The Playboy s Proposition

by Leanne Banks

  He chuckled and nodded. “Fool me once, shame on you,” he said, quoting the old proverb.

  “Fool me twice, shame on me,” she finished and sighed as they walked into his bedroom. She looked up at him. “I forgot to thank you for coming to the wedding reception last night.”

  “I wish I could say it was my pleasure.”

  “Me, too, but after what Stephen said—”

  He pressed his finger to her lips. “Don’t think of it again.”

  She winced. “I can’t promise that, but I’ll try.” Her face turned solemn. “I love you,” she said.

  His heart stopped. She pronounced it as the sun rose, illuminating the room. Bold and brave, she blew him away. He didn’t know how to respond.

  She bit her lip. “I thought I knew what love was before. With Stephen.”

  His stomach twisted and he felt his hands draw into fists, but he held his tongue.

  “But I didn’t,” she said. “I can’t remember wanting someone else’s happiness more in my life. Ever. I would do anything for you to feel happy and at peace. I love you.”

  Overwhelmed by her profession, he pulled her against him. Humbled, but unable to offer her the same, he slid his fingers through her lush hair. “You’re so sweet,” he said. “So precious. I’ve never met another woman like you.” He held her close for several moments where his insides twisted and turned. “You had a rough day and night. You should get more rest,” he said. “Go back to bed.”

  She looked up and met his gaze, and he knew he hadn’t given her what she wanted. He knew she wanted more from him. What she didn’t realize was that he didn’t have it to give.

  Bella returned to Michael’s bed, but her slumber was filled with strange dreams. When she rose a couple hours later, she was more tired than rejuvenated. She also felt her profession of love sitting between her and Michael like an undigested Thanksgiving meal. Heavy and uncomfortable.

  Well, now she’d gone and done it. She’d blurted out her love to him and he didn’t know what to do with it. The awkwardness of that moment hung over her like a guillotine. Why had she done it? Because she couldn’t stop herself. A dam had broken open inside her.

  With a mixture of humiliation and disappointment, she got herself together and drove to visit her aunt. Bad move. Charlotte’s boyfriend, Fred, answered the door.

  Charlotte soon followed, wrapped in a long silk robe. “Bella, I didn’t know you were planning a visit. Come inside.” Her aunt dragged her toward the kitchen.

  “That’s okay. I don’t want to interrupt,” Bella said.

  “Nonsense, Fred was just going to take a shower.” She gave him a quick kiss. “Let me get you some orange juice and blueberry muffins. I want to hear about Grand Cayman,” she said, heading for the refrigerator. “Should I go?”

  “Yes,” Bella said, stunned at the speed of her aunt’s developing relationship with Fred. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Even for the not obscenely rich?” Charlotte asked, handing Bella a glass of orange juice and some muffins.

  “Yes, even for the middle class. The water is warm and clear and the waves gentle. There’s a place that looks like lava where the water spouts. And they have great food. Low crime.” She took a sip of orange juice.

  “Sounds like heaven. So, has Michael asked you to marry him?”

  Bella choked. “No,” she managed.

  “Why not?” Charlotte demanded.

  “What about you and Fred?” she asked, changing the subject.

  Charlotte waved her hand. “He has asked, but I’m procrastinating.”

  “Why?” Bella asked. “Don’t you like him?”

  “Yes, but marriage…I did that once and it didn’t turn out well at all.”

  “Do you love him?” Bella asked.

  Charlotte paused. “I think I might,” she admitted. “But if I get sick again?”

  Bella covered her aunt’s hands with hers. “I hope you won’t live your life that way.”

  Charlotte took a deep breath and shot Bella a sly smile. “And here I thought we were talking about your romance. How did we get off track?”

  “We’re not,” Bella said, forcing a smile. “Michael’s not the marrying kind. I’m not sure he even believes in love.”

  “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry,” Charlotte said. “And I pushed you into this.”

  Bella shook her head. “No, you didn’t. I went into it on my own. He’s from a tough background. I can’t really blame him.”

  Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears. “I wanted you to get over Stephen. I knew he wasn’t right for you. I had this feeling about Michael. I’m sorry.”

  Bella shrugged. “Stop it. He’s an amazing man. I just don’t think he’s interested in forever after.”

  “Are you going to break it off with him?” Charlotte asked.

  Bella’s mind reeled at the thought. “Oh, wow.” She shook her head. “I’m not there yet. We’ll see.”

  Fred returned from the shower. “Any blueberry muffins left for me?”

  Bella smiled, but her heart twisted. She couldn’t help being happy for her aunt. Charlotte had been through so much, and now she had a man who clearly wanted to be with her regardless of the iffy future.

  On the other hand, Michael was a man who didn’t believe in love, and Bella feared he never would.

  Fourteen

  O ver the next seven days, Bella waited. She held her breath waiting for a true response from Michael. Something more than him ignoring the love she’d professed to him. But each day and night he said nothing different. He praised her beauty, made love to her, but avoided any real emotional confession.

  For Bella, every minute that he ignored her confession she felt her hope grow smaller and smaller. Did her feelings mean so little to him? Did she mean so little to him?

  On the eighth day, she gave it another shot. They’d made love and he lay sated beside her. She stroked the angles of his face, his hard jaw and sensuous mouth. “I love you,” she said, not whispering this time.

  He closed his eyes, and she wasn’t sure if he was savoring her words or steeling himself against them.

  She held her breath, waiting, again.

  He tucked her head beneath his chest. “Such an angel,” he said.

  She felt his heart pound against her ear, but heard no other words, and she quickly realized this was an evasion. He didn’t want to tell her that he didn’t love her.

  Her heart hurt so much she feared it would explode. She had made a huge mistake by being honest with Michael, but she didn’t know how she could go back.

  After the tenth day of Michael leaving early for work and returning late, Bella could no longer avoid the truth. She had changed things by telling him she loved him. She couldn’t go back, and Michael could only pretend so much. She couldn’t stand the idea that he wanted to avoid her.

  She felt a combination of humiliation and disappointment with a dash of abandonment. Oh, quit being a baby, she told herself as she rose from his bed long after he’d left. She stroked the pillow where he’d slept, dipping her nose to breathe in his scent. She’d messed up.

  She should have kept her mouth shut. She never should have admitted that she loved him.

  Michael didn’t know how to handle that. He didn’t understand the concept of love. He’d grown up needing and wanting, but not getting. Now it was too late for him to truly receive. He couldn’t bear her words or the deep emotion they conveyed. She’d shattered the fragile balance of their relationship.

  Accepting the reality was painful. She wandered around his home, sensing this was her last time in his domain. Her stomach clenching so hard she could barely stand it, she wrote a note and left it on his pillow.

  Her leaving would provide relief. More than anything, she just wanted his peace.

  Michael came home on Tuesday night excited beyond belief. He couldn’t wait to share his news with Bella. Possibilities bloomed in his mind. “Bella,” he called. “Bella, I have news.”


  Silence greeted him. Maybe she was working late. Damn, he’d wanted to share this with her. He wandered upstairs to change his clothes. He pulled off his suit and stepped into jeans and a long-sleeve sweater to ward off the chill of the evening. Bella would make him warm later on, he thought, smiling to himself.

  His glance strayed to the bed and he caught sight of a piece of paper on his pillow. Curious, he walked to the bed and picked up the folded paper. Unfolding it, he read it.

  Dear Michael, I am so very sorry, but I cannot continue our affair. I have fallen in love with you. I know it’s not what you want. It’s messy and emotional and I don’t know how to deal with it. I thought I knew what love was before I met you, but I was wrong. Now I just want you to be happy. If I leave, you won’t feel pressured to do anything more than you want. I’ll pay you back even if it takes my whole life. I promise. I wish you every good thing. Love, Bella.

  Michael sucked in a quick, sharp breath. Bella was gone. He felt as if a knife had stabbed him between his ribs. She loved him and he couldn’t love her back. How could he explain that he’d spent his life protecting himself so he wouldn’t be hurt again? How could he explain that being self-sufficient was the only thing that had made him survive?

  Loving meant being vulnerable, and he couldn’t do that. For anyone.

  Michael avoided his bed as long as possible and finally faced it without Bella’s loving arms. How could he possibly sleep? he thought, tossing and turning. Hours later, he finally fell into a restless sleep where he dreamed of Bella. Her smile, her eyes, her touch. His alarm sounded and his arms were empty. No Bella. No joy.

  He rose and worked out anyway.

  “Don’t ask,” Bella said to her aunt as Charlotte looked at her with concern.

  “How can I not?” Charlotte asked. “You have circles under your eyes. Your smile is a grimace.”

  “I just have to soldier through,” Bella said. “It’s one day at a time right now. Okay,” she amended. “One hour at a time. It will get better. It will just take time.”

  “What happened?” Charlotte asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Bella said.

  Charlotte sighed. “Well, I realize this is horrible timing, but Fred and I have decided to get married.”

  Bella blinked in amazement. “You’re going through with it?”

  “Yeah,” Charlotte said. “He says he can deal with anything that happens, even a recurrence of my cancer.”

  Bella smiled despite her own pain. “What a man.”

  “Yeah,” Charlotte agreed. “What a man. We’re going to do it in two weeks.”

  “So soon?” Bella said.

  “When you get to be our age you don’t want to waste time. We’re going to go to the justice of the peace then have a party at my house. Would you be a witness?”

  “Of course,” Bella said, and hugged her aunt. “I’m so happy for you. You deserve this.”

  “Thank you, sweetie. Your time will come. I know it will,” Charlotte said, but Bella had given up on Michael.

  Bella had finally realized that to be willing to surrender to love was to be strong. She deserved to be loved.

  Michael’s cell phone vibrated as he reviewed the balance sheet for one of his restaurants. He glanced at the caller ID and picked up. “Hey, Rafe, what’s up?”

  “I’m in town,” his brother said. “Feed me an early dinner.”

  Michael glanced at his watch. “It’s three o’clock now. Are you going back tonight?”

  “Yeah,” Rafe said. “Now that I have Nicole and Joel, I don’t like being away overnight if I can help it.”

  “Big switch for you,” Michael said.

  “Yes and a good one,” he said. “So where do you want me to meet you?”

  Michael was tempted to get a rain check. He hadn’t been in a social mood since Bella had left. But Rafe was his brother, and after all they’d been through, he couldn’t brush him aside.

  “What are you in the mood for? Steak, Asian, seafood?”

  “I’d like a good greasy burger and fries,” he said.

  “You got it. Meet me at Benson’s downtown. See you in a few,” he said, and hung up.

  A half hour later, he and his brother sat in the bar of one of Michael’s popular downtown restaurants. The server took their order as soon as they sat down.

  Rafe grinned in approval. “One of the things I like about eating with you is how great the service is. There’s never a wait.”

  “I doubt you do much waiting wherever you go,” Michael said.

  Rafe shrugged and studied Michael. “Hey, are you okay? You look a little rough around the edges.”

  “Thanks, bro,” Michael said wryly. “I’ve been working a lot lately.”

  “Yeah, well take a break every now and then. Even us Medicis have to do that.”

  “When I get a chance,” Michael said and changed the subject. “How is Nicole?”

  “Morning sickness appears to have hit except for her the nausea is worse in the evening. She can’t stand the smell or sight of any kind of meat.”

  Michael nodded. “That’s why you wanted a greasy burger.”

  “Yeah, this may be my only chance for a while. But I’m not complaining. She’s worth it,” Rafe said. “And this time, I’ll be with her and the baby from the beginning.”

  Michael knew that Rafe still suffered from not knowing he’d had a child for the first three years of Joel’s life. “It looks like you and Joel are getting along pretty well.”

  “Oh, yeah. He’s a great kid. Nicole has done an amazing job with him. She sends her best, by the way, and still wants the recipe for that cake Bella made. You don’t mind passing that on for me, do you?” Rafe asked as the waiter served their meal.

  Michael had suspected the subject of Bella might come up, but he’d hoped it would happen nearer the end of the meal. His appetite suddenly disappeared. “That might be tough. Bella and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.”

  Rafe blinked in surprise. “Really? I thought she must be important if you were introducing her to us. But I guess it’s easy come, easy go.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Michael muttered and took a drink of water.

  Rafe frowned as he bit into his burger. “I don’t understand. Are you saying she dumped you?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Michael said. “She just wanted something I couldn’t give her.”

  “Hmm,” Rafe said and continued to eat his meal. “This is a great burger, by the way. I haven’t had one in a week. So what did Bella want? A house in the South of France?”

  Michael shook his head. “No. It wasn’t anything like that. Nothing material. She just wanted me to have feelings for her that I’m not capable of.”

  “Oh,” Rafe said. “You mean love.”

  Michael felt as if his brother had pointed a gun at his heart. “Yeah. I told her at the beginning, but things changed.”

  “You don’t look too happy about it,” Rafe said.

  “I’m not, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  “Do you love her?”

  “I don’t believe in love for myself. For other people, it’s fine. It’s not for me.”

  “Chicken,” Rafe said in a matter-of-fact voice and lifted his hand before Michael could reply. “Hey, I was there, too. You think Damien wasn’t? With our background, we keep our hearts under lock and key. Too much damage already done. Don’t want to lose anymore. Trouble is, if you don’t let the right one into the vault, you lose even more.”

  Michael couldn’t listen to his brother’s advice right now. He was still miserable about losing Bella. “Okay, thanks for the lecture. Can we change the subject?”

  “Sure,” Rafe said. “But it won’t change that wretched feeling of loss in your gut.”

  “Thanks again,” Michael said. “How’s the yacht business?”

  He listened to the news of Rafe’s latest business ventures and shared some of his.

  “Have you gotte
n any more news from your P.I. about Leo?”

  “Just what I told you last week. What a roller-coaster ride. Last week, the PI tells me maybe he’s alive but it will take longer to find him.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

  “Me, either,” Rafe said.

  “I’m not giving up,” Michael said.

  “I wouldn’t expect you to give up,” Rafe said. “I need to go,” Rafe said, rising. “Thanks for the meal. That burger was better than gourmet food for me.”

  “Glad I could do it,” Michael said, joining his brother as he made his way to the door. “Tell Nicole to hang in there and give Joel a hug.”

  “Will do,” Rafe said, then paused. “If you’re this unhappy over Bella being gone, you might want to rethink your anti-love theory.”

  Michael shook his head. “No.”

  “Well, it looks to me like that ship has sailed. Maybe you’ve already fallen in love.” Rafe lifted his hand and squeezed his shoulder. “Call me if you need me.”

  Two weeks later, Bella drove to the courthouse for Charlotte’s wedding. Her aunt—dressed in an ivory and red silk suit and top—paced just outside the office of the justice of the peace.

  “Are you okay?” Bella asked.

  “Yeah, just a little edgy,” Charlotte said. “Do you think I’m making a big mistake?”

  “Do you love him?” Bella asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Does he make you happy?” Bella asked.

  Charlotte’s expression softened. “Oh, yeah.”

  “I think you’ve answered your own question,” Bella said, still devastated from her breakup with Michael.

  “Okay,” Charlotte said, glancing at her watch. “I think it’s time.”

  Bella walked inside the office with her aunt. She looked up to find Michael standing beside Fred. She flashed a look of desperation at her aunt.

  Charlotte mouthed the word sorry and turned her attention to her groom. Bella took a deep breath and focused on Charlotte. She absolutely couldn’t think about Michael.

  After Charlotte and her groom made their vows, the justice of the peace pronounced them husband and wife. Bella couldn’t keep tears from her eyes.