It was a guess, but the way she recoiled told him he had hit it dead on. Maybe people weren't so hard to figure out.
"You can't breathe a word of it to your family or to mine, okay? They'd never approve of him."
"Is he in New York?"
She shrugged. "Sometimes. He travels a lot." She fidgeted with her phone as if hoping a text would come from him at that exact moment. Then she focused back on Edward. "So, do we have a deal?"
Edward hadn't fared well dating Lucy. Fake dating was probably going to be worse. "What is this dating going to entail?"
"Oh, the usual. Romantic dinners, cutesy texts—"
"My mother tends to read everything that goes through my phone."
Her jaw dropped. "Why in the world are you allowing that?"
"It's complicated."
"No, you're just too timid. Let your new girlfriend—"
"Unless you plan for this fake dating to actually end in a real marriage, that would be a very unwise move. My mother is not someone you want as an enemy. She's ruined bigger corporations than your parents' before."
Jess stared at him for a moment, then leaned back. "Wow, that explains why my parents were adamant I play the good little girl with you. I had heard the rumors but thought they were exaggerated."
"They're not."
She grimaced. "Why do such horrible people get to be in so much power? These businesses must be really good if my parents are willing to walk into the trap that is your mother."
Finally, a topic Edward was comfortable with. "If you had watched my presentation, you'd understand how valuable they are."
"But are they really worth the hassle that would be your mother? Be honest."
He hesitated for a long moment. "No."
She raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I didn't think you'd say that."
"You said to be honest."
"Yeah, but no one ever is."
"Numbers are honest."
She rolled her eyes. "Please don't make me date one of those."
Edward smiled at that.
"So," Jess tossed back her hair, "now we have two missions."
"We do?"
"Yes. Fake dating and convincing my parents not to buy these businesses of yours."
He frowned, not liking either mission. But at least he could do something about the latter one. "I had another buyer in mind. The CEO is similar to my mother and they get along fabulously."
She clapped her hands. "Perfect! Now, I like orchids and tulips, adore diamonds, and let's do a limo next time, hmm?"
An hour later and Edward had his week planned out for him. Three dates with Jess and multiple planned texts they would send to each other to prove they were dating. She had initially wanted steamier texts, but he'd put his foot down on that.
"But your mother might stop reading your texts if you did—"
"When I get around to talking like that, it will be to someone I actually like."
She raised an eyebrow as if amused. "Hmm, so you don't like me, then, huh?"
He struggled to redeem himself, but she just laughed.
"You're going to be so much fun to tease!"
The only saving grace in the fake dating disaster was the excuse of the businesses. Edward insisted he needed the daytime for work and Jess didn't bother to inquire as to why. Which was a good thing since he wasn't sure how she'd react to knowing that those precious daytime hours were spent with Elinor.
His mother may have hoped sticking him with Jess Morton would distract him from Elinor, but the more he interacted with Jess, the more he loved being with Elinor.
Like most people he knew, Jess dominated the conversation, forcing him to listen the whole time. She rarely laughed at his remarks, never admired his business sense, and easily lost interest in him when more attractive males were in the vicinity. Edward knew he hadn't been born with jaw-dropping good looks like his brother and sister, but at least Elinor didn't make him feel as if that were a problem. Neither did she constantly point out his weak spots; instead, she seemed eager to praise his strong points. Nor did she ever imply she wanted more than friendship, ironically making him fall more in love with her. Elinor was the most perfect woman he had ever met, and he couldn't do one thing about it.
But then she asked him out for lunch.
It was like Elinor had thrown ice-cold water over him. Though she had a friendly smile on her face and her eyes seemed to shine with innocence, asking if he'd join her for lunch had to mean only one thing: she liked him. And if she liked him, then he was going to hurt her.
Edward stuttered out a pathetically lame excuse and booked it out of there as if he were on fire. Then he roamed the city, wondering what he should do.
The most sensible thing to do was to cut all ties and flee. He had all the information he needed and could find a buyer without having to be near Elinor. Then she'd be safe from him.
But then that would also mean he'd be stuck with Jess, his mother, and Lucy, with no hope of escape. Well, he never had much hope of escape, but at least Elinor gave him the illusion of happiness. And he dreaded going back to his miserable existence with her not in it.
But that was selfish of him. And Elinor wouldn't like a selfish man.
Not that it mattered what she thought anyway...
Trying to be unselfish, he scrolled through the contacts in his phone until he found Frank Churchill, the buyer he'd initially thought of. Technically, he should be contacting Frank's aunt since she was the CEO, but he knew Frank was gearing up to take over the company and Edward got along better with Frank than he ever did with the aunt.
"Edward, my man!" Frank's enthused voice burst over the line along with a clamor of other noises as if he stood in the midst of a shouting crowd. "Been a while!"
"Yeah, it has. Uh, where are you?"
"Europe. My aunt's thinking of expanding across the big pond."
Edward was pretty sure Frank was the one hoping to expand and was using his aunt as the excuse. Actually, the whole trip might be an excuse just to visit Europe. Frank had a habit of using excuses to get what he wanted, very much like Edward's brother. But thankfully, Frank had also been blessed with a mind for numbers and, when Edward could get him to focus, Frank was very good at business.
"Well, I called because I have another business I think your aunt might like."
"Is it in Europe?"
"No, it's not."
"Too bad. Well, email me the good parts and I'll give it a look."
"I kind of have a tight schedule—"
"Relax, I'll get on it. When I get—oh, I gotta go. Chat later." And the call ended.
Edward stared at his phone. So much for that. With a sigh, he headed for Norland with the explicit intention to get into his car and drive away. But somehow, he ended up in Elinor's office instead.
Just being in the perfectly organized office with the hum of the computer and the smell of books relaxed him. And Elinor's smile was like a fairy spreading magical dust around.
Somewhat wishing he'd made it to his car instead, he focused on the books and kept the conversation as professional as possible. Luckily, she didn't seem to mind and kept as quiet as he did. Perhaps he had freaked out over nothing? Going out to lunch could be seen strictly as business. His own father had taken many people out to lunch over the years. It would be nice if it had meant nothing. Then he could stay. And he'd really like to stay.
Chapter 7
When he woke the next morning, Edward found a dozen missed calls from his sister and an equal number of voice messages. If it had been his mother, he'd have assumed the world was ending, but since it was only Fanny, he figured her husband must have bought the wrong color of something. But once he listened to the messages, he discovered it was worse. She had learned about his new so-called girlfriend.
"You have to call and give me all the details!" the voice recording squealed. "Will I like her? Mother says I would. And I must like her if you ever think of getting serious. There are rules in this family and you
can't bring in any random girl to be my sister-in-law. We should do lunch sometime. Bring her up this weekend. We'll throw a party. I'll have everything planned. Can't wait to meet her!"
Edward couldn't help wondering what would happen if he brought Elinor instead. But the resulting images of rage on his family's faces, not to mention Lucy's when she found out, doused any desire to dare go that path.
"The plan has backfired," Edward began as they sat at the pre-determined restaurant chosen by Jess. It consumed the top of one of the skyscrapers, overlooking the city. He couldn't deny it had a great view, but the portions delivered on the plates were underwhelming. He'd rather be at a burger joint.
"Already? It's barely been a week."
"And my family wants to meet you this weekend. They already have a party planned."
He expected her to cringe or even recoil, but she abruptly leaned forward instead, her eyes alight. "In Connecticut, right? This is perfect. We'll have to overnight—"
"A helicopter will pick us up and drop us off. No overnight required."
The enthusiasm died. "Well, that won't do. Cancel the helicopter—no, keep the ride over there. But tell your family I want you to drive me around and see your hometown and that we intend to take the long way home."
He had a feeling the long way home wasn't in the direction of New York. "He's in Connecticut, isn't he?"
She jolted as if he'd caught her stealing something, then resorted to smoothing down her long hair. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, if I'm driving you around, it would be easier if I had an address."
She eyed him. "Why are you prying about this? Have you told anyone?"
He may have a lot of flaws, but keeping secrets was not one. "I honor my promises, Jess. And, if you'll notice, I didn't ask for his name, just the address. I'll even accept an address nearby."
Her stare didn't lessen for a long moment. Then her stiff stance wilted into a sigh. "I don't know his address. I just have an idea of where he's at."
"He hasn't told you?"
"It's complicated," was all he got before she changed the subject, but at least he had some sort of a mystery to look forward to since he doubted he'd enjoy the so-called party in the least. However, to his surprise, he discovered another mystery when they clambered into the helicopter together and she plopped onto her lap a very worn notebook with a dozen sticky notes desperately clinging onto random inner pages. Considering that everything else on her—the shoes, the dress, the earrings, and probably even the make-up were all new, the old notebook seemed woefully out of place.
When Jess caught his confused gaze, she raised an eyebrow. "You think you're the only one who works while commuting?" She pulled out a pen worth more than a dozen of the old notebooks, then shuffled through the worn pages until she found the one she wanted and began to scribble.
Since the noise of the helicopter blades whirring above them made conversation difficult, Edward didn't bother asking any questions until they were inside the limo.
"I take it you're writing down the speech I must give to my family?"
She glanced up at him. "You don't already have one formulated?"
He had meant it as a joke but now regretted the endeavor. "I was assuming you wouldn't find mine adequate enough."
She cocked her head for a moment. "Probably, but it's your family. When we meet my family, I'll have the speech prepared."
He hadn't known he'd be required to meet her family as well. He fervently hoped that mysterious boyfriend of hers would show up and ruin everything first. "May I inquire what you're writing or is it a secret?"
She straightened up. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"That I'm a writer? Of children's books?"
He would never have guessed she could write for children, but wisely kept that opinion to himself. "My family did not mention that aspect."
She shook her head. "Ed, Ed, Ed! What am I going to do with you? You should have researched this. Researched all about me. You know, stalked me on social media, found out all about my past."
"I don't do social media." He had a hard enough time with people in the flesh; chatting to faceless ones was even worse.
"Yeah, I noticed. You have the cleanest digital footprint of anyone I've stalked."
"You looked me up?"
"Don't look so surprised. Everyone does it. Well, except you. Which is why you really need to change your ways. It's the twenty-first century. Time to update."
He switched his gaze to the window, not wanting to explain his lack of desire to update. He doubted she'd understand or even take the time to listen. Elinor would, though. And now he couldn't help wondering what her digital footprint was like.
A realization suddenly popped into his head. "That's how you only have an idea of where this mystery boy is at, isn't it?"
She nearly lost her pen. "I don't know what you're talking about." She flicked her eyes to the rolled-up window that separated them from the driver. Edward doubted the man could hear anything, but he understood her hint and dropped the topic.
The limo soon pulled up to the monstrosity that his mother called home. A decade ago, she had pulled down the quaint home that Edward had grown up in and built what could only be called a tiny skyscraper. To his family, they saw the slick, white and steel exterior as an expression of modernity and progress, but Edward privately felt sterility, detachment, and harshness were a more apt description of the place, especially since the meticulously kept lawn around it lacked any flowers or hint of color.
"Wow," Jess said as she stepped out of the limo and craned her neck to see the top of the mini-skyscraper. "Does the place have an AI in it?"
"If my mother could be the AI, then yes. But that hasn't happened yet." He handed a tip to the driver, then climbed out himself.
She abruptly grabbed his arm and bent her tall frame—made taller by her high heels—so her mouth could reach his ear. "You're going to have my back against your mother, right?"
He didn't even have his own back when dealing with his mother. "Best to let her talk and not interrupt or respond. Fanny, my sister, will do the responding part," he whispered back. "She's very good with my mother."
"So, what, be quiet little children in the background?"
That gave him an idea. "She's never met a children's author. If you want to talk, talk about that."
The cold, steel front door swung open and Fanny stepped out. Though she also wore three-inch heels, she barely reached Edward's height and had to tilt her head up several degrees to bestow a well-rehearsed smile upon Jess.
"Jessica Morton, we're so pleased to have you join us today."
"Oh, please, call me Jess. And you're Fanny, right? Or can I call you Fan?"
His sister's smile struggled to remain friendly. "Fanny, if you please."
"Then, hi, Fanny." She leaned forward and gave Fanny an air kiss on both sides of her face.
Fanny's eyes had widened with shock, but the smile had managed to remain in place. Her eyes shot to Edward as if demanding to know what type of woman he had brought home, but he just leveled a stare at her as if to say this had been her idea so she had only herself to blame.
Fanny raised her nose in irritation. "Oh, look, someone else is arriving." She indicated the new limo coming through the steel gate. "Why don't you two come in and we'll get you settled?" She led them inside the overly white building where hardly any furniture softened the empty space stretching from the sterile, white walls. She swept the two of them down the hall and conveniently abandoned them to the large party already gathered outside on the flat lawn.
Edward stopped dead in his tracks. About a hundred people milled through the tables that formed lines along the cropped grass, the guests picking at the assorted food imported from somewhere important, no doubt. Edward barely recognized ten percent of the crowd. Which meant ninety percent would be total strangers. This wasn't a family party. This was a business ploy where his mother could tout the pot
ential merger between the Ferrars and the Mortons and drum up juicy gossip in the name of networking.
"I, um..." He backpedaled into the house. "I forgot something. I'll be, uh, right back."
Jess barely gave him a wave as a group of people approached her, her big grin telling him she recognized them and had no qualm about being left alone. Relieved, Edward scurried up to the second floor where he had been assigned a room after his mother had built the monstrosity. It was as sparsely decorated as the rest of the place—his mother had tossed out anything that resembled his teenager years when he had moved to college, insisting a grown man didn't need such silly memorabilia. He hadn't minded it at first, but after the passing of his father, Edward would have liked to have some things that reminded him of the better days when his family had been warmer and kinder instead of the near-strangers they now were.
Edward hoped that once he became the CEO and his mother was no longer in control of the finances, he might be able to foster stronger relationships with his siblings. Of course, this would probably require a lot of talking, but Edward would like his family to be on better terms. Maybe even be like Elinor's family where everyone was friends with little tension in the air.
He couldn't help thinking that if Elinor was in his life, she'd find the best way for his family to come back together. Jess, on the other hand, would more likely encourage him to abandon his family entirely instead. Sometimes, he was tempted to walk away and leave them behind. But the memory of his father always stalled him. His father had loved his family, even his cold wife. Edward should at least attempt to keep the family together in his memory.
Pulling out his laptop from his briefcase, he focused on work to pass the time. He expected a text from Jess within a half an hour, but it was over an hour before he finally received one.
"Where are you?"
"I'll come down."
He gathered his things and checked the window to see how big the crowd was. It had grown even bigger. With growing dread, he headed for the staircase, only to find Jess ascending them.
Smitten With Sense: A Modern Sense And Sensibility Retelling (Pemberley Estates Book 4) Page 5
