His Marriage Bonus

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

Mitch replied matter-of-factly. “I had to scout out the truth, Lauren. For both our sakes. I walked into a relationship and marriage blindly once before, without knowing what Jeannette really wanted from me. I couldn’t allow the same thing to happen again. And I certainly couldn’t allow it to happen to my family’s company.” He paused, then continued more gently, “I’m not proud of what I’ve had to do to discover the truth. But I’m not going to apologize for it, either.”

  Lauren sighed, too shaken at the news to dwell on her anger with Mitch for not coming to her with his suspicions. She plucked a tissue from the holder and blew her nose. “I knew my father had arthritis, that a few times when I’ve seen him lately he looked a little flushed. But…if there’s something more wrong than that—and it looks like there is—he should have told me, Mitch.”

  Mitch leaned against her father’s desk. He folded his arms in front of him, and continued to study her contentiously. “There’s one thing I want to know, Lauren. What does all this have to do with Lance?”

  Wishing she could ignore the accusing note in Mitch’s low tone, Lauren dropped her crumpled tissue into the waste can. She frowned at him, noting unhappily, “You really do suspect me of something nefarious, don’t you?”

  “Look—” Mitch spread his hands in front of him, struggling to be fair “—I know Ron Ingalls is somehow involved in whatever is going on with Lance.”

  “Yes, he is,” Lauren was only too happy to point out. “In fact, Ron was instrumental in trying to arrange my deal with Lance.”

  Mitch studied her in frustration. “You’re not going to tell me what it is, are you?”

  “Believe me, I plan to discuss it with you,” Lauren retorted heatedly, deciding it would serve Mitch right if she kept him in suspense a little longer. “But not until after I have spoken to my father and found out exactly what he’s been keeping from me.”

  Mitch followed her as Lauren went back to the bedroom, grabbed her shoes and evening clothes. “What are you going to do?” he demanded impatiently, still looking darkly handsome and dangerous in the tuxedo he’d worn the night before.

  “I’m going to go with you while you change clothes at your place,” Lauren told him flatly, already heading for the door. “And then I want to see your brother Gabe.”

  “THESE REALLY AREN’T the kinds of questions you should be asking me,” Gabe said when Mitch and Lauren had caught up with him at the hospital several hours later. “You should be talking to your father.”

  “I want to know what I’m likely dealing with before I confront him,” Lauren said. She knew she needed to be prepared. And she needed enough information to keep her father from giving her a snow job again, to protect her feelings. “You’re a doctor. You must know what kinds of illnesses these medications are used to treat.” Lauren handed over the list of names she had copied down from the pharmacy bottles.

  Gabe studied the list reluctantly. “This first medication is used to lower cholesterol, the second two work together to control blood pressure, these three here all relieve joint or skin symptoms, this one is a stomach acid-reduction drug.”

  “Which means what?” Lauren asked, still as baffled as ever.

  “That your father’s health obviously is not as good as he or you would like. But as for what specifically is wrong with him, again, I think you should ask him,” Gabe said kindly but firmly.

  Realizing they had gotten all the information they were going to get from Gabe, Lauren and Mitch thanked him and left the hospital in silence. They paused by Mitch’s car. Lauren turned to him, knowing she had no right to ask but realizing she was going to anyway. “Would you go with me to see my father?” she asked quietly. She needed someone with her when she confronted him. She needed Mitch.

  “Sure.” Mitch squeezed her hand reassuringly.

  They drove to Summerville in record time. Payton was upstairs when the butler let them in, so they waited for him in his study downstairs. Too nervous to sit still, Lauren paced. Mitch tried to engage her in conversation, but she couldn’t concentrate on a thing he was saying. Finally, Mitch took her in his arms and held her close. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, smoothing her hair with his hand.

  “What if it’s not?” she whispered, trembling, knowing that she had already lost her mother and she couldn’t bear to lose her father, too.

  Mitch tilted her face up to his. “It will,” he whispered comfortingly once again, and bent his head to kiss her. And that was when Payton Heyward walked in.

  “WELL, WELL, WELL,” Payton said as Mitch and Lauren broke apart. “If this is what you came to tell me, I approve.”

  Blushing hotly, Lauren disengaged herself from Mitch and walked toward her father. Abruptly, she was as filled with resentment as before. “It’s not,” she said quietly.

  Payton’s expression abruptly became as serious as Lauren’s. “What is it?” he said, realizing there was something very wrong.

  Lauren crossed her arms in front of her. “Mitch and I dropped by your apartment this morning.”

  “We saw all the medicine in the humidor on your desk,” Mitch explained.

  “I can’t believe you’re sick and you didn’t tell me!” Lauren accused emotionally.

  Payton frowned. “I’m fine.”

  Lauren threw up her hands in exasperation. “Dad, please. Come on. I’ve already talked to a doctor. I know what some of those medicines are used for. Now, are you going to give me the straight story or what?”

  Payton released a beleaguered sigh and gestured for them to have a seat.

  Lauren was still trembling as she and Mitch took the chairs in front of Payton’s desk.

  Looking more relaxed than Lauren could ever hope to feel under the same circumstances, Payton leaned against the front of his desk, and continued matter-of-factly, “I have lupus.”

  “What?” Lauren asked, panicked. Mitch shot Lauren a reassuring glance, reached over and took her hand, and held it tightly.

  “It’s an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the body,” Payton explained.

  “Like arthritis,” Lauren guessed.

  “Except this is a little more serious,” Payton allowed reluctantly.

  Lauren swallowed hard around the growing lump in her throat. “Could you die?”

  Payton hesitated. “In certain cases it can be fatal, but it can also be quite mild.”

  Lauren held on to Mitch’s hand, drawing strength from his steady presence. “What kind do you have?” she asked her father.

  “Mild.”

  Lauren gave a big sigh of relief, then studied her father suspiciously. “You’re not lying to me about that, are you, Dad?” She would hate it if he was.

  “No, honey, I’m not,” Payton told her gently. “And if you’ll think about it, you’ll realize it’s true. I haven’t missed more than a day or so of work, here and there. I sometimes get a little fever or some joint pain, but that’s been controlled pretty well by medication. And my doctor says that once I get through this particular episode I may not have another relapse for years to come.”

  “And if and when you do…?” Lauren asked anxiously.

  “Then they’ll treat it again,” Payton replied firmly. “And I’ll be fine.”

  “If this is the case, why didn’t you just tell me?” Lauren asked in frustration. She hated being shut out that way by those close to her.

  “Because I didn’t want you to worry,” Payton explained kindly. “And—” Payton paused to look at Mitch “—I didn’t want any rumors about my health floating around when I was trying to stay competitive and arrange a merger between our two companies. I figured people would be suspicious enough just by the fact that I was willing to forfeit complete control of Heyward Shipping Company.”

  “I understand,” Mitch said.

  “Well, I don’t!” Lauren cut in. She shot her father an angry glance. “You had me scared to death.”

  “I’m sorry.” Payton grimaced in regret. “I had planned to tell you one da
y if it became necessary—”

  “It was always necessary!” Lauren chided, upset. She vaulted out of her chair and squared off with her father. “I want us to be honest with each other. I want to know if there is something wrong you’ll come to me, and that I can come to you, too.”

  Payton opened his arms to her. “I want that, too, honey.” He took her in his arms and Lauren and her dad embraced for a long heartfelt moment.

  As they drew apart, Lauren looked up at him, realizing that no matter how uncomfortable the answer, she needed to ask this too. “Is your illness why you were in a hurry to get me hooked up with Mitch?”

  For a moment Payton looked taken aback by the question. As was Mitch, Lauren noted with relief. “I confess,” Payton responded quietly, “it was sobering, learning I had an illness that could potentially be fatal in some cases. It made me realize that I wasn’t as immortal as I’d like to think. And it also made me want to see you were taken care of, should anything happen to me,” he finished gently.

  Lauren squared her shoulders. “I can take care of myself, Dad.”

  “I know you can,” Payton said with an affectionate smile. “But that doesn’t mean you should live the rest of your life alone. Or refuse to meet a man I think would be the perfect husband for you.”

  Lauren’s feelings for Mitch were deep and abiding, but she wasn’t ready to share them with anyone. Not until she and Mitch had discovered if they were really as in love as Lauren suspected they were, anyway. “We’re not getting married just because you think we should,” Lauren told her father calmly.

  Payton regarded her with a knowing glance. “I never thought you would,” he said just as quietly. “I thought you’d do it because it felt right.”

  Which was the irony of it, Lauren thought. Her relationship with Mitch did feel right—so right it scared her. “Well,” Lauren took a deep breath, said finally, “if you really are doing okay, Dad—”

  “I am,” Payton reassured her firmly.

  Lauren smiled, aware this wasn’t how she had planned to announce her father’s belated birthday present, but it would do, anyway. She searched her dad’s face. “Are you feeling well enough to play some golf?”

  Payton looked surprised. “Today?”

  Lauren’s grin widened. “I’ve arranged for you to have two days of private lessons at Pinehurst with Lance Murtaugh starting tomorrow morning.”

  Payton did a double take, as Mitch put it all together, finally understanding what all Lauren’s mysterious phone calls of the last week had been about. “The Lance Murtaugh?” Payton said. “North Carolina’s top golf pro?”

  “The one and only.” Lauren beamed.

  Payton picked up the putter Lauren had given him for his birthday and cradled it between his hands. “I thought Lance Murtaugh didn’t work with anyone but the very top professionals.”

  “Usually, he doesn’t,” Lauren said, downplaying how very difficult it had been for her to arrange the lessons. “But when I explained to him how much it would mean to you, he promised to look for a hole in his schedule and get back to me. If you want to do it, you’ve got to call him right away, Dad.”

  “THAT WAS SOME birthday present you just gave your father,” Mitch said as they waved goodbye and Payton headed for the prestigious North Carolina golf course where his lessons would begin the very next morning. The drive would take several hours but Payton had assured them both he was up to both the trip and the lessons.

  “Yeah, well, he deserves it.” Lauren stood watching until Payton’s limousine disappeared down the driveway. She headed for Mitch’s car, then turned to him, an impish grin on her lovely face. “Not that I didn’t have some ulterior motive. I was hoping if Dad got into golf again, big time, he’d have a lot less time to be thinking about and meddling in my love life.”

  Mitch caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “I’m sorry I suspected you.”

  “I’m not.” Lauren smiled, her relief palpable. “Your sleuthing uncovered something I very much needed to know about my dad.”

  “I won’t do it again,” Mitch promised her softly, seriously, as he stroked a hand through the silk of her hair.

  “That’s good,” Lauren returned just as solemnly. “Because trust is important. I couldn’t bear it if I thought you were going behind my back or manipulating me the way my last fiancé did.”

  The last thing Mitch wanted to do was hurt Lauren. Or cause a rift between her and her father.

  “And if this merger goes through,” Lauren continued, oblivious to the disturbing nature of Mitch’s thoughts, “it should actually help my dad, physically. You heard what he said his doctor told him.” She inclined her head to the side. “Eliminating stress from his life will help him more than anything. If he knows the company is secure, our financial futures protected, I think he’ll rest a lot easier.”

  Mitch wrapped his arms around her, loving the way she felt against him, so soft and feminine and warm. Pushing aside his guilt for the moment, he studied her intently. “Does this mean you approve of the merger?” He wanted her approval, and that was something new, too. He had never much cared what anyone thought of him—he had just gone out and done what needed to be done. Period. Now to his surprise he was concerned about her reaction to his actions, too.

  “Very much so.” Lauren smoothed her hands across his chest, her touch as loving and wonderful as the look in her dark brown eyes. “I want you and my father getting along. Having the two of you work together, at something you both obviously love, is even better.” Wreathing her arms about his neck, Lauren stood on tiptoe to kiss him. Her lips were sweet and seductive beneath his. Making Mitch realize all over again how hard he had fallen for her and how much he had grown to love her in just one week.

  When at last the gentle kiss came to an end and they drew apart, Mitch gave her the heartfelt apology he knew she deserved. “I am sorry for deceiving you,” he told her sincerely. He was even sorrier for not telling her at the start about the dowry her father had offered..

  Lauren looked deep into his eyes, her forgiveness as evident as her previous hurt. “Just don’t do it again,” she warned softly, her faith in him obvious.

  Mitch wouldn’t.

  The question was, should he tell her now and risk her being so hurt she couldn’t forgive him, or her father? Mitch wondered, his conscience prickling mightily. Or just talk to her father alone, the first chance he got, and tell him man to man he didn’t want or need anything from Payton. That loving Lauren, being with her, was pleasure and privilege enough.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I can’t believe this is our last date,” Lauren mused as the two of them took the Deveraux family yacht, the Endeavor, out for a moonlit cruise Sunday evening.

  “Our last date under the terms of our agreement with your father,” Mitch qualified readily as he selected a place several miles offshore and dropped anchor. He turned to her with a sexy smile. “It’s also where our real relationship begins. I don’t want us to stop seeing each other, Lauren.”

  Aware her heart was suddenly beating triple time, Lauren got out the picnic basket Mitch had packed, while he opened a bottle of wine. “I don’t want that, either,” Lauren acknowledged slowly as she paused to meet Mitch’s eyes. Warily, she continued, “But I don’t want us to be together just because it’s what my father wanted, either.” Because doing that would hurt both of them more than she could say.

  “Then how about because it’s what we both want?” Mitch asked her huskily as he stopped what he was doing, took her into his arms and held her close. His eyes filled with tenderness, he smoothed the hair from her face and continued with a soberness that warmed her heart and gladdened her soul. “Your father’s illness have worked to drive home to me how precious time is. I don’t want to waste a second of it.” Tightening his grip on her, he brought her closer yet and kissed her cheek, her lips, her hair. “I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Lauren,” Mitch told her quietly. “And I think yo
u feel the same way about me.”

  Lauren tilted her head up. Her heart pounded at all the love she saw in his eyes. It matched the feelings in her heart. She wreathed her arms around his neck and touched her lips lightly, persuasively, to his in a show of devotion. “I do.”

  Mitch ran a hand through the silk of her hair and looked deep into her dark brown eyes. “Then show me,” he whispered with a measure of satisfaction that had her pulse points pounding.

  Lauren’s knees weakened at the heat in his low voice, the desire in his deep blue eyes as his hands already began slipping under the soft cotton fabric of her T-shirt to the bare skin beneath. She had promised herself she wouldn’t fall prey to her father’s plan for her. That she would marry a man of her own choosing, not his. And yet, here she was, falling in love with Mitch, to the point where she could no longer imagine a life without him.

  “Show me how you really feel,” Mitch continued persuasively as he lowered his lips to hers. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips until her lips parted helplessly in surrender, and her heart was thumping so hard she could feel it in her ears. Lauren moaned, soft and low, as she fused her mouth to his. She trembled against him, aware of the need that seemed to grow even as it was met. Her abdomen felt liquid and weightless, and there was an answering moisture between her thighs that heralded her readiness for him.

  Making the most of the moment given to them, they indulged in slow, kisses until their was no turning back, no question of their need or want for each other, no way they weren’t going to be together from now on….

  Taking their time, they continued undressing until they were naked beneath the stars overhead. His arousal pressed against her, creating an ocean of warmth inside her. Lauren stirred languorously as they reclined on the makeshift bed of their discarded clothing and Mitch taught her pleasure in ways she had never imagined. Needing to give as well as receive, she let out a soft groan and rolled so he was beneath her. Her hands and lips moved over him, delighting in the masculine feel and taste of his skin. She couldn’t get enough of loving him and that filled her with a kind of wonder, even as she settled over him, caressing the velvety length of him, first with her hands, then with her lips and tongue. Whatever reticence she’d had, whatever reluctance to get involved, was gone now. She wanted to feel him deep inside her. She wanted him in her life.