The Tycoon's Proposal

by Leigh Michaels

  “Sure.” His tone was casual. “I do it with all employees—of course I’d want to know that my grandmother’s personal assistant wasn’t a felon on the run. Why does it bother you so much that I looked into your past, anyway?”

  She swallowed hard. “It doesn’t bother me, exactly. It just took me by surprise.”

  “Sure it did. You know, Lissa, it makes me wonder—if there is something you want to hide, what might it be? You were so eager to tell me why you had to drop out—your father being ill, your pneumonia. I couldn’t help but wonder if the real story was just a little more.”

  “Like that wouldn’t be enough,” Lissa muttered. “So what were you expecting to find?”

  He rattled the ice in his glass and said, very clearly, “A baby.”

  The silver glass ball she’d just picked up slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor. What on earth had given him that idea? “You mean…like…your baby?”

  “The possibility occurred to me. The way you disappeared from that calculus class…and talk I heard from people who’d seen you around the university—”

  “Your pals from class were spying on me, I suppose?”

  “It’s not a huge campus, Lissa. But they just thought you looked miserable. It didn’t occur to me that you might actually have been ill. Or pregnant. Anyway, I’d forgotten all about that till—”

  “Fine time to be thinking about it now. This baby you’re postulating would be five years old,” she said.

  “Yes, and I feel bad about that. But I didn’t know that you’d dropped out of school. I had no reason to be suspicious back then.”

  “So why now?”

  He hesitated. “Yesterday, when you started talking about how in some situations there aren’t any good choices, I started to wonder exactly what you meant.”

  “And because of that you thought I was telling you I’d had your baby?” Her voice was tart. “And what did you think I’d done with this supposed infant?”

  “Given it up for adoption, I suppose.”

  “And what would you have done about it now?”

  He looked down into his glass. “I don’t know.”

  Lissa’s heart twisted just a little. “Well, I hope you’re satisfied that it never happened.”

  “You had a father with lymphoma, followed by a bad case of pneumonia.”

  Lissa shrugged. “Exactly what I told you.”

  The doorbell chimed, and Lissa pushed a box aside and got to her feet, groaning a little as her knees protested at the length of time she’d been on the floor.

  As she pulled the door open, the bells on the wreath she had hung there jingled gaily.

  Hannah’s friend Marian was standing on the wide front porch, her fingertip already pushing the bell a second time. “Sorry,” Marian said, not sounding as if she meant it. “Janet’s getting hard of hearing, you know. What on earth are you doing here? I barely recognized you out of uniform.” Her gaze drifted over Lissa’s jeans and sweater.

  “I’m helping out a bit, Mrs. Meadows,” Lissa said coolly.

  “Oh, yes, of course. I heard Hannah had a fainting spell after I left the restaurant the other day, so I came to check on her.” Marian brushed past Lissa, already taking off her hat. “Goodness, it’s cold out there.”

  Lissa took the hint and stepped back politely. “Would you like a cup of tea? Mrs. Wilder is having a nap, but I expect she’ll be downstairs soon. Kurt’s here.”

  Marian looked past her, as if to check out what Lissa had said, just as Kurt appeared in the pillared archway between the living room and the foyer. “In that case I’ll come in. It’s too bad that my little friend couldn’t come along today. I guess you’ll have to wait for that treat, Kurt.”

  She sounded, Lissa thought, as if she was denying a five-year-old a ride on a carousel. Little friend? How corny could the woman get, anyway?

  Marian bustled past Kurt into the living room and stopped dead. “What is going on in here?”

  “Just some holiday decorating,” Lissa said. “I hope you won’t mind if I keep right on working after I pour your tea.”

  “Not at all.” Marian didn’t even look at her. “In fact, I’ll pour, and Kurt and I will just sit down here at the other end of the room, where we’ll be out of your way.”

  “Sorry, Marian,” Kurt said smoothly, “but I’m helping Lissa untangle the lights. Since she was good enough to volunteer to help decorate, I couldn’t possibly leave her to face the consequences if it isn’t all done by the time Gran wakes up.”

  Not that it was exactly a compliment, Lissa thought, to know that he’d rather be on her end of the room unpacking boxes than drinking tea with Marian….

  The man had seriously entertained the notion that she’d had his baby? After six long years, what had made him contemplate the possibility now?

  “But help yourself to tea,” he went on cheerfully. His voice dropped to a murmur that tickled Lissa’s ear. “Quick—where are the lights?”

  I should ignore him. But Lissa used her foot to push a box toward him. “As long as we’re talking about weird hypotheses…do you also believe the moon landing was a fake?”

  “I had reason to be suspicious, Lissa.”

  “Because I told you I’d dropped out for a while? Honestly….” She took a deep breath and decided it would be prudent to change the subject. “Never mind. I had no idea you were such a coward, by the way.”

  “Coward? Me?”

  “Yes—running from a simple thing like Marian’s ‘little friend.’ And she isn’t even here to run from—that’s what’s so hilarious.”

  “Better to squelch the whole idea up front. The only thing worse than an elderly matchmaker is a pair of them.”

  “I suppose that’s true. Is this the little friend you had mixed up with me?”

  Kurt lifted the lid of the box and heaved a huge sigh. “Next time look for an electrical engineer to do this job.” He dug both hands into the box and pulled out a gnarled mass of dark green wires and small multicolored bulbs. “And if you’re expecting me to admit that I’d rather Marian’s friend had been you—”

  “Heavens, no. I wouldn’t want you to break your long-standing record and actually be flattering to me.”

  Marian was coming back toward them, cup in hand. “I had no idea you knew Hannah so well that you’d volunteer to give up your Christmas break to help her.” Her voice took on a cool edge. “Or is this a chance to earn some extra money?”

  “Actually,” Lissa said sweetly, “I haven’t been acquainted with Hannah all that long. It’s Kurt I’ve known forever, so of course I’m happy to lend a hand wherever I can to help his grandmother.”

  “I’m quite sure of that.” Marian’s voice had gone icy.

  From the foot of the stairs, Hannah said, “Marian, how delightful of you to drop by! Rae didn’t come with you?”

  “No, darling, because I didn’t expect Kurt to be here this afternoon. But we could stop by tomorrow, if the two of you will be free.”

  “Don’t count on it,” Kurt said under his breath. “There must be twenty strands of lights in here.” He found a plug and untangled enough cord to reach the outlet. Just three of the tiny bulbs lit up. “We’ve known each other forever, hmm? I think all those Christmas carols are starting to rot your brain.”

  “Hey, I’m not the one who’s into conspiracy theories.” Lissa turned back to the box she’d just opened, which seemed to contain nothing but crocheted snowflakes. The starch which stiffened them had yellowed with age. “And even you have to admit it does feel like forever. Besides, it would be foolish for me to pretend I’ve been Hannah’s friend when all Marian would have to do is ask and she’d find out differently.”

  The bigger question, Lissa asked herself, was why she’d said anything at all. So what if Marian Meadows took a swipe at her? Why on earth had she implied that she and Kurt were pals, and had been forever?

  They’d never been friends, though once—for a painfully brief span of
time—she’d thought they might be more than friends. Much more. But that had been only an illusion, and he’d stripped it from her as quickly and painfully as an adhesive bandage peeled off skin. So what had inspired her to say it now?

  Janet had appeared with a fresh pot of tea and a plate of cookies still warm from the oven. She set them on the coffee table at the far end of the room, and the two women settled down on the couch there. Though Lissa wasn’t trying to overhear their conversation, Marian’s slightly shrill voice made it impossible to ignore her.

  “I hope your new helper is working out well,” Marian said. “I wouldn’t have thought of hiring her, myself. But it makes perfect sense. As a waitress, she’s used to this sort of work—fetching and carrying and general picking up. Though it must be very uncomfortable for her, having to be a hanger-on at someone else’s holidays.”

  Kurt seemed to be talking to the box of tangled wires. “I bet the woman’s a lousy tipper.”

  “Not lousy, exactly,” Lissa felt compelled to say. “She’s very correct and proper. Fifteen percent, right down to the penny.”

  “Charming. Just the sort of woman I want to know better—and her little friend, too. I’ve got it. Let’s drag out the decorating till tomorrow, and when she and the pal show up for tea we can be gone buying new lights.”

  She must have looked at him oddly, because he went on, “I’m not talking about some sort of date, you know. It’s only to buy lights.”

  “Oh, I’m glad you clarified that. Thanks for the invitation, but I’m simply dying to meet Rae.”

  “If I felt safe leaving you here to talk to Rae, I’d go get the lights by myself.”

  Lissa set a stack of snowflakes aside. “Besides, Hannah would never approve. Wasting money on lights that will only be used once? How foolish.”

  “I’m paying—it’ll be worth it to be able to throw these away. After Christmas she can hang them all over her SUV if she wants.” He raised his voice. “Gran, you don’t mind if I buy all new lights for the tree, do you? Untangling these is a waste of time, and you don’t have enough anyway.”

  “You can do whatever you want, dear. But you’ll need to get them tonight, so we can have the tree nice and neat for tomorrow when Marian’s bringing Rae. So run along, both of you, and take care of it right now.” Hannah smiled. “You can take my new sieve if you like.”

  The look of chagrin on Kurt’s face made it difficult for Lissa to smother a laugh. “Next time,” she managed to say, “you might try selling her on tinsel instead of lights. That goes on after everything else.”

  It didn’t take Lissa choking on her own amusement to let Kurt know he’d been had once more—and it was no consolation at all to know that this time he’d pretty much done it to himself.

  “All right,” Kurt said. “Let’s go.” He dragged Lissa’s coat out of the closet and warily eyed the keyring she pulled out of her pocket. “I’m sure not riding with you. We’re taking my car.”

  “That’s fine with me. This is your errand anyway—I was only hired to do your grandmother’s running around. In fact, there’s no reason for me to go at all.” She started to slide out of her coat.

  Kurt grabbed her arm. “I want to talk to you. But not where the pacemaker generation can overhear.”

  “What about? If you’re still going on about this baby—”

  “No.”

  “You believe me?” She wanted to put an end to it.

  “Let’s say I believe in the background check.”

  “Oh, that’s a comfort.” She subsided, and let him usher her out the side door. “So what’s this about, really?”

  “Lights.”

  “Honest? Well, you should have seen that one coming a mile away. Now what are you going to use for an excuse to be gone at teatime tomorrow?”

  “I’ll think of something.” The Jaguar skidded sideways as he pulled out into the street just a little too fast for the road conditions.

  “You’re sure you don’t want to take the SUV? You’d have better traction on slick streets with those new tires.”

  Kurt shot a look at her.

  Lissa bit her lip as if to hold back a smile, and sank into the smooth leather seat of the Jaguar. “I was only trying to be helpful,” she murmured. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

  “The lights were a bad idea.”

  “No kidding.”

  “If I avoid Marian’s little friend tomorrow, they’ll just set up another time.”

  “Not that you have an inflated opinion of how far someone will go to meet you, of course. Sorry—I didn’t mean to interrupt. You’re probably right. Marian doesn’t seem the sort to give up easily.”

  “If I’m not there at teatime, they’ll stay for dinner.”

  “And if you miss dinner….” She sounded almost thoughtful, except for the tang of laughter in her voice. “You know, it might be interesting to see if they’d actually turn up for breakfast.”

  What was it going to take for her to treat this seriously? “I have a better idea. I’m going to meet What’s-her-name—”

  “Rae.”

  “As scheduled tomorrow. Only you’re going to be with me.”

  She sounded wary. “With you…how?”

  “I’ll be polite and civil and obviously not intrigued by Rae because I’m interested in someone else. You, to be precise. You’ve already laid the groundwork by telling Marian we’ve known each other forever. So when she and the pal show up tomorrow we’ll go into our more-than-friends act—”

  “Wait a minute. More than friends? I didn’t even say we were friends, much less—”

  “That’s the beauty of it. She’ll be up all night, working out the possible interpretations, and by tomorrow she’ll be easy to convince that her little pal doesn’t stand a chance with me as long as you’re around.”

  “And you think my brain’s rotting?” Lissa shook her head. “I can’t imagine why you think that would work.”

  “I got the idea at the store this morning, when you ran off that woman at the door.”

  Lissa stared. “I did what?”

  “You took one look at her and she veered off course like a bad torpedo.”

  “But not because of anything I did. There’s nothing to say she ever really intended to come over to you.”

  “She did. I know.”

  She looked at him thoughtfully. “How many warehouses does it take just to store your ego, Kurt?”

  “The point is, I don’t know how you waved her off, and I don’t care. Just as long as you do it again tomorrow.”

  “By scaring Rae into a retreat? Honestly, Kurt, why you suddenly think you need a bodyguard to protect you from Rae—”

  “If you want to know what’s in it for you, Lissa….”

  “Oh, yes, please—tell me what the reward is here.” Lissa tossed her head back against the seat, and soft-looking hair met soft leather. The static electricity made a few of the auburn strands stand up straight. His fingertips itched to smooth them back in place.

  Almost too late he realized what he was thinking and drew his hand back to a safe distance.

  Watch it, Callahan. It’s a good idea you’ve got—as long as you remember that she’s dangerous. It’s not smart to play with dynamite, but if you use it carefully….

  “You’re hoping your grandmother gets annoyed and fires me, aren’t you? Well, I’m not playing along. Because I have a better plan.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Actually, it’s your plan—just without me. All you have to do is be cool and polite to Rae tomorrow and see what happens. It’s one day, Kurt. What’s the big deal?”

  “What about the rest of the week?” He pulled up at a traffic light and looked over at her, taking just a bit of malicious pleasure in the dismay which gleamed in her eyes.

  “The rest of the week?” she said lamely. “You told me your grand opening would be over on Sunday.”

  “And it will. But surely…” The light changed and h
e eased the Jaguar into the intersection. “Surely you didn’t expect me to go home and leave my grandmother to celebrate Christmas all by herself. Did you?”

  They bought all the lights they could find in two different stores, but they were still arguing about Marian’s friend and what to do about her when they returned to the house. Lissa was chilled by the weather but heated by the discussion. She was so absorbed that she didn’t even see the extra car parked under the porte cochere until Kurt stopped the Jaguar just short of the bumper.

  “Where did that come from?” she asked.

  “Considering the emblem on the front, I’d say Japan,” Kurt said dryly. “It’s not Marian’s, because it wasn’t there when we left.”

  “No doubt Rae’s lying in wait for you, right inside the door.”

  “I wouldn’t put it past Marian. What about it, Lissa?”

  “You mean The Great Friendship Escapade? You’ve never been particularly good at being straightforward with women, have you? Maybe it’s time you had some practice.”

  “What in the hell does that mean? If you’d have just listened to me back then—”

  “To what? You justifying how you hadn’t really made a bet with your friends that you could get me to go to bed with you?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Oh, please—let’s not start arguing over definitions. It’s over. Your friends took care of letting me know where I stood, so you didn’t have to. And that’s exactly what you’re trying to do again. Only instead of me being the dupe this time, you want me to run interference for you. Well, I’m not interested. Deal with Rae yourself.” She dug a pile of boxes from the back seat. The wrappings were slick, and the boxes seemed to want to slide off to every point of the compass.

  Kurt had an equally large and awkward stack, but he managed to get them tucked under his arm so he could open the side door of the house. Rather than put the boxes down to take off her coat, Lissa went straight to the living room to dump the new lights under the tree.

  Kurt was barely a step behind her when she crossed the threshold and saw the new addition to the tea party. Only now it was more of a cocktail party, she realized, with crystal glasses and clinking ice rather than teacups, and three people forming an uneven triangle—Hannah and Marian on the couch, and standing nearby, one hand braced on the mantel….