A Worthy Heir

by Pat Ballard

  “But Fiona—”

  “Hush, girl, and listen to me. When my husband died, I promised him on his deathbed I would make sure someone in the family was running Bainbridge Corporation before I died. But little did either of us know that our only son would die so early, or how stubborn Reese was going to wind up being about all of this.

  “And it’s becoming more and more obvious that Reese is determined not to have anything to do with the company. And even if he got married and had a child, I’d be dead before that child got old enough to decide if he were going to be a part of Bainbridge Corporation or not. So I’ve got to act now! I’ve had a plan for some time now, and was patient to wait and let it happen. But time has turned on me, and I have to take measures to make that plan happen quickly. And you’re going to help me. I know you will, because it’ll be in the best interest for you and Tom if you do.”

  Pam was becoming frightened at the wild look that had crept into the older woman’s eyes as she talked.

  “Fiona—”

  “Shhhhhhh! Now listen to me. Here’s the plan. If you and Reese are married, then technically, Tom will kind of be in my family. Tom is a wonderfully gifted businessman. I’ve been showing him the books on Bainbridge Corporation, and he has a remarkable grasp of what’s going on. He’s the perfect person to turn the running of the company over to.”

  “But Reese doesn’t love me, Fiona, and he would never ask me to marry him, so you’ll have to come up with a different plan,” Pam managed to interrupt long enough to make her point.

  “There’s not enough time for a different plan. This one has to work.” Pam sensed the desperation in Fiona’s voice, but before she could question her, Fiona continued. “I know Reese is attracted to you. Girl, I saw what he was doing to you on your bed that morning. And I saw him kissing you in the pool one day. So I know he has the hots for you! But I don’t have time to wait for him to finally decide that you’re the woman he wants to spend his life with. Even if he doesn’t love you now, he’ll learn to love you. You can make him love you. So here’s the plan. You’re going to get him drunk and marry him! Then I can make the will out to leave Bainbridge Corporation to Tom. Just think what you’ll be doing for your brother! He’ll be set with a multi-million dollar business! He’ll never have to worry about finances again! And neither will you, because I plan to leave Reese set for life, even though he doesn’t want my business.” Was it sadness or bitterness that crept into her voice?

  There were so many holes in this plan that Pam didn’t know where to start to tell Fiona that none of this would work. And she was really becoming concerned at the crazed look in the older woman’s eyes. Had Fiona gone off the deep end? She had to find a way to discourage her.

  “Fiona, first, this isn’t Las Vegas, this is Texas. I can’t get Reese drunk and marry him the same day. There are licenses and blood tests that are necessary. And, besides that, I just can’t do it.”

  “I’ll take care of all of that. You just think about this and decide. But don’t wait too long. As I said, time has suddenly become the enemy here. And just think of what you’ll be doing for Tom. Now go. I have to get some rest.” She waved Pam away from her.

  Pam closed the door softly behind her. Fear engulfed her. Something was terribly wrong with Fiona. She was acting like a woman possessed. Pam had never seen her eyes flashing so blue. Had never seen that look of panic in them. Had never seen Fiona looking so small and frail as she did when Pam left her sitting in that huge room alone.

  Pam turned and tossed all night, troubled by shadowy dreams and unanswered questions. She was relieved when the alarm went off. But her mind didn’t become free of worry just because she was awake. She continued to worry about Fiona all day.

  That night, when everyone met in the library, Pam wondered if Fiona really did look more drawn and pale than usual, or if she were just imagining it.

  Reese, running late, burst into the room in a foul mood. Pam could tell as soon as she saw him that he was going to be a pain in the neck during dinner. And she was right. He picked at and found fault with everything everyone said, until finally Fiona grew tired of hearing him.

  “Reese, why don’t you just leave the room, if you’re so unhappy with our company?” she suggested.

  “Why can’t these people just leave my house?” he countered, looking blue daggers at Tom before his eyes rested on Pam to glare at her.

  “Because I don’t want them to leave. And I thought we had this settled!” Fiona was becoming agitated.

  “No, it won’t be settled until they’re out of here,” he ground between clenched teeth.

  “Pam and I are making plans to move as soon as we can find a place to live,” Tom interjected, trying to halt the argument between Fiona and Reese.

  “Like hell you are!” Fiona practically yelled. “You two aren’t going anywhere as long as I’m alive and we have this huge house to rattle around in. There’s no reason for you to pay rent or a house payment when this house is available.”

  “Well, that just about does it, as far as I’m concerned!” Reese bellowed, sliding his chair back from the table. “I’m out of here as soon as I can find another assignment. I won’t stay in this house with these freeloaders. Fifi, I’m sorry you’ve chosen strangers over your own flesh and blood, but since you have, you enjoy them. I’ll have Sharon call me when it’s time to make the funeral arrangements!”

  “REESE!” Three voices shouted at him at the same time, but he didn’t slow down as he went through the door.

  A stunned silence followed his departure. Pam couldn’t believe what she had just heard. How dare he talk to his grandmother like that! Seeing the tears glistening in Fiona’s awesome blue eyes was the last straw for Pam. That arrogant bastard needed to meet his match!

  “Activate your plan, Fiona,” Pam said, getting up to go in search of Reese to try and get him to apologize to his grandmother.

  “What does that mean?” Tom asked.

  “You’ll know soon enough,” Fiona cackled, as Pam left the room.

  Chapter 8

  Raw fear clutched Pam’s throat and held on as the long limo pulled up in front of the MGM Grand Tower Hotel, a deluxe, sprawling, high-rise mega resort and casino located on the south end of the Strip at Tropicana Avenue in Las Vegas, Nevada.

  How on earth had she allowed Fiona to talk her into this crazy scheme? It was never going to work! Reese would probably wind up putting them both away for being totally off their rockers. And he would be perfectly justified in whatever actions he did decide to take. But he deserved it. He’d been such a jerk lately. Even more so than he normally was.

  “This way,” her traveling companion directed, taking her arm to guide her through the throng of people who were in Vegas to have a wonderful time and enjoy their surroundings. Was she the only one here with an ulterior motive?

  Tony—Fiona said that’s the only name Pam needed to know—led her through the casino into a back room where the lights were dim. Two people sat at a table in a far corner, their heads close together. As Pam and Tony approached, one of the men looked up and Pam realized it was Reese. She could tell he was already drunk by the silly grin on his face.

  “Pam? Ish that you? Wathehell you doing here?” he slurred.

  “Hi, Reese. I came to be with you,” she answered. At least that much was the truth.

  “Well, get your shexy shelf over here and sit beshide me,” he beckoned, sliding a chair close to him.

  “Boysh, thish is the damndest sexiesht woman I’ve ever met in my life!”

  “This may be easier than we’d planned,” Tony murmured to the man sitting with Reese. Then as an afterthought, he introduced Pam. “Pam, this is Ronald. He’s made sure that Reese, here, is very agreeable. Ronald, Pam.”

  Pam was sitting snugly tucked under Reese’s arm now, and even though she knew he was drunk, her heart still felt like it was trying to push its way through her throat, just being this close to him. And he had called her sexy! Well
—he’d tried to call her sexy. Is that what he really thought? Was the liquor allowing him to let his true feelings come out?

  “Well, old boy,” Tony said, clapping Reese on the shoulder. “If you think she’s that sexy, why don’t you just ask her to marry you? You’re in Vegas, you know.”

  “You’re right! Thass a good idea!” Reese exclaimed. “Baby, will you marry me? Right now? Tonight? That’ll show Fifi who’s in charge of my life!”

  As the two men bent double laughing at their good fortune, Pam felt a terrible guilt wash over her. What was she about to do to Reese’s life? And to her own? “Remember,” Fiona had admonished, “You’re doing this for Tom. And as a favor to me. And for Reese, too. I just want Reese’s life to be happy before I leave this earth.”

  “Well, if you’re going to get married, we’d better get on over to the court house and get the license, hadn’t we?” Tony asked.

  “Shure, less go,” Reese agreed, trying to stand and pull Pam up with him at the same time.

  Ronald took Reese’s arm and helped him stand. Then the two men basically supported him through the crowd to the waiting limo.

  Pam sat and watched Reese as he lay sprawled across the bed, sleeping the sleep that only a drunk can sleep.

  After the rushed wedding, with Tony and Ronald standing in as witnesses, the two men had brought Reese up to this plush hotel room, helped him out of his pants and shirt, and assisted him in getting under the bed covers, as Reese was very close to passing out by then.

  Cold chills crept up her spine just thinking of the hell she was going to catch when he woke up in the morning and found out they were married. Now, in the aftermath of the rush to get Fiona’s plan carried out, deep, dark reality was setting in. She had tricked Reese Bainbridge into marrying her! Well, it’d been easier than any of them had expected, since he’d actually proposed to her. She’d thought she would be the one to have to do that. And at least she had witnesses to his proposal.

  When she’d left Dallas this morning, there was no concrete plan on how she was supposed to get him to marry her. Fiona had just told her to figure it out as she went along. The basic plan was that Ronald would see to it that Reese was close to being drunk by the time she got there, and she’d have to decide what to do from there. Tony and Ronald would be there to help in any way they could, Fiona had tried to assure her.

  Earlier in the week when Fiona had heard Reese talking on the phone, making plans to meet an old buddy in Vegas for the weekend, she’d seen her chance and jumped at it. Calling Pam into her office, she’d laid out all the details. She’d called in a favor that Tony owed her and convinced him to help with the plan.

  What was Tom going to say? He’d been kept in the dark about all the plans, because both women knew he’d have vetoed it on the spot if he’d known what was going down.

  Reaching for the phone, she dialed the number to Bainbridge Hall.

  “Hello?” Fiona practically yelled into the phone.

  “It’s done,” Pam said, trying to keep the weariness from her voice.

  “Yes! I love it when a plan comes together! Where is he?”

  “Asleep.”

  “Pam, don’t ever regret going after what you want. Now, you make him love you, girl! You can do it!” And with that familiar cackle, Fiona hung up the phone.

  Too weary to think about it any more, Pam curled up on top of the covers beside Reese, still fully dressed. Her intention was just to rest her eyes, but exhausted sleep claimed her as soon as her head touched the pillow.

  Pam drifted slowly out of the deep sleep that had engulfed her. Her subconscious mind was telling her she really didn’t want to wake up and face what was coming. But, as if being willed to open, the first thing her eyes fell on was the blue glare of the man facing her.

  She didn’t move. Didn’t react at all. Just lay gazing back into the eyes that held her captive just as a snake charms and immobilizes its prey.

  “I do have a few questions, if you’re awake now,” Reese’s very soft, almost too soft, voice broke the silence.

  “Okay,” Pam barely whispered.

  “First, why are you in Las Vegas? Second, why are you lying fully clothed in my bed? And third, are you protected against getting pregnant?”

  “Pregnant?” Pam screeched, now fully awake.

  “No, answer the first question first,” Reese instructed, still not having moved a muscle.

  “I’m in Las Vegas because Fiona wanted me to come be with you,” she answered truthfully.

  “And?”

  “I’m fully dressed because I didn’t have a place to stay, and I just slept in your bed,” she lied.

  “And?”

  “Yes,” she whispered again.

  “Why don’t I remember getting into bed? And why don’t I remember you being here with me? Because if I’d known you were in my bed, you sure as hell wouldn’t still be dressed!”

  “You were already drunk when I got here. You were having drinks with Ronald.”

  “Who is Ronald?”

  “The man you were having drinks with,” Pam repeated, knowing she was sounding daft.

  “I don’t know a Ronald.” Reese was beginning to grow weary with the word games. “And I don’t ever get drunk. So did this Ronald put something in my drink to help me reach my inebriated state?”

  “I don’t know. As I said, you were already drunk when I got here.”

  “I’m tired of talking now. You’ve been wanting to get into my bed since day one, so now that you’re here, I’m going to give you what you’ve been wanting!” He reached for Pam, but she scooted quickly backwards out of his reach.

  “You really are a pompous asshole, aren’t you?” she ground at him.

  “What’s the problem? You said you were protected against getting pregnant. You’re here, and there’s no one to interrupt us this time. Don’t tell me you’re a virgin? What? You’re on the pill just to regulate your periods, right? But you’re actually a virgin. I’ve heard that one before.”

  “No, Reese, I’m not a virgin. I was raped when I was 13 by an upstanding 18-year-old neighborhood boy. I became pregnant, but lost the baby. Ever since then, I’ve stayed on the pill just to be safe against guys who can’t control their urges.”

  “I’m sorry that happened to you. But if you think that noble speech is going to stop me from making love to you, you’re wrong. Now come here.” He moved swiftly, catching Pam’s wrist and pulling her back to him. And suddenly she was on her back, and he was towering over her, with both hands on each side of her head, his thumbs gently stroking the hair back from her face.

  “Reese!”

  “Pam?” Before she could answer, he was lowering his lips to hers. But he didn’t cover her lips in the kiss she was expecting. Instead, he gently licked her lips before sucking her full bottom lip into his mouth and gently biting it before sucking on it again.

  “You like that?” he whispered, ever so lightly licking her lips again. “Tell me you like it,” he urged, now taking her top lip into his mouth and stroking it with his tongue. “Tell me, Pam. Say you like what I’m doing. Open your eyes and look at me, and tell me you want more.”

  Pam opened her eyes to be enveloped with the most tender look she’d ever seen on Reese Bainbridge’s face. Surely he couldn’t hate her, if he was looking at her like this. And remembering Fiona’s words to make him love her, she knew that she would make love to him today, even if she didn’t make him love her—yet.

  “Yes, Reese,” she sighed, “I like what you’re doing.”

  “Do you want more?” he urged, again flicking his tongue across her mouth before gently easing it between her lips, and past her teeth, in a slow, rhythmic motion.

  Pam’s answer was a soft moan, giving Reese all the answer he needed. Inch by inch he undressed her, and inch by inch he kissed, caressed, and loved each spot of her body he uncovered. By the time he consummated their marriage, Pam knew she would never love another man the way she loved Reese Bai
nbridge. He entered her very soul when he entered her body, and she knew she’d been branded for life.

  Pam stepped from the bathroom, fully dressed. She knew she had to tell Reese they were married, but she’d put it off until the last moment. The marriage license was tucked safely inside her purse, and if she didn’t tell him, there was really no way of him knowing about it right away, was there? Did she have to destroy the surreal mood that his beautiful lovemaking had seemed to surround them with? Maybe she’d just wait until they got back to Bainbridge Hall, then let Fiona take part of the heat when Reese found out.

  She saw that room service had delivered brunch and Reese was waiting for her. The table was spread with a wonderful array of food, and she realized she was very hungry, since she hadn’t really eaten since leaving Dallas the day before.

  “Come on and grab some of this wonderful food before it gets cold,” Reese directed. “Although you look good enough to eat in that hot pink outfit. Maybe we’ll just have to let the food get cold!”

  “Reese! I’m hungry,” Pam argued, while loving the new look of possession and familiarity in Reese’s eyes.

  “I am too, baby. I’ve been hungry every since the first time I saw you. And if I’d known what a live wire you are in bed, there’s no way I could have waited this long to have you.” By now he had his arms around her and was breathing his softly spoken words into her ear.

  “But even as much as I want to love you again, right now I really do need to clear up some lingering questions about last night and how you came to be here with me. Your story doesn’t hold water, you know, but earlier I wasn’t in the mood to think about that. So why don’t we talk while we eat, hmm?”

  Pam’s palms were suddenly coated with a thin film of perspiration, and her heart thudded against her chest. Don’t panic! she admonished herself. Just take a deep breath and stay cool.

  As hungry as she’d thought she was, she put only a few items on her plate and tried to go through the motion of eating, but her mouth was so dry everything just wadded up like cotton and she had to wash it down with water.