ROMANCE: The Surprise That Rocked Me

by Linda Wright

  “If you say so, silly,” she said with a giggle.

  “So since I’ve got the contract extension, and a stunning woman who loves me with the most amazing kid on the planet on the way… We should get married,” Larry said. Just like that. It caught Willow completely off-guard, which was why he’d done it that way. He watched amused as her face froze in shock.

  “What?” she said finally.

  “Let’s get married,” he said, taking a step back and pulling the small ring box that he’d picked up on his way home from practice.

  He’d actually ordered the ring weeks ago, it was simply coincidence that it arrived at the jeweler on that day. He flipped the box open, and knelt down on one knee. Willow’s hands flew to her face and she gasped at the sight of the ring, shaking her head.

  “Larry that ring is enormous,” she said. Larry spoke before she could finish what he knew was coming next.

  “It’s actually not the biggest one there, but I didn’t think you’d want anything that huge. This one is perfect for you. And yes, yes you can take it. Take it because I spent hours picking it out for you, and no it’s not too expensive. Stop arguing with me in your head, you aren’t going to win,” he said with a smile as tears began to run down Willow’s face.

  “Jerk,” she whispered, though her lips were smiling behind her hands.

  “This jerk loves you, Willow. I can’t see the rest of my life without you and the baby in it. Please, make me the happiest man alive, and become my wife,” he said. Willow sniffed, wiping at her eye roughly, and then smiled brightly and nodded.

  “Okay,” she said. Larry’s eyes widened and he smiled, leaping to his feet.

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “Yes!” she repeated. Larry picked her up and swung her around in his arms.

  “I love you, future Mrs. Carson,” he said. Willow kissed him.

  “I love you too, Mr. Carson. “

  *****

  THE END

  bonus stories #3

  A billionaire fake Fiancée

  Lose control as he aims to please

  By: Dagny Rand

  A billionaires fake Fiancée

  Neal was pretty sure that his parents really meant business this time. They’d both told him that he needed to calm down with the womanizing, or at least not get caught in public doing it as much for years now. Except this time, he’d been on the news. Naked, and drunk, being forcefully shoved out of a brothel. Never piss off a madam before you finish what you paid for, guys. They won’t even let you put your pants back on if you’re a real ass, and Neal was consistently a real ass.

  He’d taken a flight from Vegas back to New York and gone straight from the airport to his condo, especially once he’d learned that he’d been caught and identified on camera. He hadn’t been home for two hours before he got a phone call instructing him to get out to his parents’ house, right then. They were so determined to have him out there that they sent a car for him, piloted by a guy who looked like he could kick Neal’s ass and everyone else who’d ever existed too. Needless to say, Neal got into the car and took a nice leisurely drive out to his parent’s house.

  His parents were upstate, of course, out where all of the homes were the size of small apartment complexes and cost more than most people make in two years’ time. Where people drove Porsche SUVs as their family cars and Bentleys when it was just ‘him and the misses’. Neal didn’t really miss being out there, he liked being somewhere more alive, like Manhattan. That was one of the main reasons he’d bought his condo there. That, and it was far enough away that unless he landed himself on the news, for the most part his parents had no idea what he was up to.

  “Neal, could you come in here, please,” That was Neal’s mother, Iris. She was in the office with his father, Oscar. His father hadn’t said anything, but he’d smelled a cigar being lit about two minutes ago, announcing his presence. Neal stood, smoothed his hands down the front of his clothes, and walked into the office.

  “Mom, Dad, good to see you both. Wonderful weather we’re having, isn’t it? Unseasonably warm,” he said, sitting in the plush arm chair across the desk from where his father sat, looking stern and unhappy as always. His mother stood beside her husband, her arm resting across the top of his chair as if the two of them were posing for some unhappy portrait.

  “Is there a reason why the first thing that your mother and I saw when we turned on the TV this morning was your naked ass being shoved out of a whore house?” Oscar said. Neal cringed at the word.

  “Dad, no woman there wants to be called that awful word. Can we just call it a brothel, please,” he said. This was why his father didn’t deal with the public. Even before he’d retired, Iris had always been the one who mingled and smiled when needed. Oscar was awful at it.

  “It is what it is, son. The point is, why were you there on the sidewalk, naked and being taped?” he asked. Neal looked down at his hands, and started picking with a nail.

  “Because I pissed off the madam of the house, and because there was media outside for some sort of parade thing that was happening, and they just happened to catch me,” he said. His father made some sort of disapproving grunt and went back to concentrating on his cigar.

  “Neal, we’ve asked that you stop making such a spectacle of yourself, but that doesn’t seem to be going so well for you. The problem now is that you are making people wary of the family business, because you are running it,” Iris said. Neal’s eyes snapped up.

  “The business is doing great, profits have never been higher and employee satisfaction is through the roof,” He said. Iris nodded.

  “I’m aware, but people see your private life splashed across the news and start to lose confidence in our brand. They think that they need to jump ship before you take the whole thing down,” she said.

  “Oh that’s insane, why in the world would a disagreement halfway across the country with a Madam spell doom for Layman Industries?” Neal asked.

  “That is not the point!” Oscar said, slamming his hands down on the desk. Iris put her hand gently on her husband’s shoulder, and calmed him down a bit before she spoke again.

  “Your father and I have decided that you need to do something that proves that your private life is a bit more stable that it really is,” she said.

  “Meaning?” Neal asked.

  “Meaning, you need a fiancée. You need someone who will go out in public with you, laugh off your antics over the past few weeks as something that she knew about, soften up your horrid image as some bad boy millionaire and give you a bit more stability in business circles,” Oscar said. Neal looked from one parent to the other and back again.

  “Are you two insane? Where in the world am I going to find a fiancée? I’m not even seriously dating anyone,” Neal asked.

  “Offer to pay her if she behaves. That works with most women,” Iris said, shocking even Neal with the nonchalant way she casually tossed out the notion that most women were money hungry. That was a bit harsh, even for his thinking.

  “Seriously?!” Neal said, standing.

  “Yes, seriously, son. Now go get it done. You have two weeks to find someone on your own that you can stand and move her into your condo. Otherwise, your father and I will choose someone for you, and you won’t have a choice in the matter,” Iris said. Then she turned and walked out of the office, effectively ending any conversation that Neal might have brought up against this insanity.

  “Dad? Are you really going to let her do this?” he asked. Oscar sighed.

  “You brought this on yourself, son. Just do what she says, the world is happier when she is. And you know how she gets when she doesn’t get her way,” Oscar said before stubbing out the cigar and walking out of the room behind his wife.

  Neal sighed heavily and flopped back down into the chair. Where in the world was he going to find a woman who could stand living with him, or better yet that he could stand having in his personal space all of the time? It would have been easier if they
just put someone else in charge of the company in the public eye or something. This was almost impossible.

  Chapter 2

  “Wow, that’s an ugly turn of events,” Scott said. Scott and Neal had met for drinks that afternoon, like they did every week since they’d graduated college together. It was one of the few consistent things in either of their lives.

  “Yeah, I have no idea how to handle this,” Neal said with a sigh and a frown.

  “You need to get the word out, but in a way that doesn’t attract all the crazies in town. You need a good girl who needs the cash, because some money grubbing gold digger isn’t going to play the part. Either that, or she’d going to blackmail you with it,” Scott said.

  “I hadn’t even though about the fact that this could be held against me,” Neal said, putting his face in his hands. Scott chuckled softly and clapped him on the back.

  “Oh cheer up. Who knows, maybe you’ll pick a girl who ends up being the love of your life, and then it won’t be a lie anymore and everyone will be happy again,” he said. Neal groaned loudly.

  “You are not helping,” he said.

  “Sure I am,” Scott said before taking another drink of his beer.

  “I should be talking to someone else about this, you’ve never been good at making useful decisions,” Neal mumbled. A little mean, but still true. Scott was never who anyone went to when it was time to do something adult-like.

  “Look, here’s what you do: Go somewhere that you wouldn’t normally go, like a bookstore or something. You usually look for girls who you are pretty sure that you’re smarter than, because otherwise you feel intimidated. Find a smart girl who’s down on her luck and needs some cash, but has a brain and a good heart so we won’t take you for everything that you’ve got if you piss her off before this whole thing is over. Problem solved.” Scott said. Neal looked up at him in total shock. That was actually a really good idea, ignoring the fact that the reasoning behind it was a bit offensive, regardless of its truth.

  “Holy shit, Scott. You never make any sense where did that come from?” he asked. Scott smirked.

  “I am at least a halfway functioning adult, so my brain must work from time to time or I wouldn’t be able to keep a roof over my head. Don’t look so shocked,” he said, winking.

  *~*~*

  The next morning, Neal found himself camped out in the coffee shop of a good sized bookstore that he frequented due to how close it was to his office. He actually read quite a bit, but he never really paid attention to the other people in the store with him. Scott had been right about him gravitating more towards girls who didn’t give off an air of being well read. He didn’t think it was because he was intimidated by intelligent women, though.

  He’d been there about an hour when the sound of the bell over the coffee house’s door brought his attention around. He’d generally been ignoring the people that were coming in for coffee, but this woman was beautiful. She had long, dark hair that hung down to her waist in soft, gentle waves and a figure that caught everyone’s attention, even in the jeans and tee shirt outfit that she was in. She hadn’t turned around yet so Neal had no idea what her face looked like, but her voice sounded very happy and sweet as she ordered her cup of coffee and complimented the barista’s blue dye job.

  Neal waited for her to get her coffee, and watched her from behind his book as she moved to add cream and sugar to her cup. Once she was done there, she turned and started walking towards the book store. Her bright hazel eyes caught his through her tasteful thin black framed glasses for a moment as she brought her coffee to her wonderfully full lips, then jumped back as she remembered that she’d just gotten it and it was hot. Then she blinked as if he wasn’t there, and brushed past his table. Neal grabbed his bag and followed her at a distance. He needed to see why she was there.

  She moved as if she was there with a purpose. Her breeze past the romance section was a plus for Neal, and he smiled as he watched her continue on. She paused at a book about cooking healthy, but ended up putting it back down and moving on. That wasn’t a bad thing, Neal could always appreciate a good home cooked meal, and he worked out at least three times a week, so healthy was good.

  It was where she actually stopped that made him decide to try and strike up a conversation with her: Mysteries and suspense.

  “That’s a great series,” Neal said, eyeing the book that she had in her hand. It actually was one that he’d read, and he wasn’t blowing smoke for once. She grinned.

  “Really? I need a new series to start, since my current series new book isn’t going to be released for another eight months, and I’ve heard good things about this one,” she said.

  “I love this author, his books are fast paced, which is good for people like me with no attention span,” Neal said, causing the girl to snicker. “That’s the sixth book though, if you want to start at the beginning, this is the one that you want,” he said, handing her the correct book. She gently took it from him, her fingers softly brushing his in an unintended moment of contact.

  “Thanks, it’s nice to get an actual opinion from someone. I’m not entirely convinced that the online reviews for some authors aren’t paid for,” she said with a laugh. Neal smiled.

  “No problem, I love talking to people who share my taste in reading,” he said.

  “I’m in here pretty regularly and I’ve never seen you before. Do you come into this store often?” she asked.

  “Often enough, but not usually this time of day. Today was an exception, I’m usually trapped in meetings around this time,” he said with a smile.

  “Fun. Well, I’m Lisa. I feel like you should at least know my name,” she said with a slightly nervous laugh. Neal already thought she was absolutely adorable.

  “Nice to meet you, Lisa. I’m Neal. Look, this might be rather forward of me but, would you like to go out to dinner sometime?” he asked. Neal was a good looking guy and he knew it. He didn’t strike out often, and he found that most women actually appreciated when he didn’t beat around the bush and just let them know that he was interested. Lisa didn’t seem to be an exception to that particular rule.

  “Wow, you are forward. But that’s alright, at least I know where I stand. I’d love to go out to dinner with you,” she said. Perfect.

  Neal unlocked his phone and gave it to her, so that she could enter her name and phone number while he did the same in her phone. They parted ways with a promise to speak over the next few days, and Neal began to think about where to take her. Some place that she’s appreciate, but that would also impress her. You couldn’t really ask someone to be your fake fiancé without impressing them, could you? He thought about calling Scott after his great bookstore idea, but decided against it, figuring that was just a onetime thing and he didn’t want to ruin it by calling and discovering Scott to be the same idiot that he’d always been.

  “Jessica!” Neal called out to his assistant. She was a bit of a gold digger, but intelligent as hell. She’d been on enough dates to help him out with his dilemma.

  “Yeah?” she responded, sticking her head into the office.

  “What’s the best first date that you’ve ever been on? Not the most expensive one, but the one that you enjoyed the most,” he asked. Jess gave him a questioning look, and then came farther into the room.

  “That’s an odd question coming from you?” she said.

  “Why is it odd?” he asked. Jess smirked.

  “Because that is the question of someone who is really trying to genuinely impress someone, and you are not the guy that does that. You want to impress them long enough to get them naked,” she said. Neal and Jessica had a completely candid relationship, there weren’t too many people who would talk to him like that other than her. She was also one of those girls who would be smart enough to blackmail him, which was why she wasn’t in the running to be the fake fiancé.

  “My parents want me to clean up my image, so they’ve decided that I need to pay someone to play as my fiancé. I�
��ve got a few weeks to find someone on my own before they find someone for me. I met a girl at the bookstore this morning, and I asked her out to dinner and I need a date that will impress her and not make her think that I’m a jerk when I tell her my predicament and ask her to play along,” he said. Jessica stared at him for a few moments with wide eyes before laughing.

  “Wow, your parents are serious this time, aren’t they?” she said between giggles. Neal sighed and rolled his eyes.

  “Are you going to help me or not?” he said, folding his arms across his chest. Jess curbed her laughter and sat in the chair across from him.

  “Alright, sorry, I’m done. Let’s plan a date that will knock this girl on her ass, so you can fake propose without having the taste slapped out of your mouth,” she said. Neal grinned. This was why she was his assistant.

  Chapter 3

  Jess and Neal picked out a restaurant that had flawless reviews and a view of the city that was ‘to die for’, in her words. After that, I planned to take her out to do something fun. I’d noticed that her tennis shoes were obviously used, not simply for show. Jess suggested that we do something like bowling, something where the shoes were provided because no one wants to do something athletic in five inch heels. Neal was well aware that he probably wouldn’t have thought of that. That was why he’d ask Jess.

  Jess had also told him to put a little bit of light gel in his hair, because the blond and brown looked really good when it was doing that ‘swoosh thing’. She’d had to show him what the swoosh thing was so that he could do it himself that night. He had also been told to wear a dark blue suit with lighter blue pin stripes, because it would look great with his almost sapphire blue eyes. Jess made a parting comment about eating him alive, and then left him to it.