The Billionaire's Convenient Bride: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (4 page)

     “Alright. I’m sitting. I’ll listen to the whole thing. You have twelve minutes. Go,” she said in a quiet warning voice.

     He sat and began speaking in a soft voice. “So Nelson was saying to me that he thinks-”

     “Who is Nelson?” she interrupted.

     “He’s my assistant,” Peter answered, glad that she had an actual question rather than another fit. “He said he thinks the best thing for me, since I don’t want a real committed relationship, is to find a woman who fits our description, or rather, your description, and get her to let me hire her on as a pseudo wife, a pretend wife, for three years. I would rent her. I’d pay her for her time and work as a public wife, not a private wife, because I don’t want that, and she could help me clean up my image and do what you said… about working as a unit to help the community, and then after three years she could be free to go. We get an amicable divorce, she is paid the whole time, and I’d even make a lump sum at the end for her, and the whole time we live as business partners, but she shows the public that we are married and it makes me look like a respectable businessman rather than a trashy playboy. Remember all your ideas? Well, this is what they’ve come to. That whole thing was your idea, except for the part about renting the wife, but really, let’s be honest, that’s the best possible scenario for me and any poor woman who decides I’m a case worth helping and actually takes up with me for three whole years.”

     Emmaline watched him carefully and listened as he continued.

     “I just thought I would ask you, because you seem to really fit the bill kind of perfectly. You love the community, you’re a woman of high morals and values, and as you said, you have a good reputation. This would be a way for you to help me get that project done. You said yourself that all my ideas were good.”

     “I said they were good, but they needed some work,” she intoned quietly, watching him closely.

     “You’re waitressing right now, which means you probably aren’t making much money. This project means a great deal to me. I really want to see it happen. We might be coming from two very different places, but we both want the same things for the city, and together, we could make that happen. It will just take a little sacrifice from both of us-”

   “A little?!” she scowled at him.

     “Some sacrifice from me and a lot from you, and together we could do this and make it happen. Think of it as a job. You’d have your own room at my house, you’d be paid a tidy sum and have your own car and you could spend your time helping out those who really need it instead of wiping down tables at the restaurant. Surely you could use some extra money.” He was out of good reasons for her to help him. All but one. “Besides, I don’t really have many friends, at least none that are real, true friends, and people who are honest with me to my face. You are definitely the most honest and upfront person I know. If you need some time to think about it, go ahead, but this is something I want to start as soon as possible so I can get that project going.” He sat back in his chair and sighed, sipping his coffee, thinking how thankful he was that she hadn’t tossed that at him.

     She tilted her head and considered him. He was being truthful and he was being genuine, and those were two things she valued highly. She’d have her own room, and he didn’t want a relationship, so that took a huge worry out of her mind, but not fully from her thoughts.

     “What about sex?” she asked, and he choked on his coffee.

     “
What?
” he gasped, looking at her with wide eyes.

     “Are you going to expect sex from this pretend wife of yours?” she asked again, looking at him with suspicion.

     He shook his head adamantly. “No. Not at all. This is strictly business, one hundred percent down the line. No sex. No fooling around, no physical contact except things like holding hands in public, and maybe an occasional kiss on the cheek for the cameras when the press is around. Just enough to be convincing. That’s it.” He looked at her and she raised one eyebrow in uncertainty.

     “Honestly! I’m not going to start anything with any woman living under my roof. Not that I ever thought there would be a woman living under my roof,” he grumbled slightly.

     Her expression softened, though she regarded him carefully still. “How tidy a sum of money are we talking about?”

     “How much would you want?” he asked. “It seems fair to me that a million and a half ought to be enough. That comes out to five hundred thousand a year. That should be alright, don’t you think?”

     She gaped at him in disbelief. “
What!
”

     He lowered his head and looked at the floor. “Oh, alright. Three million. You’d be doing a lot of public events. Plus… you are putting up with me.”

     He raised his head and looked at her. She was staring at him with wide eyes.

     “If you do it,” he said, and sipped his coffee.

     She continued to stare at him, seemingly adding up figures in her head.

     He sipped his coffee again.

     “So… will you do it?” he asked, feeling uncomfortable under the lock of her stare.

     She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this.”

     He set his coffee cup down and looked at her anxiously.

     “Yes,” she said eventually.

     He grinned from ear to ear. “Great! That’s fantastic! I’ll let Nelson know right away so he can get all the details taken care of for you. I’ll give you his number. Please call him this morning. He’ll want to get all your information, and you need to tell him what kind of car you want so he can have it delivered today. Oh! You’ll need to go shopping and get some new clothes…” He looked at her work outfit and then looked back at her eyes. “Uh, all new clothes. You have to look the part of a billionaire’s girlfriend, and stop by the salon, too, please. Get your hair done, nails, the works. I’ll give you an extra allowance for that, that’s all so you can fit the job description, so I’ll pay for all of that.”

     She giggled and smiled at him, finally, and he smiled back at her.

     “This means you’ll have to date me quite a bit over the next couple of months, so that people believe us when we get married,” he said in a hushed voice.

     “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said with a slow shake of her head.

     He shook his head as well and whispered to her, “Me either. I’ve never had to pay a woman to date me before.”

     She rolled her eyes and wrote her number down on a piece of paper, then slid it over to Peter. “Here. Give this to Nelson and have him call me. I have to go back to work.”

     Peter looked at her in horror. “No, you don’t!” he said unapologetically.

     “Yes, I do. I have to tender my resignation.” She smiled at him, and then turned and walked out of the door.

     He sank down in his chair and finished his coffee, not entirely sure that he was making the right choice, but hoping that it was just what his life needed to be turned around. Then he called Nelson and broke the news to him.

Chapter2

Emmaline spent the next week in a flurry of activity. It began with quitting her job and walking out of the sweet little restaurant in the Quarter, and then meeting Nelson. He was incredibly efficient and she was quite impressed with him. He called her within fifteen minutes of her newfound freedom, and he was in the quarter to pick her up in Peter’s limousine within twenty minutes. He took her to the bank first and opened some accounts in her name, making enormous deposits in them and while she was signing paperwork and finalizing her new accounts, he was on the phone arranging to have the car she wanted delivered to the house that afternoon.

     The rest of that day and several days after that as well, were filled with shopping for new clothes, going for hair and nail appointments, spa treatments, and furniture shopping for her new room at his enormous house. His house was one of the biggest mansions in the city, and it was nestled on a quiet street in an older neighborhood; it was a grand old masterpiece with wooden floors and tall wide windows. There was a beautiful courtyard and an indoor and outdoor pool that were connected and partially covered by a sliding wall of glass.

     There were big old gardens with huge towering trees and flowers blooming all over everything that nature touched. The courtyard was lit with hanging strings of soft lights and old fashioned wrought iron gas street lamps that gave off a warm glow. It surprised her because none of it seemed like him at all. She had expected a playboy’s lair, but what she found was a southern boy’s traditional home in paradise.

     She didn’t see much of Peter in the first week, he was working on business plans and projects and he knocked on her door and poked his head in twice to see that she was doing well and to ask her if she needed anything. She said she was doing really well and he smiled and went on his way. She decided that if things stayed the way they were, then three years would go by fast and she could by her own sweet little home somewhere in the city.

     At the beginning of the second week, he called her and asked if they could sit down together to schedule some dates and she met him in his office with her calendar. They looked at their free time and filled it all in with lunches and dinners at their favorite restaurants, concerts, movies, live theatre shows, and in no time, they were looking at a date for their wedding. They agreed on a date two months away from then and after they entered it into their calendars, Pete looked up at Emmaline and raised his eyebrows.

     “I never asked you what kind of wedding you’d like. I was going to suggest that we elope and just make it simple and easy, but we really have to play this out for the press. We have to have a big to-do. What do you want?” he asked, leaving it entirely up to her.

     She smiled and looked away for a moment and then looked back at him. “Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve always wanted one of the big weddings at the church. We could see if we can get married at Jackson Square and then have a big jazz band lead our guests in a parade through the Quarter.”

     He grinned at her. “That’s absolutely perfect! That’s exactly what the press will want to eat up, and then everyone can see how much I adore you, and how reformed I am, and then we will get to work on saving the city.”

     “Just don’t hit on any of my bridesmaids,” she teased him with a little smile.

     He pushed his mouth out in a very serious expression and tapped his fingers over his tablet dramatically. “…no…hitting…on…the…bridesmaids…” Then he looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a sister? Is she off limits, too? Or can I have a chance at her? What about a maiden aunt?”

     Emmaline grabbed a pillow from the sofa in his office and threw it at him, and he pretended to fall off the desk he was sitting on. “Man down! Man down!” he hollered.

     Then he sat back on his desk again and looked at her. “On a more serious note, you said you just have your grandfather left, isn’t that right? Would he be giving you away?”

     The bright smile faded from her rosy lips and she looked down. “Yes,” she said in a quiet voice. “I’ll have to go talk to him and let him know I’m getting married.”

     Peter bit his lip and looked at her in concern. “What’s the matter?”

     Emmaline sighed and sat on the sofa. “It’s just that I thought that he’d be giving me away at my real wedding. I was only going to get married once, to the man of my dreams, and it was going to be perfect and beautiful, and my grandfather was going to give me away. He’s not going to live forever, and that was going to be a special memory that we made together, and I have always looked forward to it since I was a little girl, and now I’m getting married, but it’s a lie. It’s not the real thing. I’m building a fake memory with him. It just hurts my heart.” She gave him a sad smile and stood up., “I better go. I’ll see you tomorrow for our date.” She turned and walked out of the office and went back to her room.

     Peter watched her go and felt like he should hug her, because her sadness made him sad, and he realized that she was giving up quite a bit to help him with all that he was doing. It touched his heart in a place where nothing had ever touched his heart before, and it was strange and worrying for him.

     The next day, Emmaline and Peter strolled down Decatur Street; her hand tucked into his arm, and him with his hand over hers. She had been quiet since her mention of her grandfather and Peter had been mulling the situation over in his mind. His first order of business was to make her smile.

     “I think we ought to start this thing off properly, New Orleans style,” he said, looking at her with a sidelong glance and a smirk.

     She raised one eyebrow at him and asked, “Really? And how are we going to do that?”

     He grinned at her, “Well, with beignets and coffee, of course.” He walked her into Café du Monde and they sat at a little table right in the middle of the restaurant. Their beignets were delivered hot to their table a few minutes later, covered in thick mounds of white powdered sugar.

     Peter picked up the little dish of pastries and took a deep breath, the blasted it out across the plate, blowing a thick white cloud of powdered sugar all over Emmaline. Then he set the plate down on the table and looked at her and laughed richly. She blinked at him and wiped the powder from her face, glaring at him.

     “Hey, now, don’t be mad. That’s a New Orleans tradition, my dear. Also, I owed you for the water you threw on me. We’re even now.” He held his hands up to her in defense, still laughing at her, and then he pulled some of the napkins from the dispenser and handed them to her. “Here you go, see if you can wipe that up a bit. Be glad you didn’t wear black today.” She began to laugh at him and they finally settled down into their beignets and coffee, and the people around them who were locals stared in shock.

     When they had finished at du Monde, Peter walked with her past Jackson Square and said in a quiet voice, “I thought we could go meet your grandfather, if you don’t mind. No matter if you tell him the truth or if he thinks we are going to get married for real, he will probably want to know who you are hanging around with.”

     She felt a tear come to her eye and she wiped it away quickly, “That’s really thoughtful of you, Peter. You don’t have to do that for me, but I appreciate it.”

     “I know,” he said lightly. “But all the same, it’s the right thing to do, and that is what I’m working hard on now, doing the right thing.”

     Emmaline smiled at him and she turned them to walk down Royal. “I’m telling him the truth. I never lie to my grandparents,” she said quietly. “I just hope he isn’t disappointed in me.”

     Peter patted her hand and said seriously, “Emma, I don’t think anyone could ever be disappointed in you. Not if they really know you.”

     She glanced at him when he spoke her name in such a familiar way, and she didn’t say anything. She decided that she liked the way it sounded. They walked a long way and just as he was about to mention that he could have the car pick them up, Emmaline turned down a few more streets and then they were standing in front of a little old house with a deep front porch. On the porch, rocking back and forth in his chair like he had all the time in the world, was Emmaline’s grandfather.

     She walked up the steps and hugged him tight and kissed his cheek. “Hello Papa, how are you today?”

     He smiled at her like the sun had just come out and warmed him from the cold night. “There’s my girl! I’m good now that you’re here. How’s my little one?” His eyes crinkled as he looked at her.

     “I’m good, Papa. There’s someone here I want you to meet. This is my friend, Peter. Peter, this is my grandfather, Henri.”

     Peter stepped up, pulled his cap off of his head, and waited while her grandfather pushed himself up out of the rocking chair and stood up as tall as he could. The old man looked Peter in the eyes and then reached for his hand. “Hello Peter, welcome to my home. Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable.”

     Peter shook his hand and then sat down in a chair near Henri. “Thank you, sir,” he said humbly.

     “Can I offer you a refreshment? Lemonade? Sweet Tea?” Henri asked, still standing before him.

     Peter smiled and was about to decline when he saw the look on Emmaline’s face and he changed his mind at the last moment. “Uh, yes, sir. Sweet tea would be very nice, thank you.”

     The old man smiled and nodded, then shuffled off inside the house, humming to himself, and the screen door slapped shut behind him.

     Emmaline smiled at Peter. “He just loves company. Thank you for letting him treat you.”

     Peter nodded and smiled, turning his cap over and over in his hands. He stared hard at it, and kept silent. When Henri returned, he handed Peter a tall glass with fresh ice and dark sweet tea in it. Peter sipped it and raised his eyebrows, impressed with the drink.

     “That’s really good! Thank you so much, sir,” Peter said with a smile. Henri grinned and nodded and sat down.

     “I make good sweet tea,” he said as he sat. He got comfortable again and then looked at Peter. “So you’re seeing my granddaughter?” he asked amiably.

     “Yes, sir, I am,” Peter answered.

     “Well, young man, you’ve got your hands full then. She’s a firecracker. Where’ve you taken her?” Henri looked at him with wise old eyes and a kind smile.

     Peter almost choked on his tea, “She and I were at Café du Monde just a while ago.”

     Henri looked at his granddaughter’s clothes smudged with powdered sugar. “Yes. I can see that,” he said, stifling a good laugh. “She let you get away with that? She must like you, then.”

     Peter smiled and then laughed. “That’s the first time she’s let me get away with anything at all, so I’m counting myself lucky, sir.”

     Henri laughed at him. Emmaline moved her seat next to her grandfather’s and took his hand in hers.

     “Papa,” she said softly. “I hope you won’t be upset with me, but I want to tell you what it is that’s going on here. You know you’re the most important person in my life and I would never keep anything from you, so I want you to know this, but you can’t tell anyone.”

     Henri looked at her with great concern, but he listened quietly to everything she had to say, occasionally shooting dark looks of uncertainty over to Peter, but he let her finish and by the time she was done with her story, he whistled and leaned back in his chair, then began to rock in it quietly for a long while.

     Emmaline waited for him to respond, so Peter followed her lead, and he waited as well and sipped his sweet tea.

     At long last, Henri spoke. He looked at Peter. “Why did you choose my granddaughter for this deal of yours?”

     Peter looked right at him. “I chose her because she is the most upstanding, honest, hardworking, respectable woman I know, and she is genuinely interested in helping her community. Besides that, she is a truly beautiful woman and she will make a believable wife.”

     Henri nodded his head and sighed. “Well, I don’t think it’s right, but I understand what you are doing. I’m never going to let my little one down, so I’ll be right there to give you away, Emma, but I hope someday you will let me give you away to a real husband who will love you all of your life like your grandmother loved me. I was a lucky man to get her and I don’t know how I ever talked her into marrying me, but I’m grateful every day that she did, and I want that same kind of love for you, little one.”

     She hugged him tight around his neck and then sat back down again and wiped tears from her eyes. He looked once more at Peter. “You better take good care of her,” he said. It was clear that it wasn’t a request.

     Peter nodded. “Yes, sir, I will do that. I give you my word.”

     Henri nodded back. “Good.”

     They stayed and talked with Henri through the early afternoon, and then after Emmaline had washed the sugar off of her clothes, they left him and headed out for their dinner date. Peter hired a carriage to take them through the Quarter for an evening ride and they sat together in the warm air as twilight started to descend and the stars came out one by one.

     “You know,” Peter said as they rode along quietly, “I really like your grandfather. No one has ever treated me with such genuine respect before. That was a first. You’re a lucky lady to have him in your life.”