by Sara Orwig
A shiver spiraled through her as his words echoed in her thoughts. How vastly her life would change. Locked into a loveless union, she would spend part of her time on his ranch. She couldn’t imagine that. His thumb lightly rubbed the back of her hand while his brown eyes hid his feelings. Yet why should he be emotional over this proposition—it was his idea and what he wanted desperately. Her acceptance of his proposal was worth millions to him, so all he hid was his desire to convince her to cooperate.
“Let’s face it, Camille,” he said in a softer tone. “We have a positive physical response to each other now. That’s a plus any way you look at it.”
Her heartbeat increased a notch. “I didn’t know you noticed.”
“I’ve more than noticed since the first day I met you,” he said. “We’ll get along,” he added in a huskier tone that surprised her, a tone that made his words sound as if he referred to a physical relationship. “We’ll just do a day here and a day there so you get more accustomed to this and see if it’s workable,” he said, getting back to the matter at hand. “When we’re in the same town, we’ll be in the same living quarters so there will be no problem. At some point, I’d like him a week out of each month. You will get him the other three weeks. That’s not even half the time. How does that sound to you?” he asked. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. Marek once again sounded businesslike, in control of the situation.
Trying to avoid thinking about Noah, she picked up the calendar. “I’ll be in Budapest in the fall, so you will have him two weeks out of those months.”
“I said at some point. For now, he should stay with you while he’s under a year old.”
She stared at him, feeling as if a huge weight had lifted. Her pulse began to race with rising joy. “Do you really mean that?”
“Of course. When you’re in New Mexico, you’ll have him all of the time because we’re just starting and he’s too little to be away from you. We’ll ease into this. As he grows, the schedule will change anyway.”
She felt as if sunshine had just spilled over her. “You didn’t say that before. I’m so relieved. I’ve been trying to imagine him in Texas when I’m in Santa Fe and I can’t even bear to think about it. That is a wonderful wedding gift. Marek, I’m overjoyed,” she said, giving him a squeeze.
He laughed in one of his rare moments with a flash of white teeth. “I think you are far happier over this news about Noah than over your ring or the money or any material gain.”
“Of course, I am. You should understand why.”
“I should have come to this conclusion from the start,” he said, still smiling, and her happiness rose. “I want Noah to be a Rangel, and I hope he loves the ranch. Kern loved ranching.”
“In our weekend together, I got that much from him, so I feel I’m giving Noah part of his dad by our marriage and seeing that he grows up knowing the ranch life. It’s a relief to know he won’t start living there without me when he’s so tiny. If I find any of what we do difficult to live with, you’ll hear from me about it.”
“I’d want to. I want something we can both live with.”
“Right now, even when he’s older, I can’t imagine him gone for almost a month.”
“We’ll work into long stays gradually. You can come visit anytime you want, and if that’s bad, I can bring him to see you or we can try to work something else out.”
He loosened his tie and pulled it off, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. Her mouth went dry watching him. He was way too appealing. She looked away, reminding herself to guard her heart carefully. There was no room in her life for love right now, and Marek was definitely not the man to be the object of her affections. Not until he could love again—if that time ever came.
“We need to pay off your lease and move you to my Dallas home before the wedding. You, Noah, your sisters, everything. I want you to look tomorrow at my house and begin to decide which rooms to make over for you and your family, a nursery, a music room—the whole thing.”
“That’s monumental.”
“Not at all. We’ll get it done,” he said with supreme confidence. “If the redecorating isn’t finished when you move in, it won’t matter.”
“I feel as if I’m caught in a whirlwind.”
He smiled. “You’re caught in a marriage of convenience that I think will make us both happy. I’ve been sort of caught in a whirlwind since you entered my life,” he said, and she laughed.
“No way. You’re insulated.”
“You’re beginning to bring me back to life, whether I want it or not.” He picked up the calendar to hand it to her. “I’d like to marry as soon as you feel you can. We can have a big church wedding or something small or something somewhere in between. I want the wedding to be whatever you would like and make it as much a real wedding as possible because we might stay together.”
“We might stay together,” she repeated, shaking her head. “This is a dream and I think I’ll wake up from it. I can’t imagine so much of this. Staying together? That seems totally impossible. I think one of us will fall in love with someone else and that will be that.”
“No matter what we plan, you can’t foresee the future. You never expected this to happen, and neither did I. That first day I was in total shock. That morning I had a list of other things I had planned for my day, my week and my month. When you left my office, my life had changed forever.”
“Actually, there we had the same experience. My life changed just as drastically. For me, though, it was for the second time. The first big change was when I met your brother.”
“Kern and I were so damn close. I still miss him every day,” Marek said, looking away, his voice changing, becoming harsh and cold. He spoke as if talking to himself, and she wondered if he had forgotten her presence and withdrawn into his shell again.
He turned to her. “Let’s get back to thinking about a wedding.”
“I haven’t given any thought to a wedding. I’ve been so busy thinking about Noah.” She studied the calendar. “Under the circumstances, I prefer a small wedding with our families and very closest friends.”
“Whatever you want,” he replied. “Big or small, I’ll pay all the expenses and we can pull the event together quickly. I’d like it as soon as possible because it would be better if we can get settled somewhat before you take off for New Mexico. I’ll lease or buy a place in Santa Fe this summer. You can select it and then I can come when I want to.”
For the first time, she realized he might be in her life far more than she had expected. “You don’t mind leaving your ranch?”
“I’d rather be on the ranch, but I do have others who’ll keep it running smoothly. I can rely on Jess as much as I can on myself.” Marek sipped his drink and set down his glass.
“Do you care for more wine?”
“No, thank you. My head is spinning enough over all the changes from your proposal.”
He sat back and studied her. “We’re going too fast for you. Want to stop and think about what we’ve said for a couple of days and then go back to planning?”
“I’m tempted,” she said, relieved he wasn’t pushing this on her too much. “We might as well go ahead. If the plans get to be too much for me, I’ll tell you. These are monumental changes coming one right after another, like a series of wrecks all in one day.”
His eyes narrowed. “I hope it isn’t as harsh as a series of wrecks. I hope you can gain more than just money out of this.”
“Noah will gain more—he’ll get a dad who, hopefully, will love him.”
“I already love him. All I have to do is look at him and think about his dad. He’s a happy baby, so that makes him doubly lovable.”
She looked away, having another moment when her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. “I can maintain better control on a stage than I can here.”
“That’s different. You can walk away from that without it tearing up your life.”
Startled that he understood, she turned back to l
ook at him. “You’re perceptive, thank heavens,” she admitted. “That makes me feel a tiny bit better.”
“Good,” he said gently. He placed his hand on her cheek lightly. “Camille, we’ll get through this. Just always tell me and I’ll tell you if something isn’t working.”
Again he surprised her and also made her feel better. “Thank you,” she whispered, looking into his dark eyes and wondering about the future.
Picking up the calendar, he studied it. “A small wedding should be easy. How about the last Saturday in April?”
“Two weeks and a few days?” She laughed, her worry transformed to amusement over his ridiculous expectations. She shook her head. “That seems impossible, even for a small wedding. I’m free right now from any performances, so I agree it should be before I perform in Dallas and definitely before I go to New Mexico, but two weeks? It can’t be done. I’m sure I can’t even book the church with that short of notice.”
“If necessary, we can marry at my ranch. There are plenty of places. Remember, don’t worry about expenses. I’m paying and I can get people moving,” he said in a determined tone.
“I’m sure you can,” she replied, looking at the calendar he was holding. He had well-shaped hands, strong wrists. His French cuffs had gold links that flashed when he moved. Returning her attention to the calendar, she studied it. “It’s April. How about the second Saturday in May? That is really fast for a wedding.”
“How about the first Saturday in May?” he asked. “I promise, we can pull this together. I’ll give you all the help you want.”
She stared at the date and finally nodded. “If you think that’s possible, I guess that will be all right.”
“I know it’s possible.”
She glanced up at him. “You’re supremely confident, but I imagine you get what you want the majority of the time.”
“No. I didn’t with Jillian and Kern. But some things are doable if you have the resources.”
“Or the determination,” she added quietly.
“We’re doing well together, Camille. This is a good sign,” he said. He patted her hand. “See, it’s working.”
Again, his slightest, casual touch, a touch that was meaningless to him, stirred unwanted responses in her. Was she getting herself into a situation that would hurt deeply later? This change with Noah was unwanted, foisted on her. Falling in love would be equally as unwanted and complicated. Realizing that he was saying something to her, she tried to get her mind back on their discussion.
“I’ll need to get the church, let my sisters be bridesmaids, even though I want to keep this small. I need to take you home to meet my family.”
“It’s fine with me however you want to handle it. They’re your family. Except you didn’t tell them everything, so they had no part in the decision you made.”
“Correct. I think they would see all this differently. And they don’t fully understand the job or career that I have, either. They like my singing and are proud of me, but I know they wish I had a regular job where I lived in Saint Louis or one particular place and went to an office each day.”
“They’ll get used to your career as it grows. So we go meet Mom and Dad.”
“And brother and grandmother. What about your parents? You said they’re not very involved now with you and your sister.”
“They’ve said they will be here as soon as they can. Mom hates flying, but she’ll do so. They’ll be here for the wedding, I’m sure.”
“You’re still hurting over your loss. We barely know each other. Frankly, I prefer to put a physical relationship on hold. If we stay together the time will come when we might want to have one, but at this point, there are a lot of uncertainties and we’re not in love.”
“Whatever you want. We should make decisions about a honeymoon.”
“A honeymoon seems foolish under the circumstances. We have a business arrangement.”
“One, for distant relatives and friends, it will be simpler because everything will appear normal. Also, we can take three or four days off and get to know each other. We can take Noah if you want. As far as I’m concerned, that would be fun. Or if you’d like just a few days away from the baby, your lessons and your practice, we can be the only ones. Actually, it might be wise for us to get to know each other a little better. We won’t be able to as much if we have Noah.”
“I’ll think about being away from him. Three days is definitely the longest I want to be gone.”
“That’s fine. What would you enjoy doing for a few days together?” he asked.
“If we’re going to do what I want, it would be magical to take just a couple of days, just a weekend, and go to some tropical place, perhaps the Caribbean. Somewhere that has palm trees and an ocean. If we go with Noah along, I’ll be willing to stay longer. Without Noah, I don’t want to be gone more than a day or two there plus a day going and a day to return.”
“That’s easy enough.”
“Frankly, I’ve been to Europe and will be going again. I’ve been to Russia and various cities in the U.S. I’ve never been to the tropics.”
“The lady is not only beautiful, but easy to please. The tropics it is. If the weather is good, and it should be, a villa on Grand Cayman in the Caribbean might be the perfect place. Do you want just us or everyone?”
She laughed. “Since we’re not telling the world that this will be a marriage of convenience, I suggest we go alone,” she replied. “Just two days in the tropics with a beach and I’ll be happy and store it in my memories forever.”
“We’ll take four days. Get married on Saturday, head for the tropics, stay two days, fly back to Texas.” He sat forward. “We’ll be going to an island where we can choose from several things to do the night we get there. We can go dancing, attend a show.”
“You just mentioned a villa. Let’s just stay there. It’s all new to me, and I’ll be happy just to sit and relax.”
“You’re easy to please, Camille,” he said again. She was a beautiful woman and she did turn heads anytime they were in public. He thought of Noah and, as always, his nerves calmed. This was the right thing to do and the only thing to get Noah really into the lives of the Rangels. “Let’s go to dinner now some place where we can dance. We’ll let off steam and celebrate working this out.” Without waiting for an answer, he stood and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket to make a call and get reservations for two.
Dynamic was another trait she could add to his description. He had taken charge and barreled through everything quickly, efficiently in a lot of ways. Would she have charge of her life from now on, or would Marek Rangel constantly influence it?
Within the hour they were seated in a private club overlooking the city with glass windows giving a floor-to-ceiling view. Steaks had been ordered, and Marek stood. “Let’s dance,” he said. On the dance floor he took her into his arms, holding her lightly. She was more aware of each contact with him, of her hand in his. The fact that she would soon be his wife was as impossible a prospect as the realization she would soon be a millionaire.
“I’m pleased by the prospects of marrying, seeing Noah grow up and being part of his life. I hope you are.”
“I have mixed feelings, and my sisters do, too. We’re all scared how we’ll feel the first time we’re away from Noah.”
“That’s natural. When we start, we’ll keep those times very brief.”
“Thank you. I feel much better knowing separation won’t be so long. So, Jess and your sister think this is a good plan?”
“Jess does. I told you that. Ginny is not so enthusiastic. Actually, Ginny is worried about me, which is ridiculous, but she’s my big sister and sometimes that pops out. She calmed down some after we talked and is a little better about accepting our marriage.”
“Our marriage. I won’t believe it’s happening even after we’ve walked down the aisle.”
“Camille, if you ever do fall in love with someone, come tell me.”
As they danced to an o
ld ballad, she gazed into his eyes, seeing the earnest look, realizing he didn’t have any expectations that they would fall in love. “I will tell you if I think you need to know,” she answered.
He shook his head. “Tell me whether you think I need to know or not. I don’t want to hold you to something if you’re unhappy. Promise me you’ll tell me.”
“No. You won’t win this one. If I think you need to know, I’ll tell you.”
He frowned slightly, looking over her head in the distance as if watching something far away. “I’m not happy with that answer.”
“Put it out of your mind. Tonight there’s no need in worrying about something that might happen.”
Her gaze was held by his as he gave her a searching look. “Just remember, I tried to get you to promise to tell me.”
“I will remember,” she said, knowing she always would. How much time would they spend together? Questions constantly ran through her thoughts about her future. Could she avoid falling in love? Would he ever really notice her or get over his grief and come back into the world?
The next number was fast and it felt good to dance with him, a silly tune that made everyone on the dance floor smile, let go and enjoy themselves. Her gaze was locked with Marek’s, and he looked happy, but why wouldn’t he, when he had her promise to give him everything he wanted? He had let go, dancing with zest, making sexy moves.
She danced around him. At the end, he caught her hand, spun her around and dipped her low, holding her. She clung to him because she was off balance as he leaned down so her hair touched the floor. Both of them laughed when he swung her up.
“You’re beautiful, Camille,” he said lightly, smiling at her with his even white teeth showing. His rare smiles always heightened his appeal.
“Thank you. I didn’t know you’ve ever really noticed me,” she replied.
“I’ve noticed you,” he answered. “Ready to go back to the table?”
As they were seated the waiter appeared to open a bottle of champagne, an expensive brand she had only had once before in her life.
