Can't Buy Me Love Page 3

  “And you don’t see this as a problem?” Maddie asked.

  “We, uh…didn’t talk about that part of it.”

  “Paige, for heaven’s sake! What would your father say about this?”

  It was a moot point. If her father were around to have a say, then she wouldn’t even be in the Sates and faced with this opportunity. And when she thought about all the caring faces of the Zumbai Tribe… “He’d tell me to do it.”

  Maddie sighed and shook her head.

  “It won’t be an issue.” Paige waved a hand as if to dispel any problems that might arise. “I think Mr. Anderson said that it was to be a marriage in name only.”

  “You think?”

  “I’m pretty sure.”

  “Paige.” Maddie dragged out the word sounding more like a mother than a best friend.

  “There has to be chemistry before there’s a problem.”

  “And there’s no chemistry between the two of you?”

  “No,” Paige lied, remembering the way he had stared at her. He took in her averageness and so briefly met her gaze. Then he had turned away and not met her eyes again.

  “Paige, don’t do this to yourself.”

  “I have to. In a few weeks I’ll be thirty years old. Thirty.”

  “It’s not a death sentence.”

  “It might as well be.”

  “You just need some more time. Go out on a few dates…”

  Paige rolled her eyes. “Look at you, then look at me.” She gestured toward her friend’s flaming red hair, porcelain-like skin, and startling green eyes. “Now tell me I’m going to have an opportunity like this again. Face it, Maddie, I’m average.”

  “Paige, all you have to do is curl your hair. Put on some make up—”

  “And try to be more like Lydia? I’m not a beauty queen, and I never will be. I’m average, I’ve always been average, and I will always be average.”

  “Paige, have you even asked yourself why he picked you? You don’t exactly have the social standing to fit in with his crowd.”

  She smiled to hide the fact that she had been asking herself that same question all afternoon. “Why not me? It’s a business deal. All I have to do is live in the house with him for one year and kiss him good-bye as he goes to work. The real terms of the marriage will be kept a secret. As long as the press doesn’t know, we’re home free.”

  “Yes,” Maddie murmured, but Paige could tell her friend was not convinced. “Maybe you should find out more about him.”

  “I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” Paige agreed feeling a small let down after her exciting news. It seemed strange to research her future husband. “Okay, you win. I’ll doodle him…right after dinner.”

  “Google,” Maddie corrected.

  “Yeah.” Paige nodded. “That too.”

  ****

  “Paige, can you come in here, please?”

  Paige stifled what she could of her surprised exclamation by covering her mouth with one hand.

  “Are you all right?” Noah Anderson asked, leaning out of the open doorway of his office.

  “Fine. Just a little jumpy.” With her pre-wedding-to-the-most-handsome-man-on-the-planet jitters, she had hardly slept the night before. Not to mention all the women. Her trip to the World Wide Web last night had—among other things—revealed Blake Caldwell’s active social calendar. She had committed herself to marrying a rounder. “I didn’t expect you to be here this early.”

  “Lots of work to do today. Come on in when you get settled. We have some things to discuss.”

  It took Paige only a few minutes to find her notebook and make her way into Noah’s office. She had taken two steps into the room when she realized she had forgotten her pen. She turned to go back to her desk and get it, but stopped short when she saw Blake sitting in the same leather chair that she had sat in the day before.

  Her mouth went dry, and her legs weakened. Lord, she was never going to make it through this without having a massive coronary.

  He looked more composed than he had the day before, which was more than she could say for herself. She resisted the urge to smooth her hair back from her face and run her sweaty palms down her sides. She must remain cool and composed. All that was between them was a business arrangement, nothing more.

  “Come in, Paige. We have much to discuss,” Noah invited.

  “Just let me get my pen. I left it at my desk.”

  “You’re not here to take dictation,” Noah said gently. “We need to settle the terms of this arrangement.”

  Paige took a deep breath to calm the erratic pounding of her heart and advanced into the room.

  Blake turned as she approached. “Good morning,” he murmured, not quite meeting her eyes as he stood. “Please sit down. We have a great deal to do before the...wedding.”

  Paige didn’t miss his hesitation before voicing the word. Last night she had learned that Blake Caldwell was a sworn bachelor and, according to the papers had never dated a woman for more than two months. Now it had come to this.

  She sat in the chair indicated, sinking down into its softness and closing her eyes against the maelstrom of awareness that engulfed her. What would it be like to be married to Blake Caldwell? Really married to him. And he came home every night. And—

  “This is the pre-nuptial agreement.” a man’s voice she didn’t recognize crashed Paige back to reality. Her eyes popped open just as he pushed the papers into her hands. She hadn’t noticed there was someone else in the room besides herself, Noah, and Blake, but how could she? She was so aware of Blake she could hardly stand on her own two feet.

  “Allow me to introduce myself,” the man seated across from her said by way of belated greeting. “My name is Dan Masters, and I’m here to ensure the wishes of my client are carried through.”

  “Your client?” Paige asked.

  “Virginia Caldwell. I wrote her will, and I will be the one to make certain the terms are met.”

  “Terms?” Lord, she was out of her league. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s all very simple, my dear.” Masters braced his elbows on the arms of his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. He was very distinguished, his hair graying to the color of salted iron, but he was so condescending. Paige had the feeling he thought his client’s nephew was above marriage to the woman he had been presented.

  “Mrs. Caldwell dictated that her nephew must marry within one business quarter of her death. These gentleman—” he made a sweeping gesture with his hand— “have informed me that you are to be the bride. Before you is the pre-nuptial agreement that must be signed before such a union takes place.”

  Paige looked at the papers then to Noah. “May I read it?”

  “By all means,” Noah replied.

  Paige scanned the words, but lost her way shortly after the party of the first part and the party of the second part. She placed the papers on the desk. “I think I need counsel.” She couldn’t afford counsel, but she needed it. “Can this wait a few more days?”

  “No,” Blake said immediately.

  Noah shot him a killer look. “Paige, bringing in outside counsel isn’t a good idea. It’s very important to keep the terms of this marriage out of the papers. As I said yesterday, we do not have much time. A few days at the most. I will serve as your counsel. What do you need to know?”

  “Aren’t you here as Blake’s counsel?” She turned in her seat to face Blake. “I can call you Blake, can’t I?” What was she saying? They were to be married soon. What was she supposed to call him other than his given name?

  He smiled at her gently, almost indulgently. “Everybody else does.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not normally this obtuse. It’s just that...” she trailed off unable to say what really bothered her. It’s just that when you’re near me I can’t seem to think at all. “It’s just that this is all very new to me,” she said instead.

  “That makes two of us.”

  Once again Blake’s gaze focused on
her nose. He picked up the pre-nuptial agreement and handed it to her. “Look this over and ask when you come to something you don’t understand. Take your time.”

  Paige read the paper carefully, trying to make sense of the legal jargon. Then her eyes centered on a number, and her mouth went dry again. She turned her gaze to Blake with her mouth agape.

  “A hundred and seventy-six million dollars? If you marry me, you’ll inherit a hundred and seventy-six million dollars?”

  “176.3,” he solemnly corrected with a half nod.

  She looked around the small group for their confirmation. Both Masters and Noah nodded in agreeing unison.

  Maddie’s words of the night before came hurtling through the fog of her brain. “Why me?”

  Blake shrugged, still not meeting her eyes. “Why not?”

  “I read the papers. You could have any woman in this town, in this state. What about—” She had been about to ask, What about Anna Rivera? Her name had been linked to his most often in the past few weeks, but the answer hit Paige like a runaway freight train. There was only one reason why any of the many women Blake had ever dated wouldn’t marry Chicago’s most eligible bachelor. “You’re gay.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “I understand, and it’s okay. I can keep a secret.” Her entire being had been disillusioned, but she managed to keep her voice calm and level. Maddie was right; of all the good ones were gay.

  “Paige, the only secret I need for you to keep is that my aunt is blackmailing me into marriage.”

  “Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “I’m not ashamed!”

  “Good. There’s no reason to be. Millions of people are gay.”

  “I am not gay!” Blake thrust his fingers through his hair.

  “But you just said—”

  Before her despondent heart could beat even once more, he came around the chair. Before she could blink, his hands were on her arms pulling her to her feet. Before she could say or do anything his lips met hers, and Paige’s world exploded into a million fragments of light and color. She understood nothing but the feel of his lips on hers, coaxing and probing. She opened her mouth for him. Accepting all he offered. Melting against him. Putty in his hands. Oblivious to their audience.

  Noah cleared his throat.

  Blake’s lips left hers abruptly as his hands released her arms. Paige collapsed into her chair. His eyes, their hazel intensity almost golden, locked with hers, and she felt herself still twirling in the whirlpool of desire. She had come in awed by his presence, and now...well, now she was more than awed. Did he feel it too? Was that why he stared at her, that peculiar expression on his handsome features?

  “A very touching display I must say,” Masters said interrupting the quiet, heart-pounding moment. “But I do believe the time has come to sign the papers. I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is not my only appointment today.”

  Blake dragged his gaze from hers, but Paige’s temperature didn’t lessen even a tenth of a degree.

  “I’m not gay.” Blake repeated, his eyes meeting her nose once again.

  “Definitely,” she whispered.

  Noah cleared his throat again. “Paige, do you have any questions about the pre-nup?”

  She wasn’t sure she could articulate them if she did. She shook her head.

  “Then we’ll need you to sign it in triplicate.”

  “Okay,” she stammered, finally finding her voice. “But I don’t have a pen.”

  “Here,” Noah said. “Use mine.”

  Her fingers trembled as she signed her name. She stared at the scrawl and watched as Blake signed his name underneath hers.

  It was only a business deal and only for one year, so why did she feel as if she had just signed her heart away for an eternity?

  Chapter Three

  Paige stared at the painting Maddie had hung above the fireplace in their apartment. It portrayed the ocean in great sweeping strokes of pastel greens and blues that lapped against a tranquil beach of beige. It was designed to be soothing, but Paige’s thoughts were as turbulent as a hurricane.

  She closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself walking along that beach. She tried to smell the ocean breeze that stirred her hair. Tried to feel the waves caressing her ankles as she waded into the surf, but all she could think about was Blake and the feel of his lips on hers.

  The door to the apartment opened and brought Paige’s thoughts back to her surroundings. She wasn’t on the beach; she was sitting on the couch. Blake wasn’t there; Maddie was. And the imagined scent of the ocean had been replaced by the delicious and real aroma of take-out Chinese.

  “Dinner.” Paige rose to her feet. “It’s my night to make dinner.”

  “I’ve taken care of it already. I stopped by the Golden Dragon on the way home. I knew you would forget with all the things you have on your mind right now.”

  “Oh, Maddie, you wouldn’t believe all I have to do.”

  “You were certainly getting a lot accomplished sitting on the couch and staring off into space.” Maddie sat the bag of food on the table and began to unpack the white cartons.

  Paige thought of the ocean and Blake. Fantasies like that would get her nowhere fast. “I just don’t know where to start.”

  “That’s why I’m here. We’ll start with dinner, then move on to the other things you have on your list. You do have a list, don’t you?”

  Paige shook her head.

  “Then we’ll make one while we eat. I brought your favorite,” she said, opening the carton for Paige to see. “Vegetarian lo mien and...” she pulled a wax package out of the sack. “Fried wontons.”

  “Maddie, you’re a life saver.”

  Maddie shrugged one shoulder. “What are friends for? Besides, it isn’t everyday your best friend gets married—even if it is temporary.” She picked up both Styrofoam cups of soda and handed one to Paige. “To twelve month marriages,” she toasted. “May they last...twelve months.”

  Paige drank and tried to squelch any lingering fantasies that her marriage to Blake would last any longer than the designated year.

  ****

  “Okay.” Maddie tapped the eraser end of her pencil against the stenographer’s notebook. The table had been set, their plates filled with large helpings of steaming Chinese, and dinner had turned into a list making affair. “You’re going to need a dress.”

  “We’re just going downtown to the justice of the peace. I don’t need anything very fancy.”

  “Paige, it’s your wedding. Do you take this man, etc., etc., until one year do you part. Amen. The way you talk this may be the only wedding you ever have. The least you deserve is a special dress.”

  “I guess you’re right. I hadn’t really thought about it that way. I’ve still got the dress that I wore to your brother’s wedding. It’s suitable.”

  “I don’t want you to be suitable. I want you to be a knockout.”

  Paige smiled but refrained from voicing the fact that she never been a knockout.

  “That dress will be fine.”

  But now Paige had her own reservations. If this was the only time that she was getting married—even if it was only for a year—she should have a beautiful dress. And she knew just the one.

  She jumped to her feet and started for the bedroom.

  “Where are you going?” Maddie called behind her.

  “You’ll see.”

  And there it was, in the back of her closet a dress that she had been working on for a while, never knowing when or if she would ever get the chance to wear it.

  She eased it off its padded hanger.

  It still needed a zipper, but it was without a doubt the most beautiful dress she had ever made.

  The bodice was simple, scooped-necked, torso-fitting. The sleeves and the skirt were made from yards and yards of the same tea-stained lace as the bodice, fashioned into layers of handkerchiefs that came to points at her ankles and elbows and swirled like a misty, lace f
og.

  She stripped out of her clothes and slipped it over her head. Even with it hanging loosely on her frame, she felt beautiful. Well, at lease beautiful for her. Holding the dress in place, she made her way back into the living room.

  “Oh, Paige,” Maddie sighed. “That’s perfect.”

  Paige twirled this way and that, loving the feel of the lace as it brushed against her skin. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  She nodded. Let me get this off. It’s going to need a zipper before the ceremony.”

  Paige went back into the bedroom to change, emerging a few moments later with the dress and her sewing kit. She could barely contain her excitement at finally being able to wear the dreamy dress. It almost made it worth staying in the States for the next year. Almost.

  She settled down on the couch and threaded her needle.

  “What about your job?”

  “He’s already taken care of my job. I went into the agency today to see if I had any more assignments, and poor Mrs. Fenster was still blushing from the force of his charm. She said, and I quote, ‘Isn’t this romantic? We didn’t even know you knew Mr. Caldwell. And now the two of you are getting married.’ Then she clapped her hands together and blushed even redder.”

  “Mrs. Fenster? Isn’t she the lady at the desk right when you walk into the office? The one that weighs about three hundred pounds?”

  “The desk or the lady?” Paige quipped, doubling the knot and making the first stitch to tack down the zipper.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “The very same. Though you’d better change her weight to two-eighty. I swear, he charmed at least twenty pounds off of her.”

  “That charming, huh?”

  “He kissed me today.”

  Paige’s quietly spoken revelation brought Maddie to her feet. “He what?”

  “He kissed me today. Charming is not the word for him. Try mind boggling.”

  “Oh, this is great. Just great.”

  “It was just a kiss.” Paige wished she could believe that herself. It wasn’t her first kiss, but it was darn close. “Anyway, he only kissed me because I accused him of being gay.”

  “You what?”

  “Accused is probably too strong of a word. It was more of a suggestion.”