Billionaire's Bride

by Eden Proctor

  Dahlia looked at him and he watched as her expression shifted from disgust to come-hither, though Nate didn’t miss the boredom underneath it.

  It was hard to remember now how Dahlia had gotten his attention, but sometimes Nate wasn’t all that discerning.

  Her dark blond hair was styled to perfection in a messy look that Nate knew took hours to create. She was dressed in a formfitting black cocktail dress, one that gave a peek of cleavage. The look was completed with half carat diamond earrings that Nate suspected he’d bought, though he couldn’t be sure, and black fuck-me pumps that had caught his eye the instant he’d looked at her.

  She was everything he remembered, and Nate had no problem justifying their month-long fling. It had been longer than his usual affairs, but Dahlia had made it worth it. But then the boredom had set in and he had ended things. He hadn’t given her a second thought in the months since he had seen her last.

  That he was on the verge of proposing to her gave him a momentary shock, but this was the situation his grandfather had put him in. He had thought of his problem on and off all afternoon but had come back to an undeniable conclusion.

  Mindy was right. If he married, showed Gordon that he had his head on straight, he might get the old man to see reason. But if he dug in, tried to force his grandfather’s hand in the matter, there’d be no winning.

  And besides, he didn’t want to put more stress on their relationship. His grandfather had had bypass surgery the previous summer, and even now, Nate was still terrified. Before, he’d somehow managed not to think of his grandfather’s advancing age, but last summer had been a wake-up call.

  Gordon wouldn’t be around forever, and he didn’t want to waste the time they had left in a petty squabble where both of them dug in, mired in the stubbornness that Mindy had called out earlier. He’d rather give on this point, at least a little, than be in conflict with his grandfather.

  It probably said a lot about him that Dahlia was the best option he could come up with, but he had racked his brain, and she had been it.

  So what that she was a little snobby? Or that Nathaniel couldn’t recall a meaningful conversation they had ever had?

  Things between them had never been about conversation, and they wouldn’t be now.

  The bottom line was she looked good on his arm, he didn’t think she would embarrass him in front of his grandfather, and she wouldn’t have expectations. Nathaniel would keep her in diamonds and nice clothes, and she’d stay out of his way.

  The arrangement was perfect as far as he was concerned, and Nate was certain Dahlia would agree.

  “Nate, let’s go somewhere else. I heard there is a new club open at the harbor,” she said.

  The grating whine in her voice, and the way she made his name two syllables instead of one was like nails on a chalkboard. Nate frowned, but breathed deep before he spoke.

  “Maybe later. I was hoping—”

  “Let’s go now,” she said.

  The irritation he had felt ratcheted up even higher, but Nate continued to ignore it.

  He needed to add a stipulation to the arrangement, one where she promised not to drive him nuts, but for now, he needed to focus.

  “I’m glad you could come out,” he said, deciding to change the subject.

  “For you? Any time,” she said, her eyes taking on that hungry gleam.

  She didn’t try to hide it, and he didn’t miss it, but he respected it. It also reminded him that Dahlia probably didn’t think he was the greatest either, so this would be even more ideal than he’d planned.

  “Why haven’t you called me all these months?” she asked.

  “I’ve been busy. Work.”

  She frowned. “I hope you’re not going to be one of those guys who tries to tell me about their job. Bor-ring.”

  Nate chose to ignore the fact that it was his work, and the work of the others that she no doubt fucked that kept her in the finery she liked. It would be futile to try to explain that to her, and he didn’t feel like dealing with the aggravation.

  “Let’s order food,” he said.

  He had planned to lay out the terms and then go back to her place for a celebratory fuck, but those plans had changed. Now he needed to find another place. At least in the beginning, he knew Gordon would expect him and his new bride to live together, and there was no way he was giving Dahlia the access code to his condo.

  He waved down the waiter, who stopped and turned to Dahlia.

  “I’ll have a salad with grilled chicken on the side. No cheese. No croutons. No dressing,” Dahlia said.

  She placed the order with a seriousness that Nate found comical but not as comical as the fact that she had ordered a chicken salad with no chicken.

  “I’ll have steak,” Nate said.

  The waiter nodded and then left.

  “Red meat is bad for you, Nate. You know what happened to your grandfather. He probably ate that poison for decades,” Dahlia said.

  “Let’s not discuss my grandfather, Dahlia,” Nate said through gritted teeth.

  Her eyes widened, and she was apparently smart enough to see the danger in the direction of this conversation.

  “Of course not,” she said, patting his hand. He wanted to snatch it away, but didn’t and instead glared at her.

  “You know. I’ve missed you…” She continued to talk but Nate tuned her out.

  Could he really go through with this?

  He had been certain just hours before, but now he wondered.

  It wasn’t that he objected to the idea, at least not completely. He figured he would marry at some point, if only to have kids. His own parents had died when he was eight, and he could still remember the pain of losing them.

  Living with his grandparents had helped, and he shared a bond with his grandfather that Nate wouldn’t trade for anything. But he looked forward to having his own family one day.

  He just wished his grandfather wasn’t forcing his hand.

  “Isn’t that hilarious?” Dahlia said, guffawing.

  Nate smiled, though he didn’t think it was convincing. If Dahlia noticed, she didn’t give any hint of it. Instead she continued, and Nate again tuned her out, instead thinking of his current conundrum.

  The doubts that had crept in before got deeper, more acute.

  She laughed again, and Nate again questioned his path.

  Would Gordon even buy it? And if he did, would Nate be able to deal with Dahlia until he won his grandfather back over?

  “It’s really nice to see you again.”

  Though his mind buzzed with activity, the sound of that voice penetrated his brain.

  Nate looked past Dahlia toward the sound of the voice, and his gaze landed on Mindy. She was on the opposite end of the restaurant, didn’t seem to be talking very loud, but he had heard her nonetheless.

  The sound of her voice, the sight of her was one that was a soothing relief. Relief that fled when Nate looked at the man who sat across from her.

  Mindy smiled at him, shyly, almost, not at all like herself. The man smiled back, though he appeared somewhat disinterested. The slight narrowing of Mindy’s eyes told Nate that she saw her companion’s disinterest as well, but he saw her push past that and smile.

  What was Mindy doing here?

  He supposed there was nothing out of the ordinary about the fact that she was. Actually, if he remembered right, she was the one who had told him about this place. They’d ordered in during one of the countless long nights at work, and it had become one of Nate’s favorites.

  He didn’t recognize the person she was with, though he didn’t suspect he should have. He didn’t know many of Mindy’s friends, and certainly wouldn’t know her date.

  He glanced over at the table quickly, deciding that this was definitely a date. The first, maybe second, if he was right.

  “Nate, what’s wrong?”

  He looked back at Dahlia, saw the concern in her expression, and realized that his face was twisted into a scowl. />
  “Nothing. I just saw someone I know,” he said.

  “Oh. Anyone interesting?” Dahlia said.

  “Someone from work,” he replied.

  The frown on her face told Nate how she felt about that, but a moment later she got back into whatever story she had been telling.

  Nate didn’t even bother to pretend to listen, barely noticed when the waiter returned with their plates.

  “I asked for the chicken on the side,” Dahlia said.

  Nate looked up, watched as the waiter walked away and then returned with a small plate that contained the offending chicken.

  “Thank you,” Dahlia said snidely.

  Nate pushed his own food around his plate as he watched her slice the lettuce into smaller than bite-size pieces.

  This might have been the first meal they had shared together, though Nate wasn’t sure he could call it that. The grilled chicken lay untouched, and she chewed each bite of her lettuce meticulously.

  “So we can go to Aspen in the winter, right?”

  “Aspen?” Nate asked, his attention drawn back to the conversation. “Maybe.”

  Dahlia smiled, nodded, and it was only then that Nate realized what that meant. It was late summer, so winter was several months away. He had more or less insured Dahlia that he’d stick around for that long. Which shouldn’t have disturbed him because he’d come here intending to make her his wife.

  Inside, he recoiled at the thought.

  The idea of spending winter with her, taking her to his family’s cabin where he and his grandfather shared epic, days-long games of chess. He could see her now, hear how she would whine about not having anything to do.

  Nate looked at her again. He was desperate, but was he that desperate?

  No.

  “Are you finished?” Nate asked.

  Dahlia put her fork down, leaned forward, no doubt doing her best to give Nate a nice eyeful of her cleavage. “I’m stuffed,” she whispered suggestively.

  Nate tried not to roll his eyes, and instead nodded curtly.

  “You still want to go to that club?” he said.

  She nodded emphatically, appearing almost happy for the first time the entire night.

  “Yes! I heard it’s incredibly exclusive. Do you think we’ll be able to get in?”

  Nate almost wanted to laugh again but didn’t have the time or patience to. “Sure. Why don’t you go ahead? I need to talk with a work colleague,” he said.

  Dahlia frowned, pouting. “You’re not coming with me?”

  “I’ll catch up. Why don’t you take the car? Have the driver put everything on a credit card,” he said.

  Then he pulled out his phone, gave his driver instructions to take Dahlia to the club and cover whatever she wanted.

  By the time he hung up, Dahlia was beaming, her expression gleeful.

  “See you later, Nate. I’ll keep a spot warm for you,” she said.

  Then she daintily folded her napkin and stood. She made a great show of walking away, and Nate was sure that just a few hours ago he would have found it sexy. Now, though, it was simply irritating.

  When she was finally gone, he breathed a sigh of relief.

  He was thankful that he hadn’t told Dahlia what he’d intended, because he would have had a hell of a time taking it back. But now, there was no question.

  There was no way he could marry her.

  Which meant he was fresh out of options.

  Maybe he could go to his grandfather, try to reason with him, at least ask for an extension. Surely he could get the old man to see reason?

  Nate thought back to earlier in the day, thought back over all the years.

  Gordon’s mind was made up. And even if Nate managed to change his mind, there would be a cost to that. His grandfather wouldn’t trust him and he certainly wouldn’t respect him.

  And that mattered more than anything else.

  No, Nate would figure this out, prove himself to his grandfather. But Dahlia wouldn’t be his wife. So who would take her place?

  Before he could even finish the thought his eyes drifted to the far corner of the restaurant. He had a perfect view of Mindy from here. She seemed to be teetering between bored and annoyed, and he understood. Her date, not that Nate wanted to call him that, constantly reached for his cell phone.

  And when he wasn’t touching the screen, he was talking at her. And “at” was the way to describe it. There was no give-and-take, and Mindy, who so often laughed, or at least managed to slide in a mischievous smile, sat stone-faced.

  He took some solace in the fact that he wasn’t the only one having a shitty day. He’d have to catch up with her tomorrow, tell her that he had seen her. They’d get a big laugh out of that, so at least he had something to look forward to even though he was no closer to solving his current predicament.

  He paid his dinner check, but then froze, his mind churning. He and Mindy would have a laugh about this. They’d shared many others, and he knew Mindy appreciated his humor.

  Nate also knew his grandfather loved Mindy. Earlier she’d said that the old man told her how much he respected him. But the same was true for her. Gordon never missed a chance to tell Nate how impressed he was by this or that Mindy had done, how he wished others had her level of commitment and dedication.

  It had often bothered Nathaniel.

  He was confident in his grandfather’s affection, but wished the old man respected his business acumen as much as he did Mindy’s. He looked at that respect in a different light now, though.

  His grandfather respected Mindy, liked her.

  Nate smiled.

  He wondered how Gordon would feel about Mindy as a granddaughter-in-law.

  Chapter 4

  “This has been great, Mandy,” Jim said.

  “A pleasure,” Mindy said, not bothering to correct her name.

  It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.

  If he was unaware enough to think that this disaster had been great, he wouldn’t care about something as unimportant as her actual name.

  Although, maybe she was being too hard on him. Maybe he had only said he was having a great time to spare her feelings.

  She looked up at him, determined that she would try to put her best possible foot forward. When she met his eyes, he looked at her, the little expression that she saw telling her everything she needed to know.

  “So, if you’re done…” He trailed off, gave her a significant look, and then went in for the kill. “We can go back to my place.”

  It was only twelve years of Catholic school manners that kept Mindy from laughing in his face. Instead she made a huge show of yawning, letting out a big, loud breath, stretching her entire body, not caring that the people who sat around them looked at her, frowning.

  “Wow. You know, I’d love to, but I am just so tired. So, so tired,” she said.

  “I can probably revive you,” Jim said.

  He waggled his eyebrows, and Mindy again had to call on all her self-control not to laugh.

  “Oh, I couldn’t possibly. I’m so, so tired,” she said.

  She gave him a slight smile and then crossed her hands on top of the table, blinking rapidly.

  Jim looked like he wanted to argue, but he seemed to get the hint.

  “Do you have cash?” he asked. “It’s only fair that we split the bill.”

  “Don’t worry. It’s my treat,” she said.

  She flashed another smile at the end of that sentence, watched as he returned it, seeming to be pleased.

  “Thanks. We should try to get together next week. Maybe when you’re more awake…”

  He waggled his eyebrows again, and Mindy shook her head quickly. “Maybe. I’m going to be very busy for the next little while,” she said.

  As far as he was concerned she would be busy forever, but at least he didn’t argue the point.

  “Thanks for dinner, Wendy,” he said with a smile.

  “You’re quite welcome,” she replied.


  “You mind if I…” He gestured toward the door and Mindy shook her head quickly.

  “Oh, don’t let me keep you.”

  He nodded, then stood looking at his phone as he walked through the restaurant.

  Mindy watched him and tried to wipe the frown off her face. This had been her idea, after all.

  She had met him at one of those group dating mixers, though now she couldn’t recall why she had held onto his number. Still, it was her fault since she had called him out of desperation.

  If anything, this was a good reminder.

  She’d have to deal with whatever she felt for Nathaniel, and she couldn’t look to someone else to fix that problem.

  She took a sip of her wine, sighed, wondering how long she would have to deal with this.

  A long time if the past was anything to go by.

  She had nursed this stupid crush for years now, and she couldn’t expect that to change overnight.

  She sighed again. She couldn’t expect it to change at all if she didn’t acknowledge what it actually was.

  A crush?

  She scoffed, laughed, uncaring that she probably looked unhinged. Calling what she felt for Nathaniel a crush was like calling a missing limb a scratch. Understatement wouldn’t get her anywhere, and besides, it wasn’t her style. If nothing else, she was honest. With herself and with others.

  And honesty dictated that she acknowledge the truth.

  She was in love with Nate.

  Even as she thought it, something she had never, ever allowed herself to do, the rightness of that label sank in.

  There was no way around it, no way to minimize that, pretend it was something that it wasn’t.

  She loved him.

  He sometimes found her amusing.

  She took another sip of her wine, considered ordering another glass.

  How was this even possible?

  How could she have done something so silly like falling in love with Nathaniel?

  He was an unrepentant playboy. Her colleague, almost her boss. A handsome billionaire from one of the oldest and most established families in the country.

  And what was she?

  Mindy. Scrappy Mindy Martin who’d had to fight for everything she had. Still had to each and every day.