Stranded: A Mountain Man Romance

by Piper Sullivan

  I shook my head. Focus. I needed to focus. This was purely for business. It had just been so long since I held a woman in my arms. That was all.

  Amber

  I gazed out over the city skyline, pinching myself that I was here.

  The most exclusive restaurant in Melbourne, at the Rialto Towers in the city. Suffice to say, I hadn’t graced its revered floors before. Whenever I had the time to go out and explore, I had eaten downmarket. Pizza on the Esplanade at St Kilda, or donor kebabs on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy. An afterthought to exploring the streets, and shopping, of course.

  Finn had been true to his word, arriving home early from the office so that we could get to the restaurant in time. He had walked into the house, carrying a shopping bag from one of the most exclusive boutiques on Toorak Road. I recognised it, because Erin often used to shop there.

  “Here you go,” he had said, thrusting the bag at me. “Call it an engagement present. As my fiancée, you must look the part. It should fit.”

  I had peered into the bag, only seeing a flash of red. Dear God, what was he expecting me to wear?

  “So, this isn’t right?” I indicated my pretty floral frock. It was the dressiest thing I had brought with me from the States. Like I said, I hadn’t really painted the town red since I had arrived.

  He smiled, cocking his head to the side. “It would be right for a picnic,” he said. “Not quite the thing for an exclusive restaurant, though. Go on, take it out of the bag and have a look.”

  I opened the bag, taking out the dress. I almost dropped it onto the floor as if it were a hot potato. It was red, all right. Fire engine red, cut low. Pure silk. I looked at the label – one of the top end Australian designers.

  Then I looked at the price tag. “Wowsers,” I breathed. “This is more than my monthly salary.”

  Finn smiled again. “You are my fiancée, now. You must look the part. I think we should take you shopping for a few more items.” He looked at his Hugo Boss ion plated watch. “You should go and put it on, Amber. Time’s ticking.”

  I took my cue, walking back to my bedroom. The dress felt like magic on me, the silk caressing my skin like no other fabric I had ever worn. He had got the fit right, too. How had he known? Had he riffled through the washing machine?

  I looked at myself in my full-length mirror, feeling unsure. It was way classier than anything I had ever worn, and sexy, to boot. I didn’t recognise the woman staring back at me. Nervously, I walked back out. He was looking through some papers, frowning. The man seemed to never stop working.

  He looked up, and his eyes widened.

  I blushed. I felt so exposed, standing there like a store mannequin in a shop window. It was all I could do to stop myself running back to my bedroom, saying this had all been a huge mistake.

  “You look stunning,” he said now, still staring. “I think you were born to wear that dress, Amber.”

  I smiled, a little uncertainly. He was being sweet, of course, but I didn’t believe a word he said. He was merely being polite because he felt he had to be. Finn was a gentleman. The next thing we were climbing into the Lamborghini, whizzing off into the night.

  Now I was looking through the menu, trying not to gag at the prices. I looked up at Finn.

  “This is ridiculous,” I said. “I’ve got no idea what half of this food is. You might have to order for me.”

  “My pleasure,” he said. “I do like educating on the finer things in life.” He smiled. I felt the smile hit me right in the middle of my solar plexus. God, he was an attractive man.

  I could feel the eyes of several people in the restaurant on us. It wasn’t just that Finn was so dashing and handsome. He was a billionaire, well known on the Australian social circuit. He had said hello to several people on the way in, introducing me as his fiancée. People had looked a bit shocked when he said that. I had smiled, nervously, but hadn’t said much.

  “You’re engaged?” One older society matron had breathed, lifting her bejewelled hand to her mouth in shock. “Oh Finn!” She had looked me over, assessing. “Well, I suppose it has been six months since Erin left us. So shocking.”

  I felt like I was being paraded. How did I measure up? Not extremely well, judging by the hard looks in the eyes of the women, especially. I could see they thought I was a gold digger, a young hussy clawing her way to the top.

  I sipped my expensive champagne. Finn ordered for us, and then we looked at each other. What would we talk about? We had to act as if we were a couple in love. I could feel us being watched.

  “Hard day at the office?” I asked, then could have kicked myself. How trite.

  But he laughed. “No more than any other,” he stated. “What about yours? Was Lilah a little terror today?”

  “She’s never a terror,” I said. It was true. Lilah might sulk every now and then, but she was a well behaved little girl. She rarely threw tantrums. Surprising, considering she was the daughter of a billionaire. But then, Erin had been a firm mother, never over indulging her.

  I shouldn’t have thought of Erin. But now, it seemed she filled the room, her presence overtaking it. Erin would have been at home, here. She had been every inch the designer wife, with fancy hair appointments and hosting society luncheons. But she had also run her own business. She hadn’t been a bored trophy wife, sitting at home all day awaiting presents.

  How could I compete with that?

  Oh, I knew Finn wasn’t comparing us. This was a business arrangement for him, after all. But everyone else would be. Everyone who believed that we were a real couple, and that I was in line to be the next Mrs Ormond.

  This was way more complicated than I had thought. Had I really done this? Part of me was wishing I could tear up that contract and hit the ground running. But it was too late, now. I had been introduced as Finn’s fiancée. The town gossips would already have put the word out.

  “Amber?”

  I looked up at him. I had been lost in thought.

  “I have to do this,” he said, reaching into his jacket pocket.

  He held a small, black box. Oh, no. Was it what I thought it was?

  Finn

  She looked like she had been slapped across the face. I frowned. She had to have suspected. Maybe I should have mentioned it, got her ready for it. Too late, now. I reached across and took her hand.

  “I have something for you,” I whispered. I opened the box. Inside was the nine-carat diamond ring I had got my secretary to buy for me that day, from the most exclusive jewellers in the city.

  She gasped. The damn thing was so dazzling, it caught every light in the restaurant, shining like a star. I took it out and put it on her finger, making sure it was the right one.

  She looked down at it, turning it this way and that. Then she looked up at me. I was astounded to see tears glimmering in her eyes.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered. “It just seems…wrong, somehow. You should be handing this to a woman that you love.”

  My eyes widened. Amber, a romantic?

  I could feel people’s eyes on us, watching the moment. Which is what I had intended, of course. But now, I felt like I wanted to rush her out of this place, find a little park bench somewhere. Hand this to her in private.

  What was wrong with me? This was a public show. For reasons we both had agreed upon. I got up, walking over to her, and knelt beside her chair. I looked at her, then grabbed her head, pulling it towards me. My lips found hers.

  I could vaguely hear clapping in the background, but it was faint. The touch of her soft lips was undoing me. I deepened the kiss, exploring her mouth. The kiss was so sexy I felt like I could have stayed that way forever, awkwardly leaning over her in the most exclusive restaurant in Melbourne.

  She broke it, suddenly. She moved back from me, her eyes dazed. It took all my strength not to grab her again, continue exploring that sweet mouth for eternity. With difficulty, I smiled, returning to my seat. I acknowledged the clapping, awkwardly.
/>   Amber was staring at me. “You never said you were going to do that.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “But I felt like the moment deserved it. I have just given you an engagement ring, after all. People would think it odd if we didn’t show some emotion.”

  “Emotion? Yes, well.” She looked down, trying to compose herself. “Finn, I’m finding this really hard. It’s been so quick, and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.” She paused. “Do you think we can leave?”

  I looked at her. She was trembling. “Of course,” I said. “I will let the waiter know to cancel our order. People will just think we want to be alone…” I trailed off.

  I stood up, going behind her to pull out her chair. She grabbed her handbag, and we left. She didn’t speak at all on the trip home. She stared out the car window, as we drove past the famous clocks at Flinders Street Station, veered onto St Kilda Road and finally made our way through the tree lined streets of Toorak.

  I glanced at her, worried, as we pulled up. Was she thinking of reneging on our deal? We walked into the house, turning on the lights. I paid the babysitter, and then we were alone.

  She turned on me. “You should have told me you were going to do all that!”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I thought you were aware of the charade that we were going to play. I did choose that restaurant deliberately.”

  She looked upset. “I just don’t know if I can do this, Finn,” she said, slowly.

  I took her hand. “I promise I will inform you when I am going to do major things. Like giving you an engagement ring.” I paused. “Like kissing you.”

  She looked at me, lips trembling. The air was suddenly filled with tension so electric I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the room sparking.

  “Can I kiss you, again?” I murmured. I stood close to her, so close I could see the flecks of yellow in her brown eyes and the curl of her eyelashes.

  She looked so devastatingly sexy in that red dress. I knew it would suit her. And it fitted her like a glove, clinging to her curves. She turned her face up towards me, and then it happened. Again.

  A long, slow kiss, exploring each other. I was struck again by how soft her lips were, like velvet. Suddenly, an intense bolt of desire forked through me, making me grab her, clutching her to me like she was the last life boat in a stormy sea.

  I could feel her shaking, desire flooding through her. I found her breasts, kneading them frantically. She broke away, looking at me, dazed.

  “I really don’t understand what is going on here,” she whispered.

  I ran a hand through my hair. I didn’t understand, either. I just knew that in that moment, I wanted her more than anything else on this earth.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, for the second time that night.

  She looked at me sadly, walking to her bedroom. “Good night, Finn.”

  “Good night,” I answered. It took all my effort not to follow her, grab her and fling her across her bed. Claiming her.

  Jesus, what was happening? This was supposed to be a business arrangement.

  It could only work if it was. No one knew how these things could work out, or not work out. We could sleep together and it might be a big mistake on both sides. And then it would jeopardise the whole arrangement. That couldn’t happen.

  I had to keep a lid on this thing between us. It was the only way.

  Amber

  “Amber! Look! Look!”

  The little girl was pointing excitedly out the window, craning her neck so that the straps on her car seat extended dangerously.

  I smiled at Lilah. “Lilah bear, sit back,” I said. “Yes, I know, it’s the sea! Isn’t it beautiful?”

  She nodded, happily. Finn glanced back from the wheel, smiling at her. Then he looked at me. Lilah’s joy seemed to infect both of us, and we smiled at each other. It held a little too long for my liking, so I looked away quickly, staring out the window at the waves gently crashing on the shoreline.

  We were almost there. Finn’s beachside mansion in Portsea, where all the wealthy Melbournians holidayed. It was less than an hour’s drive from the house in Toorak, and I had been enjoying it up until now. It had given me time to think.

  I still didn’t know what was happening between Finn and I, but I felt honour bound to continue in the arrangement. We had signed a contract, after all. He had called the Morgan’s in the States and told them the happy news. They seemed to accept it, extending congratulations and backing off on any custody battle. For now.

  The engagement notice had been put in the papers. It was real. Well, as real as a fake engagement could be. I tried to wrestle with my conflicting feelings. In my mind, I knew it was a business arrangement – nothing more. But there were other feelings that had surfaced since he kissed me that night in the restaurant. And then later that night as well.

  Desire, pure and simple. I frowned. Could it ever be simple? And what were his feelings about it?

  Nothing at all, judging by the way he had acted since then. It had all been business as usual. He hadn’t kissed me again. And then he had suddenly announced that we were heading to the Portsea house for the weekend. We were going to see his parents, as well as entertain his best friend Bryce Harrison, another billionaire, and his new girlfriend.

  The thought of it made me so nervous I started tapping my fingers on the car dash. Finn glanced at me, but didn’t comment.

  I had called my best friend Cara in the States last night, steeling myself. She had squealed with delight when I told her. “Are you shitting me? You’re suddenly engaged to your boss?” I heard her voice raise an octave on the line. “Oh my God, Amber! That is amazing! Tell me all the details.”

  I took a deep breath. “Well, we have been seeing each other about a month, and he popped the question just this week. We’re engaged.”

  “Wow, so sudden! You haven’t mentioned anything about it in your emails.”

  “I know,” I replied. “I wasn’t sure where it was heading, whether he was serious or not. But turns out he is.”

  “So… have you done it?” I could hear her catching her breath, waiting for a reply.

  Jesus! This was getting complicated. “Not yet. We’ve decided to wait.”

  “Wait for what?” Cara sounded impatient. “If you guys are in love and getting married, what’s to wait for? And you know as well as I do that you need to, Amber. You have held on to that virginity of yours for so long, waiting for the right guy. Well, seems like he has arrived.”

  “It’s more complicated than that,” I hedged. “Yeah, I know I’ve been waiting, but I still want to. It has to be really special.”

  I heard a sigh. “Well, it’s your life, kiddo. I guess you’ve waited so long, a little longer won’t hurt.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. Cara seemed to have bought it. I pictured her on the other end of the phone, racing around her little flat in San Francisco as we talked. Cara never sat still. She was like a ball of energy, flitting from her part time job as a waitress to her studies in medicine at the University of California, Berkeley. We had been friends forever, since the first day of junior high when she had sat next to me in math.

  Crazy Cara. We had not seen each other much these past few years, with me taking this position in Australia, and before that studying on the east coast. But when we spoke, it was like no time had passed at all. I missed her. And I hated lying to her. Another downside of this arrangement.

  “Here we are.”

  I jumped. How could I not have noticed we had arrived at the house?

  I looked up at it. It was a feat of architectural brilliance, all angles and ceiling to floor windows, with a huge wraparound balcony to take advantage of that sea view. I had been here before, of course, but not since Erin had died. And certainly, not in the position I was now – as the new fiancée.

  Butterflies sprang to life in my stomach as I thought of greeting Finn’s parents, and his best friend. Pretending to be the so- in- love new fiancée. It had been one thing pr
etending on the phone to Cara. It would be quite another to have to look people in the eye and carry on a performance for a long time.

  I took a deep breath, then stepped out of the car.

  Show time.

  “More wine, dear?”

  I plastered a fake smile on my face, turning to Finn’s mother. “Oh yes, thank you. It’s quite lovely.” Anna Ormond smiled back, her eyes flitting over me. Quietly assessing.

  She had met me before, of course, but that had been in my nanny capacity. She had been pleasant, but distant. I was only the hired help, after all. She was used to nannies coming and going, he had had a few for Finn, apparently.

  But now, I was the fiancée. Not only that, but I was the nanny turned fiancée – a strange hybrid. Plus, I was stepping into the shoes of Erin, who had played the role of billionaire’s consort to perfection.

  No wonder I was sweating. I could feel rivulets trickling down my neck. I just hoped I didn’t reek of perspiration. Anna filled the glass, carefully measuring it. “This is one of the best wines in Australia. Frank and I have cases of it. We discovered it a year ago, and loved it so much we bought the vineyard!” She laughed.

  I laughed, too. But inside I thought what a strange world these people live in. So rich they can have anything – and buy anything – on a whim. It was so far removed from my experience of growing up. I tried not to feel inadequate, but it was hard.

  We were on the balcony of the beach house, enjoying pre-dinner drinks. Finn’s parents had arrived about half an hour ago. I had been overcome with anxiety, so much so I had unconsciously started pacing the floor before they arrived. Finn had looked at me.

  “Calm down,” he had said. “It’s okay. My parents are wonderful people. They aren’t going to eat you alive.”

  I had laughed weakly at that. Hell hath no fury like a mother-in-law if she doesn’t like you, I thought darkly. I could see Finn out of the corner of my eye now, watching me as I chatted with his mother. Was I saying the right things? Was my performance working?