Her Indecent Proposal (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (4 page)

She cleared her throat.  “I thought about what you said.”  She kept
her voice deliberately low and even.  This was not the time to sound shaky. 
“I’ve decided…to accept your counterproposal.  This is…extremely important to
me so I’ll proceed as you recommended.”

“You’ll proceed as I recommended.”  Sloane chuckled as he regarded
her with obvious amusement.  “You make it sound so cold, so businesslike.”

She flushed.  “Well, it is sort of a business arrangement.”

“And that’s something I’d want to change, Melanie.  After all,
there’ll be a child involved.”  He leaned forward and reached for her hand and
suddenly he didn’t seem so relaxed anymore.  “And no matter how you may want to
deny it, we will be involved.”

Now what the heck did that mean?  Melanie frowned as she looked at
him but his gray eyes were unreadable.  And he was holding her hand in his big,
warm one and if he didn’t let go soon her palm would begin to perspire. 
Goodness, why did it always have to go damp when she got nervous? She gave her
hand a little tug, nothing too obvious, just a small attempt to break contact. 
It didn’t work.

“So…wh…when can we start?” Melanie dropped her eyes again.  This was
so hard.  She could be a killer negotiator in a business meeting but when it
came to discussing personal – worse, intimate – matters she was pathetic.

He gave her an even broader smile and squeezed her hand.  “Call me
old fashioned, but seeing that I don’t plan to have a child out of wedlock, we
can start as soon as we get married.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Now where had that come from? Sloane had never been impulsive but
somehow, at that moment, it seemed that that had been the right thing to say. 
The only thing.  Because it was what he believed.

Okay, so he’d always been a rover, never staying very long with any one
woman.  But, like his friend said, maybe it was time he grew up.  After all, he
was not that far from forty, and if he planned to have a family he might as
well start now.  He wanted to at least have enough energy to play ball with the
kid.

And now, to his own surprise, he’d thrown another ingredient into
the mix.  Melanie had made her initial proposal because that was who she was –
practical.  And now he’d thrown marriage into the deal because that was who he
was – surprising to admit but maybe, deep inside, he was a romantic at heart. 

“Get married?” Melanie looked like he’d suddenly grown a third eye. 
Her expression was a mixture of shock and horror.  “Are you serious?”

“Very serious.  I’m from a traditional family with traditional
values and starting a family is something I do not take lightly.”  He sat back
and folded his arms across his chest.  "No marriage, no deal.”

“B…but you hardly even know me.  Why would you want to marry me?”

Sloane almost laughed.  “This, from the woman who asked me to give
her a child.  So it’s okay for virtual strangers to have a kid but weird for
them to get married?”

That shut her up.  Her face fell visibly as his point sank in.  “But
marriage…”

“Think of it as an arranged marriage.  A marriage of convenience, if
you will.”  He shrugged.

“I…I don’t know what to say.”  And she really did look
flabbergasted, like the thought had never even crossed her mind.  “But what
about your lady…friends?  I mean-”  She stopped abruptly and her face reddened.

“I told you, Melanie, I’m a traditional man.  Once I exchange vows,
all of that ends.”  His voice was firm as he spoke because he meant every word.

“But what about love?” she asked, her face pale.

“What’s love got to do with it?  You’re an attractive woman and I
hope you don’t find me repulsive.  Many arranged marriages last a whole lot
longer than ones where the players come together because of love.”

“But…what if you find someone and then…you fall in love?”  Her voice
grew faint as she spoke.

“And what about you?” he asked.  “It’s a risk we’ll have to take. 
That is, if you think getting this child by me is worth that risk.”  He raised
an eyebrow as he watched the emotions flit across her face.  “It’s totally up
to you.”

She went from pale to pink then she drew in her breath and let it
out slowly.  He could almost see her business mind, her practical side, ticking
away.

“Okay,” she said and this time her voice was firm.  “I’ll do it.”

***

“You sneaky girl.”  Emily Parker beamed as Melanie broke the news to
her.  “So all this time you were telling me you wanted a baby you had this up
your sleeve and didn’t tell me?  You naughty thing.”  She reached over and
pinched her daughter’s cheek.

“Well, not really,” Melanie began but she didn’t get a chance to go
much farther.

“How did you both hide it?  How long have you been seeing each
other?  He’s the first son in the Quest clan, isn’t he?  Isn’t he the one with
the reputation?”

The questions flew so fast Melanie couldn’t answer them all so she
didn’t even bother to try.  Instead, she leaned over in the sofa and put her
arm up around her mother’s shoulder.  “Mom, I just need your help on this.  It
won’t be big but I have no idea where to start.  You’re the expert on these
kinds of things.”

It was her mother who had organized her younger sister’s wedding,
and Kayla had been so pleased that she’d convinced Emily to take on her best
friend’s wedding, too.  And their mother had loved it.

“The wedding planner will report to you, okay?  Sloane says he wants
nothing to do with it, outside of showing up on the appointed day.  And me,”
she raised her shoulders, “I’m hopeless with these things.”

“I know, dear.”  Emily patted her leg.  “You’re a corporate executive. 
You’ve got a lot on your plate.  Just leave everything to me.”

“And Mom,” Melanie looked at her intently, “you don’t mind that I’m
marrying the ‘enemy’?”

“Please.”  Her mother rolled her eyes.  “You can’t fight love,
Melanie.  You fell in love and that’s all that matters to me.”

‘Fell’ was right.  In love was another matter.  Of course, Melanie
didn’t go there.

“Now how your father will react, that’s another story.  But don’t
worry about it.  I’ll take care of him.”

They’d set the date of the wedding for the week after her
thirty-fourth birthday, three  months down the road, and had deliberately
planned small so that everything could be ready in time.  There was no way
Melanie was going into her thirty-fourth year without being in the position to
start working on the biggest assignment of her life, her baby project.  And
Sloane had agreed, thank goodness.  She’d thought he would have objected to the
rush, maybe even change his mind about the whole thing, but no, he behaved like
the kind of man who, once he’d made up his mind, would go all the way.

The next few months went by with the speed of a flashflood and
before Melanie knew it, she was walking up the aisle to stand by the side of
her husband-to-be.  This was all so surreal.  Only months earlier she hadn’t so
much as exchanged a word with Sloane Quest and now she was about to become his
wife.

As they stood before the minister Melanie stole a glance at Sloane,
so tall and handsome standing there beside her, and she could not believe her
good fortune.  A baby in her future and a desirable man to go along with it. 
Was she dreaming the whole thing?

And then the minister turned his attention to her and she knew it
was all true.  She, Melanie Parker, committed bachelorette and spinster, was
about to become Mrs. Sloane Quest.  “Do you, Melanie Parker, take Sloane Quest
to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward,
for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

“I do,” she squeaked, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the enormity
of the situation.  This was forever.  Was she making the biggest mistake of her
life?

“And do you, Sloane Quest, take Melanie Parker to be your lawfully
wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for richer, for
poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

“I do.”  There was no hesitation in Sloane’s voice and Melanie
almost sagged with relief.  At least he didn’t sound like he was regretting his
rash move.

“I now pronounce you, man and wife.”

And then, just like that, it was over and the minister was telling
Sloane he could ‘kiss the bride’.

As he turned toward her, Melanie drew in her breath and held it. 
Goodness.  This would be their first kiss.  And they’d have to do it in front
of an audience.  Was she that good an actress?

Quickly, before her nervousness became obvious to everyone watching,
she closed her eyes and willed herself to relax as Sloane pulled her into his
arms.  His lips descended on hers and then he captured her lips in a kiss that
was bold and masterful, one that left her in no doubt that he was in charge. 
This was not the chaste kiss she’d expected, a kiss just to satisfy a curious
audience.  He was kissing her like he meant it, like this was for real.

And to her chagrin, right there in front of the small gathering of
well-wishers, her body began to respond to his domination.  Instantly, her
nipples hardened and her legs grew weak, and all Melanie could do was cling to
the arms that were like steel bands around her.

When Sloane finally released her lips and lifted his head her eyes
flew open and she found herself staring into his smoldering gray ones.  With
that kiss he’d rocked the ground she’d been standing on, but now she could see
that he’d felt it, too.  He wouldn’t be looking at her this way if he hadn’t.

And then the minister cleared his throat and the spell was broken. 

The organist struck the chord for Mendelssohn's Wedding March and as
she walked down the aisle and out of the church, her new husband holding her
hand, she saw her family beaming at her and her mother had tears in her eyes.

And so it was that she came to the end of step one in her
baby-making plan.  Now it was on to step two.

But with all her past hang-ups, she just prayed she wouldn’t make a darned
fool of herself in bed.

CHAPTER SIX

“It’s…beautiful.”  Melanie stood in the middle of the huge and airy
living room and turned around and around, taking in the rustic charm of Ian
Fleming Villa with its furniture made of bamboo and reddish brown mahogany
beams.  An entire wall seemed to have been removed as the room opened out onto
a lush and colorful tropical garden.

Sloane shoved his hands into his pockets but he was smiling at her. 
“I knew you would.  That’s why I chose this place.  Exotic, comfortable, and
best of all, private.”

“But…it’s so lovely and yet I’ve never heard of it before.”  Melanie
crossed the room and went to stare past the palm fronds and green leaves of the
almond trees to the brilliant blue sea stretching out before them.  “This is a
part of Jamaica I’ve never seen.”

Sloane came to stand beside her, taking in the tranquil scene before
them.  “Most visitors hit the popular tourist centers like Montego Bay or Ocho
Rios but that’s not my style.  I go for a more relaxed, personal experience.”

“And it’s on this property that Ian Fleming created James Bond.” 
Melanie turned toward Sloane.  “That’s what they said when we checked in,
right?”

He chuckled.  “I see we’re paying attention.  He wrote several of
his James Bond novels right here in Oracabessa, at GoldenEye.  I guess he
bought the place because it stimulated his creativity.”

Melanie nodded.  “Hey, if I lived in a place like this I’d be
creative, too.  Look at it.  It’s like we found the Garden of Eden.”

And, looking out onto all that greenery, it made the early morning
flight worth it.

She’d gotten up at the ungodly hour of four o’clock and met Sloane
at the airport at five.  At first she’d grumbled when he insisted on heading
out that early but now she could see why.  They’d arrived at the villa just
about lunchtime, with lots of daylight left so they could start exploring and
enjoying the island right away.

She’d been grateful when Sloane told her he would handle the
honeymoon plans.  Her only responsibility, he’d said, was to make sure she’d
planned to take at least five days off from work because it was important that
they used this time to get to know each other.  He was right, of course.  After
all, how could you call a man your husband when you knew practically nothing
about him?  And having all the details of his professional life did not count.

So here she was, in one of the most idyllic places on earth, with
Sloane Quest by her side.  She would spend the rest of the day getting to know
him, probably relaxing on the sparkling white sand, and then later when the
night fell and the ocean turned inky-blue, she would get to know him even
better.  Because that was when they’d make love.

At the thought her breath caught in her throat and she stole a
furtive glance at Sloane.  Was he as nervous about tonight as she was?  But
Sloane looked one hundred percent relaxed, like he did this sort of thing every
day – marrying a woman he hardly knew, taking her away on a honeymoon, getting
ready to make love.  Well, the making love part was definitely ‘old hat’ for
him.  Unfortunately, not so much for her…