The Billionaire's Convenient Bride: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (5 page)

     “I know it,” she said, smiling, and held his hand as the carriage rolled on.

     They spent every day together having lunch and dinner out in town, making sure they were seen by everyone, and all the looks of disgust and disdain began to quiet and calm over the weeks, and they noticed a subtle change in the way that people looked at Peter, and the way they treated him. Peter made sure that Henri went out to dinner with them on Sunday nights, and he got to love the weekly visits with him. Their conversations ranged over a wide array of topics, and none of them were ever boring.

     Emmaline had learned that Peter worked in his office in the mornings, and she left him to it, often doing laps in the pool or making breakfast for herself and Nelson and Peter, when they emerged from the war cave, as Nelson sometimes called it.

     She was making French press coffee one morning, three weeks into their deal, when Nelson slipped into the kitchen looking more than a little askew.

     “What’s going on in there today? Are you alright?” she asked him, slightly concerned.

     He shook his head and looked longingly at the coffee she was pouring into her cup. “No, it’s not going well at all.”

     She saw his face and handed him the cup of coffee, which he took gratefully. “We’re really struggling with part of the refurbishment in the plans. There’s a business associate from out of town who is in there right now, and we just can’t seem to reach terms on anything. It’s warm and tense in there, and I just had to break out to come grab some coffee before one of them kills the other one.”

     Emmaline nodded and patted him on the shoulder. Then she made a pretty tray, laying out a linen cloth on it, adding a small vase of fresh cut flowers she had chosen from the garden that morning, she placed a plate of cookies and a bowl of wrapped chocolates on the tray and then pulled a pitcher of sweet tea from the refrigerator and nudged Nelson.

     “Alright, I’m armed, let’s go,” she said conspiratorially.

     They walked into the office together and she set the tray down on Peter’s desk. He looked up at her, in a bad mood and she saw irritation flit across his perfect looking face. She turned her eyes to his business associate who was standing at another table in the office, looking at designs sitting on the surface of it. He was tall and seemingly built of solid muscle. He had jet black hair and light blue eyes. His extraordinary good looks caught her off guard for a moment and she blinked at him and then smiled. He smiled back at her warmly and looked at the tray in gratitude. He walked around the desk, his eyes never leaving her, and he reached for her hand.

     “Hello, I’m Tristan.” He kissed the back of her hand slowly and delicately, and then released it, his eyes watching her still as she smiled widely at him. “That looks so good. I think it’s just what we needed,” he said softly, glancing for a moment at the tray. “Thank you for bringing that in.”

     She shrugged and smiled, but before she could answer, Peter stood up and slammed his hands down on the desk. “No, that is not just what we needed! What we need is a resolution to your stubborn attitude! We can’t move forward until you agree with me! I don’t think cookies and tea are going to fix that!” He raised his voice and Tristan winked at Emmaline and turned to Peter.

     “Sweet tea might sweeten your disposition and your short-sightedness. Can I offer you a glass of it?” His voice was deep and calm, and his tone was polite.

     Emmaline wandered over to the table and looked down at the plans. A cursory glance gave her a fair idea of what they were looking at.

     “Tea is not going to fix this!” Peter snapped.

     Emmaline looked up at them both, and they were both watching her. “What seems to be the hold up?” she asked.

     Tristan walked over to the table and stood near her. “I’m sorry I didn’t get your name before,” he said with a smile.

     “I’m Emmaline,” she replied and he bowed his head slightly to her.

     “Well, Emmaline, we are working on these plans to refurbish a section of the French Quarter and some of the Uptown area and the city here and here as well. Part of our work includes the merger of two businesses, and the challenge seems to be that we are experiencing some legal constraints due to…” he glanced at Peter and then back at Emmaline, “some red tape at the Governor’s office that we can’t seem to get through. Not all of the legal channels we need to use are open to us because some of the people working on the project aren’t, let’s just say, favored. So that’s holding us up, and while we are working through that, our timelines are being delayed which is holding back the progress of combining the companies. The employees are very concerned about their jobs and future of the businesses and the merger and some of them are talking about leaving for more solid employment. We don’t want to lose the talent we have, and legally, we have to keep both companies active until the legal channels are cleared for the merger, so we are stuck about what to do with it with the employees. We’ll get through the red tape eventually, but we can’t lose our staff.”

     Emmaline looked at the documents spread across the table and her eyes fell on a map of the Quarter. “Well, actually, it seems like you already have a really simple solution to the whole problem,” she said with a smile at Tristan.

     Peter stalked over to the table and flung his hands up in the air at her. “There’s nothing simple about it! Nothing at all! What do you know anyway? You’re just a waitress!”

     Emmaline’s heart felt like it stopped in her chest and her eyes stung with tears as she stared at Peter’s angry face. Tristan placed his hand lightly on her shoulder and looked directly at her.

     “What is it that you thought might work for this? I’d love to know. Fresh eyes can usually see things that tired eyes can’t.” He gave her an encouraging smile and she took a deep breath to steady herself, then she looked at Tristan alone and placed her hand on one of the squares of property.

     “This building right here is already refurbished. It’s been repaired. Everything in it works. I know the man who owns this building. He rents it out on weekends to local artists for them to show their work in, but it’s empty during the week. You could reinforce the confidence in your employees if you move the people from both companies into this one building so that they can work together and move toward combining the businesses. Leave both of the individual businesses operational for the time being so that you meet the legal requirements you have before the merger is done, but just move the staff to this location. They can work together until you get the merger complete, and then you can move them into the building you have for the new company.” She looked pointedly at Peter. “Sort of a temporary marriage until the deal is done and then they can go where they are supposed to be.”

     Both men looked at the property and then at Emmaline in utter surprise. Tristan clasped her arm and shook her hand. “Well, that’s brilliant! I never would have thought of that, but then I don’t know the Quarter as well as you do, I’m sure. Thank you so much! Peter, what do you think? Would you be willing to do that?”

     Peter knew that what she had said would solve everything they were working on that morning. He felt a heavy pit in his stomach and he looked up at her and nodded quietly.

“Yes, I think that would take care of everything.”

     She watched him with hurt and angry eyes and then looked away from him and smiled up at Tristan. “Thank you, Tristan, I appreciate your kindness more than you know. It was wonderful to meet you, but I think I should step out and leave you two to the details of your work.”

     Tristan smiled down at her and took her hand, lifting it to his lips again. “The pleasure is entirely mine, Emmaline. Thank you for bailing us out. We’d never have gotten through it without you, and thank you again for your sweet hospitality. I’ll enjoy the refreshments.”

     They shared a pleasant moment, then she turned and walked from the room. Nelson held the door open for her and smiled apologetically at her as she walked out. She was furious with Peter, and she sent him a text to tell him she was canceling lunch. He didn’t respond to her. She was out working in the garden a while later when Nelson approached her with a nervous smile on his face and she saw a moment later that Tristan was a few paces behind him.

     “Well! There she is!” Tristan called out happily.

     Nelson leaned toward her and said quietly, “He was looking for you and I thought you might be out here. Great job in the war cave today. Peter got your message. He’s not happy about it, but he got it.”

     Nelson left and Tristan walked up to her as she set her shears down and pulled off her gloves.

     “Emmaline, I wanted to tell you how impressed I was with you in there today. You showed real courage under fire and that says a lot about your character. You also offered us a simple and brilliant solution to a challenge we couldn’t see past, and I wanted to thank you for it. May I take you to lunch, if you don’t already have other plans?” Tristan asked, his eyes locked on hers.

     She felt butterflies swarm in her and it was an unfamiliar feeling; one that made her feel as though she was glowing, and she liked it.
     “Yes, I would be glad to join you for lunch. As it happens, I had a last minute cancellation and I’m free today.” He held his arm out to her and she slipped her hand into it.

     “Good, you can show me that building in the Quarter that you were talking about. I’d like to see it in person. Of course, we’ll do that after lunch.” He smiled down at her they walked back into the house.

     “I’ll just go get cleaned up, and I’ll be right back,” she said sweetly.

     “Take your time,” he said in a soft tone.

     She felt like she was floating down the hall to her room, and it made her giddy. It seemed like she was fifteen years old with a high school crush. She told herself that she was just being silly and he was only a nice man; a business associate of Peter’s, and that was all.

     Emmaline slipped on a thin gauzy white summer dress that narrowed at her waist and danced in waves around her calves. She set a white sunhat on her head and walked back down the hall to Tristan.

     He brightened when he saw her, and she noticed his lingering glance at her. “You look lovely,” he said with a grin, extending his arm for her again. She took it and they walked out of the house to his car.

     An hour later they were laughing and talking over lunch, sharing stories and truly enjoying each other’s company. He toasted her with champagne and told her how she had saved the jobs of so many people that day.

     “You truly are an amazing woman,” he said, his eyes focused on her.

     The corners of her mouth had been turned up nearly the entire time she was with him that day, and his comment only made her smile again. “Thank you.”

     He leaned closer to her and spoke softly, “May I ask, and please don’t answer if you feel it isn’t my business, but what was that comment that Peter made to you earlier about being a waitress? What was he talking about?”

     She looked at Tristan and knew that she could not betray Peter, “Well, before I became involved with Peter, I worked as a waitress for a while.”

     Tristan frowned. “He seemed to use that as an insult for you. It shouldn’t be. Servers work harder than most people, I think, and many times they are underappreciated for the service that they provide. It’s certainly nothing to be ashamed of, and most assuredly nothing to throw at you as an insult.”

     Emmaline was quite pleased with Tristan for saying what he did and she grinned at him. “Thank you!” she exclaimed.

     They walked to the building she had discussed with them earlier and the man who owned it happened to be there. He saw Emmaline and came right to her, hugging her and patting her back.

     “Well hello, young lady! I’m so glad to see you out on this fine day. How are you doing?” he asked with a broad toothy grin.

     “Well I’m just fine, Mr. Turner! I’m so pleased to see you! How are you?” she asked, her hand on his arm.

     The old man nodded and pushed his hat back on his head. “I’m getting by, missy, gettin’ by.”

     “Mr. Turner, I’d like to you to meet Tristan. He’s a friend of mine.” She waited as the men shook hands and greeted each other, and then she continued. “Mr. Turner, I was just telling Tristan this morning about this wonderful old building of yours because he’s in need of one that he can rent out for a few things. I told him he might see you about renting this old place from you for a short while.”

     The old man looked carefully at Tristan and said, “You’re looking for a place to rent?”

     Tristan nodded. “Yes, sir, we are. We need a little spot to set up some desks and run an office for a little while, maybe a few months. This is just the right location, and I like the look of it, Mr. Turner, you’ve really fixed this place up nicely. I’ll tell you what, if you’d be willing to rent this to us, I’ll pay you whatever your asking price is for a six month lease, and I’m fairly certain we’ll be out of here before the six months is over, but you are welcome to keep the full six months payment. How would that be?” he asked hopefully.

     Mr. Turner rubbed his hand over his chin and looked at Tristan, and then at the building. Then he turned and looked at Emmaline. “Miss Emmaline,” he said quietly, “do you think I ought to lease my building out to this man?”