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‘Pity.’
‘What does that mean?’
He stared hard at her, making her squirm on her chair.
‘You know, you’re not quite what I expected,’ was his next, rather cryptic comment, ‘but I can see you’re still a no-nonsense businesswoman. Like I said, I’m a truthful man. I don’t like to con people. I also don’t have the time to muck around. The thing is, Ms Fairlane,’ he continued as he sat forward on the sofa, his elbows coming to rest on his knees, ‘I need a wife before the first week in December.’
CHAPTER THREE
‘THE first week in December!’ Natalie exclaimed. ‘But December’s just over a month away!’
‘That’s right,’ Mike said, feeling perversely pleased that he’d got a real rise out of her.
He’d met females like Natalie Fairlane before. For some reason they were sour on life, and on men. That was why they tried to hide their femininity behind masculine-looking clothes. They lived in constant denial of their sex, and their sexuality.
Yet a man would have to be blind not to see that Natalie Fairlane was a looker. With the right makeup and the right outfit, she’d be a knock-’em-dead type. She had all the basic equipment. Gorgeous red hair. Striking blue eyes. A sultry mouth. And, if he was not mistaken, hiding behind that simply awful grey trouser suit was a darned good figure.
‘But that’s impossible!’ she informed him agitatedly. ‘It takes a month and a day to get a marriage licence, unless you have a special reason for a special licence. Do you?’ she demanded to know. ‘Oh, this is quite ridiculous. Why do you have to be married by then?’
Natalie watched as he sighed, then leant back again, stretching his arms along the back of the sofa, his leather jacket coming apart as he did so.
Natalie did her best not to stare. But, brother, did that man have a chest on him!
‘Do you want the long version or the short version?’ he said.
‘Any version will do,’ she told him. ‘Provided it makes sense.’
‘Fair enough. The thing is, Ms Fairlane, I’m in negotiations with an American company named Comproware who are very interested in a new firewall program I’ve written. Interested enough to offer me a partnership.’
‘And?’ Natalie prompted when he stopped talking for a second. Patience was not one of Natalie’s virtues. ‘Such a partnership would earn my company many millions over the coming years. Unfortunately, the owner of Comproware is a sanctimonious, self-righteous old buzzard named Chuck Helsinger who refuses to go into partnership with any man who isn’t married. Married with solid family values, I’ve been informed.’
‘Aah, I’m beginning to see. But why do you call Mr Helsinger self-righteous?’
‘He’s seventy years old. And his wife is in her forties. His third wife.’
‘At least he married her!’
‘Trading your wife in on a younger model every once in a while hardly demonstrates solid family values. Not that I feel all that sorry for any of his wives. No doubt they only married him in the first place for his money.’
‘Which is exactly what you’re planning to do,’ she pointed out tartly. ‘Marrying for Mr Helsinger’s money.’
‘Right in one, Ms Fairlane. Glad to see you’ve got the picture.’
‘Oh, I’ve got the picture all right, Mr Stone,’ she countered, a furious indignation simmering away inside her. ‘Now let me give you my picture. If you think I would insult any of my girls by matching a man like you up with any of them, then you can think again. They wouldn’t enter into the kind of loveless marriage you’re wanting, for all the money in the world. They want real marriages with real husbands and the possibilities of a real family, which I presume wouldn’t be on your agenda.’
Her tirade didn’t seem to have affected him in the slightest. He continued to lounge back in that nonchalantly relaxed pose, his expression as poker-faced as ever.
‘You’re quite right, Ms Fairlane. I certainly wasn’t planning on being a real husband. This would be a business arrangement only, with a discreet divorce in the foreseeable future.’
‘A business arrangement?’ she repeated a bit blankly. ‘You mean…no sex?’
‘Absolutely no sex.’
Somehow she found that hard to believe. Mike Stone oozed testosterone from every pore.
But then she realised what he meant. Just no sex with his bought bride. He’d probably still be having it off with other women.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said stiffly. ‘I would still not entertain the thought of putting such an outrageous proposition to any of my girls. It’s not what they came to Wives Wanted to get. They would be offended and none would accept.’
‘You’re quite sure of that?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘I will pay one million dollars up front. And a further one million if the partnership goes through.’
Natalie gaped before she could stop herself.
‘Naturally, I will also cover all expenses associated with the wedding,’ the object of her gaping went on before she could regather her composure. ‘The marriage will have to look real. Mr Helsinger could be having me investigated.’
‘I see,’ she said after her mouth finally snapped shut. ‘That’s a very…generous…offer.’
Generous and tempting.
‘It’s fair for the amount of work and inconvenience involved. Aside from the bother of going through with a wedding, and making it look the goods, my temporary wife will have to be available to spend a couple of days with me aboard Mr Helsinger’s yacht early in December. He’s coming here to Sydney to pick up this brand-new luxury boat and look me over at the same time.’
Natalie frowned. ‘Yachts don’t have huge bedrooms. If you’re supposed to be newly-weds, you’ll have to share a cabin.’
‘I can see the way your mind is working, Ms Fairlane, but I can promise you there won’t be any hanky-panky. I don’t want to create any problems afterwards. This marriage will not be consummated, so please don’t match me up with any female who might fancy herself a femme fatale, or who might imagine that I will fall in love with her. I won’t,’ he finished up with a flash of steel in his hard, dark eyes. ‘I don’t fall in love and I won’t be staying married.’
‘You don’t have to worry about some poor deluded creature from Wives Wanted trying to seduce you, Mr Stone,’ she said, thinking his name reflected his nature. He was made of stone. ‘I still have no intention of matching you with any of my female clients.’
Natalie would later question why she did what she did next. Was it just for the money, or were there other, darker forces at work?
The money was certainly very tempting. She would be able to pay off her parents’ mortgage and give them a lump sum to help with their retirement. Then, when she got the second million—she didn’t doubt that the ruthlessly ambitious Mike Stone would get his partnership—she could pay off her own mortgage and maybe go on an overseas holiday. She was getting tired of matching other women to men who actually wanted to marry them. It had once given her a kick to see two of her clients happily wed. Lately, however, a measure of envy had been creeping in.
Despite her disastrous relationship with Brandon, Natalie had always believed she would marry one day. And have a family of her own. When she’d started Wives Wanted three years back, she’d still harboured the hope that one day her Mr Right would walk through the door.
But something had happened to her, post-Brandon. She’d become defensive and aggressive where the opposite sex was concerned. The bottom line was she just didn’t trust them.
Men were not attracted to her harder, more cynical persona. She hadn’t had a date, or a single lover, since Brandon.
‘How about me?’ came her curt offer.
That got his attention. He sat up straight, his arms falling off the back of the sofa.
‘You?’
The shock in his voice piqued her considerably.
‘Yes, me,’ she snapped. ‘What’s wrong with me?’
What was wrong with her was that he fancied her.
Keeping his hands off the provocative Ms Fairlane might prove difficult, especially on those nights they were thrown together on the yacht. On the other hand, it was clear she wasn’t about to help him find a wife from amongst her precious ‘girls’.
Suddenly, he understood why. She wanted the job—nope, she wanted the money—for herself.
‘I suppose you were looking for someone younger,’ she said with a flash of those cut-glass blue eyes of hers.
‘How old are you?’ he asked.
‘The same age as you. Thirty-four.’
His eyebrows lifted. He would have tagged her as a couple of years older. But that was probably due to the dreary clothes she was wearing.
‘I can look younger,’ she said with a proud toss of her head. ‘And prettier. If that’s what you want.’
‘What I want, Ms Fairlane, is a wife who can convince Chuck Helsinger that she’s genuinely in love with me. Can you do that?’
Her chin lifted. ‘For two million dollars? I’ll convince him I adore every single hair on your head.’
Mike smiled as he ran his hand over his very thick crew cut. This, he’d like to see.
His smile faded, however, when he realised he might find it even harder to keep his hands off when Ms Fairlane started playing the besotted bride. He would have to keep reminding himself that she was just doing it for the money.
Damn, but that thought really annoyed him. He hated gold-diggers with a passion.
‘I presume you won’t entertain any romantic fantasies that I might fall in love with you and want to stay married to you?’ he threw at her.
‘Don’t be ridiculous! You’d be the last man on earth I’d fantasise over.’
‘I’m not your type?’
‘Only a fool would fantasise over a man who obviously doesn’t believe in love and marriage. I am not a fool, Mr Stone,’ she finished up firmly.
‘In that case, it’s a deal, Ms Fairlane.’
Even as he said the words Mike suspected he was going to regret marrying this tough-talking but rather temperamental redhead. But what alternative did he have? Instant wives didn’t grow on trees. December would be here before he could blink.
For the first time since they’d met, she suddenly looked uncertain, her hand coming up to her throat in a decidedly vulnerable gesture.
She had a long throat, he noticed. Long and pale, as if she hadn’t been out in the sun for ages.
An image popped into Mike’s mind of her lying naked on a bed, her whole body pale and soft, her gleaming red hair spread out on the pillow. Her wide eyes would be locked with his, just as they were now, but more so, their expression expectant, yet at the same time excited.
‘So…what do we do now?’ she said, breaking into his fantasy.
Why don’t I take you to bed? he wanted to say.
Because that was what he wanted to do. Right now.
It had been too long, Mike realised ruefully, since he’d been to bed with a woman. Richard was right. Celibacy did not sit well with him, not when he was in the company of a woman he fancied.
But there was nothing he could do about it now, certainly not with Ms Fairlane. She’d blow a gasket if he started coming on to her. Nope. He was trapped into a no-sex existence for another couple of months at least. He couldn’t even sneak a bit on the side. Cunning old Chuck might find out about it and any partnership would fly out the window.
Just think of the money, he told himself. The same as the mercenary Ms Fairlane is doing. And stop thinking about her being naked, and willing. The odds of her ever being naked and willing with you, Mikey, are about as high as your staying married to her.
Which reminded him. He had a marriage to arrange, and there was no time to lose.
‘It’s Thursday night,’ he returned, glancing at his watch. ‘The stores don’t close till nine. First, we’ll go get a quick bite to eat. After that, I’m taking you engagement-ring shopping.’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘WHAT?’ Shock propelled Natalie to her feet. ‘Did you say engagement-ring shopping?’
‘Absolutely,’ Mike replied, rising to his feet also.
‘But surely that’s not necessary!’ She couldn’t bear the thought of going into a jewellery shop with him and pretending to be lovers.
‘Of course it is,’ he returned. ‘When I present you to Mr Chuck Helsinger as my wife you’re going to have everything my wife should have. That includes a rock on your ring finger and a wardrobe which will knock that dirty old devil’s eyes out.’
‘But…’
‘No buts, please, Natalie. Sorry, but I do have to call you Natalie, since sweetheart and honey and, I presume, darling is out. Unless, of course, you want me to call you Nat.’
She winced at the shortened form of her name, which she’d been called in high school and which she still hated.
‘Natalie will be fine,’ she bit out.
‘Okay. And don’t you forget to call me Mike. It wouldn’t do for you to address me as Mr Stone.’
‘I guess not. Now, about this wardrobe business…’
‘Yes?’
‘I don’t always dress like this, you know. These are just my work clothes.’
‘That’s a relief.’
Natalie bristled. ‘There’s no need to insult me.’
‘I wasn’t insulting you. I was being truthful again. That pant suit you’re wearing is simply dreadful. The colour does nothing for you and the cut is far too masculine.’
‘I thought you were a computer genius,’ she snapped. ‘Not the fashion police.’
‘I’m a man. And I know what looks good on a woman. The fact that you would even consider buying that outfit in the first place speaks for itself. I’m taking you clothes shopping before December, whether you like it or not.’
‘Whatever,’ she said, privately conceding that her wardrobe possibly didn’t have the clothes necessary for a weekend cruise with the jet set. ‘You’re paying for it.’
