“You lost and I’m a mercy date. Great. I can’t believe Ruth offered you a million dollars.”
She thought that was odd, too, but hey, everyone had strange relatives. “Not for the date. Remember? The date is free. I have a really simple solution to the problem—don’t propose.”
He grinned. “Oh, sure. Easy for you to say, but now I don’t have any entertainment for the dessert course.”
As she laughed, she admitted to herself that he was nothing like she’d imagined. Anyone with a number after his name had to be stuffy and he wasn’t. She liked him—a lot.
“You should have gotten something for the date,” he told her. “Fifty thousand, at least.”
“You know, I didn’t even think of that. But if Grandmother Ruth mentions it again, I get a check.”
He gazed into her eyes. “I’m glad you lost, too.”
“Thank you. Although my losing wasn’t hard to predict. I’m kind of a sucker for scissor and my sisters know. So someone is always playing the rock.”
“Interesting way to determine your destiny.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Destiny? Are you implying you’re mine?”
She expected him to squirm, but he shrugged. “Neither of us thought things would go this well. Maybe fate had a hand in tonight.”
She groaned. “No talk of fate or the universe, I beg you. My sister Willow is constantly explaining how each of us has a destiny we can’t escape. She’s very sweet and I love her to death, but sometimes I want to choke her. Plus, if you could see the things she eats…sprouts and tofu and slimy drinks.” Julie shuddered.
He nodded sympathetically. “Vegetarian?”
“Most of the time. Although she has an entire list of foods that don’t count as meat. Like hamburgers at a picnic or hot dogs at a Dodger game.”
“Interesting.”
“She’s great. Marina is, too. She’s the baby of the family. Just think, you could have been out with either of them.”
“I’m happy with the sister I have.”
“But you don’t have me.” Although he certainly could, she thought wistfully, remembering how she’d felt his in arms.
“Give me time.”
Julie glanced in her rearview mirror for the hundredth time in the past seven minutes. Dinner had been fabulous. She couldn’t remember a thing about the food, although she was confident that had been great. It was the conversation she remembered. The sexy banter, the laughter—the connection.
She couldn’t remember the last time a man had pulled her in so completely. One minute she’d been dreading the evening and the next she’d wanted to stop time so it would never end.
Todd was amazing. Funny and smart and he got her humor, which didn’t always happen. And the physical chemistry…he could make her melt just by looking at her.
All of which was really nice, but was she prepared to take things where they were obviously headed? His offer to follow her home to make sure she arrived safely was a very thin disguise for what he was really offering—naked Todd in her bed.
The question wasn’t if she wanted that—she did with a desperation that left her hungry and restless. It wasn’t about wanting, it was about being sensible. She hadn’t had a man in her life since Garrett. Not that she was going to think about that lying bastard right now. The point was, she hadn’t been playing the dating game for a long time. She was out of practice. Sure, tonight had gone well, but did that mean she should celebrate by inviting Todd in and having her way with him?
She still hadn’t decided when they arrived at her place. She pulled in front of the single-car garage and climbed out of her car. The night was still and clear, not too cold because even though it was fall, it was still Los Angeles where real weather need not apply.
Nerves tingled and danced throughout her body. Every cell from her ears down begged her to take the very handsome and capable man up on his yet-to-be-made offer. Her skin ached to be touched and her feminine bits could use with a good ravishing. But her brain warned her to be careful. Sure, Todd was all things charming, but what did she really know about him? Besides, sex on the first date was so tacky.
He parked on the street and climbed out, then glanced around.
“Not what I expected,” he said quietly as he approached. “I thought you’d live in something new and shiny.”
The neighborhood was older, with a lot of houses having been converted into duplexes. Julie liked the settled atmosphere of the neighborhood and craftsman details inside and out.
“I’m close to work and I get to have a bit of grass,” she said. “I’m not really a condo person.”
He smiled down at her, then brushed her cheek with his thumb. “Good thing we didn’t go to my place.”
“Let me guess. It’s all glass and steel.”
“That, too, but mostly because it’s farther.”
With that, he kissed her.
His mouth was warm and firm, yet gentle. He moved slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, and she liked that. She liked how he put his hands on her waist and didn’t grab for anything significant.
She stepped in a little closer and rested her fingers on his shoulders. Thank goodness her purse had a long strap, so she didn’t have to waste time holding it. She wanted to have the freedom to explore his arms and back.
He was all hard muscles through the well-tailored fabric of his suit. He was also warm and alive and just tall enough that even in her heels she had to stretch a little to keep their mouths connected.
She definitely wanted the kiss to continue. Even without him deepening it, she felt tingles in all the right places and a few that surprised her. Her chest was tight, her legs kind of trembly and she had the sudden thought she was never going to be able to catch her breath again.
He drifted slightly, kissed her cheek, then along her jaw. Little brushing touches of lips on sensitized skin. He nipped her earlobe, which made her jump and shiver and need, then lightly touched the tip of his tongue to the side of her neck.
Goose bumps broke out all over. She gasped as heat poured through her. The wanting overwhelmed her until she knew that she couldn’t possibly survive another second if he didn’t kiss her. Really kiss her.
Fortunately Todd seemed to be a good mind reader. He brought his mouth back to hers. She parted her lips and he plunged inside of her, as if his need to take was as great as her desire to be taken.
She met him stroke for stroke, savoring the passion flaring between them. Even as his tongue mated with hers, he dropped his hands to her hips and pulled her close. She arched against him.
Two thoughts struck her at once. That the pressure of her swollen, sensitive breasts against his chest was wonderful torture, and that he was rock hard.
Images filled her brain—of them naked, touching, him filling her. She was dying from hunger and that hunger made her frantic. She tried to battle her body’s desire for a man she barely knew, but it was like trying to herd cats—pointless and a little silly.
He pulled back a little and cupped her face. “This is where I’m supposed to offer to leave,” he said as he stared into her eyes. “It’s how I was raised and the polite thing to do.”
“Good manners are important,” she murmured, pleased that she was able to speak at all. She’d wondered if it was possible, what with how every nerve was on fire.
“I agree.” He drew in a ragged breath. “There is also an alternative option.”
“Bad manners?”
He grinned, then lightly kissed her. “I want you, Julie. I can give you a list of really good reasons why this is a bad idea, but I want you. Desperately.”
She’d never made a man desperate before, she thought as the ache between her legs grew.
“Good manners, a witty conversationalist and a great kisser,” she whispered. “Who could refuse that?”
“Not me.”
“Me, either.”
She pulled her keys out of her purse and led the way to the front door. With each step, she braced herself for second or even third thoughts. Instead there was only a pounding rhythm urging her to hurry.
Once inside, she set her keys and her purse on the small table by the door. Todd shrugged out of what she would guess was a very expensive jacket and let it fall to the floor. Then he pulled her against him and kissed her with a thoroughness that left her weak and made her wonder how intensely he would do other things.
She kissed him just as deeply, running her hands over his chest, feeling the slick silk of his tie and the smooth cotton of his shirt. He slid one hand down to her rear, where he squeezed, and moved the other hand up until he cupped her breast.
Even through the fabric of her dress and her bra, she felt his strong fingers exploring, teasing, caressing. He lingered on her tight nipple, brushing back and forth until she wanted to rip off her clothes so he could touch her bare skin.
He nudged her backward. She reached for his tie and managed to pull it free, then she started on the buttons of his shirt. He fumbled for the zipper at the back of her dress.
They made it into the hall. She’d left a light on in the living room, but here it was dark. He kissed his way down her neck, his warm mouth making her moan. Tingles and shivers and ripples overtook her. Hunger consumed.
