Billionaire Games Boxed Set 1-3 (55 page)

“Want me to prove it?” Tasha asked.

Lecie narrowed her eyes and studied Tasha. Was she serious? Maybe Lecie should call her bluff. “You going to propose for me?” Lecie chuckled.

Tasha elbowed Camille. “Let me up.” She followed Camille out of the booth, stood over the table and said to Lecie, “Watch and learn.” She gave Lecie a wink before turning and heading toward the table with Nick and his friends.

T
he booth of blondes and their lone brunette friend had been a favorable topic at the guys’ table, ever since they’d walked in. Dean didn’t miss the fact that Nick’s eyes were staying on the cute little blonde a little longer than usual today. The one who’d been coming into the restaurant for the last few weeks with the darker haired girl. He took it as a good sign that Nick was showing some interest in a new woman. Maybe she could help him move on.

From the corner of his eye, Dean caught sight of the bombshell of the bunch heading their way. He was surprised when she walked straight up to him, bent down and said, “Could I have a word with you?” She straightened back up, looked him in the eye, and added, “at the bar?”

He glanced at her hands, her left one in particular. She had this big honking diamond on a certain finger. Probably married to some old geezer and was out looking for a little afternoon delight. “Sure thing, honey.” He slid his chair back as he stood, puffed out his chest, and looked at the other guys, grinning.

The bombshell leaned against the bar and Dean did the same, deciding to let her take the lead. Better that she thought she was in charge.

“Are you married?” she asked in a friendly enough voice.

“What difference does it make?” he inquired with a smile and a measure of charm.

“Are you married?” she asked again, a little firmer this time.

Okay, so she was the controlling type. But he had news for her—he wasn’t going for none of this weird-ass tying up shit. Dean shook his head. “But you are.” He pointed to her left hand.

“Forget about me.” She waved her hand between them as if nixing that whole idea. “Are you seriously involved with anyone?”

“No.” Dean was answering now more for sport than anything else. She’d gotten his attention, and his curiosity was willing to let her take him wherever she wanted.

“Good.” She moved off the bar. “Stay here. My friend will be right with you.”

With that, she went back to her table, stood over it and she and the cute little blonde who was newly on Nick’s radar started chatting. About what, Dean couldn’t hear, but he had a feeling he was about to find out.

“H
e’s not married and he’s not involved.” Tasha’s unbending voice delivered her words straight to the point. “Get your butt over there and talk to him. Find out if he could be the right man for the job.” Her tone eased up and she giggled.

“Right now?” Lecie’s fear escaped with her words. “What’ll I say?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Tasha paused, as if thinking about it. “Have you ever been arrested? You’re not a serial killer, are you?”

“Like he’d tell me.” Lecie huffed as Deidra nudged her out of the booth.

“If you’re ready to go back to France…” Tasha waved dramatically at the booth. “Then by all means, have a seat.”

Lecie practically stomped her way to the bar where Nick’s best friend was waiting for her. She stole a glance at Nick’s table. He and his other friends were watching intently. Back at the bar, Dean wore the face of curiosity.

Lecie hopped up on a bar stool next to him and tried to smile, finding it oddly curious how hard that was. It wasn’t every day that she asked a stranger on a date—much less to marry her.

“Afternoon.” His own smile changed from one of arrogance to something more along the lines of caution. “You and your friends…” He glanced at the booth, then back to Lecie. “You bored? Got a bet going on?”

Lecie let out a big sigh. “This was a bad idea.” She prepared to jump off the stool, but Dean’s gentle hand on her arm calmed her.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” he asked in a gentle, playful way.

“No.” She settled back onto the stool. “But this is still a bad idea,” she added, shaking her head.

“You and your friend have already made me look like a fool,” he said, as if the joke was on him. “Don’t I at least get to know why?”

Lecie hadn’t considered that. She knew all about looking like an idiot, and she didn’t want to knowingly put anyone in that position. “See…” She gestured toward the booth where Deidra, Camille and Tasha were all watching their every move. “We’re all from France.”

Dean shook his head. “The chick who was just here is an American.”

“Yes…but she’s married to my brother.” Lecie shuffled her eyes back and forth between the booth and Dean. “The one sitting beside her is married to my other brother.”

“I see,” he said, but the look on his face suggested otherwise.

“Anyway…” Lecie looked around, wishing she’d brought her drink with her. “Any chance you want to make a hundred grand for a few months of your time?”

He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t. Every couple of seconds, Lecie thought a smile was going to break out on his mouth, but it never did. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, he said, “Doing what? Is it legal?”

She thought about it. “Mostly.” Although immigration probably wouldn’t like it much.

“Doing what?”

“I need someone to marry me,” she said. “Just for a few months, though.”

Dean tilted his head and stared at her like she was crazy. “Let me get this straight…you’re gonna pay somebody to marry you for a few months?”

She nodded. “How does one hundred grand sound?”

“A hundred grand?” he asked, as if it was the nuttiest thing he’d ever heard.

“Okay, two hundred and fifty thousand.” She raised her hand between them. “Up front. The minute you sign the marriage license.”

“Let me guess…” He gave her a hard glare. “You have tons of money, problem is you can’t access it right now. But if I can come up with say ten grand, you’ll be able to get to it. Am I close?”

“No.” Lecie shook her head, mildly insulted by his insinuation. “I can get to my money just fine. I’m talking about a business deal. Six months of your time in exchange for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. No funding on your part. No strings attached, except that to immigration the marriage must appear real.” She sucked in a breath, feeling completely humiliated. “Six months, quarter of a million dollars. What do you say?”

“Who put you up to this?” he asked, then looked over his shoulder and pointed at Nick. “Is this your idea of a joke?”

Nick strolled over and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Hey…” Dean kept pointing at Nick but looked at Lecie. “He’s the one who needs money. Marry him.”

“What?” Nick said, almost laughing.

Lecie’s eyes darted between the two of them and settled on Dean. “He’s already married.” Her gaze wandered over to Nick, “aren’t you?”

Nick hesitated, then said, “No. That…didn’t happen.” He looked a little uncomfortable, but quickly seemed to regain control of his senses. “But never mind that. What are you two cooking up?”

Dean grabbed Lecie’s hand and pulled her off the stool. “Let’s talk in your office,” he said to Nick.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

NICK FOLLOWED DEAN AND THE GIRL into his office and shut the door. He looked at her, stuck his hand out and said, “Nick Matthews. I own this joint.”
For now
, muddled through his thoughts. Nick backhanded Dean’s gut. “This bozo is Dean Triplett.”

“Lecie de Laurent,” she said, in near perfect English, but her gaze held firm with Nick’s. He couldn’t place her accent, maybe a cross between French and English, if that’s possible. One thing was certain though, she looked nervous as hell.

“Somebody want to start from the beginning and tell me what’s going on?” Nick asked.

“It’s simple,” Dean said. “You need money. She has money. She wants to give some to you.” He looked at Lecie. “Two hundred and fifty grand, you said, right?” He waited until she nodded, then he looked back at Nick. “All you gotta do is marry her for six months. She’ll pay as soon as you say, ‘
I do
.’”

“What?” Nick blurted out.

“Oh, there is just one other thing…” she said with hardly any confidence at all. “You’ll have to live in my house for the duration of the marriage.” She shrugged. “Immigration and all.”

“What?” Nick said again, his voice even more strained than the first time.

“It’s the answer to your prayers, man.” Dean nodded. “You can solve all your problems with two little words.” Dean stood there looking at Nick like he’d discovered electricity or something.

Nick folded his arms over his chest, cut his eyes at Dean and said, “Shut up.”

“Just two.” Dean wiggled two fingers in the air. “Two little words.”

“I’m not joking,” Nick said.

“Say it with me.” Dean nodded, then said with pronounced enunciation, “I do.”

Dean’s big mouth egging this girl on wasn’t helping. Nick grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door. “You need to get out. Now.” He shoved him out into the restaurant’s dining room.

“Don’t blow it,” Dean said just above his breath. “This girl is the answer to your prayers.”

Or my worst nightmare
. Nick took the time to close the door slowly, just to give the last few minutes time to really sink in. Once the door was shut he had no choice but to turn around to face her.

The poor girl was standing there stunningly gorgeous, and looking completely unsure about the proposal Dean had laid down between them.

But there was something in her brilliant blue eyes. Something vulnerable and hopeless and sad. She looked about as desperate for a husband, albeit a fake one, as Nick was for money—the real stuff.

And Nick had to wonder why?

L
ecie looked at Nick, wondering what in God’s name had happened. Where was Ginny and why weren’t they married? She wanted to ask but couldn’t find the courage.

“Look, I know I’m asking a lot.” Her fear shredded her words. “But I need help and I’m willing to pay for it.”

“You mentioned immigration,” he said.

She nodded, hesitated, striving to find the right words. “My father is trying to force me to come home.”

“You father can have you deported?”

She nodded.

“You haven’t committed a crime, have you?” he asked cautiously.

She sucked in a breath. “My only crime is defying Papa.”

“Miss de Laurent,” he said her name, mangling it with a decidedly American pronunciation. “You want to sit down?” He gestured toward the chairs in front of his desk.

“Sure.” She sat and he did the same. Right across from her. “Call me Lecie.”

“All right,” he said. “If you’ll call me Nick.”

She smiled, feeling the heat crawling up her neck. “Look, I understand if you want to turn me down. Your fiancée wouldn’t understand at all.”

“Well, I don’t have a fiancée anymore,” he said. “And I really wish I could help you out. Lord knows you could help me.” He shook his head, like he was trying to convince himself of something. But of what, she wasn’t sure.

“We could help each other,” she said hopefully.

“We could.” Then he smiled a sad sort of smile. “But I couldn’t in good conscience take money from you like that.” He shook his head. “It just wouldn’t be right.”

“There’s nothing dishonorable about being hired to provide a service.” Even as she said it, she knew it wouldn’t do a bit of good. Nick Matthews was one of those upstanding types, she could tell. He’d never use a woman, and he’d never want to be portrayed as having done so.

N
ick opened the office door and escorted Lecie out into the restaurant. He rested his hand on the small of her back, her blonde hair caressing the back of his hand as he guided her to her table where the other women waited anxiously.

He almost felt bad about turning her down, but something inside him said it wasn’t right to take money from her.

“I hope we’ll continue to see you here at Hang Ten,” he said to her with a smile.

She looked at him as if she wanted to say something, make one more bid for her case. But she didn’t. She didn’t say anything. She just gave a smile that filled his heart with hope and looked at her friends and gave them an
it’s a no-go
kind of shrug.

Nick pushed himself to walk away, to let her save face. It wasn’t every day that a girl as beautiful as her got turned down when two-hundred and fifty grand was part of the deal.

He headed back to the table where only Dean remained. Ken and Jerod probably had to get back to work. Nick totally understood that.

“So…?” Dean asked as Nick sat down.

He was surprised that Dean even had to ask. “I turned her down.”

“Are you crazy?” Dean grilled Nick.

“I may be crazy,” Nick defended his actions. “But I’m not a cad.”

“You’re an idiot, is what you are.”

“I’m not taking that girl’s money,” Nick argued. “It wouldn’t be right.”

“Why not? She’s trying to buy a husband. And if anybody ever needed to be bought, it’s you.” Dean shook his head and shot Nick a frown. “This girl gave you a solution and you threw it back in her face.”

“Well, it’s not quite as bad as all that.”

Lecie and her friends filed out of the booth and headed for the door. The bombshell took the long way around so she could pass by the guys’ table. She stopped long enough to place a card on the table in front of Nick. “If you change your mind…” she said, but didn’t wait for a response from him. As she disappeared outside, Nick picked up the card, looked at it. It had her name and a cell phone number on it. Nick stuffed it into the glass of the unlit candle sitting in the center of the table.

Dean fished it out, looked at it and stuck it in his pocket. “Are you nuts?”

Nick shook his head and laughed. “As pretty as she is. As enticing as a quarter of a mil is…it’s a bad idea.”

“I only have one thing to say to you…” Dean’s voice trailed off.

When he didn’t finish his statement, Nick asked, “What’s that?”

“How are you gonna like working for somebody else?”