“Last time I saw you do shots was at your college graduation party, remember?” He chuckled.
“I don’t remember much about that night,” she lied. They had shared a drunken kiss, many years ago on the night of her graduation. She’d promptly pretended to forget, preferring to be thought of as someone who drank until she blacked out over someone who had given in to her long-time lust for her brother’s best friend.
Their fingers touched as she handed him his glass, and she couldn’t help but notice the jolt of heat that passed between them. Guilt filled her. How could she be thinking about anyone in that way at a time like this? But it wasn’t just anyone. It was Mack—and damn if he hadn’t always had this kind of effect on her. An effect she’d never acted on…as long as you didn’t count the stolen kiss at her graduation party, which she didn’t.
Despite the length of time they’d known each other, Mack had always been on the fringes of her life, always little more than an acquaintance, despite his closeness to Joe. He was her brother’s friend, not hers. Truth be told, this was probably the longest conversation she’d ever had with him.
And she’d been off the market, so to speak, since high school, all the way through college. Until her ex had dumped her on graduation night, which made her getting wasted and kissing Mack the only thing that had made sense at the time.
“Thank you,” he murmured, draining his glass.
“I don’t know what I’m going to tell our mother,” she said.
“I think you should tell her what we know. Otherwise she’ll think Joe and Marisol are dead.”
“Now? Do we have to do it now?”
Mack’s eyes flickered to the baby monitor sitting on the granite counter top. “It’s up to you. If it were my child who was missing, I’d want to know right away.”
Child. “Mack, what about Callie? What’s going to happen to Callie if her parents are presumed…” she swallowed, forcing herself to say the word. “Dead?”
“I’m not sure. Knowing Joe, and assuming he planned this, he’s probably got a will in place with directions. I’ll call our lawyer in the morning and find out. In the meantime, Joe had said you were taking some time off to watch the baby, right? So keep doing that. They weren’t due back for another week, anyway, so even if this hadn’t happened you’d still be taking care of Callie.”
Lauren nodded, suddenly feeling completely drained. “Okay.” She picked up the cordless phone and walked toward the doorway to go into the living room. “I’m going to call my mom. You don’t have to be here. I think…I think I need privacy.”
Mack took her glass out of her shaking hand and sipped it, apparently not concerned about sharing germs. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
“Will you spend the night?” she asked. Damn it—that sounded wrong. “I mean, in one of the guest rooms. Surely you don’t want to drive back to the city in this storm.”
“Yeah, I’ll stay.” His gaze penetrated her, pinning her in place with its intensity.
She tore herself away, clutching the phone like a life preserver as she walked out of the kitchen.
…
Mack sat heavily on one of the kitchen stools. The extensive air and sea search that had been done had turned up nothing. What Lauren said made the most sense—that the FBI had stepped in and helped them disappear. Joe must have some sort of information, something bad on the shady investors he’d accidentally gotten wrapped up with. Something on Scorino.
Damn it, Joe. There was no way Joe and Marisol were actually missing, not with the way Joe was on a boat. He was more comfortable on a boat than on dry land. So, of course, Joe and Marisol couldn’t be like other couples and go on a regular cruise. No, Joe wanted to have complete private time with Marisol to repair their failing marriage. Sad that their marriage was down the drain after less than a year.
He couldn’t imagine himself ever doing what Joe had done—get married because his girlfriend had gotten pregnant. Yeah, it was noble of him and all, but what kind of life is it that you have to run off on a cruise to save your marriage after being married for less than a year?
Mack watched Lauren through the kitchen doorway as she stood in her brother’s dining room, the phone clutched in one small hand. She looked slightly rumpled, probably since he’d woken her. Even rumpled, she was still more beautiful than most other women he’d had the good fortune to date. Usually, when he saw Lauren it was at some event, like one of his shopping center grand openings. Their interactions were limited to small talk in five minute increments at most. He’d never seen her without her hair perfectly clipped in place, her makeup carefully applied. Now, he’d caught her unexpectedly, and her shapely body was clad in comfy-looking yoga pants.
Hmm. Lauren doing yoga…
Get your mind out of the gutter. How could he be thinking about sex, or rather, Lauren in a particularly complicated yoga position, at a time like this? Unfortunately for Mack, he had a hard time thinking of anything else whenever Lauren was around. Always had.
He’d had a crush on his best friend’s twin sister since the first time he’d met her, when she’d come home from college for winter break. Of course, he’d never dream of dating Joe’s sister—his code of honor would never allow for it. That, and she had been part of one of those sickeningly-cutesy couples that walked around with their hands in each other’s back pockets.
It seemed like Joe had warned Lauren about his dating history, anyway. The one time he’d given in to temptation and stolen a kiss, almost ten years ago, and she didn’t even remember it. Probably just as well. He’d figured it was his one chance, right after her loser boyfriend had dumped her. He thought the guy would have realized his mistake and come crawling back to Lauren the next day, but he never did. Come to think of it, Lauren hadn’t brought a new boyfriend to any business or family event since.
He’d been thinking about her all day, dreading giving her the news about Joe and Marisol. Every time her phone had gone to voicemail or he checked his email to discover she still hadn’t responded, he’d cursed and breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Because knocking on the door to tell her that her brother was missing and presumed dead—and that he’d probably faked his own death with the help of the FBI—oh, God. He wished he’d never had to tell her that…wished it had never happened in the first place. He heard quiet talking from the living room as Lauren explained to her mother what was happening. Mack’s throat tightened and his hand went to his neck to loosen his tie. Ha. No tie. He was wearing Joe’s T-shirt.
Joe. His best friend and the best business partner a guy could have asked for. How could he pull a stunt like this?
And while Mack didn’t want to seem freaked out in front of Lauren, she’d brought up a great point. What was going to happen to baby Callie? She was his goddaughter, which technically meant that if something happened to her parents then Mack would step in, but he knew nothing about raising a child, and if anyone knew that, it was Joe.
He’d just have to wait and see what their lawyer said in the morning.
They’d also have to wait and see how tomorrow’s final sweep of the ocean panned out. If the authorities were in on the plan, then they wouldn’t find anything. And that would be more proof that Joe and Marisol were still alive.
“We can meet with the lawyer in the morning,” Lauren said, coming up behind him. “In the meantime, I’ll continue to take care of Callie.”
“I’ll have my assistant cancel all my meetings for the next two days,” he said.
She nodded, her long dark hair falling into her face. “Do you want to go to bed now?”
He inhaled sharply, imagining her lying in her bed, her arms held out to him in invitation. Don’t be an idiot. She means separately. Obviously. Mack shook his head to clear his thoughts and realized she was still expecting an answer.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“It’s going to be fine,” she said softly. “I know they’re okay, I can feel it.”
He nodded in agreement
. Even if Joe and Marisol were fine, they’d left their baby behind. Everything depended on what was written in the will. Callie’s future was at stake.
…
At the lawyer’s office on the Upper East Side, a woman Mack had never met before sat to one side, perched on the edge of her chair.
“I’m Mrs. Salazar, I’m the social worker in charge of Callie Peters’s case,” she said. “I understand she’s currently at the daycare you run, Ms. Peters?”
“She’s fine,” Lauren said quickly. “I mean…yes.”
Mack glanced at Lauren, noting the look of fear in her eyes. What was going to happen to the baby?
Finally, they sat in the leather chairs situated across the expansive mahogany desk and looked at Thomas Finley, Mack and Joe’s business lawyer. He’d been an invaluable asset to their team, guiding them through all the ins and outs of commercial real estate acquisition. When they had started their corporation, they had both drawn up wills stating the survivor would inherit the other half of the business if one of them should meet with an untimely death. When Joe got married, Mack had insisted he change the will to leave his half of the business to Marisol.
Thomas sat in his seat at the desk and spread the papers out in front of him. “I wish we were all meeting under better circumstances,” he began. “As it stands, we have a lot of ground to cover. Joe Peters owned many assets, as you are all well aware. They would have gone to Marisol, but since she has passed as well…” he paused as if to mark the fact.
Mack wondered if his lawyer found it strange that none of them were grieving—did he even notice? Or had Joe told his lawyer about his plan to “lay low” so he could revise his will?
Next to him, Lauren crossed her legs, her skirt sliding up her thigh to reveal her pale skin. He forced himself to look away and concentrate on the matter at hand.
“Since she is also gone,” Thomas continued, “Joe’s half of the company goes to his daughter, Callie, to be deeded to her on her twenty-first birthday provided she goes to college first. In the meantime, the assets will be managed by Mack Hansen.”
Mack nodded. He’d been expecting something like that. He could care less that he now had control of several million dollars more than he had this morning.
“Joe’s house and all his belongings are to be liquidated,” the lawyer continued, “with the funds used to raise Callie and to send her to school when the time comes.”
Oh, hell no. “Joe’s going to lose a fortune if we sell all of his property in this market. I mean…his heir. Callie will lose a fortune. We can’t liquidate,” Mack said.
Thomas sighed. “Whatever your personal beliefs are about the matter do not affect the actual law, unfortun—”
“Who?” Lauren interrupted. “Who’s going to raise her?”
“That, Ms. Peters, is the problem I was about to get to.”
“Problem?” Mack asked. “What’s going on?”
“I want you to know, sir, that I tried to warn Joe about wording the will in this way, but he insisted. He said he only wants Callie raised by a married couple so she could have both parents.”
Lauren sighed. “That’s so like him.”
As far as Mack was concerned, Mrs. Peters had been a shining example of a single mom who was able to have a successful career, working as a nurse while she raised Lauren and Joe. But in the years Mack had known Joe, it had become clear that Joe had never forgiven his absent father for not being a part of their lives growing up.
“Pardon?” Mrs. Salazar asked.
“Nothing—I mean, our mom did a great job with us,” Lauren said. “But I think when Joe got Marisol pregnant he really wanted to be there for the baby, and he turned his whole life upside down to marry her. It makes sense he’d still want that for Callie, even if he died.”
Thomas nodded, glancing down at the will in front of him again. “Yes, that’s basically how he put it to me as well, back when he wrote this.”
“Wait—” Mack said. “So Joe hasn’t recently revised this will? This is the same will he wrote when he and Marisol got married?”
“Yes, of course,” Thomas said. “Why? Did he say he planned on fixing this?”
Mack glanced at Lauren. It was clear Joe hadn’t had time to make the arrangements he needed before he had to go into hiding. Something must have happened, or someone must have intervened, before he could set things straight.
Thomas cleared his throat. “His will stipulates that Lauren, as Callie’s aunt, should be the one to raise Callie—”
A look of surprise crossed Lauren’s face. Mack had never heard Lauren say she wanted children of her own. He’d always assumed she’d moved past that idea—Joe had once mentioned she couldn’t have kids since she had a hysterectomy after a major car accident she’d been in as a teenager. But she seemed almost excited by the prospect of raising a baby now.
“There’s a condition, Ms. Peters,” Thomas said. “You must be married to gain custody of Callie. If you’re not married, which you are not, then custody goes to Callie’s godfather, Joe’s life-long best friend and business partner, Mack Hansen.”
Mack swallowed hard. Me? Raise a baby? Surely his lawyer was pulling his leg. “Can you repeat that?”
“I don’t think Joe was intending on having his will read quite so soon,” Thomas said. “The will stipulates that you must be, and I quote, ‘Done with his partying bachelor days and settled down with a nice wife to help raise my child.’ That’s a quote, sir.”
“This is ridiculous,” Mack said. “Neither of us is married, so who gets Callie?”
The social worker, Mrs. Salazar, raised her hand as if she were in a class, waiting to be called on. “Unfortunately,” she said quietly, “that is why I’m here. Due to the circumstances, it seems Callie will need to be placed in a foster home, someplace with a married couple so she can have a two-parent unit caring for her, per her father’s wishes.”
“Absolutely not!” Lauren said, standing up. “I run one of the best damn daycare centers in Manhattan. I have a bachelor’s of science in Child Development. I’m Callie’s aunt, her blood relative. So I think I’m qualified to take care of her, husband or no husband.”
“Personally, I agree,” Mrs. Salazar said. “But our feelings on the subject are irrelevant. The will is very clear. Callie must be raised by a married couple. And while her father would have liked it to be either you or Mr. Hansen, since neither of you is married, she’ll have to go into foster care until she is either adopted or one of you two is married and capable of adopting Callie yourself.”
“And if we contest the will, Tom?” Lauren asked the lawyer.
“Contesting a will can take a long time,” he said quietly. “Years, in some cases. In the meantime, Callie would go into a temporary living situation such as foster care with a married couple.”
Mack watched this exchange in silence. He didn’t want the baby living with strangers, even if it was only until Joe and Marisol came back. Who knew how long that would be? The answer was clear. It was the only way. He stood and grabbed Lauren’s hand in his.
“Callie will stay with us,” he said firmly. He silenced the protest he saw forming on Mrs. Salazar’s lips with a sharp glare. “Because Lauren and I are getting married. To each other. And that solves the problem.”
Chapter Two
Lauren gasped and pulled her hand out of Mack’s grasp. Get married? Surely he was joking. “What are you talking about?”
“You want to keep Callie, right?” he asked, staring into her eyes as if she were the only other person in the room, and they weren’t being scrutinized by the social worker and the lawyer.
“Excuse us,” Lauren said to the others, and grabbed his hand again, yanking him toward the door. He didn’t budge, and there was no way she could physically move his two-hundred-pound frame without his consent. “We need to discuss this privately.”
Mack nodded and followed her out the door. She slammed it without meaning to and whirled around to face him,
heat rising in her cheeks.
“Are you serious? How could you even think about saying we’re getting married?” she asked.
“I know you love that little girl, Lauren. And I know you love your brother enough to not want his daughter to leave this family. Joe wanted us to take care of her. He said so in his will.”
“He didn’t mean us, together,” she said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure Joe would freak out if he thought you were making a move on me. He’s been warning me away from you since you guys were roommates in college.”
Mack waved his hand as if to clear away her concerns. “I’m not making a move on you. This is business. And Joe would understand that extraordinary circumstances warrant unusual solutions.”
“But we’re not married, Mack.”
“It’s just a piece of paper,” he said, shrugging. “We can go down to the courthouse this very afternoon and make it official. It won’t be a real marriage, of course. It would be in name only.”
“It wouldn’t be a marriage in name only, Mack,” she said. “Don’t you see? If we’re living together to raise Callie, it’ll be…it’ll feel very real. At least to me.”
He leaned in so close she had to tilt her head up to keep looking into his eyes. “Is that a problem? We’ve known each other for a long time. I think we could take care of Callie together, at least until Joe and Marisol return. We don’t need to really be in love to get a piece of paper that says we’re man and wife.”
Hmm. What he said made sense. They didn’t need to be in love to get married, not really. Love. It would be so amazing to find a man who’d love her, who’d want to stay with her forever. Not someone like her ex-boyfriend Steve who had waited until his sister had a baby to realize he wanted his own children, something she could never give him. Or any man.
Could this be her only chance to get married?
“For as long as I’ve known you,” she said, “you’ve always said you’d never settle down. Ever.”
The Tycoon's Convenient Bride... and Baby (Entangled Indulgence) Page 2
