by Leanne Banks
“The problem,” she said as she moved closer to him and he pulled her onto his lap, “is that I won’t want your to keep you hands off of me.”
Three
As the helicopter landed on top of the high-rise in Philadelphia, Leo took Calista’s hand and helped her onto the ground. Within moments, George was driving them in a limo toward her apartment. She turned to Leo. “This has been an incredible twenty-four hours. Thank you for everything.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” he said and lifted his finger to stroke her cheek. “It doesn’t have to end.”
His touch distracted her, making her heart beat erratically. “What do you mean?”
“I’d like you to move in with me,” he said.
Calista blinked, surprised by his speed and decisiveness. “Wow,” she said. “That’s fast.” She took a breath. “It’s very tempting, but as I’ve told you, I really want to be married before I live with a man.”
“Why is that so important to you?” he asked with more than a trace of irritation on his face.
“I told you that I believe in family. A husband, wife and children can provide the ultimate joy, security and comfort for each other. I want that for myself. I want to give it to someone else,” she said, her gut twisting because although she believed what she was saying, she knew it wouldn’t come true for her.
“Was your upbringing that idyllic?”
She looked away, feeling a stab of shame about her father’s financial disaster and death that never seemed to go away. “Of course not,” she said. “Maybe because it wasn’t idyllic, I’m determined to have something different for myself. It may sound crazy to you, but I want the security of family and a strong man.”
He paused a moment, his dark gaze full of conflicting feelings. “It doesn’t sound crazy. I just don’t have much experience in that area.” He covered her hand with his. “I want to spend more time with you.”
“I want the same,” she said quietly.
“Then come and live with me in my apartment. I’ll make sure you won’t regret it,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips.
Even though they hadn’t known each other long, Calista was more than a little tempted. There was a strength about Leo that drew something from deep inside her. His magnetism almost made her forget her purpose with him. Almost. His charm, though, belied any chance for security. He was accustomed to getting what he wanted from women without making a commitment. She wondered if she would possibly be able to seduce him to the point of marriage. Doubt surged through her.
“I’m sorry. I can’t. I just can’t,” she said and fought the fear that rose in her throat. “I really do understand if you don’t want to continue with me. I’m sure you’re used to a different kind of arrangement with women.” She glanced outside the window. “Maybe we shouldn’t have gone out in the first place, but I just couldn’t resist you.”
The limo stopped in front of her apartment building. She turned to Leo. “Thank you again for a wonderful time.”
He helped her out of the limo and walked her to the security entrance. “My pleasure,” he said. “Good night, Calista.”
Calista tried to read his inscrutable expression and felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. He’d decided she wasn’t worth the wait or the effort. She watched him walk out of her lobby and most likely out of her life. Though her ego stung, she was far more worried about her sisters’ futures.
Swearing under her breath, she took the elevator to her small apartment. What was she going to do now? Pacing the length of her den, she tried to summon a plan B. If she went to bed with Leo, she would have no hope of marrying him. Plus, even though she found him physically attractive, she wasn’t sure when her real feelings and thoughts about what he’d done to her father would leak past her facade. What if she slipped and told him she felt he was responsible? If he knew the truth…
Calista squeezed her eyes shut, feeling hopeless and trapped. She hated being deceptive, but she’d made this decision and she wasn’t going to castigate herself for it. Her sisters deserved a good education and a better start than they’d had. They’d suffered the brunt of her family’s implosion because of their youth. She would never be able to erase the shattered expressions on her sisters’ faces when first her father had died and then less than two years later, they’d lost Mom, too.
Her head throbbing with tension, Calista tried to calm herself. Maybe she’d misread Leo. Maybe he would call her again.
Two weeks later, after no word from Leo, Calista saw the writing on the wall. Leo wasn’t going to call. He was done with her. Bummed, but still obligated to attend the Brother-Sister Charity Auction, she accepted an invitation from Robert Powell, a man who worked in her office building. Amusing and seemingly easygoing, he’d asked her out several times. She hoped Robert could distract her from her disappointment.
Wearing a Betsey Johnson Spring dress she’d bought on sale, she greeted Robert in her lobby. His appreciative look provided a balm to her still smarting ego. At the auction, Calista mingled and introduced Robert to her acquaintances.
He slid his arm around her waist. “Do you realize I’ve been asking you out for months? You’re worth the wait,” he said and dipped his gaze suggestively over her.
Not wanting to encourage the flicker of sensual interest she glimpsed in his gaze, she shook her head. “Oh, not really. I’m not worth the wait at all. I’m just the good friend type, you know. Boring, works too much. All that.”
He gave a low chuckle. “I don’t think so.”
“Calista.” A voice that had haunted her captured her attention. “How are you?”
She swung around to see Leo Grant, larger than life, staring down at her. She might have needed to pinch herself if not for the gorgeous brunette on his arm. She forced her lips into a smile, thinking he hadn’t waited long to replace her. “Fine, thank you.”
“And your friend,” Leo said, his gaze assessing Robert. “We haven’t met.”
“Robert Powell, this is Leo Grant,” she said, refusing to inquire about his escort. The men exchanged handshakes. “Oh, look, they’re starting the auction. I’m helping behind the scenes. I’ll see you afterward, Robert. Please excuse me,” she said and turned away.
Upset, she balled her fists at her side and strode toward the side of the ballroom where the items for auction were displayed. Forcing any thought of Leo from her head, she focused on tagging the items with the winners’ names. After about forty-five minutes, the volunteer coordinator sent her for a break and she got a glass of water from the bar.
On her way back, Leo stepped in front of her, his eyes dark with what looked like anger. “You didn’t waste any time, did you?” he asked.
“I could say the same for you,” she retorted.
“She’s the daughter of a friend I owed a favor,” he said. “Not that I should have to explain myself.”
“How convenient that she’s drop-dead gorgeous. It must be a total chore to escort her.”
He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “I could almost believe you’re jealous.”
“You would be wrong,” she told him and moved to step around him.
He stopped her, his hand closing around her wrist like a handcuff. “Let’s take this discussion somewhere private,” he said and led her away from the crowd. He opened the door to an empty room, pulled her inside and closed the door behind him.
“Who is this Robert? Is he important to you?” he demanded.
Nervous, yet strangely thrilled to see him, she lifted her chin. “What’s it to you? You haven’t called me for two weeks.”
“I’ve been out of the country.”
She gave an indignant shrug. “I’m sure your cell phone has reception from everywhere in the world and maybe a few planets, too.”
“Okay,” he said. “I didn’t want to call you. I wanted to give myself some time away from you. I didn’t want to do anything impulsive.”
Her heart hammered in her chest.
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“You still haven’t answered my question about Robert. Do you have feelings for him?” he asked flatly.
“No,” she said. “No more than I would a friend. He’s asked me out for months and I’ve turned him down.”
“Then why did you agree to go out with him tonight?”
She paused and looked away with a sigh. “I was moping,” she confessed.
“Excuse me?” he said.
She glanced back at him, peeved. “You heard me. I said I was moping. Because you haven’t called me,” she added reluctantly.
His eyes glittered as he looked at her. “Okay, I’ve thought about it for the last two weeks and made a decision. We’ll get married.”
Calista dropped her jaw in shock. “Excuse me?”
“I said we’ll get married. I’d prefer just a living arrangement because of the legalities, but we can take care of that with a prenup.” He paused, studying her carefully. “Unless you’re adverse to a prenup.”
Her thoughts still spinning as she tried to take it all in, she shook her head. “No, but—”
“Were you planning on a large formal ceremony? I understand women spend their entire lives mentally planning their dream weddings,” he said as if the thought of it seemed insane to him.
“I suppose some do. I’d always thought I would want something small,” she said. Calista had left fairy-tale wedding land shortly after her father’s death. Her primary focus had been on survival, not having a huge society wedding.
“Good,” he said in approval. “Then it’s settled. I can have one of my assistants get together with you to make the arrangements. She knows the dates I’m available.”
She held up her hand. “Wait just a second. You’re moving at warp speed and I’m still trying to catch up. What made you think to get married?”
“I tried to put you out of my mind during the last two weeks. I found I didn’t want to,” he said.
Given the fact that they hadn’t known each other very long, she was surprised at how his words got under her skin. It was a far cry from hearts and flowers. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Yes,” he said.
She bit her lip and couldn’t swallow a chuckle. “You didn’t ask.”
“Will you marry me?” he asked without missing a beat, his dark gaze holding hers.
“This is crazy,” she whispered. Her heart lurched. After all her planning, could she really do this?
“Is that your answer?” he asked.
“No,” she said, her lungs squeezing so tight she couldn’t breathe. It was the best solution for Tina and Tami. His father owed her family for what he had taken from them. It was necessary. “Yes, yes.”
Leo sat on the deck of his lakefront home the night before his wedding and shared Scotch with George. Calista and her family would arrive tomorrow morning via his helicopter. All the arrangements had been made. The only thing Leo had to do was show up at the ceremony tomorrow at noon and make sure not to see Calista before then. She had insisted. Silly superstition, but he would play along for her ease. With each passing day, she had seemed to grow more nervous.
George lifted his shot glass in salute. “I never thought I would see the day when you would marry a woman only a month after meeting her. Good luck to ya.”
Leo shot George a sideways glance and lifted his glass. “Thank you. You haven’t said much about my bride-to-be.”
“What’s to say?” George asked. “She’s beautiful.” He shrugged and tossed back the scotch, setting his glass down for a refill. “There’s just something about her.”
“What?” Leo asked, his antennae on alert. George was an excellent judge of character.
George frowned and squinted his eyes. “I can’t put my finger on it. She’s not evil,” he said. “But there’s something going on beneath the surface. The woman’s more complicated than she seems.”
Leo twirled the thought around in his head. “Most intelligent women are complicated.”
“True,” George said, nodding his head. “How’d the prenup go?”
“I insisted she have her attorney look at it. He put in a clause about her getting ten million after six months,” Leo said. “Mine cut it down to two million. Her attorney didn’t like it, but she signed.” He shrugged. “She’s so family-focused that I’m sure this wasn’t her idea. It had to have come from her attorney.”
“You’re sure she doesn’t know your guardian helped bring down her father?” George asked.
“How could she?” Leo asked, the familiar taste of bitterness filling his mouth at the mention of Clyde Hawkins. “It was ten years ago, and I’ve wiped out my association with him. Besides, that was one scheme I didn’t play. I may have been introduced as Clyde’s genius, gifted son, but I didn’t have to do anything but validate Clyde’s super success.”
“Why are you marrying her?” George asked bluntly.
Not many would have the nerve to question his decisions, but he trusted George more than he trusted anyone else. “Besides the fact that I want to have sex with her?”
George chuckled. “Yes.”
“I want the expanding Japanese and Indian markets, and I’m finding that the leaders of the companies I’m negotiating with aren’t comfortable with my single status. I’m competing with other companies for the business. It’s time to get a wife. Calista fits the bill. She’s well educated and beautiful. She’ll be an asset.”
“So this is a business decision?” George asked.
“Mostly,” Leo said. “The timing is good—no long engagement period.”
George clicked his shot glass against his again. “I wish you a happy home then, Leo. After all you’ve been through, you deserve something good. I hope Calista will be good for you.”
Calista practiced yoga breathing as the helicopter descended to Leo’s helipad at the lake. In a matter of hours, she would be married.
“Omigod, this is amazing,” Tami said, lifting her cell phone toward the window and taking a picture. “I have to text my boyfriend a photo. Will there be a photographer at the ceremony?”
“Yes,” Calista said, taking another deep breath.
“Are you okay?” Tina asked. “You look whiter than usual.”
“It’s the helicopter,” Calista insisted and forced a smile. “Did you enjoy the ride?”
“It was sweet,” Tina said.
“What about you, Justin?” she asked her nephew.
“Cool,” he said, clearly trying to appear unimpressed but not quite succeeding. “I want one of these when I grow up.”
Sharon laughed. “Keep your grades up and go to college and you may have a shot at it.”
The helicopter landed and several members of Leo’s staff stood to greet them. A man helped her sisters, cousin, her cousin’s husband and son out of the helicopter. Calista found herself pausing before she accepted the assistance of a man to help her step onto the ground. Every passing second drew her closer to the time when she would become Leo Grant’s wife. Her heart raced in fear at the thought, then she looked at her sisters. So young, yet their childhoods had been stolen from them. The least she could do was to give them some security now and a solid start for their adult lives.
“Miss French,” the man said, having been schooled in her appearance. She wondered from where Leo or his assistant had pulled her photograph, then pushed the thought aside.
“Thank you very much,” she said and smiled.
“My name is Henry. I’m in charge of Mr. Grant’s lake home. I have a special suite for you to dress for the ceremony. Mr. Grant has ordered rooms and food for the rest of your family,” he said, guiding her down the walk. “I’m told that the second you are sequestered in your suite, I am to call Mr. Grant. He is in a room facing away from the lake.”
She smiled. So, he had stuck to the agreement not to see her before the wedding. She had to like him for that. Her stomach dipped again. She would need to exhibit far more than like in their wedding bed tonight. She was terrified her true
feelings for Leo would show.
Following Henry toward the suite, she heard her sisters gasp in approval as they walked inside Leo’s home. “Sweet,” Tami said. “More pics.”
“I can’t remember being in a house this beautiful,” Tina said, looking around.
Calista felt a twist of regret that she hadn’t been able to provide more for her young sisters after her parents’ deaths.
Her cousin studied her and broke away from her husband to come to Calista’s side. “You need someone to help you get ready,” Sharon insisted.
“I’ll be fine. Just a little repair work on my hair and face, pull up my dress and I’m done,” Calista said, the strange sensation of panic and numbness filling her again.
Sharon frowned. “I’ll hang around anyway. A bride shouldn’t be alone on her wedding day.”
Perhaps her cousin was right. Calista was feeling the unmistakable surge of fight-or-flight syndrome, and at the moment flight seemed most possible.
“This way, ladies,” Henry said, guiding them up a curved stairway. “Jamal will take the rest of you to your rooms. Refreshments will be waiting.”
“Thank goodness, I’m starving,” Justin muttered.
“See you soon, bridie,” Tami said with a broad smile.
“See you soon,” Calista replied with much less enthusiasm.
Sharon helped Calista get dressed and encouraged her to eat. Calista couldn’t swallow a bite. Even though this was the best possible result from her plan, she couldn’t believe it was happening so fast.
“You look dazed and pale, sweetheart. Are you okay?” Sharon asked, her face full of worry.
“Just wedding-day jitters,” Calista said with a smile.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Sharon asked. “You haven’t known Leo very long at all.”
Calista recited her rehearsed response, “When it’s right, it’s right.”
“But still,” Sharon said, frowning.
A knock sounded on the door. “Oh, could you please get that?” she asked, thankful for the interruption. The photographer appeared. “Ready for me to take a few shots?”
