The Wedding Guest: 5-hour read. Billionaire romance, marriage of convenience, sweet clean contemporary romance. (Colorado Billionaires)

by Regina Duke

  “No. Never. When we met and I felt my heart singing when you were with me, I couldn’t bear to correct you or say anything negative. So when you assumed I was Brewster’s chauffeur, I just played along. It got out of hand. But I didn’t have any money of my own then. Uncle has been supporting me ever since mother died. He even paid Brewster’s salary so it would look like I had a valet. He wanted me to feel at ease around the Forbes family and their business crowd.”

  Madlyn’s head bobbed up and down. “Okay.” Her voice was growing stronger, and the tears had stopped flowing at last. “I can live with that. So you didn’t know you were going to inherit money from your uncle?”

  Kirby cupped her face with his hands and planted a soft kiss on her still trembling lips. “I figured he might leave me the penthouse. I thought that would be very generous. I was already thinking about selling it so you and I could have a nest egg to build on. Then Brew and I went to the lawyers and—” He choked and swallowed. “—and please say you’ll still love me after all the paperwork is done.”

  “Of course I love you. What paperwork, my darling?”

  Kirby took a breath and exhaled in a whoosh. “I never knew how rich my uncle had become. But Ray must have known. He must have said something within Vanessa’s earshot. I don’t know. But I’m going to be embarrassingly wealthy any day now. Brewster, too.”

  Madlyn wiped at her wet cheeks and patted Kirby’s chest. “How embarrassing will it actually be?”

  Kirby tried half a smile. “My face will be very red for the rest of my life.”

  “That much?” Madlyn was stunned.

  “Complete and total humiliation.”

  “And you still love me? A penniless shop clerk?”

  Kirby’s eyes filled with a feeling that took Madlyn’s breath away. He said, “Yes. I’ll never stop loving you. Don’t you see? You trusted me with your heart, with your feelings, with your future, and you did all of that based on what you saw in me, not based on my bank account. I love you so much.” He made a frustrated noise. “I have this great surprise for you, but I can’t stand not knowing for sure, so I’m going to ruin it. I have to know now. Madlyn, will you marry me?”

  Madlyn opened her mouth to answer and a tremulous warble escaped, half sob, half nervous giggle. She inhaled sharply, then said, “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. I’ll marry you, Kirby Banks, this very minute.”

  “Even knowing I have a great humiliation coming?”

  “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.” She drew a calming breath and lifted her head to state with feigned haughtiness, “We’ll just have to face this humiliation together.”

  Kirby grinned. Then he squeezed her tight and lifted her off the ground.

  “Kirby!” Madz had never been swept off her feet before.

  Kirby twirled her around and shouted, “She said yes! She said yes!”

  Vicky appeared around the corner of the house. “Is everything okay?”

  Kirby set Madlyn on her feet. “It’s great. Everything is great. She said yes!”

  Vicky’s face lit up. “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.” She rushed forward and hugged her friend, and as she did so, the grade-school BFFs took over and the two of them jumped up and down in each other’s arms.

  Kirby was beaming, and it warmed Madlyn’s heart to see him all puffed up about her accepting his proposal.

  Vicky said, “Come on, you have to tell Jason and Maria! Oh, and Ray of course.”

  Madz hesitated. “Is Vanessa still out there?”

  “She’s still here. Ray is talking to her. Evidently he’s very good friends with her dad and does a lot of business with Vann Industries. That’s how she found out about Kirby’s uncle.”

  Kirby linked Madlyn’s arm with his own. “We’re a team now,” he said. “Don’t worry. She’s powerless as long as we’re together. And soon,” he intoned with a twinkle in his eye, “we’ll increase our power a hundredfold when we find the rings.”

  Madlyn caught the reference at once and giggled. In her best Gollum voice, she intoned, “Must have the precious!”

  Vicky laughed. “OMG, you two are perfect for each other.” Then she called out, “Jason! Guess what!” She scampered toward the front of the house.

  Kirby took advantage of her departure to pull Madlyn into a deep kiss. When it ended, Madlyn sighed dreamily. Then a thought occurred to her and she looked up at Kirby, horrified. “People will think I’m a gold digger.”

  Kirby pretended to give the idea serious thought. Then he held up a finger. “If we get married right away, I’ll still be poor when we tie the knot.”

  “You’re a genius!” Madlyn held up a matching finger. “We have to wait for Brewster. After all, you can’t get married without Brewster as your best man.”

  Kirby hugged her close again. “I now officially love you twice as much as before, and I didn’t think that was possible.” He kissed her quickly as the excited babble of voices behind him announced the approach of Jason, Vicky, and Maria. “United front.”

  Madlyn squeezed his arm. “Forever.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Madlyn was relieved to see that Ray had ushered Vanessa indoors for their little talk. Alistair was escorting the helicopter pilot and another man and woman into the house.

  Vicky explained. “Vanessa’s going to stay the night here. Ray convinced her that the company’s pilots — she flew to Pueblo on the Vann jet — require a night of rest before flying her home.” She turned to Jason. “Is it safe to go in for coffee and dessert?”

  Maria answered for him. “Ray has requested the staff to take a tray upstairs to Vanessa. He’s going to have dessert with her while he explains the situation about Kirby. He is always trying to please her father. That was how she joined the wedding party. He told me that she requested it through her father, and Mr. Vann called Ray. It’s one of those business things. He could not say no.”

  Jason nodded. “Boy, do I ever know that feeling. He has all my sympathies.”

  Maria smiled and said to Madlyn, “My cousin is so smart with business.”

  They moved indoors and returned to the dining room. But Madlyn still had questions. “Who were those other people with Alistair and the pilot?”

  “I know who they are.” Kirby held her chair for her as she sat. He took his seat next to her and explained. “Vann Industries is huge, and the Vanns are worth billions. Vanessa’s social circle is very small, mainly because her father is terrified that someone might try to get to him through her. She’s his only daughter. He figures his sons are a bit safer, but he worries about Vanessa. She has to travel with a bodyguard and a personal assistant. That’s who was on the helicopter with her.”

  Madlyn said soberly, “Gosh, now I feel sorry for her. I never thought that would happen.”

  Kirby spread his napkin in his lap as the server set a tiramisu tower in front of him. He thanked her, then said softly, “With food like this, my snowboarding days may be over.”

  Madlyn giggled. She dipped her spoon into her own dessert. “Now I really feel bad for Vanessa. Shouldn’t she come eat with us?”

  Maria shook her head and held up a hand. “No, no. Ray must handle this. He is the one who must stay on good, how do you say? Stay on good footing?”

  Vicky helped. “Stay in good standing.”

  “Yes. He must stay in good standing with her father, so he wants to be her emotional support at the moment. He is very good at this.”

  Madlyn looked thoughtful. “If you ask me, she needs another target. I mean, if her father will only let her hang out with certain people, then her friends will have to help her find someone he’ll approve of.”

  Maria tilted her head. “You are very wise, Madlyn. I think that is what Ray is hoping to do, eventually. I gave him the names of two different families. One in Britain and the other in Germany. Both have ties to royalty. I thought that might appeal to the Vann family.”

  Madlyn’s eyes widened. “Golly. No kidding?”

  Kirby
flashed a crooked smile. “Don’t go filling her head with thoughts of royalty, Maria. I just got her to say yes to my marriage proposal.”

  Maria laughed softly. “I don’t think you have any worries about that. I see how she looks at you.”

  Madlyn blushed.

  The rest of the lunch was very pleasant. The group lingered over coffee. Vicky asked the question foremost on her mind. “Do you have a date yet?”

  Madlyn and Kirby exchanged loving looks. “We think we should get married sooner rather than later.”

  “But what about your parents? I thought you wanted them to come home for your wedding someday?”

  Madlyn reached for Kirby’s hand. “We sort of have a personal reason for not wanting to wait. It’s silly, but—”

  Kirby broke in, “I’m the culprit. I don’t want to give her time to change her mind. Or to meet any of Maria’s royal friends.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Kirby added, “As for Madlyn’s parents, I thought we might honeymoon in Italy.”

  Madlyn’s chin dropped.

  “Wonderful,” said Jason. “A great choice. Vicky and I finally got to take our honeymoon at our castle in Spain.”

  Kirby lifted his coffee cup. “Here’s to castles in Spain.”

  Vicky gave her husband a playful punch in the arm. “It’s old and made of sandstone and filled with antiques. We entertained family there, and then we all retired to a hotel at night.”

  Jason grinned.

  Maria said, “They are doing renovations. It will be lovely by next summer.”

  A cockatiel shrieked.

  “Sorry,” said Kirby, pulling out his phone. “That’s Brewster’s ringtone.”

  From the doorway came Brewster’s voice. “Actually, that is Pearl in the flesh.”

  Madlyn and Kirby turned to see Brewster holding a birdcage aloft.

  “Brew!” Kirby got up and gave his friend a hug. “I thought you were leaving Pearl in New York.”

  “I’ve always wanted to book a first class passage for Pearl, and I figured now I can afford it. She charmed the flight attendants and had the captain teaching her new words.” He smiled at Madlyn. “Hello, Miss Lake. So good to see you. And Mrs. Darby, I can never thank you enough for sending a town car.”

  Another pleasant hour passed as Kirby gave Brewster the good news, and everyone caught up on the events of the day.

  As the last of the coffee was consumed, Kirby shook his head. “I just can’t figure out how Vanessa learned where I was.”

  Brewster cleared his throat. “She learned it from me. My apologies. She caught me off guard. I thought it was you on the phone, and I asked a question about Eagle’s Toe.”

  Kirby clapped Brewster on the shoulder. “No problem. Everything turned out for the best. But when we get home, I will insist on programming ringtones into your phone.”

  “Quite.”

  Kirby thanked Vicky and Jason for their hospitality, ending with, “I have a few details to attend to in town, and Madlyn and I can give Brewster a ride to the Cattleman’s Inn.”

  Madlyn said softly to Vicky, “I hope Vanessa is okay.”

  “We’ll make sure of that,” Vicky assured her. “Don’t worry. She’ll head home happy tomorrow.” She leaned close and whispered, “And after that, we can figure out the details regarding an imminent wedding.”

  Once Brewster, Pearl, and all the luggage were safely ensconced in Kirby’s rental car, Madlyn asked, “What details do you have to attend to?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “You said you ruined the surprise, so I figured we could talk about it now.”

  “Oh, that. Yes, you already know I was planning to propose. It’ll be fun to see how that works out. It’s too late to cancel it now. But there are still a couple of little details for me to handle.” He turned to the back seat where Brewster was busily checking his phone messages. “Is everything ready?”

  Brewster gave him an impish smile. “As ready as it’ll ever be.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Kirby dropped Madlyn at her house so she could change and freshen up for their evening at the Christmas festival.

  “We’ll be back to pick you up in an hour,” Kirby said, lingering over a parting kiss. “Is it okay if Brewster comes along? I’ve reserved two tables, one for us and one for Brewster.”

  “Oh, he can sit with us.”

  Kirby gave her another quick kiss. “He’ll groan every time we look at each other.”

  Madlyn laughed. “Okay. Separate tables. Don’t be long.”

  Kirby and Brewster drove off. Madlyn’s blood was racing from Kirby’s kisses, and she tore through the house, pulling clothes out of the closet, trying to decide what to wear. An intimate dinner together? Well, sort of. With Brewster at the next table? Not really. A fun Christmas festival? What would she wear if she were going alone? Ugh, no, not that.

  She finally settled on a long skirt with subtle greens and blues and a white blouse under a tunic-length pastel green sweater. Her pale-blue down jacket would also go along, in case they wanted to do some strolling up and down the street of shops. Everyone was staying open until eleven to allow the revelers to do some Christmas shopping.

  She thought about putting her hair up, but decided to give it free rein. After all, Kirby loved her hair, and she loved it when he touched it. She double-checked the house, made sure everything was okay, then sat down on the living room sofa to wait.

  She’d barely got settled when the outdoor lights came on. Remembering her unexpected guest of the night before, she looked through the peephole.

  “Mina!” She opened the door wide. “I’m so glad to see you. I have such wonderful news. Come in. What are you doing here? Isn’t the shop going crazy?”

  Mina’s eyes were bright and her cheeks were pink with the late afternoon chill. She was wearing a long black velvet dress over red boots. A bright red shawl was wrapped around her shoulders. As Madlyn closed the front door, Mina held up her cell phone.

  “I got a text message from your young man asking me to come to your house. He said it was very important.”

  “And the shop? One of us should be there.”

  Mina hunched her shoulders then relaxed. “You’ve hired some very skilled help for our Christmas season. The big challenge will be deciding whom we have to let go in January. But for now, everything is fine. So here I am. Do you know what’s going on?”

  “I thought I did, but now I’m as confused as you are.”

  Someone rapped softly on the door. Madlyn checked the peephole again. “They’re here.” She opened the door. Kirby pulled her into an embrace and a quick kiss.

  “You look amazing. That goes for both of you. Mina, I’d like you to meet my friend Brewster.”

  Brewster stepped inside, looking a bit flustered at the sight of the two women. “Hello.”

  “No Pearl?” asked Madlyn.

  Brewster wagged a finger. “Not tonight. She’s exhausted from traveling. I’ve fed her and covered her cage. When I left, she was sound asleep.”

  Mina’s brow furrowed in a question. “Pearl?”

  “Remember, Mina? I told you about Brewster’s cockatiel.”

  “Oh, the bird. Yes, you did.” She laughed in spite of herself.

  Brewster gave a long-suffering sigh.

  Kirby said, “Shall we go?”

  The new little restaurant next to The Muffin Man didn’t even have a real sign yet, but the bell on the door jangled pleasantly when Kirby opened it. Inside, the decor was rustic mining-town Colorado. The menus offered three dinner selections — grilled sirloin, broiled chicken, or almond-crusted salmon — each served with roasted potatoes and asparagus. The desserts had their own menu.

  A pleasantly plump middle-aged woman greeted them. “Welcome to the Itty Bitty!”

  Madlyn and Mina chorused, “Mrs. McAvoy.”

  Mina said, “This is wonderful. When did it all happen?”

  “Reese asked me what I wanted for
Christmas. With all that construction and the shops going into the Cattleman’s Inn, I felt out of place. He didn’t really need me over there anymore. Oh, he let me do anything I wanted, but what I really wanted was to build another little business into something successful. Now that the Cattleman’s is bustling, Reese is in his element. But this—” She spread her arms and took in the twelve tables, ten of which were already filled. “—this is my element. I even stole one of the cooks from Il Vaccaro.”

  Mina was delighted. “Wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”

  “And just as you requested, Mr. Banks, I have two tables waiting for your party by the window.”

  Kirby gave Madlyn the chair that faced down the street toward Mina’s Boutique. Then he peered through the glass. Chagrined, he settled into his own chair. “It’s just as well I didn’t wait for my proposal,” he said. “With all that bunting over the street, we can’t really see much of Mina’s building anyway.” He covered his mouth as if he’d said something wrong, then lifted his glass of water to take a sip. He finished with, “We’ll walk down there later, and you can see my so-called surprised spelled out in Christmas lights on the side of the building.”

  “What does it say?”

  He held up his hands to frame the imaginary scene. “Marry me, Madz.”

  Madlyn clapped her hands. “Perfect.” She reached across the table and laced her fingers with his. “We’re going to have a lifetime of romantic moments, right? Why don’t we ask if we can move Mina and Brewster’s table next to ours?”

  The pleasure on Kirby’s face was endearing. Less than a minute later, the two small tables were side by side. Mina sat next to Madlyn, with Brewster next to Kirby. They ordered their food from a young waitress. Then Kirby and Brewster exchanged glances.

  Kirby cleared his throat. “Mina, did Madlyn fill you in on our afternoon?”

  “Not yet. We haven’t had time to talk.”

  “Madz? Do you want to do the honors?”

  Madlyn was bursting with excitement. “Kirby and I are engaged.”