Billionaire Games Boxed Set 1-3 (58 page)

“Ah, Mr. Matthews.” Gerard’s greeting flowed into the living room.

Lecie spun around and headed back toward the entryway to meet Nick. She reached for his hands, ignoring how good they felt, and asked, “Are you responsible for Tasha’s release?”

“She’s here then…?” He entwined their fingers, absentmindedly caressing hers.

She nodded, feeling the heat creeping up her neck. “I’m sorry.” She pulled her hands from his and looked away. “I’m just so grateful,” she said, fumbling around the words. “You didn’t have to get involved in my family troubles.”

She went back to the living room and he followed.

“Nick!” Camille and Tasha were instantly on their feet, rushing across the room to greet him.

“Sorry I’m late, ladies.” He could’ve been speaking to any or all of them, for all Lecie knew. “I had a bit of a crisis at the restaurant that needed my attention before I could leave for the evening.”

“My, aren’t we modest…?” Camille said, completely enamored.

“You’re not going to get arrested next, are you?” Tasha asked playfully.

Nick chuckled and shook his head. He reached into his pocket and came out with a regular size envelope. “You’ll find the memory cards that were in photographer’s camera and camera case in this envelope.”

Tasha’s mouth dropped open as she slipped the envelope from Nick’s hand. She looked inside and then back up at him. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“You’re welcome.”

She glanced back up at Nick with a hint of anxiety shading her blue eyes darker. “You don’t suppose he has copies, do you?”

“I couldn’t say,” Nick said. “But Parker knows me well enough to know what I’ll do to him if those photographs show up in any newspapers, magazines or anywhere online.” Nick gave Tasha a nod and a soothing glance. “And he wouldn’t dare have me arrested.”

“Well…” Tasha’s voice exuded confidence and relief. “Whatever you’ve got on Mr. Parker, you have my undying gratitude.” She flicked the envelope against the fingertips of her other hand as she waltzed back to the couch and plopped down.

Nick looked at Lecie. “Can I talk to you?” he asked in a lowered voice.

“Sure,” she said, and waited for him to say something. When he didn’t, she added, “you want to talk out on the terrace?”

He nodded. “That’d be fine.”

Neither of them said anything on the way out. Nick closed the sliding glass door and Lecie became overwhelmed with a feeling of doom. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, walk out on her now. Would he?

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“I don’t want you to worry,” he said, and smiled. “But I’ve been thinking…” His words trail off.

Was Tasha being arrested for assaulting the press too much for him? Did he not want to get mixed up with this crazy family? And better yet, what did he have on this Parker guy? It wasn’t like Nick had any money to buy him off. Nick was up to his ears in debt. He hadn’t wanted to tell her that, but Davis had looked into him, probably because he’d been ordered to by Julian. Lecie didn’t kid herself for a minute that her big brother didn’t know everything that was going on out here in California. Davis had told her this morning, before Nick came over, all about what Ginny had done to him.

Of course, Lecie didn’t want to crush what was left of Nick’s pride, so she kept on pretending like she was still in the dark. But sooner or later, Nick was going to have to open up to her.

“How did you get that guy to drop the charges and hand over those memory cards?” she asked casually enough.

“Let’s just say…” he said smoothly, “that money isn’t always the only motivating factor.”

“How much did you have to lay out? Be honest, please.”

“A thousand bucks.”

“I’ll pay you back. As soon as the bank opens.”

“That’s not necessary.” He sucked in a breath and finally released it, saying, “I’m not the kind of guy who marries a girl for money. I’m the kind of guy who blackmails jerks like Parker, on behalf of innocent women and children…and expects nothing in return for it.” He gave Lecie a piercing look, that not even Tasha herself could’ve ignored.

That bad feeling in Lecie’s gut swelled. She didn’t know if it was because it sounded like Nick was simply walking away, or if he was walking away and that made her sad.

“You’re not going to marry me, are you?”

“I’m not the kind of guy who’ll throw you to the wolves either.” He shook his head slowly. “What I will do is…I will marry you, for say, six months so that your father can’t have you deported. I will take your money, because I need it desperately, but only in exchange for ten percent ownership of Hang Ten.”

A million objections for why that was not a fair deal for him rambled through Lecie’s mind, and she was about to start voicing them, one after the other, when Nick said, “That’s my final offer.”

I
f there was one thing Nick had learned in his short, but eventful, acquaintance with Lecie and her family, it was that you could accomplish just about anything if you had enough money and you were willing to spend it. And boy, these people did and they were.

Davis, the attorney, had arranged it all with very little inconvenience to Lecie or her sisters-in-law.

Fifteen minutes after the minister showed up, Nick found himself married, with the minister prompting him to
kiss his bride
.

Granted, the thought left him feeling a little awkward, but he did it. He had to drop his head a little to press his lips against Lecie’s. Hers were soft. Too soft. And enticing.

Ten minutes later, with the marriage license signed, Davis and the minister split, and Nick couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by all that had transpired in such a short amount of time.

While the women laughed and chatted, he slipped outside and sat down on the terrace, right beside the fire pit where he and Lecie had hashed out the details not that long ago.

The image of the way the fire had cast its glow over her face wouldn’t let him go. She was pretty, but it was more than that. Something about her had caught in his heart the moment Dean shoved her in his face a few days ago. Something that was growing in his gut. It wasn’t a sickening feeling. No, it was so much better than that.

Forget it
, he coached himself. He wasn’t in this girl’s league. Once her infatuation with America was over, she’d be on to something else. He’d do well to remember that. Eventually, she
was
going to leave him behind.

“Hey…” Her voice drifted up beside him warmly. He cleared his throat and tried to hide his face, as if she could read his thoughts. “You all right?” she asked, sitting beside him on the couch.

“Yeah.” He smiled and looked at her. “You?”

“I’m fine. Thanks to you.” She chuckled. “Won’t Papa be surprised when he finds out.”

“I guess this is the wrong time to be asking this,” he said with a flash of humor. “But you’re father and brothers aren’t gonna try to kill me, are they?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Papa will bellow and tell Julian and Andre to handle it. But what he doesn’t know is…my brothers have been in on this since the beginning.”

She pulled the cashier’s check from her pocket and handed it to him. “You really don’t have to give me any part of your restaurant, you know.”

“Yes, I do.” He took the check and slipped it into his pocket without looking at it. “Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked.

“Just don’t do anything to give away our secret.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE NEXT MORNING, CAMILLE, TASHA and the kids scurried around the house getting ready to leave. The whole thing was disheartening for Lecie.

Deidra came into the living room and went straight to Lecie. She was wearing a horrific look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Lecie asked, uncertainty and dread washing over her.

“I just got a call from my father.” Tears began to water her eyes. “He said my grandmother is in the hospital.”

Lecie’s breath caught in her throat. Mavis Ferguson was everything to Deidra. “Is it serious?”

“He just said I should come, right away.” A trail of tears dripped from each of Deidra’s eyes.

Lecie gestured toward Camille. “You can drop her off in Florida, right?”

“Of course we can,” Camille said without hesitation.

“I haven’t even packed.” Deidra shook her head. “I don’t want to hold you up.”

“Nonsense,” Camille went to her side and laid a gentle hand on her arm. “Go pack,” she said with a gentle nod toward the stairs. “The great thing about owning your own plane is that it leaves when you want it to.”

Half an hour later, Deidra, Camille, Tasha, and the kids were gone, leaving Lecie alone in the house for the very first time, save the butler, the cook, and a brand new
fake
husband.

O
n Monday, Nick spent the entire morning going around to his creditors and paying off his debts. The bank was his last stop, and the manager hadn’t been as impressed as Hang Ten’s suppliers when Nick offered certified checks—so there was no fear of bouncing checks—to settle his debts.

The bank manager simply shot Nick a cold stare, saying, “I don’t know what you did to get this money…”

“Nothing illegal. I promise you that.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He blew out a sigh and sat down at his desk. “We here at Golden West can sympathize with your situation,” he said, but there was a bite in his tone. Nick didn’t figure he felt any sympathy at all. “I’m glad that things worked out in your favor.”

“So you’ll reinstate my line of credit?” Nick asked.

“Yes.” He nodded. “But with restrictions.”

“Restrictions?”

“Well, for the first thirty days we’re going to put a cap on the amount you’ll be able to access.”

While Nick understood the bank’s caution, he couldn’t understand their reasoning. What good was a line of credit if you couldn’t use it? “Let’s cut to the chase,” he said, growing tired of the maze they were having him run through. “What’s the bottom line?”

“Five thousand dollars.”

Five grand? Are you kidding me?
That wouldn’t help Nick with the community center at all. “So I don’t suppose the bank would be interested in funding a loan for a piece of property?” Nick all but laughed, already knowing the answer before he asked the question.

N
ick walked into Hang Ten, greeted the staff with long overdue smiles as he made his way to his office. Finally, thanks to Lecie, he was feeling upbeat and confident that everything was going to be okay.

Oh, sure, it could’ve gone better at the bank, but in thirty days they would release his full line of credit to him, and they’d told him they’d talk about the community center at that time. It’d be cutting it close, but if they gave him a loan then, he could still make that forty-five day deadline.

Before sitting down at his desk, he went back to the door and opened it, glancing at the waitress Diane as she passed by. “Could you bring me a pitcher of ice water, please?” he asked.

She nodded. “Sure thing, Nick.”

He closed the door and went back to his desk. There was something to be said for being able to sit down and not have to worry about whether or not this would be the last time he’d sit here as the owner of Hang Ten.

Again, thanks to Lecie. He should do something for her since she’d been down in the dumps the last couple of days, ever since Deidra, Camille, and Tasha had left.

He grabbed the phone and hit number one on the speed dial. Ginny used to have that spot. But he’d given it to Lecie last week. The only list Ginny rated on these days was his shit list.

Nick smiled when her smooth, sweet voice greeted him with a nice “hello.”

“Hi, it’s me, Nick.” He felt as awkward as a teenage geek who had a crush on the head cheerleader.

“Well, hello there. How’s your day going?”

“Couldn’t be better,” he said as Diane came in with the pitcher of water and a chilled glass. He motioned to his desk. “Hang on a sec, love,” he said for Diane’s benefit. He didn’t mind people thinking he and Lecie were in love. It helped to kill the sting of everyone’s pitying looks after Ginny had left him hanging.

Diane poured him a glass before setting it and the pitcher on the desk, then nodded and backed away.

When she closed the door, Nick said, “Sorry. One of the waitresses came in.”

“I completely understand.”

“Say…do you want to have dinner with me tonight?” He sipped on the water. “I don’t mean at the house. Out somewhere. Somewhere where people can see us.”

“Sounds fun. I’d love to.”

L
ecie spent the entire afternoon getting ready for her date with Nick. She knew it wasn’t a real date, but even so she was looking forward to it.

Rummaging through her closet, she’d pull a dress out on its hanger, hold it up against her to ponder it for a moment, then put it back on the rack and moved on to the next.

I wonder what Nick’s favorite color is?
She pulled out a blue Reiss bandage dress she’d gotten in London last fall. Every time she wore it she got compliments because it “brought out her eyes”. Sure, it wasn’t a Versace or Dior, but it was fresh and hip, like her, or at least the way she wanted to be.

She took the dress and went to the nearest mirror, in the bathroom, and held it up against her. She did like the dress, and so did everyone else, especially men—well, at least the ones who weren’t related to her.

She draped the hanger on the hook beside the door of the master suite’s massive closet. She checked her nails and decided the manicure she’d gotten last week still looked good.

Lecie’s heart pounded at the thought of going on an actual date with Nick. But it wasn’t a real date. He simply had the forethought to keep up appearances to keep this charade going. She’d do well to remember that.

Maybe she’d go soak in a hot bath. That’d produce the same effect as a cold shower. Right?

Half an hour later, Lecie pushed herself to get out of the bathtub for fear that she’d shrivel up like a prune. After relaxing in her bathrobe for a while, she checked her watch, surprised that it was already 4:45. That didn’t give her much time. Nick had said he’d be at the house by five-thirty and their dinner reservation was for six.