by Regina Duke
Ashley’s eyes widened at Thor’s introduction. Before she could speak, Reese gave her a fatherly hug.
“Congratulations! Oh, my goodness, I am so happy for you.” He snapped his fingers and a young woman in a waitress uniform scurried over. “Tina, make sure Mr. Garrison and his lovely fiancée get the best meal ever.” He winked at Thor. “And maybe they’ll have their wedding reception here.”
When they were finally seated in a quiet booth, Ashley leaned forward and asked, “Now everyone in town will think we’re engaged.”
Thor looked innocent. “Your idea, remember? Besides, you can bet Britney Beth is going to interrogate everyone she knows in Eagle’s Toe to get the scoop on us. Telling Reese is insurance. He’s a wonderful man, my first client when I came to town.” He lowered his voice to add, “But he loves to talk. It won’t be long before Britney Beth gets confirmation of our status.”
“Wow,” said Ashley. “You really want your mother off your back.”
“You have no idea.”
Ashley realized after a few seconds that they were gazing into each other’s eyes. A tickle of excitement stirred within. Thor was a very attractive man, and his blue eyes twinkled with humor. And perhaps something else?
She cleared her throat. “Well, I’m starving.” She picked up the menu and studied it carefully. “I hope the food is good here.”
“It’s fantastic. Try the cioppino. It’s a lunch favorite.”
Forty-five minutes later, over coffee, Ashley had to agree that the cioppino was magnificent.
“And the sourdough. I’m going to dream about this bread.”
Tina the waitress appeared at her elbow. “Any dessert?”
“Nothing sweet,” said Ashley. Then she put her fingertips together. “But could we have another mini loaf of sourdough?”
Tina nodded. “Coming right up. It’s homemade, you know.”
Thor pulled out a pen and spread a paper napkin on the table.
“Now, down to business.” He wrote a few lines on the napkin. “How does that look?”
Ashley was smiling when she pulled the napkin close to read what he’d written.
The nuts and bolts facts of his agreement wiped away all the warm feelings she’d been having.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Is something wrong?” asked Thor. “Your face just fell into the Grand Canyon.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Ashley’s smile looked forced. “It sounds very nice. Very… civil. Matter of fact.”
Thor’s brows knit together, and he leaned forward to read the napkin upside down. “Look, Ashley, we can change this any way you want it. You came up with the idea, remember? You started the ball rolling when you texted my mother. But I don’t want you to feel like I’m taking advantage. Here. Let me add something.” He pulled the napkin back and jotted another line. He slid it back across the table. “How’s that?”
Ashley gawked. “A new car?”
“Well, it’s really a selfish thing on my part, because if you’re playing the role of my fiancée and eventually my wife, you can’t be seen riding around in another POS like the one you came in on.”
“POS?”
“Piece of—” Thor bit it off. “A used vehicle of uncertain vintage. After all, Thor Security has an image to maintain.”
Ashley perked up a bit. “As long as it benefits your image, then fine. Lord knows I need a car.” But her expression was still not what Thor was hoping for as she gazed at the napkin.
“You want to add something else?” he asked.
Ashley screwed her mouth sideways, thinking.
Thor watched her face moving through different emotions. Her eyes were dark and luminous in the restaurant lighting. Her lashes were incredible. It occurred to him they must be natural, because she hadn’t had access to her luggage since Sunday morning. The women he knew traveled with a tiny suitcase for their makeup. He hadn’t seen anything like that either. He was especially pleased that she seemed okay with the new car idea, and he was touched that she didn’t start enumerating the extras she wanted or the color or the model. That was what he would expect from Britney Beth.
Even in deep thought, her face was exquisite. He’d made a special effort to keep the wording of the agreement short and professional. He didn’t want her to think he was trying to get her into bed or make her exchange physical favors for the work he was doing for her. Frankly, at this point, he would gladly provide protection for her for as long as she wanted, and he’d do it for nothing. Maybe he should tell her that?
He reached for the napkin.
“I guess this is a bad idea.”
“No, wait,” said Ashley. “Let me read it out loud, and you tell me how it sounds, okay? Pretend you’re a girl with no job history, no prospects, no money, and no family.”
“Okay.” Hopeful, Thor rearranged himself in the booth, crossed one leg over the other, propped one elbow on the table, and flipped invisible girl hair over his shoulder. “I’m ready.”
Ashley laughed. “I don’t look like that.”
“I’m thicker and bigger, but the hair flip is close, you have to admit.”
Ashley shook her head, but she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. “All right. Ready, girl friend?”
Thor grinned. “Ready.”
Ashley straightened up and read. “I, Thor Garrison, do hereby agree to accept Ashley Clair’s offer to pretend to be my fiancée and wife for a period of no less than one year as payment for investigative and bodyguard services that have been rendered and shall be rendered in the future. No sexual relationship is implied or required by this agreement.”
“Don’t forget the line about the car.”
Ashley cleared her throat. “I also agree to provide Ashley Clair with a new vehicle as part of this agreement.”
Thor turned his hands over and pursed his lips, like an old movie star impersonating a woman. He forced his voice into an unnatural register. “Oh, thank goodness he put in that line about no sex, because I am not that kind of girl.”
Ashley shuddered and held up a palm. “Stop! Please. You’re a terrible girl.”
Thor grinned at her and leaned back in the booth, reassuming his masculine demeanor. “Thanks. I think that’s a compliment. Now let me read it, okay? And you pretend you’re the girl with no job history, no prospects, no money, and no family. Ready?”
Ashley stirred sugar into her coffee. “Ready.”
Thor read the same words. He tried to sound official, but he couldn’t help letting his feelings shade his voice. When he finished, he raised his brows and waited for Ashley’s reaction.
“Oh,” said Ashley. “Okay.” She seemed to have softened. “When you put it that way, I can accept your terms. Do we have to sign something?”
“Let me see that napkin.” He took it back and placed a line of dashes along the bottom, one for him and one for her. “Just sign on the dotted line.”
“Pen?”
He handed her his pen. Just then, Tina reappeared with a plate of sourdough and butter.
Thor looked up at her brightly. “Sugar, if you’ll watch us sign this napkin and add your own signature to the bottom, I’ll leave you a big tip.”
Tina smiled brightly. “Okay.”
Ashley signed.
Thor took the pen and signed next to her name. Then he handed the pen to Tina, casually covering the body of the message as he did so.
“Thank you, sweetheart. We’ll need a to-go box for the bread.” He reached into his wallet. “This should cover everything.”
“But Mr. Garrison, this is a hundred dollar bill.”
“I told you I’d leave a big tip. You keep the change.”
Tina’s face lit up. “Thank you. I’ll get that box right now.”
Thor smoothed the napkin.
“There. I like the look of that,” he said softly. He folded it and tucked it into his wallet.
“So, what next?”asked Ashley. “Car? Marriage license? The agreement does say ‘wife�
�� and that will require a license eventually. Clothes? Oh, please say clothes. These are getting embarrassing.”
Thor chuckled. “Clothes first.” His phone pinged. He glanced at the screen and frowned. “Oh, great. Things were running too smoothly, weren’t they?”
“Not in my opinion,” muttered Ashley, sipping her coffee.
“Not in mine either,” grumbled Thor. “It’s a text from my mother. She’s looking forward to Friday. Says she’s been dreaming of this day. What in the world?”
Ashley got up and sat down next to Thor to look at his phone. She flicked the screen to show previous messages. “There. Wow. You were pretty sure of yourself, weren’t you?”
“What do you mean?” Thor peered at the screen. The little box said, “Getting married Friday. Hope you can make it.” The time signature on the message was 8:45 a.m.
Realization dawned as cold as the late October sun. “Britney Beth!”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ashley’s brow showed a hint of a wrinkle.
“You mean, your crazy girlfriend texted your mother that we’re getting married Friday? I thought she hated me.”
“Please don’t call her my girlfriend.” Thor’s mouth tipped in an ironic smile. “Hate is a mild word, under the circumstances. She didn’t mention who the bride’s going to be. Knowing Britney Beth, she’s planning to be the one who walks down the aisle. I’d bet money on that.” He glanced at this watch. “Speaking of money, change of plans. Let’s go get you a vehicle to drive before the banks close. We can handle wardrobe issues with a credit card.”
When they arrived at Eagle’s Toe New and Used Cars and Agricultural Equipment, it became clear that Thor Security had their business as well. After much handshaking and smiling and many pats on the back, the owner of the dealership produced a brand new black Ford Expedition that he had just received that morning.
Ashley was amazed at how fast a person could buy a car when all the dealership had to do was call the bank to verify that Thor’s check for sixty-five thousand was good.
As they left the dealer’s office, Thor handed her the keys. “Think you can find Thor Security from here?”
Ashley took the keys and managed to look only mildly astonished. “You’re letting me drive?”
“My vehicle can’t drive itself. You can follow me back if you’re not sure.”
“Okay.” Ashley enjoyed driving the big SUV even though it wasn’t what she would have chosen. Of course, her choice would have been dictated by payment size and would have been selected from the used car lot, not the new car side.
She reached out to adjust the heater and nearly rear-ended Thor as he stopped for a light.
Trembling at the near miss, she scolded herself and buttoned her gray tweed jacket. Having something to drive was great. She was going to drive it straight to a department store. Only she couldn’t remember seeing one in Eagle’s Toe. She would follow Thor to his office and ask about clothing stores.
She pulled around a corner and parked in front of Thor Security. Thor was already out of his vehicle and waiting for her on the sidewalk.
“Nice ride,” he said with a wink.
Ashley smiled. “Drives like a dream.” She fiddled with knobs on the dash.
“What are you doing?”
“Figuring out how to turn the heat on. Is that a DVD player?”
Thor nodded. “You never know when Rocky will want to watch a movie.”
It took Ashley a moment to realize she was being teased. “Oh, funny. Okay. Clothes. I need to know where to shop in this town.”
“Britney Beth will know.”
“You said she lives in Texas, right? How come she knows so much about Eagle’s Toe?”
Thor offered his hand as she stepped down out of the vehicle. “She has a tendency to show up on my doorstep a lot.”
“Uninvited?”
Thor looked uncomfortable. “Yep. Pretty much.”
“And you put up with that?”
“Her mama is my mother’s best friend. She’s always saying if she had a daughter, she’d look just like Britney Beth. I guess I put up with it for my mother’s sake.”
As he finished, he opened the office door.
Rocky barked for joy and bounded across the room to greet them.
Britney Beth spun around and had the good grace to look embarrassed. She was standing in front of Thor’s workout mirror, admiring herself in a full-length lace-and-silk wedding gown.
Ashley tried to comprehend the scene before her.
Thor stood with his hands on his hips. “Are you kidding me? Britney Beth, you have out crazied yourself. What the hell do you think you’re doing? First you pretend you’re me and text my mama that I am getting married on Friday. And now you stand here imagining in your fantasy world that you will be the bride.”
Britney Beth’s eyes sparked fire, but instead of rebutting, she grabbed her purse off the weight bench and stormed out of the building, got into her Mercedes and drove away.
Ashley blinked, trying to shake the vision of Britney Beth’s bridal glory out of her mind.
“She’ll be back,” said Thor, crossing to his desk to check his email.
“I don’t know. She looked awfully mad. I told you we’d eventually need a marriage license, but Friday? I don’t know if we can get one that fast.”
“Not in Eagle’s Toe. But we’ll think of something. Maybe we should ask Britney Beth what she planned to do about that little problem.”
Someone knocked on the front door.
“Speak of the devil,” said Thor, getting up from his computer. He pointed to the back room. “Got to go to the little boys’ room.”
It wasn’t Britney Beth.
Two young girls stood at the door, both dressed in black. One was black haired and hazel eyed, and would've been innocent looking if it hadn't been for the heavy black eyeliner, the expensively scissored black hair, and the practiced sullen expression. The other girl was too skinny, two inches taller, and could not stand still. Both wore black jeans under their long black winter coats. The shorter one spoke.
“Hi, my name is Karla. Minion and I go to high school here, and we’d like to know if we could paint your windows for an art project for school.”
“Oh, gosh,” said Ashley. “I'm not sure. Let me check.” She turned to call Thor to the door, but Karla didn’t wait.
“Fine. We understand. Two young unproven females with no credentials. Why would you want them to paint your windows. We get it. Come on, Minion.”
Ashley’s face screwed into a question mark as she turned back to the girls. “Your name is really Minion?”
Minion danced from one foot to the other. “No, it's Mindy, but that’s so boring that we decided my name should be Minion. I like it, don't you?”
Karla shushed her and gave her a dirty look.
Ashley tried not to laugh as she asked Karla, “Does Mindy know what minion means?”
The taller girl rolled her eyes. “Hello! Not dead. Standing right here. Not stupid, either.”
Ashley made an apologetic face. “I'm so sorry. My bad. Let’s start over. Now, what was this all about again?”
Karla pulled a folded paper out of her pocket, whipped it straight and held it out.
“Here’s the letter from our teacher. As you can see, it's all very official. It has our names on it and everything. See? I am Karla Fineman Wake and this is Mindy my Minion, and our teacher is Mr. Pratt, and he came up with this idea for us to paint windows in the real world. We’re supposed to chronicle our progress with our smart phones and make a presentation to the class about our Halloween windows. It won't cost you anything. It's all about us getting experience with a different medium and doing something for the community.” Then, as if realizing how grown-up that last part sounded, she added, “You know how teachers are. Always wanting us to get involved.” She ended with the obligatory eye roll, then crossed her arms and waited for Ashley to speak.
Ashley scanned the teac
her’s letter as she leaned against the door jamb. “Well, it turns out Mr. Garrison has been looking for a way to get involved in the community as well. I think having you girls paint the front window would be a great thing to do. When can you get started?”
Minion jumped up and down and clapped her hands together.
Karla sighed like a martyr and shook her head. “Min, a little decorum, please. Remember what we talked about?”
“Sorry,” said Minion. “Just excited.”
Karla spoke to Ashley. “We can get started after school today. You have to sign our letter so our teacher knows we’re not just painting graffiti on your building.”
Ashley laughed. “Hang on. Hey, Thor? You need to sign this.”
Karla leaned back to look at the business name over the door. “His name is really Thor? Cool.”
Thor appeared behind Ashley. “I asked you to stay inside. You’re a huge target standing in the door like this.”
“Cruel,” said Minion. “She’s not huge at all.”
Thor frowned in confusion. “Who are you two?”
Karla held out her hand. “Karla Fineman Wake, of the Rocking Eagle Finemans. I go to school here. Nice to meet you.”
Impressed, Thor shook her hand.
Ashley wiggled the paper in her hand. “They’re asking permission to decorate our windows for Halloween.” She stressed the “our.” “They need your signature to prove it’s legit to their teacher.”
“Sure. Glad to.” He signed on the line for business owner’s approval. “How long will this take?”
Karla took the paper and folded it carefully. “The town window contest is going to be judged about four o’clock on Halloween. That’s Wednesday. So this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon has to do it.”
“I look forward to seeing the finished product. Ash? Sorry, girls, we’re in the middle of something.”
“No problem,” said Karla. “Thanks a lot. We’ve got to pick up our supplies. See you later.”
Ashley smiled at them as she closed the door. Through the front window, she could see Minion jumping for joy. Karla was patting the air, trying to calm her down.
