Colorado Billionaires Boxed Set (The Wedding Wager, The Wedding Hazard, The Wedding Venture)

by Regina Duke

  Kevin’s frown evaporated. “Where did you grow up?”

  “Mostly in California. My dad is a minister, and he kept moving from town to town, looking for a church that needed him.”

  “Do your parents live here?” Kevin hoped she hadn’t said anything to them yet. But then, all they would know would be that she was applying for a job as personal secretary. Nothing to worry about.

  “No, they’re in Guatemala. That’s where dad finally found a church. A mission, actually.”

  The frown was back. “You said you had to give your mother this address.”

  Megan blushed. She rolled her eyes. “Of course, silly. In case you were a serial killer. Someone had to know where I was.”

  “So you called Guatemala?”

  “I was planning to eventually.”

  Kevin laughed. He cut it short and grew serious again. “Look, Megan, I think you have a real chance at this job. There are some aspects of it that I need to explain before you make your final decision. Are you an open-minded person?”

  “That depends. If you are the head of a secret cult, then no, I’m probably not open-minded enough for you. If you’re a legitimate employer, then yes, I may fit the bill.”

  “Oh, this is a legitimate offer of employment. But the duties may vary a bit from what most people consider appropriate for a personal secretary.”

  This time it was Megan who slumped in her chair. “Please don’t tell me you’re just looking for a date or a masseuse.”

  “No, that’s not it at all.” Kevin liked Megan more and more, every time she opened her mouth. She was funny and direct and fresh. She was perfect. Now if only he could convince her to take the job.

  “There’s nothing sexual or inappropriate involved in this position at all. It’s just not exactly a secretarial position in the traditional sense. You see, I need someone who can listen when I talk and retain information about my family and my business interests. I need someone who can comport themselves with dignity and composure in social situations. I need someone who doesn’t hate small boys.”

  It was Megan’s turn to laugh. “That’s a good one. Fairly specific, too.”

  Kevin offered a crooked smile. “I have a little brother.”

  “What else do you need?” Megan was enjoying the way his face shifted from sternly serious to truly amused. When he was stern he looked like he might be thirty-something, but when he smiled, she guessed his age to be close to hers. And when he laughed, he looked like a little boy. It was an attractive mix.

  Kevin hesitated. Twice he’d gotten this far, and twice the candidates had stomped out in fury. He chose his words carefully. He did not want Megan to hurl epithets and flee.

  “I have a complicated family situation,” he began. “My parents are not in Guatemala. They are very much here in the States. And there is a hundred-year-old legal arrangement governing my inheritance. I need your help to guarantee that I meet those legal requirements. In exchange, I will pay you handsomely, cover all housing and transportation, and when everything is secure, there will be a large bonus in it for you.”

  Megan tilted her head to one side and narrowed her gaze. “Are you sure there’s no sex involved?”

  “I’ve had a legal contract drawn up for you examine, if we get that far. The no sex part is written into the contract. You will not be forced or coerced to do anything you do not want to do.”

  “You were right. It’s not what I would expect from a job as personal secretary.” She tilted her head to the other side. “On the other hand, if you have lawyers involved, the chances of you being a serial killer are much reduced. They tend to work alone.”

  Kevin smiled again. “We seem to have a rapport,” he said. “That is encouraging.”

  Megan shook a finger back and forth in the air and said, “We have repartee,” she said. “That’s not quite rapport.”

  “But it’s a beginning. Is it enough to do business together?”

  Megan’s brows knit together and she leaned forward, hands clasped. “Let me see if I understand you. You want me to learn a ton of stuff about your family, then deal with your parents and your kid brother.”

  “I have a teenage sister, too. Do you know much about teenage girls?”

  “I spent several years as one,” said Megan. “My advice to your sister is to age as quickly as possible.”

  Kevin nodded and replied in a serious tone, “I’ll pass that on to her.”

  “You also want me to help you jump through legal hoops so you can receive your inheritance.”

  “Correct.”

  “I’m not a lawyer,” said Megan. “I have no background whatsoever in law.”

  “Not necessary.”

  “Then how on earth could I help you with legal rigamarole?”

  Kevin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His fingers drummed the surface of the desk. “I need to be legally married before my twenty-fifth birthday.”

  Megan blinked at him. “You want me to plan your wedding?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Megan leaned back in her chair and pinned Kevin with a sideways glance. “Just what do you want me to do?”

  Kevin braced himself for another fiery exit, then said flat out, “I need you to agree to marry me until my inheritance is secured. Once that happens, and a decent amount of time passes, we can arrange a discreet divorce. You will receive a handsome settlement, and I will have control of what is rightfully mine.”

  Megan sat quietly for several seconds. Then she stood up and slung her purse over her shoulder.

  Kevin thought, Here it comes. She’s going to stomp out, just like the others.

  But instead, Megan asked, “May I use your restroom?”

  “Oh. Of course. It’s that door by the Picasso.”

  Megan retreated to the bathroom.

  Kevin plopped backward in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. At least she hadn’t walked out. Yet.

  He waited five minutes. Seven. Ten.

  He got up and began to pace. Then he stopped and stared out the windows. Megan was right. How could anyone get any real work done in here with that view beckoning?

  A soft click behind him announced Megan’s return. He whirled in time to see her take her seat. She was holding a paper towel on which she had written some notes.

  Megan cleared her throat. “First of all, that is a Picasso print, not an original. I’m sure you know that, but I just wanted you to know that I do, too.”

  Kevin nodded. “Okay.”

  “As I said before, I know nothing about the law, but isn’t it illegal to marry someone for personal gain?”

  Kevin shrugged. “No. If you want to get nit-picky, women do it all the time. Not every couple marries for love.”

  Megan bobbed her head once to acknowledge that fact. “But I remember in college, a girl got in a ton of trouble for agreeing to marry a Russian engineering student so he could stay in the country and get a green card.”

  Kevin spread his hands. “I’m not a foreign national. I’m an American citizen. As such, I have the right to get married if I want to. Correct?”

  Megan bobbed her head again, then moved on to her next note. “You had a lawyer draw up the contract. Will I be allowed to show it to another lawyer? May I take a copy of it with me?”

  Kevin squirmed.

  Megan’s head dropped. “So it is a trick, then.”

  “No, no, it’s legit. I just can’t let you take a copy away with you. You see, if my father’s legal team sees this contract, I’m screwed.”

  “What if they see it after the wedding?”

  Kevin’s heart pounded. Could she be about to say yes to the arrangement? He was flustered and had to think before he answered.

  “If they ever see this contract, they will raise hell in the courts for years.”

  “Then aren’t you taking a terrible chance by showing this contract to anyone? Even prospective signers?” Megan could see that he hadn’t thought of that as his face fell
and his brow furrowed with worry.

  “I, er, didn’t think of that.”

  “Did you show it to the other applicants?”

  “No. We didn’t get that far.”

  “And you haven’t shown it to me yet, so you’re safe.”

  “It includes a confidentiality clause.”

  Megan turned a hand over. “But that only helps if I actually sign the contract, right?”

  “Oh, God, I’m screwed.” Kevin slumped in the chair. Why hadn’t he thought through to this point? Thank goodness he hadn’t shown those other women the contract.

  Megan smiled genuinely for the first time since she entered the room. He was definitely fallible and obviously in trouble.

  But then, so was she. The dreaded envelope practically burned a hole in her purse.

  Megan rose and pulled her chair up to the mahogany desk. She laid her paper towel notes out flat, then pulled the envelope out of her purse and set it in front of Kevin.

  “I think we can help each other.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “What we need,” said Megan, “is a prenup. Your father’s lawyers can never fault you for having a prenup, can they?”

  “You mean, you’ll do it? You’ll pretend to be my bride?”

  “Oh, don’t be silly. I’m not pretending anything. If you want me to help you secure your inheritance, I can do that. But I need to know that you will keep your part of the bargain. So we will get married legally with a prenup.” She tapped her finger on the envelope. “No matter what happens to our marriage, I need to know that this will be taken care of, either as your wife, or as part of the divorce settlement.”

  Kevin studied the envelope. The return address was a hospital imprint. He frowned as he pulled the papers out. Page after page of medical billing stared up at him.

  “Yours?”

  Megan nodded. “Car accident. Everything I owned was in that car. I was moving to the city to start a new job. Never made it. I’ve been in the hospital for six months.”

  Kevin couldn’t stop himself from staring at her. “Sorry, but you look great. Perfectly normal.”

  “I am, now,” she said. “My mother flew home from Guatemala and stayed with me through the surgery and my first two weeks of physical therapy. But my father needed her at the mission. He’s building a school for orphans down there. So when mother felt like I was going to be okay, she went back. She left me forty dollars in cash and a mailing address for the mission. They’re very dedicated people.”

  Kevin’s brow darkened. “Pretty damn cold, if you ask me.”

  Megan tucked her chin. “Really? Not at all like your father, who wants to rip your inheritance out of your hands, right?”

  Kevin held up an index finger. “You win that point.”

  “Can you do it?” asked Megan, nodding at the envelope. “Do you have that much money? Or is this all a scam to get a girl in bed?”

  “It’s not a scam.”

  “Good. Because there will be no sexual contact until or unless I say so. After all, rape is rape, even when people are married, and since we are conducting a business deal here and you need your father to believe we are deeply in love and legitimate, it would ruin everything if I had to report you for rape. Details about our meeting today might get out.”

  Kevin felt a cold knot form in his gut. He hadn’t seen that coming. If he didn’t pay her medical bills and legally marry her, she would go to his father. He hadn’t realized how attractive he thought she was until she shattered his growing fondness for her.

  But he couldn’t show her the door. If she was willing to blatantly blackmail him, he didn’t dare kick her out. Besides, this was what he wanted in the first place, right? He had to agree to her terms in order to secure his siblings’ future.

  She was a smart blackmailer, he had to give her that. She wanted a legal marriage and a prenup. Well, fine, he’d give her a prenup. He pulled himself together and turned the most businesslike face he could manage in her direction.

  “All right,. Do you want that in the prenup? No sex against your will? Or is my word enough?”

  Megan could feel him drawing back. She wasn’t sure why. She was just trying to help him out of his dilemma while helping herself out of hers. Wasn’t that what he wanted? A fake marriage to guarantee he would inherit?

  She found herself irrationally irritated by his sudden cold shoulder. “You have to be a better actor than that if you want to pull this off. If we’re supposed to be in love, you can’t be distant.” She tapped the envelope. “Can you do it?”

  Kevin nodded. “It won’t be a problem.” He tried to ignore his disappointment and restore the easy banter they had shared earlier, but he couldn’t think of anything witty to say. “You were right,” he said sadly. “Repartee is not the same thing as rapport.”

  Megan found her resolve weakening. She put a hand to her mouth, searching for the right words. “You were ready to have me sign a contract,” she said. “Now you’re acting like my request for a prenup is all hard and cold. I don’t understand. The legal safeguards are okay for you, but they’re wrong when they’re my idea?”

  That hit Kevin between the eyes. He sat stunned for a moment.

  “Fine,” said Megan. “I knew it was too good to be true.” She stuffed the medical bills back in the envelope and shoved everything into her purse. The fruit she’d taken from the limo got in the way. She dumped it on the desk. “This was supposed to be my dinner, but I don’t want you to think I’m cheating you out of anything. So you keep this. It came from your mini fridge. Wish I could say it was nice meeting you.” She stood up and headed for the door.

  “Wait!” Kevin shot out of his chair and beat her to the door. He blocked her path, his hands up in surrender. “Please, don’t leave.”

  Megan pulled up short and waited for an explanation.

  Kevin spread his hands. “I didn’t realize I was doing that,” he said. “What you said. Wanting legal safeguards for me but not wanting any for you. I never looked at it that way. Please. Let’s be businesslike. You need your medical bills paid, and I need your help.”

  Megan’s shoulders loosened. “Okay, then. Let’s make a list.” She returned to her chair at the desk.

  Kevin followed her. Whatever she had in mind, he could deal with it. He just had to get through that wedding and the transfer of the family trust into his hands. He would pay whatever price he had to pay to secure the future for his brother and sister. He didn’t have to live with this arrangement forever.

  Megan waited for him to sit before she asked, “When can we get this agreement written up? How soon will it take effect?”

  Kevin grimaced. She was so eager to begin reaping the benefits. Then he caught himself again. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was applying a double standard. He would reap benefits, too, as soon as they got through the wedding. He cleared his throat to cover the grimace.

  “I can deliver the details to the lawyer today and have him here tomorrow morning with papers for us to sign.”

  Megan seemed relieved. “Excellent. All right. Here’s what I was thinking.” She laid her notes out again on the desk.

  Kevin leaned forward and studied her tidy handwriting. He read the list three times, then turned the paper towel over. Nothing there.

  “This is it?”

  Megan looked uncertain. “Is it too much?”

  Kevin was confused. If she did turn out to be a blackmailer, she wasn’t very good at the extortion part.

  “Basically you are asking for me to pay off your medical bills?”

  “Well, that and the $20,000 to cover the income I would have made if I’d been able to take my new job.” Megan’s features twisted. “And if I could have $200 of that in advance, I could get a hotel room for the night and maybe buy an outfit that wasn’t picked off the Salvation Army racks.”

  Well, that explained why she looked so odd in her summer frock, thought Kevin. It didn’t suit her because it was a charity dress, and when you have n
othing to wear, you take what you can get.

  That realization humbled him. Megan was taking him up on his job offer because she literally had nothing, not even a place to spend the night.

  Kevin never wanted his sister Karla to be in that situation. He never wanted her to have to sell her dignity to pay a medical bill or wonder where she was going to sleep or what she was going to eat for dinner. This marriage of convenience wasn’t convenient for anyone, not even for Megan.

  Kevin pulled out his wallet and counted out a thousand in cash. “Here.”

  “But that’s way too much,” said Megan.

  “We’re going to be engaged and married, right? I had no idea you were living on the street. Take this and buy some clothes. Jeffrey, my chauffeur, will drive for you. I know it’s just a stop gap measure, but be sure to include a pair of jeans and comfortable walking shoes. We’ll be going to the family ranch for the wedding. When you’re done shopping, Jeffrey will take you to the Hilton. I have a suite there, and you’ll have your own room. Oh, take the fruit. You might get hungry while you’re shopping.”

  Megan looked overwhelmed. “Thank you. And the prenup?”

  “I’ll be very busy this afternoon, getting those details taken care of, among others.” He glanced at his watch. “You’d better go. It’s already after three.” He picked up the phone. A moment later, he spoke. “Jeffrey? Megan is coming down in the private elevator. She needs to shop for clothes this afternoon. Please put it on my credit card and see to her every need.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Megan let Jeffrey escort her back to the limo. She was delighted to have a driver. She didn’t think she trusted herself behind the wheel of a car since her accident. She’d had far too many nightmares in the hospital, revisiting the crash. Every time she dreamed about it, she realized how close she’d come to dying.

  The thousand dollars in her purse made her feel a little better about the arrangement she was about to enter into. But she couldn’t help being a little worried. Maybe scared was a better word. Even so, the sound of Kevin promising to pay off that onerous medical bill was music to her ears.

  Of course, there was still the worry that he was a serial killer or had some other nefarious plans in mind. But Jeffrey Wong seemed like a stand-up guy. Oddly enough, she felt perfectly safe with Jeffrey. Maybe it was the uniform. Or maybe it was the gorgeous interior of the limousine. She helped herself to another soda and ate her banana during the drive to the mall. She decided she would call her mother before the end of the day. At least that way, someone, somewhere would know what she was doing. Just in case.