The Texas Millionaire's Runaway Wife (12 page)

Stephen turned and took Cassie by the hand. “Alfred Bell meet Cassie Sands. I appreciate your discretion on this matter. Shall we?” Stephen let go of Cassie’s hand and lead the attorney to his office. “Cassie, you can wait out here.”

“Arranging our marriage contract by yourself?” she said just loud enough for him to hear. “Feels a lot like the relationship.”

He turned to Gayle. “Cassie will stay here with you while we finish this out. Will you please cancel my appointments for the rest of today and reschedule for later this week?”

She nodded stiffly.

Anger flashed in Cassie’s eyes when he didn’t acknowledge her comment. Not his problem, he reminded himself as he went to his office.

“Mr. Bell, shall we begin?”

Chapter Nine

As ready as she’d ever be, perhaps, Cassie rose when they finally beckoned for her. She stood and smoothed hands over her legs to calm her nerves before plastering on a smile and walking toward that office. “Mr. Bell, thank you for coming out today.”

He tipped his head. “My pleasure, ma’am.” Reaching out, he grasped hers in a warm, slightly moist embrace.

Cassie braced a smile as she fought the urge to wipe her now wettish hand on her pants.

From behind her, Gayle said, “Mr. Sands, Mr. Giles is on the phone.”

Stephen gave Cassie a hard look before saying, “I’ll talk to him later. I have to finish this.”

Gayle gave him the message then told Stephen, “He wants to know how Cassie liked the flowers.”

A visible tic formed along the edge of Stephen’s jaw and his hand clenched into a tight fist. Still, he kept his composure and his temper remained under wraps.

“Gayle,” Cassie said, “please tell him they weren’t quite what I ordered and that I’d like him to pick them up before we get home.”

Gayle looked surprised, spoke into the phone then hung up. “He said that would be fine.”

“Shall we, then?” Mr. Bell asked.

Cassie followed the men into the office and settled into the chair in front of Stephen’s desk. Alfred Bell sat in the chair next to hers as the phone on Stephen’s desk buzzed.

“Goodness,” the man said, “it’s like Mayfest in here this time of the afternoon.”

She heard Stephen say under his breath,
not normally.

“Gayle, I’m in a meeting. What is it?” He had a sharp edge to his voice. Something Cassie wasn’t accustomed to hearing. She winced slightly and pulled her purse into her lap, hugging against her.

His tie sat slightly askew and his hair looked decidedly ruffled. Not so much that someone like Alfred Bell would notice, but Cassie did. And it made her insides melt in remembrance of their time in the elevator. What would have happened had Gayle not showed up when she did? Vegas all over again, she imagined.

They’d stayed in the Bellagio hotel and spent all night gambling and drinking. Stephen did most of the gambling, and Cassie quite a bit of the drinking. He’d won a couple thousand in black jack then grabbed her hand and rushed her toward the elevator.

Cassie, already drunk from the sights and sounds of the place, giggled the entire way. She’d failed to notice that her already low-cut peach dress had slipped further down. Not enough to cause a scene, but Stephen’s eyes darkened into a wolfish
couldn’t wait to blow the top down
leer. They made it to the elevator and miraculous entered by themselves.

Security cameras be damned, Stephen had her against the wall and her dress up around her waist before they made it to the room. Cassie, not willing to let him have all the fun, had his shirt unbuttoned and halfway down his back before he managed to get the pass-key to work. An elderly couple walked past and she shot them a friendly smile. The couple nodded but didn’t seem too surprised by their state of undress.

That night had been the sexiest, most fun night of Cassie’s life. A night she replayed in her mind over and over since. And their short trip in the elevator this afternoon only reminded her of how hot Stephen Sands truly was under all those disapproving and angry scowls.

He hung up the phone and turned his gaze to Cassie. “Seems the media has gotten wind of our marriage and are camped outside the building.” He turned to glance out the window and then back to Cassie and Alfred. “We have to get this done. Gayle is ordering a car to take us out of here tonight, but this is only going to get worse. Are you ready for it?”

Cassie nodded but the knot in the pit of her stomach told her she wasn’t.

The media in front of the building assured her that this thing would not go quietly. “You know,” she said, “I had hoped this would take longer to explode. We’d be able to sign the papers, I could go to the house, news could spread slowly and a big deal wouldn’t be made of this whole affair.”

Alfred Bell laughed. “Mrs. Sands, I’m afraid you married into the wrong family for something like that.”

She gritted teeth as she plastered on a friendly smile. “Well, shall we get started at least?”

Mr. Bell flipped open the contract and began reading it to her. Cassie held up her hand. “Mr. Bell,” she looked from him to Stephen, “I appreciate your wanting to prepare me for what this says, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t care about the post-nuptial agreement. It doesn’t matter to me. Can we sign this and get it over with? I’d like to check on my bakery before we go to dinner tonight.”

Alfred stuttered. “B-but, don’t you want to know what you’ll be signing?”

“No, not really. Like I said, it doesn’t matter to me.” Trying to play up the act, she stood and walked around the desk to Stephen. “All that matters is that I love my husband. I don’t care about anything else. So, if we could move this along?”

A crease formed across Stephen’s brow but he said nothing.

Alfred held up a pen. “Well, I suppose if that is what you wish, there’s really no reason to delay.”

“No, no reason at all.”

Stephen asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to read this first, Cassie?”

She looked at him. She knew exactly what it said and suspected what he was trying to accomplish. The only problem was that she suddenly didn’t want that. The post-nuptial most likely excluded her from any and all of the Sands fortune. None of which she felt entitled to, to begin with. “I’m fine, Stephen. I’m certain you were more than fair with me.”

With that, she took the pen and signed.

****

After what happened in his office just the day before, Stephen had been certain Cassie would want to hear what she had coming. Not a lot, but he’d been certain she would be taken care of. Her attitude perplexed him. It would do no good for his image to exclude her from everything; still, he didn’t want to give away a large chunk of his fortune to a woman he didn’t trust. A woman who’d left him without ever turning back.

But he hadn’t expected her to not be interested at all.

The confusion he felt was mirrored on the worried expression on the face of his attorney. He’d hired Alfred Bell especially for this because he wanted there to be no question about his fairness. Hiring outside of the family legal team, in Stephen’s mind, had been the best way to assure there would be no grounds for argument when the time came.

Still, she hadn’t cared.

It didn’t sit well with Stephen. As he waited for them to finish initialing and signing he turned toward the window. “NBC 5 and WFAA just drove up. Vans from Fox, NBC, CBS, even TMZ and Telemundo are down there.” He turned away from the window and took a seat at his desk.

Cassie looked up from the documents. “Who called them?”

“I did.”

She bit her lip. “Why?”

“Because we don’t want to hide this. The best way to keep the rumors under wraps is to be the source. If we feed them all the information, there will be no question. No need for rumors.”

Her mouth fell open. “Wait. You don’t think they think I’m pregnant then, do you?”

He grinned. The prospect was appealing. Cassie had a beautiful figure, and after spending the afternoon with Handley he wouldn’t mind having a child. Still, he reminded himself, this arrangement was temporary. He’d have to try to get it over as quickly as possible, though. His feelings for Cassie were evolving faster than he liked and it would do well to remind himself, over and over again if he had to, that she wasn’t the woman for him. “No, I don’t think they think that.”

She nodded, but he could tell by the way she chewed her lip she wasn’t entirely convinced.

“We’re finished here,” Mr. Bell said. “I’ll have these filed by the end of the day and I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.”

Stephen nodded and shook the man’s hand. “Thank you for your assistance on this matter. Have a good day.”

With that, the man left.

The room felt more crowded with him gone. Tighter, less oxygen. Cassie’s lips still looked well-kissed. It made his groin shoot to attention and he had to stay in his seat to avoid an embarrassing scene. “Dinner tonight is at eight, will you be ready?”

She glanced at her watch. “It’s only four now, so I should have plenty of time.”

He laughed. “Tatiana wouldn’t have.” Damn, he hadn’t meant to allow that to slip.

“Who’s Tatiana?”

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and leaned forward at the desk. “My ex-girlfriend. She would have needed all day to prepare.”

What looked like uncertainty passed over Cassie’s eyes, then faded away. “Well, I’m not her. I won’t take long at all.”

“Cassie, why didn’t you look at the agreement, you should always look at legal documents before signing.”

She shrugged and stood. “Would it have mattered? It isn’t as if I’d be able to fight it. Besides, I’m only in this for Liz and Annie. As long as you keep your end of the bargain, I don’t need anything else.”

The money. She wasn’t worried about what was in the contract because she’d already gotten what she needed from him. His chest tightened in an anger that he pushed back down as he thought about the little girl. She looked so much like Cassie. With some help she’d have a happier life.

Cassie’s own childhood hadn’t been great; he knew that from what she’d told him while they dated. She’d grown up poor, moving from house to house. Her dad believed he was some sort of great businessman and would sink all of the family’s money into one failed venture or another. It was a morbid thought, but her parent’s dying was about the only gift they’d ever given her. Tangible, at least.

She always told him there was more to life than money, that she’d been fine with how her life had been, but he couldn’t imagine it. And he knew from how hard she struggled for stability now; she didn’t believe it in her heart, either.

A niggling worm of guilt crawled around the back of his mind. She’d found her roots, her stability before him and he’d done little more than uproot her and take it all away. Clearing his throat and pushing the guilt back, he stood and walked around the desk. “We should get going. Is there anywhere you need to go other than the bakery?”

She shook her head. “Stephen, I wanted to apologize again. I’m not normally like this. I’ve never tried to blackmail anyone in my life. I, just...”

He couldn’t let her say it. Couldn’t stand the thought of her apologizing again for trying to help her family. He’d been angry only moments before, he knew, but now his chest tightened and he wanted to gather her into his lap and kiss away the sadness he saw in her eyes. He just wished she’d talked to him rather than come at it the way she did. Gently, he tilted her chin up and caressed her lips. Their tongues met briefly, then the moment passed.

Stephen turned and stepped through the door. “Gayle, please cancel the car, we’re going to talk to them.”

Gayle nodded and picked up the phone.

Out of habit, and because he didn’t want to be so close to Cassie in the elevator again, Stephen headed for the stairs.

“Stephen,” she called.

“I’ll see you in the lobby.”

His groin tightened as he remembered the sweet soft curve of her leg in the elevator. Cassie was a passionate woman. Whether she realized or not, she had a fire deep inside that any man would fight to burn himself on. Her green eyes glowed with passion, with need and want. Even outside of the bedroom she had a certain sizzle that most women didn’t possess.

Stephen’s phone rang. Tatiana’s name flashed across the screen. She wanted money. She’d promised to keep quiet about the true nature of his and Cassie’s relationship if he gave her money.

It made Stephen sick.

He wanted to tell her to screw herself. Damn the media and the scandal, he’d take what came. But a bigger part of him wanted to protect Cassie. God how had he gotten to the point of caring for her again so quickly?

****

“So what happened to no scandal?” Cassie asked as he joined her in the front lobby.

Stephen took a second to wash Tatiana’s bitterness from his brain before smiling at her. “This isn’t scandal. This is promotion at its finest. My brother Andrew set this up. He’s a—”

“He’s in Public Relations.”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

Cassie blushed and looked away. “After I left you, after I found out who you were, I wanted to know everything. It’s embarrassing. I didn’t care about the money, I just wanted to know who you really were.”

Stephen felt taken aback, but not completely unpleased at the news. Actually, it made him grin. “Yeah? Couldn’t stay away, could you.”

This time she looked at him. And laughed. “Think much of yourself?”

He straightened his collar and said, “Shouldn’t I?”

She appraised him. “You’re okay. A little rough around the edges. You’ve got a certain swagger that some might find attractive.”

“And you?”

Her eyes settled on his. “I think it’s overdone. I liked who I thought you were before. This person pales in comparison.”

At that statement his anger flared, then burned itself out. Was she right? Was he so different now that his secret was out? Money had a way of changing people, but he’d grown up with it. Was he really so different when he didn’t have it?

No. No, he decided. She wanted to taunt him. He replaced his uncertainty with determination. “I’m a powerful and respected member of this community,” he assured as he steered her toward the front door. “So if I’m not acting like the doe-eyed innocent kid I was when I first met you, that’s a good thing.”