The Billioniare's Bought Bride (Contemporary Romance) (6 page)

Dylan’s hair glistened in the sunlight streaming through the eastern windows. “We’ll drive.”

The matter settled, she stood. “I’m going home now.”

Dylan rose to his feet, his lean six-foot body uncoiling. He stood close and ran a light fingertip down her cheek. “Do you want me to run you back over?”

She pulled her head away, his touch short-circuiting her resolve. “I’ll canoe.” The paddling might help soothe her frazzled and stressed nerves.

“Let me at least walk you out.” He accompanied her down to the lake and strong muscles rippled as Dylan lifted the canoe into the water. She gripped his hand as she stepped off the dock and into the boat. Before grabbing her paddle, she dipped the fingers into the cool lake, but the water failed to wash away his touch.

“Until tonight, Maddy,” he said, giving her rickety transport a helpful shove.

She didn’t reply, but instead paddled quickly away from North Star Island. She sensed him watching her and refused to turn around.

A marriage of convenience. Did those really exist in today’s day and age? Could she say yes? Summerhaven loomed in the distance, a gem on the shoreline awaiting Maddy’s answer. She’d have all the money she needed to save her land. All she had to do was marry Dylan.

Tears threatened, and Maddy was in so much internal turmoil that she almost didn’t see him. The whoosh of air startled her, and she dropped her oar into the water and had to retrieve it.

Fifty feet in front of her, the male eagle swooped low, talons ready. With a practiced ease, the bird of prey plucked an unsuspecting fish out of the water. The catch created giant ripples that circled outward as the eagle took to the sky. Powerful wings flapped, carrying the meal to the awaiting eaglets.

The mirrored lake reflected the early morning sun and Madison just floated, paddle across her lap. She gazed after the eagle, her eyes tracking the bird until it disappeared out of sight, just over the point.

Ten years ago the eagles had left. Ten years later, they had returned, just like
Dylan.

Maddy suddenly sympathized with the fish. 

Chapter Four

The rundown building was called Grandmother’s Folly, and to Madison, the outdoor reading room was the perfect place to curl up and consider Dylan’s proposition.

He wanted to marry her. But not for love. She contemplated the rankling paradox as she mentally traced patterns in the brown, water-stained tiles that marked where the roof had leaked.

She’d spent most of the day here, skipping lunch and long ago finishing the bottle of water she’d brought with her. The small ten-by-twelve foot, one-room square allowed for a panoramic view of the lake and Summerhaven. Warm sun glimmered off the water, and, on the opposite shore, sounds could be heard from someone gassing up his boat at the golf course pump house. A gentle lake breeze drifted in, carrying away the aroma of mildew clinging to the fabric cushions.

The Summerhaven she loved crumbled daily, and without a large infusion of cash she couldn’t stop her estate from falling into ruin. So was there really a choice? She could accept Dylan’s offer, or lose the only home she’d ever known. Ninety plus years of history, gone to make way for progress. That was unthinkable.

Maddy turned her head, noticing the light patches of brown mold that graced the spines of what used to be first edition hardback books. A glance outside and down the hill
showed her the missing roof tiles on the boathouse, and beneath the floorboards, the crumbling cinder block pillars that supported the building itself. Like the reading room, that building too required major repairs.

“I thought I might find you here.” The screen door creaked and Aunt Gail entered. “I left you some fresh bread up at the house.”

“Thanks.” Maddy rolled her neck and shoulders to work out some of the kinks. Her stomach growled.

“Sounds like you could use something to eat,” Aunt Gail observed. She removed her straw hat and tied it onto an apron strap.

“I’ve been here a while,” Maddy admitted.

“Need to share?” Aunt Gail asked.

Maddy slouched against the loveseat. “Actually, I do. Dylan offered to give me the money.”

Aunt Gail’s face brightened for a moment, showing hints of the woman she’d been in her twenties. Not that she’d changed much, except for the wrinkles. Baking, hiking, picking berries—her aunt maintained that hard work and the Lord gave her all the energy she required.

“That’s wonderful. I knew everything would work out. He’s never forgotten you. I could see it in his eyes that summer you two met. He had the same look my Larry had whenever he looked at me.”

Aunt Gail sounded so certain of Dylan’s affections that Maddy forced herself to appear happy for her aunt’s sake. Dylan didn’t love her. This was a business deal.

Aunt Gail brushed away a housefly. “He’s a good man, Maddy. Don’t let your brother steer you wrong with his own biases and hatred. When will you see Dylan again?”

“I’m meeting him for dinner tonight.”

“Perfect,” Aunt Gail said. She tilted her head and assessed the worn condition of the room. “I’m so glad that you’ll be able to save Summerhaven. The whole estate needs restoration. It needs children. Did I ever tell you about when, back in the forties, Mrs. Pershall came calling on her launch? She came to check us out, make sure we were fitting neighbors. She sent her butler to the door and we all tromped down to the dock like she was royalty.”

“He’s asked me to marry him.” The words blurted forth before Maddy could stop them. She’d always confided in Aunt Gail. She’d been the one relative who wouldn’t judge her, and Aunt Gail didn’t disappoint. She gave a knowing nod.

“Of course he did, dear. That’s why the eagles are back. You two have a good dinner. You’ll make the right decision, Maddy. You always do. It does my heart good to know that you’ll be able to save all this for your children and grandchildren.” She placed the hat back on her head and opened the screen door. “I’m still baking, so I best be going now.”

Maddy watched as Aunt Gail began to make her way back up the hill. Her wobbly legs carried her slowly, and Maddy winced as she envisioned the pain her aunt might be suffering. Not that her aunt would ever complain. Aunt Gail had been spending summers at Summerhaven Lake for over fifty years and claimed that this was were she derived her strength.

Every year she arrived at the end of May and left at the start of September, just before the weather turned colder. The land was a part of Aunt Gail, just like it was a part of Maddy. She suddenly saw herself, fifty years from now, walking up the same hill.

There was no way Maddy was ready to say good-bye to Summerhaven. She’d spent
every summer here, and she planned to spend a lifetime more.

Out on the lake, two sailboats raced. She could hear whoops of laughter as the sound carried across the water. The catamaran with the white and blue sails was ahead as it slipped out of sight. Summerhaven ’s sailboats had been sold—the pole barns empty of all but junk.

Maddy sighed. While marriage to Dylan might have been her childhood fantasy, the grown up reality would be anything but. However, she had little recourse if she wished to save what she loved. In a sense, Maddy was a lot like Scarlett O’Hara having to save Tara. Scarlett had vowed to beg, borrow, kill or steal if necessary to protect what she loved. She’d gone to all those extremes. Maddy’s plight was easier—she only had to marry Dylan. To save Summerhaven, her answer tonight had to be yes.

Woodland Point Country Club, patterned by the Pershall family after St. Andrews in Scotland, was a nine-hole golf course on the opposite shore from Summerhaven and a short boat ride from the big island. Built in the early 1920’s, the builders had constructed Woodland Point’s clubhouse out of multi-colored stones quarried locally, the same stones were found in the huge fireplaces of both the Summerhaven and Pershall estates. The interior of the country club had exposed wood timbers and the décor was old world, yet stylish.

The hostess seated them at a table for four overlooking the second green, and Madison smiled politely as Dylan pushed in her chair before seating himself to her left. Like this morning, his thigh touched hers beneath the table, creating a palatable heat through the dark blue dress pants he wore.

Being summer, the eight-foot wide stone fireplace held only glowing candles, and
subdued lighting hung from the exposed brown rafters. Despite moneyed subtlety, the atmosphere zinged. Every touch Dylan made, from his fingertips on her elbow, to his hand on hers when helping out of the car, had created longing. Chemistry was a dangerous thing.

“I’ve always wondered why they didn’t mount dead animals on the walls,” Madison said as she sought something, anything, to break the increasing tension fraying her nerves. “I guess that wouldn’t appeal to vegetarians.”

Dylan swiveled to better face her. “Probably not very appetizing,” he said, breaking the silence that had begun on the ten-minute drive around the lake. He closed his menu and set it aside.

Edginess made Maddy uncharacteristically chatty. “This room was designed to have the aura of a Scottish men’s club, not that I’ve ever seen one of those. Surely you have? I heard you were well traveled.”

“I wouldn’t know. I have seen the world, but most of it from a hotel room window during business trips. I haven’t done the touristy things since I was eighteen. I managed to get out of the rest of my parents’ trips after I left home. They still travel constantly. They’re currently on an around-the-world cruise.”

He twisted his Rolex and settled back against his chair. Like most men in the room, he again wore the short-sleeve polo shirt synonymous with the Knollwood Lake lifestyle. The club, never one to require a coat and tie, catered to the whims of its wealthy and eccentric summer patrons, many of whom walked straight off the links to indulge in drinks and four delicious gastric courses. 

All around restaurant-goers laughed and chatted, oblivious to anything but their own immediate worlds. Madison lifted her water goblet to her lips.
             
She drank, but the ice-
cold water sliding down her parched throat did little to soothe.

“Maddy? Would you like something besides water? Perhaps a cocktail? Champagne?”

Madison blinked, focusing on Dylan and the hovering waiter who were both waiting for her answer. “You choose.”

“I’d be happy to.” Dylan quickly dispatched the waiter before giving her his full attention. “So how was the rest of your day?”

“Tiring.” Although the adrenaline humming through her now had her wide awake.

“I’ll give you a massage later if that’ll help.”

He reached out and covered her hand with his. The movement made her toes curl, a direct contrast to her stomach, which was churning as if trying to make butter. Half of her desired him while the other part screamed, “Run!”

How did one submit to a loveless marriage where sex was expected? She’d never been a woman who simply could separate herself into two parts. She might have to marry him, but she couldn’t lose herself in the process.

The waiter returned, and Maddy freed her hand by reaching for her water. She sipped the cold liquid while listening half-heartedly to the waiter as he outlined the evening’s specials.

She twisted the linen napkin in her lap. She could do this. She could say the words, the words that would secure the future of the land she loved.

She took a deep breath, steadying her composure. Her grandparents would roll over in their graves at her decision, so the least she could do was act like a Johansson in public. “I’m sure you’ve realized by now that I’ve decided to accept your offer.”

Dylan laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his hands. She flushed under
his appraisal, and she bent her head, hiding beneath the cascade of loose blond hair.

“No. Don’t hide. I want to see your face.” His left hand shot out and he lifted her chin. His touch seared and she jerked away, inwardly cursing her sexual inexperience. Maybe if she’d learned about a female’s power and mastered how to use it…

Hindsight was so twenty-twenty.

“Do you know how beautiful you are?” He stroked her cheek before allowing his hand to drop.

“You don’t need to flatter me. I have no other choice but to be here. Summerhaven is all I have. I don’t love you.”

A muscle in his cheek twitched. “Love has nothing to do with my proposition. Love causes men to make poor decisions. I am neither foolish nor weak.”

“I never thought you were.”

His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “There were those like your brother and grandfather who did.”

“I’m not like them.”

“No, you’re not.” Dylan ran his forefinger across her bare right arm and up to her shoulder. She wished she could scoot her chair away without making a scene.

“I want a wife, Madison, and there’s chemistry between us. Look at your skin, all covered with goose bumps from only the briefest of my touches. I can feel your desire in the way you tremble. Your whole body cries out. You cannot deny that you want me.”

No, she couldn’t. Her body was on fire, and she’d clenched her legs to stop the sensation spreading there.