Fortune's Surprise Engagement

by Nancy Robards Thompson

  Spoken aloud, the sentiment didn’t quite sound as convincing as it had in his head.

  “Will you excuse us for a minute?” he said before he could say anything else inane. “Olivia and I were getting ready to—”

  Getting ready to what?

  “We were getting ready to take a tour of the house,” Olivia said. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s do that now so we can get back and have dinner.”

  As Olivia slid her hand into his, Alejandro said, “Excuse us. We’ll be right back.”

  They walked hand in hand in silence, across the lush green lawn to stone steps that led past the pool to a travertine porch. Alejandro looked back at the grounds and the lake that bordered the massive property.

  “Is that Lake Austin?” he asked.

  “It is,” she said as she opened the back door and they stepped inside the house. Alejandro thought they’d be alone once they were inside, but staff milled about everywhere, carrying platters of food and drink and working purposefully. The buzz inside the house, coupled with the sheer grandeur of the place, stunned him into silence.

  Alejandro did not speak another word until Olivia had shut them inside a room on the second floor. It was larger than his first apartment.

  He blinked as Olivia flicked on a light. The expensive-looking feminine decor registered on him. “Is this your bedroom?”

  “It is,” she said. “Or it used to be. I have my own place now.”

  “It’s nice that your folks kept it the way you left it. You know, that they didn’t turn it into an exercise room or a man cave.”

  Olivia shrugged. “The house has always had a gym and my father has three man caves. My parents aren’t sacrificing anything by keeping my space intact. It’s not as if they kept it like this as a shrine to me. It’s just not beneficial for them to change it. You know, it was easier to just shut the door. But that’s not why I dragged you up here.”

  She bit her bottom lip again, pulling it into her mouth, a gesture he was beginning to associate with her pensive side.

  “Did you bring me in here to make out?” he joked.

  “No, I didn’t.” The sharpness of her tone shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did.

  He crossed his arms. “Would you care to share why you felt compelled to put on that display out there? You made it look like you couldn’t wait to jump my bones.”

  She looked visibly deflated, but she nodded toward a black chair situated across from a plush sofa and a glass coffee table. The decor looked like it could’ve been featured in one of those designer house magazines. The sleek, sophisticated, expensive look of it perfectly reflected Olivia’s own style.

  After they’d seated themselves, she confessed, “I do owe you an explanation and a debt of gratitude. I just don’t quite know how to say this. And before I say anything, I need you to swear on your family’s life that you can keep a secret. Because if one word of this gets out, it would be very hurtful to certain members of my family.”

  He made a cross over his heart with his right hand. “I would offer to stick a needle in my eye, but I don’t like needles.”

  She cocked a dark brow. “What? A big, strong, tough guy like you is afraid of needles? I don’t believe it.”

  He wanted to say that needles didn’t scare him nearly as much as she did. It was becoming clear that she addled his brain so much that she was able to lord some kind of power over him.

  “Look, this has nothing to do with needles,” he said. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on? Why did you kiss me like that out there?”

  “I did it because I need everyone to believe we’re in love—or that I’m in love with you. No, it would be better if they believed that we love each other, you know, mutually.”

  “But, Olivia, you don’t love me. Why do you want everyone to think you do tonight, when yesterday you made it clear that me kissing you again was strictly forbidden? Because it would detract from the wedding, take the focus off the brides and grooms?”

  When she didn’t answer him, he said, “You’re a beautiful woman. You’re smart and funny and you’re a hell of a good kisser, but I’m starting to think you’re off your rocker.”

  “Oh, well, there you go,” Olivia said. “For a second there I was tempted to think you were paying me a compliment. You know, calling me a beautiful woman.”

  “I was. You are. But I’m a little confused here. I was prepared to make the sacrifice of never kissing you again—for the greater good, for your sister’s happiness, but—”

  “You wanted to kiss me again, Alejandro?”

  “Of course I did.”

  “Oh. That’s good. Then how do you feel about being my pretend lover for the duration of the wedding? You know, my boyfriend—or my intensely romantic date. No, it needs to be more than just a date. I need for Sophie to believe that I’ve fallen in love with you. I messed up big-time Saturday night. Because of my big mouth, my sister has lost all faith in love. I figure the only way to undo the damage I’ve caused is by making her believe that I’ve had a change of heart about love. It’s the only way to renew her faith. Would you be willing to do that for me...for my sister?” She suddenly looked very small and fragile, but she looked at him intently. “I promise I will make it worth your while.”

  Now it was his turn to cock a brow and mess with her. “And just how would you make it worth my while? Can you please be more specific? I’m talking details. The more vivid the better.”

  His mouth crooked up on one side and she obviously caught his drift because her cheeks flushed the same color as the hot-pink area rug under their feet.

  “Certainly not in the way I think you’re implying. You have a dirty mind, Alejandro.”

  “Hey, I didn’t say a word. I was thinking along the lines of dancing and being dinner partners. So the hordes of adoring women will think I’m taken and leave me alone.” He was smiling so that she would know he was joking. “That’s what I was thinking. However, I am not responsible for whatever that mind of yours conjures up. If you’d like to try out your thoughts and see if it works for you, I’m happy to be at your service.”

  Her mouth fell open and he could tell she was trying to feign disgust, but the pretense hadn’t reached her eyes. “Why are you making this so difficult?”

  “Because watching you squirm is so much fun.” He held her gaze as he grappled with a peculiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something he hadn’t felt in ages. Interest and attraction. Maybe this wedding was going to be more interesting than he’d thought. At the very least, it would be fun.

  He’d go along as her pretend boyfriend. It wasn’t as if he was agreeing to marry her.

  He shrugged, to appear not too eager. “I guess I’ve had worse offers,” he said. “I’d be happy to play the role of your lover for the duration of the wedding.” But he couldn’t resist needling her a bit. “Just how deeply into character would you like to go?”

  Chapter Four

  “You pride yourself on being the king of the innuendo, don’t you?” Olivia said, exercising great restraint to resist adding another layer to his insinuation. The chemistry between them begged her to keep the banter going, to tell him she was all about method acting and she was at his service for any research he needed in order to deliver a convincing performance.

  Actually, her body was all in for the research, but her brain knew better. They needed to keep this strictly aboveboard.

  “That’s the thing about innuendo,” he said. “You can interpret it however you choose.”

  “Okay, since you put it that way, I’d love an Oscar-winning performance, but we need to keep this act strictly PG.”

  He frowned. “That’s disappointing. I was thinking an R-rated production would be so much more convincing.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, Romeo, but let’s no
t get carried away. Need I remind you that while this show we’re about to put on is a limited engagement, we’ll still have to stage a breakup and coexist at future family functions.”

  He frowned.

  “It’s not like we’ll have to sit across the dinner table from each other every Sunday,” he said.

  “True.”

  Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Was it fair to ask a guy she barely knew to pretend to be her lover? To play the part convincingly without giving him all access? For a fleeting moment, she let herself go there. What if for one careless week she allowed herself to go off the rails and immerse herself in the part—onstage and off?

  “What are you getting at, Alejandro? Do you expect me to sleep with you?”

  After she set the words free, released them from the cage in her mind, the prospect of letting go like that was petrifying. She might not believe in love, but she did believe in feelings. And feelings, when you allowed them to meander unchecked, made you susceptible to hurt.

  No. If there was ever a time that she needed to stay completely in control it was now. This was about Sophie. It wasn’t about her. It was a means to an end to fix what she had nearly broken.

  “You make it sound so romantic,” Alejandro said.

  When she didn’t jab back, he seemed to ease up. “It’s clear that’s not what you want. So, no, I don’t expect you to sleep with me. I would never use sex as a bartering chip. Don’t worry, Olivia. You’re safe with me.”

  She should’ve been relieved, but the most primitive part of her was disappointed that sex was off the table. But she reminded herself that she needed to set the ground rules up front and they needed to stick to them. For their own good. Hadn’t the Sophie disaster been enough of a cautionary tale of what happened when she got careless?

  “That’s good to know,” she said. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  He nodded, but things still felt off-kilter. Before they left this room, she needed to make sure everything was as right as it could be.

  “Please know that I do appreciate you helping me,” she said. “It’s good of you, Alejandro. I realize you don’t have to do this. I mean, Sophie is my sister. I’m the one who opened my big mouth and set everything spinning out of control.”

  Olivia clamped her mouth shut. She was talking too much. She always did when she felt out of control. Obviously she needed to admit to herself that Alejandro Mendoza made her feel that way. Yes, just acknowledge it—look the problem in the eye, stare it down—and move on.

  She locked gazes with him. Looked deep into those brown eyes, straight into the lighter brown and golden flecks that she hadn’t noticed before. He was the first one to blink, breaking the trance, but she still didn’t feel any more in control than before she’d tried to stare down the dragon. She needed to try another tactic.

  “Even though I’m appreciative and I shouldn’t question your motives, I’m wondering why you would do this for me.”

  There. She’d said it. And it needed to be said.

  He was frowning at her again. Not an affected frown this time, but a genuine look of consternation. Still, she was glad she’d said it. Knowing what he was expecting in return for helping her might put things on a bit more of a level playing field.

  “What’s in this for me.” It wasn’t a question. The way he repeated her words was more like he was turning them around, looking at them from all angles. “What’s in this for me. I don’t know, Olivia. Should I expect personal gain? Because I wasn’t, other than maybe the satisfaction of helping you out.”

  “Look, Alejandro, I didn’t mean that in the way you seem to be taking it. I just wanted to make sure we’re both laying all our cards on the table before we go any further.”

  “Is everything a business venture to you? I get the feeling you’re about to whip out a contract for me to sign.”

  She wished it was that easy. For a terrifying moment, she feared that her plan was a mistake.

  She stood. “I’m sorry. Let’s just forget about this whole thing and proceed with business as usual between us. It’s not you...it was a bad idea.”

  He reached out and took her hand, tugging her gently to get her to sit back down. And, of course, she did. Because it was clear that her better judgment, which was telling her to run away and save herself, went belly up when Alejandro did so much as breathe near her. With this man she felt totally out of control. And it was petrifying.

  “I hate to be the voice of reality, but after that show we put on before the toast, people are going to have questions. And even though I don’t know your sister very well, if everything you said is true—and I have no reason to believe it’s not—do you think it will restore Sophie’s faith if word gets back to her that it’s ‘business as usual’ between us again?”

  The guy was more insightful than she’d given him credit for. And he was absolutely right. Sophie would be completely disheartened, and with good reason. There was no backing out now unless she wanted to put the final nail in the coffin on Sophie’s desire to marry.

  “You’re right,” she told him. “You’re a good man to allow me to drag you into this, Alejandro. I promise I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.” He reached out and took her hand. Only this time it felt different. Not as dangerous, even though the butterflies in her stomach still flew in formation.

  “Shall we go back to the party? I think we have some explaining to do.”

  He smiled. “Let the show begin.”

  * * *

  Olivia should’ve known she wouldn’t be able to fool her sisters. She shouldn’t have even tried. But even though they’d gone along with the charade at the party, pretending to be just as surprised and convinced as everyone else by her love affair with Alejandro, Zoe and Rachel had shown up at her condo early the next morning with a box of doughnuts and plenty of questions.

  She’d spilled the beans within the first five minutes.

  “So we weren’t convincing?” Olivia asked as she put the kettle on to boil water for coffee in the French press. “Please, at least tell me we weren’t painfully obvious.”

  “You were absolutely convincing to the untrained eye,” Rachel said as she took down coffee mugs from the cabinet above the stove. “You should know better than to try to pull one over on Zoe and me. Why didn’t you tell us about the plan from the start?”

  Olivia turned toward her sisters and braced the small of her back against the edge of the counter.

  “I didn’t have a plan per se. In fact, when I saw that Sophie hadn’t snapped out of her funk by last night, I was in full panic mode. She missed the brunch and then the dinner where she was supposed to welcome her guests. It was starting to feel like something more than cold feet. I’m afraid if it goes on much longer, Mason won’t be able to keep up her flu cover-up. Either that, or he’s going to lose his patience. I mean, how would you all feel if your husbands had ditched the wedding events and told you they weren’t sure they wanted to marry you less than a week before the wedding?”

  Her sisters nodded in agreement.

  “Thank goodness Mason is a very patient man,” said Rachel. “So what are you planning to do? Are you counting on word of your affair with Alejandro magically getting back to Sophie? Or do you have a plan?”

  Olivia bought herself some time by grinding the coffee beans she had measured out. It only took a few seconds, but by the time she’d finished, both of her sisters were staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

  “I definitely want to be proactive,” Olivia said. “There’s not enough time to leave matters up to chance. However, before I can do anything I need to figure out where she is. I haven’t talked to her since Sunday. Have either of you heard from her?”

  Olivia already knew the answer to that question. Because of course her sis
ters would’ve rushed to her the minute they had learned Sophie’s whereabouts. No, this was a code red situation. And they needed to do something to avert a major catastrophe. Since the three of them were together and would soon be fortified by doughnuts, she was confident they’d come up with something.

  Zoe cleared her throat as if she had something to say. That’s when it dawned on Olivia that her sister had been uncharacteristically quiet as she and Rachel had been mulling over the situation.

  “I know where Sophie is,” Zoe said.

  The tea kettle whistled as if punctuating Olivia’s agitation.

  “What? Where is she?” Olivia demanded as she took the kettle off the flame.

  Zoe stood there silently, looking away from her sisters.

  “You’ve been standing here all this time harboring this information?” Rachel said. “Are you going to make us pry it out of you, or are you going to tell us?”

  Zoe shot daggers at Rachel. “She asked me not to tell.”

  “Honey, this is not an ordinary situation,” Olivia said. “You’re not betraying her trust by telling us. In fact, you just might be saving her marriage. Where is she?”

  * * *

  “I still can’t believe she’s been right here the whole time,” Olivia said as she and her sisters climbed the stairs of their childhood home. “She was probably watching the party last night from her window. Alejandro and I were right down the hall from her.”

  Olivia stopped in her tracks causing Rachel to nearly bump into her. “Oh my gosh. I hope she didn’t overhear Alejandro and me talking.”

  “I don’t think so,” Zoe whispered. “I spoke to her last night and she didn’t say anything. And you know she would’ve had plenty to say if she’d heard you.”

  “Good point,” Olivia whispered back. “Let’s—” She drew a finger over her throat in a gesture that meant silence and motioned for them to continue on to Sophie’s room.

  The three sisters traveled quietly down the long hall. Sophie’s room was at the opposite end of the hall from Olivia’s. She was grateful because if her sister had overheard the conversation it would have made matters even worse. Now, regardless of how dangerous the Alejandro plan felt, it was her last recourse. It had to work, because she certainly didn’t have a plan B.