An Offer He Can’t Refuse
By Theresa Ragan
Kindle Edition
Copyright © 2012 by Theresa Ragan
These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Theresa Ragan.
Editor: Cathy Katz
Beta Readers: Janet Katz and Sally Chamberlain
Formatting by LK E-Book Formatting Service
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Proofreader: Faith Williams
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Cover art by LFD Designs for Authors
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About the Author
After reading my first romance novel in 1992, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life…write novels…fun, quirky novels that would provide busy women around the world a few hours of entertainment. I knew I was truly a writer when I was working full-time, while raising four children, and nothing could stop me from getting the words to the page.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my sister, Cathy. She is the oldest sister of five girls. When we were small, Cathy would hold family meetings. She would set up “school” and teach us to read and write. She organized many days where we would all sew clothes for our Troll dolls or make bouquets of wild flowers to deliver to our neighbors. Later in life, all of the sisters became busy with their own families, but Cathy was the one who handed me my first romance novel when I was pregnant and on leave of absence from work. For over twenty years now, she has been the encouraging force behind every book I have written, celebrating the highs and providing sympathy during the lows. She brainstorms with me and critiques and edits every manuscript dozens of times. She has her own life and her own family, but somehow she always makes time for me and my stories, and she does it with gladness in her heart and a smile on her face. I’ve called her an angel on numerous occasions, but unlike many angels, she’s already earned her wings. Ask anyone.
Chapter One
The name of the bar was Lucky Lady. Madison Brown couldn’t think of a more ironic name, given her situation. A couple of healthy ferns dangled from the ceiling, lending the worn establishment a bit of color. The floors were littered with peanut shells. Scarred tables cried out for a good sandpapering—a job she’d gladly take on if it would help her forget that she was here to find a husband: someone tall, dark, and temporary.
Madison’s friend, Jen, sat across from her and anchored strands of long russet hair behind her ear before subtly gesturing with her chin toward the back of the barroom. “What about those two guys over there?”
Peering over her shoulder, Madison squinted to see through the dim light and haze of smoke. She jerked back around. “Are you kidding me? You’d let me marry one of those guys? One of them looks like he’s fallen off too many bucking broncos and the other can’t be a day under eighty. Could we at least try to find a guy with a full set of teeth?”
“Not them,” Jen said, giving the toothless man a fleeting smile. “Wait a few seconds and then look again. Further toward the back. Two guys who look totally out of place.”
Madison’s stomach gurgled. Clearly, Jen’s dogged determination had already set in. She should have known Jen wasn’t going to let her give up so easily this time. If Madison didn’t find a husband soon, her cousin, Heather, would get the two million dollar trust fund set up by their grandfather. Heather spent money as if it grew on trees; her gambling problem didn’t help matters. The money would be gone in an instant. But even so, the thought of marrying a complete stranger just didn’t sit well with Madison. “I don’t think I can go through with this,” she said.
“You don’t have a choice. You said so yourself.” Jen placed a comforting hand over Madison’s. “Those kids are counting on you.”
“But hiring a stranger to be my husband?”
“The marriage will be over before you know it.” Jen snapped her fingers. “Three short months and you’ll be free again, not to mention rich.”
“You’re not going to let up, are you?”
“Nope. We’ve come too far to stop now. So what about those two guys I mentioned earlier?”
With a sigh, Madison purposely dropped her napkin to the floor. As she leaned over to pick it up, she peered across the room and this time spotted two good-looking men in their late twenties or early thirties sitting at a table at the back of the room. The one on the left was blond, and even with an upside down, worm’s-eye view, she could see that he didn’t look happy. The guy next to him, on the other hand, was dark-haired and broad-shouldered, with eyes the color of mocha…eyes that were focused on her.
She jerked upwards and banged her head on the table. “Ow!”
Jen winced. “Are you okay?”
“Why didn’t you tell me he was looking this way?”
“He wasn’t. Not until he caught you staring at him.”
“I wasn’t staring.”
“I’m afraid looking at someone fixedly with eyes wide open for more than a few seconds is pretty much considered staring.”
“It doesn’t matter anyhow,” Madison said. “I’m not going over there. They’re probably both married.”
“There’s only one way to find out. So, which one is it going to be?”
The idea of approaching the dark-haired Adonis made Madison’s insides churn. But she and Jen both knew she didn’t have a choice…not really. She held no ill-will toward her cousin, Heather. But Madison refused to let Heather throw the money away on the poker tables she was so fond of. She could not allow that to happen. Not if she wanted a better future for all the kids she’d grown to love and care for. For the past five years she’d volunteered after work and on weekends at the CFC—the Community For Children. Besides counseling, she kept the kids busy by organizing picnics, baseball games, hiking, and birthday parties. She was rewarded with smiles and hugs and all the love she’d missed out on when she was a child. Though her day job as an accountant kept her busy, the kids at the center gave her life meaning. Unfortunately, CFC needed money to keep their doors open—lots of money—enough money to make her do something desperate.
“Three months with a stranger before I turn thirty,” Madison said under her breath. “No big deal, right?” She clasped and unclasped her hands.
“Right. Three measly months, and then you inherit two million dollars. That’s only a third of the time it takes to carry a baby to full term,” Jen added. “Piece of cake.”
“I can’t believe it’s come to this.”
“Well, it has,” Jen said, “and we both know you won’t be able to sleep at night unless you’ve done everything in your power to help those kids. Besides, you can’t just stand by and let your greedy cousin spend all that money on shoes and Black Jack tables.”
“I know. I know.” Until last month, Madison hadn’t cared about the trust fund money. Her grandfather had known that, but he also didn’t like the idea of Madison being alone, which is why upon his deathbed two years ago he’d hired a lawyer to write up a new will, hoping to rouse Madison into action by offering her two million dollars to find a husband. In order to receive the money, Madison had to remain married for three months before her thirtieth birthday. Unfortunately, Madison’s experiences with men, including her own biological father, were less than inspirational—to the point where not even two million dollars seemed worth the bother.
That is, until a few weeks ago when she learned that the center would be shut down because of lack of funds. The kids at CFC needed her.
“So?” Jen asked again, snapping her from her thoughts. “Who’s going to be the lucky man?”
Madison looked over her shoulder at the two men. The dark-haired man smiled at her, causing chills to dance across her arms. She gave him a perfunctory nod before turning away. “Let’s keep looking, Jen. I mean, even if he…I mean even if they aren’t married, it wouldn’t work. He’s too…too—”
“Too darn good-looking?”
Madison arched a brow. “Now that you mention it—yes. He must have a whole slew of girlfriends. Look at him. He’s smiling at us with the kind of confidence that comes with lots of experience. He probably thinks he’s God’s gift to women.”
“And he’d be right,” Jen said wistfully.
Madison groaned.
“This is ridiculous,” Jen said with a smack of her hand to the table. “We’ve been planning this for weeks. Last night the guy I picked out for you was too tall and the next one too short. Too smart, too pale, too this, too that.” Jen looked Madison square in the eye. “You know what? I think you’re chicken. The guy is mouth-watering delicious to look at, and you’re shakin’ in your ugly sandals at the thought of living with such a gorgeous creature. I bet you're afraid you might actually enjoy it.”
“What do you mean ugly sandals?” Madison examined her footwear.
“Put it this way. You could’ve made this whole thing a lot easier if you’d worn the outfit I picked out for you.”
“I’d go naked first.”
“That would work.”
They both laughed, at least until Madison wrinkled her nose. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”
“Are you kidding me? That horrid dress screams librarian. And your face—you have ‘keep away’ written all over it.”
“I do not.”
“You do, too. And why you would wear those thick eyeglasses when you have perfectly good contacts at home makes me wonder about you. You’ve worn those glasses every single time we’ve gone out over the past few weeks. Not to mention those sandals; where did you ever find those? Your feet look twice as—”
“Okay, okay, I get the picture. But any man who agrees to this scheme of ours is going to have to take me as I am. I’m paying him to sign a marriage license. I’m not trying to seduce him.”
Jen lifted her hands in surrender. “They’re your feet.”
Madison tapped her fingers on the table and said, “There’s got to be somebody I know who would help me out. We just haven’t given this enough thought.”
“We’ve been over this a thousand times,” Jen said. “There’s nobody. Now come on. Those guys might leave if we don’t hurry.”
Madison took another peek at the stranger across the room. Her insides began to do funny things. The man was talking to his friend, which gave her a chance to visualize approaching him and asking him to be her husband. When he laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkled. She saw a flash of white teeth. What would it be like, she wondered, to kiss a man like that? Her stomach made funny noises. “I can’t do this.”
“Of course you can,” Jen said, grabbing her hand. “And the guy you keep staring at will be perfect.”
~~~~
Jackson Lang’s face felt stiff from all the smiling he was doing. If Madison Brown didn’t approach them soon, he was going to have to make the first move. How the hell did he get himself into these predicaments?
His friend Collin leaned back against the spindly chair, his foot tapping against the floor. Not to the rhythm of the country music filling the bar, but in obvious boredom. “Jackson, buddy, let’s get out of here. We should be down at Ziggy’s checking out the side dishes, if you know what I mean.”
Jackson knew exactly what his friend meant. Unfortunately, he also knew where he had to be—right here at Lucky Lady. “See those women over there?”
Collin glanced across the room and then looked wide-eyed back at Jackson. “Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
Collin didn’t look convinced. “Is this some kind of joke? This sudden urge of yours to go bar hopping—this place—those girls? They don’t look like your type, Jackson. The redhead looks a little too determined, and the other one looks like a librarian who’s just been told to strip in public.” Collin narrowed his eyes. “If I didn’t know better, I’d accuse you of stalking. I could’ve sworn I saw those same women at the last place you dragged me to.”
Jackson ignored him, giving the women his best turn-the-girls-on smile when they looked at him again. “They’re coming this way.”
Collin started to get up from his chair. “That’s it—I’m outta here.”
“Sit,” Jackson said. “I want to hear what they have to say. Then we’ll go.”
Collin plunked himself back into his seat.
Jackson watched the two women make a path around the bar and past the jukebox as he inwardly scolded himself for being here and for making promises he wasn’t sure he could keep.
Accidentally bumping into Madison Brown this past week had proven to be much more difficult than he’d envisioned. The pictures he’d seen of Madison Brown didn’t do her justice. She had black hair all right, but it was tied in a knot at the top of her head, making it hard to tell if her hair was long or short, frizzy or straight. Her loose dress and clunky shoes left a lot to be desired, but still…she couldn’t fool him. He knew an attractive woman when he saw one. None of that mattered, though, he reminded himself. According to Madison’s cousin, Heather, Madison was a greedy, selfish woman whose bottom line was cold hard cash, and she needed help keeping her inheritance, but Collin didn’t know any of that.
“Mind if we have a seat?” the woman with Madison asked in a cheery voice.
Collin finished his beer in one gulp.
Jackson stood and pulled out a couple of chairs. “Please do.”
“I’m Jennifer and this is Madison,” the redhead said, taking an offered seat. “Are you two from around here?”
“Santa Monica—” Jackson began.
“And we hate to cut this short,” Collin interrupted, “but we were just about to leave.”
Jackson smiled tightly. “This is Collin. I’m Jackson. My friend here is eager to try out that new place, Ziggy’s down on Fifth Street. How about the two of you joining us?”
Jennifer’s face lit up. “We would love to—”
“But we can’t,” Madison broke in. “Don’t let us stop you two, though. Really. Go right ahead.” She made a motion with her hands, as if she were shooing away a couple of stray dogs.
Relieved, Collin stood. Then he glanced at Jackson and plopped right back down in his seat, clearly frustrated.
Jackson noticed the way Madison smiled when she thought she’d gotten rid of them. Not a nervous, polite curve of the lips as before, but what looked to him like a genuine smile of relief. The smile faded when she realized they weren’t leaving. Jackson couldn’t help but wonder why she would be disappointed that they were staying. According to Heather, Madison Brown needed a husband, fast. She didn’t have time to be choosy. He felt ridiculously offended. “Can I buy you two a drink before we go?”
“Certainly,” Jennifer said. “I’ll have a glass of wine. No, make that champagne. It reminds me of weddings. Speaking of which, are either of you married?”
Collin began to choke on a peanut he’d just popped into his mouth, prompting Jennifer to pound on his back.
Madison looked horrified.
“Have you two been friends long?” Jackson asked Madison.
“Oh, no…I mean, yes,” Madison said. “I’m afraid so.”
He smiled. “What can I get you to drink?”
With her lips curved into a tenuous smile, he noticed big blue eyes behind her thick-rimmed glasses.
“Nothing for me, thanks.”
“How about water?” Without waiting for a response, he sig
naled for the waitress and ordered two beers, champagne, and a glass of water.
Jennifer gave Collin one last pat on the back and said, “I hope I wasn’t too candid. People always tell me I shouldn’t be so frank, but—”
“No,” Collin interrupted, raising a hand to stop her from explaining. “Neither of us is married.”
“Engaged? Any significant other?” Jennifer asked.
Collin gave Jackson a look that told him he owed him one. “Nope. Not married and no significant other. Right, buddy?”
Jackson answered with a tight smile and a nod.
~~~
Jen kept making faces, her friend’s not so subtle reminder to spit it out and get things rolling. Neither man was attached, which meant the rest was up to her.
Time to pop the question.
But Madison could hardly think, let alone speak. Her mouth felt dry, her palms moist. Tom Petty was singing, “I’m free…free falling,” and she told herself over and over again that this was a business deal. Nothing more. She was an accountant. She dealt with clients every day. So what was the problem? All he could say was no, and wouldn’t that be a relief?
“Are you okay?” Jackson asked her.
Everyone glanced Madison’s way. “I’m fine, really.” Wringing her hands, she looked straight into Jackson’s cool brown eyes. He smiled, encouraging her to say what was on her mind. He could work magic with those eyes.
Business, she reminded herself, though her better judgment told her that marriage to a man like Jackson would be something else altogether. She took a deep breath and said to Jackson, “I have a very important question to—”
Swallowing a knot in her throat, she turned toward Collin instead, “—to ask you.”
Collin drew a finger to his chest, looking surprised and more than worried that the attention was now focused on him.
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