His Marriage Bonus. Cathy Gillen Thacker

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      “It’s a heck of a lot different,” Grace interjected firmly. She looked at Mitch as if he had just sold his soul. “It’s always a mistake to date someone for the wrong reasons.”

      “It’s only a week,” Mitch said impatiently. Although he hadn’t actually ruled out the idea of eventually marrying Lauren, he hadn’t ruled it in, either. He figured he would just have to wait and see how things developed. But if those kisses they had shared this afternoon were any indication of the fireworks yet to happen between them, he’d definitely be thinking about it by the end of the week.

      “You tell yourself it’s only a week, now,” Grace said. “But you’re just marking time until you get what you really want. Peoples’ feelings are involved here, and things have a way of getting complicated when you least expect them to.”

      No kidding, Mitch thought, recalling how fast and unexpectedly his previous marriage had gotten ugly and come to an end. He’d thought he’d known Jeannette, too. He’d thought they could make each other happy forever. And look how wrong he had been.

      “I agree. You shouldn’t be spending time alone with a woman unless you’re genuinely interested in her,” Tom said. “I don’t care what prize was offered to you in return. To do otherwise usually ends up with someone being hurt. And you’re better than that.”

      “Who says I’m not genuinely interested in Lauren?” Mitch stated angrily, resenting the implication that he was in some way cold-bloodedly using Lauren, when that wasn’t the case at all. They hadn’t pursued this deal. Her father had presented them with the arrangement, as well as the prizes. He and Lauren had just opted to take Payton Heyward up on his offer.

      “Are you telling us you find her attractive?” Grace asked.

      Attractive wasn’t the half of it, Mitch thought, thinking back to the way his senses stirred whenever he was close to her. And the way she kissed! He’d never felt lips as soft or sensual, or wanted anyone so much so fast… Deciding there was no harm in being honest with his parents about that much, especially because it would make him look better in their eyes, Mitch said, “Yes.”

      Grace and Tom groaned in unison. “Even worse,” Tom said.

      Grace agreed. “Now I know someone is going to get hurt.”

      Mitch rolled his eyes. With this family of his, sometimes you just couldn’t win.

      The doorbell rang. Theresa Owens, the family’s housekeeper, swept through the foyer to get it and ushered Lauren in. She looked breathtakingly beautiful in a sleeveless black dress that had embroidered flowers along the hem. Her golden-brown hair was loose and tousled, and pink tinged her cheeks. She had a bottle of wine in her hands and fortunately not an inkling about how Mitch’s father felt about Mitch consorting with the “competition.”

      “Sorry I’m late,” Lauren said as everyone stood to greet her.

      Mitch glanced at his watch and saw it was indeed ten minutes after six o’clock. He grimaced, wondering what Payton’s rules were about that. He’d hate to be disqualified on a technicality before they’d even really started.

      “I ran into Daisy Templeton,” Lauren continued breathlessly, and handed the bottle of wine to Grace. “She’s starting a search for her biological parents. And she knows I’ve done a lot with birth records to better understand some of the complicated real estate transactions that have occurred on some of the properties I’ve bought and sold. You know, sometimes a property was supposed to go to an heir, only the heir died, and then it ended up with a second cousin, so what originally started out as a Smith-family holding suddenly became a Donahue property or a Calhoun. Anyway, I got hung up, giving her some advice on the best way to proceed.”

      Grace suddenly looked very pale as she handed the wine to Tom and eased her way into a chair.

      “Why would she want to do that?” Tom asked calmly, putting the wine on the bar. “I mean, we’ve all known for years that Daisy was adopted, but I always thought Daisy was very happy with the Templeton family.”

      “Then you’re the only one,” Mitch murmured.

      Tom shot him a reprimanding look.

      Mitch shrugged. “You don’t get as wild as Daisy’s been without some reason,” Mitch said. “Frankly, I don’t think she’s ever felt she really belonged with the Templetons.”

      “Of course she belongs with the Templetons,” Tom said sharply. He gave Mitch an impatient look. “They adopted her, didn’t they?”

      “If you’ll excuse me—I—” Grace stood abruptly and put her hand to the back of her neck as if she had one of her tension headaches coming on. “I forgot I had a previous engagement this evening,” she murmured as everyone turned to her in surprise. “I’m so sorry, Mitch, Lauren. I won’t be able to have dinner with you after all.” She turned on her heel and walked toward the door with all the careful poise of an actress leaving the stage.

      “Grace—” Tom started after his ex-wife.

      Grace put up a hand to halt him, but did not turn around. Tom stopped in his tracks, and his broad shoulders slumped dejectedly, as he watched her disappear up the stairs.

      Mitch looked at his father. “What was that about?” Clearly, his mother was annoyed with his father. Grace hadn’t even looked at Tom as she had made her excuses.

      “I don’t know,” Tom said in a too-vague way that made Mitch think his father most certainly did.

      “I hope it wasn’t something I said.” Lauren pressed a hand to her chest. She looked stricken.

      “Of course not,” Tom and Mitch reassured in unison.

      “Mom just…she’s been this way since she returned from New York,” Mitch explained. Things would be going along smoothly, and then his mother would suddenly look his father in the eye and end up walking out of the room, visibly distressed. They all assumed it had something to do with her being fired, that she was just feeling very tense and emotional in the wake of her public humiliation.

      “I think we should take Grace at her word,” Tom said, going over to open the bottle of wine that Lauren had brought as a gift. “And accept that she had another invitation she forgot about and intends to honor.”

      If you say so, Mitch thought. But he wasn’t buying it. Not for a red-hot minute.

      DINNER WAS SERVED shortly thereafter. Mitch urged Lauren to talk about her career in acquiring and renovating historic properties for resale, which she did happily. He also asked her a few questions about her experiences with the family shipping business, and learned, along with his father, that Lauren never set foot in the executive offices if she could help it, and she usually could.

      When Lauren excused herself to run out to the kitchen to get Theresa’s recipe for hummingbird cake, Mitch looked at Tom. “See? She’s not exactly Mata Hari.”

      “How do you know?” Tom retorted grimly, looking as if he was all too willing to place Lauren in the ranks of the notorious World War I spy. “Just because she acts innocent in the ways of the business doesn’t mean you aren’t the one being set up here.”

      Like the real Mata Hari, Lauren was sexy and beautiful, maybe even СКАЧАТЬ