by Vivian Wood
“Is this the fiancée we’ve heard so much about?” Connor couldn’t recall everyone’s names, but it didn’t matter.
“Yes, this is Sam,” he said, and she turned into the ultimate socialite. Sam moved from group to group with ease. She passed out genuine compliments to the women, remembered details when they ran into them again hours later, and even managed to hold the men’s attention without flirtations. Everyone was hooked.
Connor watched her work the crowd, impressed by how she always managed to shine while she still made sure he was at the center of it all. He’d known some women like this, which included his mom years ago in her prime. Only so much of it could be taught. Like grace, it was largely natural.
Whoever I end up with, however many years from now, will have to be elegant like Sam, he thought to himself as he watched her lightly touch the arm of a trustee and laugh.
“Champagne?” he asked her.
“Yes, honey, thank you,” she said.
However, when he returned with the glass, she was alone for the first time that night. He handed her the flute, but she put it aside, disgusted. “What, no alcohol tonight?” he asked.
She turned red. “I’d rather not get myself into trouble, if that’s okay,” she said.
He was confused. Since when did she not drink at all? “Okay, if that’s what you want. You’ll need to at least have sparkling cider in a flute though. There are my parents,” he said. “At five o’clock. Don’t look.”
“Connor, you’re being ridiculous,” she said.
She didn’t even have a chance to turn around before his mom spotted them. From across the room, he saw his mom latch onto his dad’s arm as she started to drag him toward them. “And, action,” Connor whispered to Sam.
“Hello, sweetheart,” his mom said. She pulled Sam to her and kissed both cheeks. “Don’t you look lovely! This color really suits you. And Connor, of course, handsome as always.”
“Thanks, mom,” he said.
“Making good contacts?” his father asked gruffly. “I saw you with the Hoskings earlier. They seemed quite taken by your fiancée here,” he said.
“Yes, I think the evening is quite successful,” Connor said.
“And Sam, you’re not drinking, I see,” he said. “Just be careful, before the wedding and all.”
“What do you mean by that?” Connor asked.
“Well, you’re obviously trying to conceive. Which is fantastic, but we don’t need any gossiping about a shotgun wedding—”
“What the hell is your problem?” Connor growled at his father, who looked around the vicinity and raised his brows in a warning.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Your father’s right. Don’t worry, sir. I’m just detoxing and cleansing my body for now. Children aren’t in the plan until after the wedding.”
Connor’s mouth ached from gritting his teeth, and his father somehow continued to egg him on without saying a word.
“Hey,” Sam said. She touched his shoulder lightly, just enough to distract him. “How about the cider you promised me?” When he looked at her, he couldn’t help but notice the swell of her breasts beneath that tight satin gown. Sam followed his gaze and turned a bright red. Her embarrassment sobered him up instantly.
“Right,” he said. “Why don’t you accompany me? Mom, Father, we’re off to mingle more,” he said. Connor took her hand and led her away.
“Do you mind if we step outside a moment?” he asked. “I could use some fresh air.”
She shrugged. “It’s your dime.”
“I want to apologize for that,” he said.
“You don’t have to apologize for anything. Honestly, your dad’s not that out there, you know? I’ve experienced worse.”
“I meant I wanted to apologize for my behavior,” he said cautiously.
“What do you mean?”
“I just—I don’t know. Being around my parents, it just enrages me somehow. They’re the only people who can unnerve me like that. I feel like I’m this perpetually angsty teenager around them. I can’t shake it.”
“That’s normal,” she said gently. “Only our parents can drive us crazy like that. Well, and love. Or so I’ve heard.”
“I just want you to know, that I understand you’re a paid contractor. If the tables were reversed… I don’t know. I wouldn’t like being put in that kind of situation.”
She sighed. “It’s not exactly the most normal job I’ve ever had. And honestly, getting this personal with the people in your life, it’s not as easy as I thought it would be.”
“It won’t happen again,” he promised. “I guarantee it. I want you to be as comfortable as possible, and if that means exerting more control over my family, that’s what will happen.”
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “I mean, it’s not like I have any context to compare this gig with. Let’s see how it goes.”
“Great,” he said. She was a trooper, that’s for sure. “As a good faith effort on my part, would you mind escorting me to my car for a moment?”
She cocked her head and looked at him curiously. “What do you have in mind?”
He took her hand and headed to the employee elevator. “Sit for a moment,” he said as they reached his car, opening the passenger door for her.
Flipping open the console, he pulled out his copy of the contract and scribbled an amendment. Should the CLIENT take advantage of CONTRACTOR at any time post-May 20, 2017, “advantage” defined by CONTRACTOR’S terms, CONTRACTOR will receive a $10,000 bonus in addition to the $25,000 agreed upon project rate, and will be immediately released from the contract and all duties herein.
“Well? What do you think?” he asked, showing her the amendment.
“I think you should have been a doctor with that handwriting,” she said. “Look, Connor, I didn’t ask for any of this. I think you’re blowing it way out of proportion.”
Maybe she was right, but he couldn’t get over that look of shame she’d had when she’d caught him staring at her chest. “I know you didn’t ask for it,” he said. “But I’m a man of my word, and I’ve always taken pride in ensuring my employees and contractors are well cared for. It’ll just make me feel better knowing you’re protected.”
She flushed, and a smile played at her lips. “Okay,” she said. “If that’s what you want.”
“Do you want to sign it now?” he asked. “I can have James deliver it to my attorneys first thing in the morning.”
“Now?” she asked. “The whole thing?”
“Unless you have doubts about the arrangement still, which I understand. I know we said we’d give it a month—”
“Now is fine,” she said, and reached for the pen. “I think we’re pretty much in this whole thing by now. What’s the point in waiting?” She signed her name in pretty, flowing lines.
“Awesome,” he said.
She laughed. “Awesome? Maybe you are a teenage boy at heart.”
“You should be so lucky. But we should get back to the party now. Who knows how many crypt keepers are just dying to fawn all over you and try to wheedle information about Trezor out of me.”
She rolled her eyes. “They’re not so bad,” she said. “Besides, by now everyone’s probably so drunk we can talk about last week’s Saturday Night Live skits and they’d swear it was the most intellectual conversation ever.”
“You’re lucky,” he said.
“Why’s that?”
“You’re not completely jaded by being surrounded by these people yet. You can still find something interesting about them.”
“Well, that’s my job,” she said with a smile.
“And apparently, you’re going to work for every penny,” he said. “Come on. I owe you a sparkling cider, I believe. You know, just in case you get knocked up sometime soon and plan to embarrass my father with a shotgun wedding.”
She groaned. “You can’t blame the poor man for hoping.”
“I wouldn’t if he actually wanted grandchildren for n
ormal reasons. He’s just desperate to make sure his royal reign continues. You should talk to him! I’m sure you can negotiate a bonus if you make a male grandchild happen within a year of the wedding for him.”
She gave him a funny look. “Now that would be a miracle,” she said. “Kids weren’t written into that contract of yours.” She poked him in the arm, but he had a feeling she was only half kidding.
“I wasn’t being serious,” he said.
She turned and got out of the car. Connor paused, unable to take his eyes off her ass. The material hugged the round curves perfectly, and the back plunged so dangerously low he could see the two dimples above her cheeks. They nearly begged him to press his thumbs into them.
He shook his head and got out of the car. No more of this crap. You’re playing with fire.
8
Sam
She spent all day Saturday recovering from Friday’s gala—which ended up going until the wee hours of the morning. Damn Connor for suggesting these old people couldn’t party. They were raging drunk by midnight, and Connor couldn’t manage to get them out of there until past two in the morning.
Sam was sure a day of laying low on Saturday would give her enough energy for Sunday’s luncheon. However, when she woke up Sunday morning, she still needed two espressos to get going.
Connor texted her at ten o’clock. Pick you up at 11:30, he said. She groaned and headed into the shower. Her feet were pissed at her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d worn stilettos, standing, for so many hours straight. Normally, at a club or a work event, she felt like she had permission to go barefoot at a certain point. Or slip into the foldable ballet flats she used to pack in her purse. But with Connor, she didn’t even have to ask to know that would be a violation of her contract.
She let the hot water soak into her skin and soothe her muscles. Sam worked through what she saw had become a daily ritual now. Complete hair removal, exfoliation, deep conditioning treatments for her hair, and an immediate post-shower moisturizing regimen.
Sam padded into her bedroom to flip to the James-approved outfit of the day. He’d even gone so far as to attach notes to each outfit specifying the date, time and occasion of her dresses.
She pulled it out and found another little backless number. He sure liked those, and was probably totally unaware of how awkward it was to wear little stick-on cutlets over her breasts instead of a real bra. This dress was floral, bright, and flared out at the hips before stopping at her knees. He’d paired them with a strappy pair of silver Jimmy Choos.
Connor came to her door, and she thought she saw him look her up and down, but it was impossible to really tell behind his reflective sunglasses. “You look nice,” he said.
“So, all James’ note said was ‘investors meet and greet.’ Care to tell me more about my duties here?” she asked as Connor drove them to The Mansion on O Street. I have to admit, I’m getting a serious introduction into some great venues and catering for work with all these outings, she thought to herself.
“I’ll basically be conducting information mini-interviews with some contacts. There will also be some investors, and potential investors, for Trezor there,” he said.
“So my job is…”
“Arm candy,” he said. “Sorry, babe. I have a feeling not too many WAGs will be there.”
“Babe? WAGs?” she asked. “You’re a strange one, you know that?”
“And just so you know, people won’t be drinking. Well, drinking as much, I should say. For some reason people think it’s okay to go bottoms up for hours when it’s called a mimosa.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because it’s also a smaller, more intimate gathering. Which means more eyes will be on us. We really need to sell the whole happy engaged couple shtick,” he said.
“Got it.”
Pulling up to the mansion, the valets had to have been sweating in their heavy velvet costumes. Still, they plastered smiles on their faces and rushed to open Sam’s door. We’re all playing our part, she thought.
Connor placed his hand on her back to guide her up the stairs, and she stiffened at his touch on her bare skin. He hadn’t touched her so intimately on Friday night, mostly offering an elbow or taking her hand. Something about this made her feel like he knew her too well.
“That’s the Steins, over there,” he murmured under his breath. He took a mimosa for himself, but she shook her head when he offered her one. Without a word, he got a flute of just orange juice for her. “They’re current investors, but have lowered their funding in recent years. His wife is big in philanthropy. Shocker. Here we go.”
She warmly greeted the wife first, followed by the stodgy husband. Sam had found that older women weren’t intimidated by her, and there was rarely any cattiness in their interactions. It was a welcome change from the twenty- and thirtysomethings she was used to dealing with at the office.
“Connor, you have such a lovely fiancée,” Mrs. Stein said. “And so eloquent, too. Not many young women have both qualities these days, I’m afraid.”
“I count myself very lucky,” he told her, before he disappeared with her husband to talk business in the corner.
“I must say, we thought Connor would never get married,” Mrs. Stein said. “He had a bit of a… reputation. As I’m sure you know. But, alas, men never change. All it takes is one good woman to snap them out of that playboy state.”
She smiled amicably at the older woman. “I do love a challenge,” she said.
Mrs. Stein laughed, her blue-tinted hair swishing around her face. “Don’t we all, dear.”
Connor returned, his big smile matched with Mr. Stein’s. The older man patted Connor on the shoulder. “You have quite the shark of a future husband,” he told Sam. “I can’t recall the last time someone squeezed such an impressive percentage out of me.”
Mrs. Stein rolled her eyes. “Probably the last time you were four drinks deep before noon, love,” she said.
Connor excused them, and his hand returned to the small of her back. Sam blushed once again, unable to keep the flush out of her cheeks. But she couldn’t help it. Well, what do you expect? It’s not like you’ve had much time to yourself lately, what with work being so hectic. You’ve had no time to relax. Or release any of that tension.
She blushed deeper at the thought of getting herself off. Sam couldn’t remember the last time she’d masturbated, or made use of that little silver vibrator Emma had given her for Christmas. The thought of dildos terrified her, which Emma knew. That’s why the little bullet had been so perfect.
“You okay?” Connor whispered in her ear. She felt his thumb dip slightly lower down her back. It played at the waist of her dress.
“Yeah,” she said, and smiled up at him. A twinge between her legs intensified when she was reminded of how handsome he was. You better take care of yourself before you see him again, she thought. It’s not his fault he’s ridiculously gorgeous.
Besides, he’d made his feelings perfectly clear when he’d signed those papers. Who cares if he was checking you out before? If he even was! He wouldn’t be the first man to assess her and then pass her up. Men are visual creatures, that’s all.
Sam ate just the right amount at the luncheon. Enough to ward off any talks of her being too uptight to enjoy herself. However, it would be hard to overindulge at a so-called luncheon where the only food was walking appetizers. She could hardly fill up on the occasional bacon-wrapped date stuffed with goat cheese that happened to mosey by. For the most part, she depended on glasses of orange juice.
“This thing is about wrapped up,” Connor told her two hours after they arrived.
She nodded. “I think you’ve talked shop with just about everyone here.”
“You running out of compliments to give the old women?” he asked with a smile.
“Hardly,” she said. “I still have the one where I ask about their secret to such a youthful, glowing neck tucked away.”
“Shark
liver oil,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“They use shark liver oil. It used to be a main ingredient in Preparation H in America, but now they have to import it from Canada. It smells disgusting, but apparently works.”
“Are you bullshitting me? How do you know this?”
He looked at her, surprised. “I thought everyone knew that. Isn’t that what your male model boy toys use to keep that perpetual glow of a prepubescent?”
“You’re so weird,” she said.
“You like it. Hey, are you hungry? Do you want to grab a meal somewhere that serves more than a bite at a time?”
“Ugh, yes, please. The only edible thing here were those dates.”
“You can’t blame the elderly. I think your taste buds disappear or something after a certain age.”
“Where are we going?” she asked as he lowered the top of the Mercedes and she wrapped her hair in a scarf.
“It’s a surprise,” he said with a wink.
“What is this place?” she asked as they rolled up to a simple, two-story red brick joint near Lincoln Park.
“You’ve never been to Kenny’s?” he asked, incredulous. “It’s the best barbeque in DC!”
The scent of the Southern-style BBQ permeated the air and made her mouth water. Connor ordered for them—brisket and ribs, collard greens, coleslaw and cornbread. “This is amazing,” she said as they sat on the patio with their cafeteria-style plastic trays. Finally, she felt comfortable enough to slide out of her heels.
“I’m happy to be the one to introduce you,” he said.
She licked the hickory sauce off her fingers and looked at him. Maybe there’s more to him than I thought. “Tell me something,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“Anything. About you. I’d like to get to know my husband better.”
“Not much to tell,” he said. “You know I was a SEAL pretty much all of my adult life. I did a number of tours, saw the world—or, I should say, the parts most people don’t really want to see. I was engaged to Sandra for my last deployment, we broke up, what, three weeks ago now.”
