The Tycoon's Make-Believe Fiancee (2 page)

“Ready to go?” she asked brightly, ignoring the menacing glower he was directing towards her.

Royston glared down at the woman, wondering if she realized how much trouble she was in. Then he remembered what he needed her for and he tamped down his irritation. “Ready,” he replied as politely as his temper would allow. He suppressed the urge to add the words, “Get your adorable butt moving,” because he didn’t think this defiant beauty would react well to that command.

Maybe once he knew her better, he might say something like that, just to see what kind of explosion occurred afterwards. He actually liked the idea of this little woman exploding around him. A lot!

His assistant had gotten them a table at the restaurant just down the block so he waved his driver, who was standing beside a long, black limousine just outside the doors to the building, aside and ignored the body guard that was hanging back several feet. Since she was a bit slower than he cared for, he put a hand to the small of her back, urging her to move more quickly. That lasted for maybe two hundred yards before she came to a complete standstill.

When he turned to inquire what the issue was, he saw the fury in her eyes and his body instantly reacted to it. He’d never had this strong and instant of a reaction to a woman before and it was both disturbing and enticing. “What’s wrong?”

She almost sputtered but she couldn’t do that because she couldn’t even catch her breath. “What’s wrong?” she finally got out. “Where’s the fire? What’s the ridiculous rush?” she demanded. “If you’re going to walk that fast, you’ve got to warn me and I’ll put on my roller skates.”

He chuckled again, a first for him he realized. He hadn’t ever thought of women as amusing before. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He thought some of their attempts to manipulate him were amusing, but those little scenes never elicited any sort of chuckle.

He bent down slightly, his eyes shining as he looked at her flushed cheeks and the sparkle in those green eyes. “I apologize. I’m not used to someone so much shorter than I am,” he came right back. With that, he offered her his arm. “I will endeavor to be more of a gentleman going forward.”

Miranda now knew she should have kept her mouth shut. Touch his arm? Was he kidding? More than half of her breathlessness was because he’d been touching the small of her back!

But now that she’d admonished him for being rude and inconsiderate, she couldn’t very well ignore his arm. She had to act like a lady and take his arm politely. She laid her fingers on his arm delicately, not wanting to touch him too much, afraid of what might happen.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have much of a choice. Apparently, the man didn’t think that her fingertips on his arm was enough. His hand moved up, bringing her hand more firmly onto the crook of his arm, then stopped her fingers from falling away by covering them with his own hand.

“So tell me about yourself,” he said as he walked her into the restaurant.

She wasn’t sure she could think, much less talk. The man was very intimidating up close like this. She’d been afraid of him when she’d been working on the opposite end of the hallway. But touching him? Being only inches from his enormous body? That was real fear making her heart race like a crazy demon. And that was before her fingers discovered that he had some serious muscles underneath all that expensive fabric! She shifted her hand ever so slightly, feeling the bulging biceps, pretending her mind wasn’t reeling with the discovery.

She blinked her eyes, trying to focus on placing her feet one step at a time in the correct placement so she wouldn’t fall flat on her face. But the thought occurred to her that, maybe if she fell, he would catch her….Good grief! She shook her head, admonishing herself for thinking such a ridiculous thought.

“What do you want to know?” she asked as he held the door to, La Malachain, one of the most exclusive restaurants in London. He couldn’t respond since the hostess was gushing over him. Thankfully, the irritating woman quickly led them to a table up on one of the balconies, obviously one of the best in the restaurant. Miranda spread the linen napkin out on her lap with more care than was perhaps necessary, but she needed a few moments to recover her equilibrium. It was completely off balance and all because of him! She didn’t like him, why was she reacting like this?

When she looked up again, she found that he was watching her with amusement and she shifted irritably in her seat. “Okay, so what’s the…” they were interrupted by the waiter arriving.

She ordered a salad, not sure if she would be able to eat anything heavy while in the presence of this man and was glad she had. During the entire meal, he interrogated her about her job, her personal life, her hobbies and her family. Since she was the only child of two parents with regular jobs, it wasn’t like she had a whole stash of secrets to tell him.

By the time the waiter had taken their plates away, Miranda was more than a little curious, and feeling a bit vulnerable since she’d answered so many of his questions but he hadn’t revealed anything personal about himself.

When the meal was finally over and the waiter had left them to enjoy rich, fragrant coffee, she sat up straighter in her chair and put her mental foot down. “So what is this interrogation about?” she asked, her nervousness suppressed as her need for answers took over. She’d ignored the glass of wine he’d poured for her, thinking it was some sort of test. He was the boss, after all. She was pretty sure he wouldn’t approve of his employees drinking during their lunch hour despite the fact that he’d had at least half a glass himself.

Royston leaned back as well, surveying the exceptionally beautiful woman. After all of her spirited reactions so far, he was eagerly anticipating what she might say to his next announcement. “I’d like you to be my fiancée for a while,” he finally said, then waited impatiently for her response.

It was slow in coming but when it did, it certainly wasn’t what he expected. He’d been watching her eyes, trying to gauge her reaction and expected eager acceptance. So he was startled when it finally came, although definitely not what he was expecting.

He expected dollar signs to show up in her eyes which would happen with so many women of his acquaintance…or maybe he thought she would toss out an enormous dollar figure or ask for a credit card, or even just smile seductively as if she’d captured a prime catch. But did she do any of those things?

No, this startlingly lovely woman with fascinating green eyes that vacillated between fury and humor did the unexpected. She threw back her head and laughed. She laughed so hard and for so long, Royston was becoming quite irritated. He was vaguely aware of other diners starting to look at them curiously but he didn’t care. He simply waited for her laughter to subside.

When she looked across the table, her laughter finally slowing down to a few chuckles, she wiped the tears of laughter from her cheeks with the linen napkin before taking a deep breath. “Oh, goodness. That was wonderful,” she finally said. Shaking her head, she smiled at him. “Rumors are wrong. You have a wonderful sense of humor.”

That eyebrow went up once again, her first indication that he wasn’t joking.

“So what would it take for you to act as my fiancée?”

Miranda was startled by his question, honestly thinking he had been joking. Her mouth fell open and she stared at him as if he’d suggested she commit a murder or blow up a building. “Why in the world would you need someone to act as your fiancée? Don’t you have scads of women who would jump at the chance to be your real fiancée?”

He simply shrugged one of those ginormous shoulders. “I have many female acquaintances who would use the situation to their advantage. Which is why I am asking you.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. It made her sound…un-entrepreneurial. “How do you know I wouldn’t do that?”

He watched her carefully, debating how to reply. In the end, he went with the truth. “Instinct,” was all he said.

Hmph, she thought. Which made no sense at all. “Okay, so explain to me why you need a fiancée. And am I wrong in guessing you only need someone for a little while?”

He tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement. “You’re correct. My sister wants me to be happy,” he explained with as few details as possible. “She is deliriously happy in her own marriage and thinks that being attached is the only way a person can be happy. So in order to keep her from worrying, I will become an almost-married man.”

Miranda’s eyes widened as he explained and she was touched by the first sign of humanity inside of his tough, intimidating exterior. “You would do all that just to keep your sister from worrying?” Something inside of her melted, feeling a deep sense of something…something similar to a strange heat inside of her stomach.

He shrugged again, causing her mind to blank for a moment while she pictured those shoulders without the expensive suit covering them. When she realized that her mouth had gone dry, and the reason why, she shook her head slightly and refocused on the whole man. “I’m sorry, but I can see many problems with this kind of a charade. And I don’t like deceiving people so you’ll have to find someone else to help you lie to your sister. If she’s worried about your happiness, she’s probably a very nice person. I don’t lie to nice people.”

He didn’t exactly smile so much as something in his eyes changed, revealing his amusement. “With the implication being that you only lie to mean people?” he teased. When he got the expected blush, he relented. “I apologize, but couldn’t resist.” He shifted ever so slightly, changing the subject as he said, “Would it make a difference if I paid you?”

She was intrigued at the idea that he needed a fake fiancée so badly, he was willing to hire someone to play the part. Then she realized what she was doing and shook her head. “No. Money isn’t enough to lose one’s integrity,” she asserted firmly. She reached out and took her water glass, getting ready to stand up and leave the restaurant. She didn’t like where this conversation was going, nor that he thought he could pay her for something so wrong.

“How about a thousand dollars an hour?” he suggested.

Miranda definitely wasn’t expecting that, but she should have, considering the calculating look in his eyes. She immediately started choking on the ice water, coughing for several minutes while she carefully set her glass down on the table so she didn’t spill it. When she could breathe again, she glared across the table at him. “That’s obscene!” she gasped out.

He smiled at her reaction which only proved that she was the perfect woman for the job. “Okay, so tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”

She rolled her eyes. “You don’t get it. I don’t lie and I don’t cheat people. I don’t want to do this to your sister.”

He thought about it for a long moment then came to the conclusion that the only way he would get her to help him was if he presented the whole story to her. “When I was sixteen years old, my sister, Wyndi, was six. My parents went out to run an errand and never came back. They’d been in a car accident and died instantly. I was taking care of my sister that afternoon. When the police came to take us both away, I convinced them that I could handle raising her on my own.” He hadn’t thought about these memories in a long time and he didn’t like doing it now. “It took only six months for child protective services to take her away from me. They sold our house for us, put both of us in separate foster homes and, for the next eighteen months, I tried to run back and find her, to protect her. I was determined to live up to my promise to Wyndi to take care of her, to show her that nothing would separate us. Death had already taken too much away from us, I wasn’t going to lose her too.” He paused for a moment, looking across the room, unable to take the compassion that had suddenly appeared in those green eyes that had turned slightly teary.

“I couldn’t do it,” he finally said. “I couldn’t take care of my baby sister. And when the state services couldn’t stop me from running away from whatever facility they’d dumped me, they lied to me. The case worker in charge of us told me she’d died. I went through hell for over a year, blaming myself for not taking better care of her, for not being there for my parents.” There was another long silence and he gripped the arms of the chair to keep from punching something as he sifted through the words, trying to tell her as little as possible but still get her to understand how important this was to him. “She came to my office this morning,” he told her, ignoring her gasp of horror as he continued with the story. “She is alive and well and I’m about to become an uncle. The person in charge of our cases lied to me. And while I will deal with that woman separately, I’m determined to protect my sister now in any way I can. Before Wyndi left my office, she asked me if I was happy. She didn’t believe me when I told her I was fine, so I told her I was getting married. It seemed to ease her concerns. And since she’s pregnant with my niece or nephew, I will do anything I can to protect her gentle heart. She’s too nice, too sweet and she lets every little thing worry her,” he told Miranda. “I will protect my sister this time around. So if you won’t pose as my fiancée, I will find someone else. I won’t have her worrying about me for any reason.”

Miranda’s heart was already melting. “I’ll do it,” she said, the words out of her mouth before she could stop them. “I’ll pose as your fiancée for as long as it takes to help her.” And to help him, she thought, but she wasn’t really sure where that thought came from. If there was anyone in this world who could take care of himself, it was this strong, amazing man sitting across the table from her. But as she looked at him, she knew that it wasn’t completely true. This man was hurting. She could feel it even though she didn’t completely understand it. There was definitely guilt that he’d lost his sister, and fury over how the case worker had dealt with his need to protect his sister. But there was something else. Something that he’d buried so deep, she wasn’t sure if even he knew what was going on.