Hired Bride

by Jackie Merritt

  So what she had really done, after leaving Zane’s home yesterday, was hide her true concerns behind questions about right and wrong. That had been much easier to do than face what had really been bothering her: spending two days with Zane Fortune, meeting his family and friends, and pretending that she and Zane were lovers.

  She faced it squarely the next day while getting ready for Zane to pick her up. She had already driven her kids over to Ramona’s, each of them with a small overnight bag, then had returned home and started working on herself. It was no small task to turn herself into a lady of some leisure. While she filed and polished her short fingernails, and gave herself a pedicure, she worried about whether she would be able to fool anyone into thinking that a man like Zane Fortune would find a woman like her attractive. And if she were to believe Zane’s story to the letter, she was going to be under a lot of scrutiny. From people who were millionaires, yet! Probably not one woman she would meet at that wedding had ever done her own fingernails or given herself a pedicure.

  But all that aside, Gwen’s biggest worry was Zane himself. He was too good-looking, too rich, too sure of himself. She’d never met anyone even remotely similar before, and there was some part of her that was uncomfortably drawn to the glamorous appeal Zane exuded. Gwen was positive that her pragmatic side would never let her actually fall in love with anyone like Zane Fortune, but was it strong enough to prevent her from developing a silly, futile schoolgirl crush on the man?

  She couldn’t deny the possibility, and it bothered her so much that she dialed Ramona’s phone number. “How are the kids doing?”

  “You should be getting ready instead of worrying.”

  “I am getting ready, but I just realized something. Last night I talked about morality versus money and that wasn’t what was eating at me at all. I—I’m afraid of Zane Fortune.”

  “Oh, God, there’s something you didn’t tell me. Do you think he’s a pervert, or something?”

  “Ramona, no!” Gwen was appalled that she’d given her friend such a horribly false impression. “The truth, Ramona, is that I’m going to be spending two days with the most incredible man I’ve ever met, and what if I…well, end up liking him?”

  “Well, think about this,” Ramona said wryly, “What if he ends up liking you?”

  “Oh, he wouldn’t! I mean, how could he?”

  “For heaven’s sake, Gwen, are you deliberately looking for a reason to drive yourself crazy? In the first place you might not like him at all. In the second, why are you so positive that he could never like you?”

  “I just know it. Compare his life-style to mine and you’ll know it too.”

  “Because he’s rich and you’re not? So what? Gwen, I think that what you’re really afraid of is meeting his wealthy family and friends. You’re as good as any of them, and don’t you dare act like you’re not.”

  “What if I can’t pull it off?”

  “Good grief, you’re the most creative person I know. Create a persona for yourself that will knock everyone’s socks off, Zane Fortune’s included.”

  Gwen glanced at the two dresses hanging on the closet door that she’d thought would be best for the charade Zane had hired her for; she hadn’t yet decided which one to wear for the wedding today. Although they were both pretty dresses, neither of them would knock anyone’s socks off.

  But she had one in her closet that just might do that. “Create a persona for myself, hmm?” she murmured, more to herself than to Ramona.

  “And make it a noticeable one. Now hang up and get to it. I’ll be on pins and needles till you get back tomorrow, and you’d better have some darn good stories to tell me.”

  “’Bye, Ramona,” Gwen said absentmindedly, and put down the phone. Hurrying to the closet she took out a plastic bag, then removed the bag and studied the dress it had protected for well over a year. She was pleased to smell no mustiness but rather the faint scent of her favorite perfume; she had dropped several sachets of the fragrance into the bag when she’d put the dress away. Next she reached to the top shelf of the closet for a shoe box, and in it were the stunning high heels that went with the dress.

  “You want to impress your family, Mr. Fortune?” she said under her breath. “Fine, we’ll impress your family.”

  Zane had instructed Gwen to dress for the wedding ceremony and reception afterward, because he would be picking her up just early enough to allow for the drive to the ranch. “Bring an overnight case with whatever else you think you might need. Along with Saturday’s big event, there’s going to be a Sunday morning brunch. It will be casual, so slacks or even jeans will do for that.”

  She realized it hadn’t even occurred to him that she might not have appropriate clothes for a formal wedding—which didn’t surprise her considering how he lived. He was in for at least one surprise.

  When she was finally made up, coiffed and dressed, she stared at her own reflection with a feeling of wonder. Was that woman in the mirror really her? It had been so long since she’d worn anything but jeans, shorts and old tops, and just as long since she’d put on makeup and spent time on her hair, that she could hardly believe her own eyes.

  Charged up over looking so good, Gwen finished packing her overnight case, and was ready and waiting when her front doorbell chimed. She was carrying her handbag and the small suitcase when she opened the door.

  “Hello,” she said, and then watched a wash of confusion erase his smile.

  “You…you’re gorgeous!” he blurted, alerting Gwen to the fact that he hadn’t expected her to look as she did.

  She smiled. “Save the flattery for later, when we have an audience,” she said pertly, and pulled the door closed behind her. Brushing past him, she started down the front steps.

  Zane wondered about his almost stupefied reaction to Gwen’s appearance. He never had trouble talking to women, and compliments had always rolled off his tongue smooth as silk. Blurting was not his style, and yet he had definitely blurted when Gwen opened her door. In fact, he was still amazed at her astonishing transformation from the soggy but pretty woman in his mind to this glamorous creature.

  Regaining his wits, he hurried to catch up with Gwen and take the overnight bag from her hand. “I’ll put this in the trunk.”

  “Thank you.”

  He opened the passenger door of his luxury car and she got in. Because her skirt was split, he caught a glimpse of a long, sensually shaped thigh as she brought her legs around, and a jolting awareness of Gwen Hutton as a highly desirable woman suddenly buffeted Zane. Frowning, he rounded the back of the car, paused to put her bag in the trunk, then continued to the driver’s side.

  After starting the engine, he looked her way and gave her another amazed once-over. When she turned her head and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he stammered, “Guess I’m staring, huh?”

  “I’d say so,” Gwen said dryly.

  Since stammering was another thing Zane never did with women, his doing so now unnerved him. Gwen appeared to be cool as a cucumber, and he felt like a tongue-tied boy. Unusual, damn unusual, he thought uneasily as he pulled away from the curb.

  Of course, he hadn’t expected her to look like a fashion model, he thought in defense of his behavior. Her dress was really a stunning black suit with pale gray satin piping around lapels that were just far enough apart to permit a glimpse of cleavage, which was sexier to Zane than if her entire bosom was on display. Her hosiery was gray and her high-heeled pumps were black. Her hair had been piled on top of her head in a mass of curls, with floating tendrils around her face and nape that tormented Zane.

  Gripping the steering wheel tightly, he tried to concentrate on driving instead of on the way Gwen looked. But inhaling the subtle scent of her perfume with every breath worked against him, and he kept stealing peeks at her.

  Finally, he couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “You’re going to knock my family out,” he said. “My friends too.”

  “That’s what you wanted to accomplish, wasn�
��t it? I mean, isn’t this entire charade aimed at impressing your family and friends?”

  “True.” Zane laughed then, albeit weakly. “Guess I didn’t expect to be impressed myself.”

  Uh-oh, Gwen thought warily. If she let herself, she could be very impressed by him. He looked fabulous in his dark suit and white shirt, and she would bet anything that the tie he was wearing had cost as much as her entire outfit—which she’d bought on mark-down.

  But she had not dressed to impress him, she insisted to herself. She was only keeping up her side of their “business arrangement,” and she didn’t want to hear any more compliments from him while they were alone.

  “Let’s keep this strictly impersonal,” she said coolly. “I have a few questions. Since you want your family to believe we’re a…couple, I should know a little more about you than I do. For instance, how do you take your coffee, and what’s your favorite drink as far as alcoholic beverages go?”

  “I suppose you’re right, but remember that I should know more about you too. Coffee strong and black, and while I’m not much of a drinker, I prefer scotch. What about you?”

  “Coffee with cream, no sweetener. Wine or champagne only. Are you a reader?”

  “I run in spurts. I doubt if anyone’s going to ask you what book I might be in the middle of reading.”

  “Probably not. I enjoy reading but have little time for it. Same with TV.” Gwen paused, then asked, “If someone asks me what I do, what would you like me to say?”

  Zane sent her a frown. “Is there anything wrong with the truth?”

  “Not to me there isn’t, but bathing dogs and running other people’s errands is hardly a glamorous job.”

  “It’s an honest living. Just be yourself, Gwen, except for our supposed relationship. Now that subject might raise some questions. How we met, for example.”

  “Well, if I’m going to be honest about my job, I might as well be honest about that, as well.”

  “Might as well be,” Zane agreed, then chuckled. “It was pretty funny, wasn’t it? Your chasing Alamo through the house, both of you sopping wet?”

  “Hilarious,” Gwen said wryly.

  “Of course, you can’t say it happened only yesterday. I’d like everyone to think that we’ve been seeing each other for at least two weeks.”

  “Fine,” Gwen snapped.

  Zane sent her a look. “You don’t like lying, do you?”

  “Never did, never will. But it’s what you’re paying me for, and I’ll do what I can to help you pull the wool over your relatives’ eyes.”

  “When you put it that way, it seems pretty underhanded,” Zane muttered.

  “It is underhanded.” Gwen sighed. “But it’s your family, and I’m just the hired help.”

  That last remark hit Zane the wrong way, and he fell silent to stew privately. It was too late to wish he’d met Gwen under different circumstances and hadn’t instantly seen her as a replacement for Heather, but the thought was there, all the same. He didn’t like Gwen thinking of herself as the “hired help,” but what could he do about it now? They were almost to the ranch, and he knew they would be rushed by relatives the minute they arrived. Everyone would want to meet his lady friend; he and Gwen would instantly have to go into their act.

  No, there was no turning back now. He was caught in a trap of his own making, and wishing that he’d never thought up this ridiculous scheme was an exercise in futility. He’d forever set the tone of any possible relationship with Gwen Hutton, and he would have to live with it.

  Three

  Gwen had known she was in for a range of new experiences during this November weekend, but the armed guards at the entrance to the ranch took her completely by surprise.

  Zane pulled to a stop and rolled down his window. “Hello, Dan,” he said, as one of the guards bent over and peered into the car.

  “How are you, Zane?” Dan asked cordially.

  “Just fine. Nice day for a wedding.”

  “That it is.” Dan stood away from the car and motioned Zane on.

  “What was that all about?” Gwen asked.

  “They’re just making sure that everyone is an invited guest.” Zane paused, then added, “Dad has become very security conscious. It started after Matthew’s infant son was kidnapped.”

  “I recall reading about that. The Fortune name is often in the newspapers.”

  “It’s in the papers too damn often,” Zane said gruffly. “That’s another reason for those guards at the gate—to keep out the media.”

  Gwen’s next surprise was the valet parking. Young men, smartly dressed in black trousers and red jackets, were parking the arriving guests’ vehicles in neat rows in a field of freshly mowed grass.

  “Is that huge parking area the norm?”

  Zane found himself pleased with Gwen’s curiosity. At the same time he hoped that the army of family and friends she would meet this weekend wouldn’t overwhelm her. Dressed as she was today she looked sophisticated and confident, but the Fortune family en masse could daunt the strongest spirit, and Zane suspected that Gwen had never attended an affair like this one promised to be. He suddenly felt very protective of her and swore that he would do his best to shield her from some of his nosier relatives.

  “For special occasions, yes,” he said. He stopped the car at the Valet Parking sign. “We’ll get out here.”

  At last Gwen could see the ranch compound, and she was mesmerized by the sight of Ryan Fortune’s sprawling mansion, the huge white wedding tents set on emerald-green grass, the number and variety of flowers that seemed to be everywhere and the mingling crowd of fabulously dressed people.

  She was still staring, still attempting to digest everything, when someone opened her door. “Ma’am?” one of the valets said politely, and offered his hand to help her from the car.

  She felt a bit dazzled by it all, but she managed to smile at the young man and thank him when she was out of the car and on her feet. Zane was instantly at her side.

  “Our luggage will be taken care of,” he told her. “Your suitcase will be brought to the bedroom you’ll be using tonight.” She wore a strange expression, and Zane hoped that her confidence wasn’t already slipping. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  Gwen lifted her chin. It was true that she wasn’t accustomed to such luxurious surroundings, but she’d never been afraid of meeting new people, and that was really all she was going to be doing.

  “I’m fine,” she said. When he still looked a little uncertain, she added, “Zane, I really am. Stop worrying.” She took in a breath. “Shall we get started?”

  He offered his arm, grinned and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

  The first couple to greet them was Dallas and Maggie Fortune. Zane and Dallas shook hands, Zane kissed Maggie’s cheek, and said, “Gwen, this is my brother, Dallas, and his wife, Maggie.” To his brother and sister-in-law he said, “This beautiful lady is my very special friend, Gwen Hutton.”

  Gwen saw surprise in both Dallas’s and Maggie’s eyes, but they shook her hand and smiled warmly. Smiling herself, she murmured, “Very nice meeting you.”

  That was just the beginning. By the time everyone went into the designated tent for the wedding ceremony, Gwen’s head was spinning with names and faces. Not so much that she didn’t notice the elegant decorations inside the tent, however. It was all so lovely, so tastefully done, she thought emotionally. She had never pined for great wealth, but from what she’d seen so far today, wealth did have its advantages. If she had to pay for a wedding, for example, it would have none of the glamorous pageantry of this affair. Her thoughts drifted to the future, and she hoped ardently that when the time came for her children to marry she would have the financial means to at least help them pay for a memorable wedding.

  She remained emotional throughout the ceremony. The bride was beautiful in a stunning white gown, and the groom was extraordinarily handsome in a formal gray cutaway suit. Their attendants were beautifully attired.

 
; Zane and Gwen had been seated in the second row of chairs, almost directly behind Zane’s father, Ryan, and the bride’s mother, Lily Cassidy. Gwen was positive she had never met a more beautiful woman than Lily, who possessed an exotic, ageless beauty. Gwen recalled meeting Cole Cassidy, Lily’s son, and his fiancée Annie, and then meeting a young woman named Maria Cassidy, who had been standing alone. Was Maria another one of Lily’s children? Gwen wondered. If she was, she was very different from the rest of her family. Of course, Gwen reasoned, she hadn’t yet met Hannah Cassidy, or rather Hannah Malone, she amended just as the minister said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

  As the bride and groom kissed, people began rising. Parker and Hannah, arm-in-arm and wearing big smiles, swept down the aisle.

  Gwen and Zane stood up. “It was a beautiful wedding,” Gwen said huskily, still feeling emotional.

  “I think weddings are catching,” Zane said with a laugh. “There’ve been almost a dozen of them among my friends and family in less than two years. Did I tell you I’m the last holdout in the Fortune family?”

  “I don’t remember your mentioning it,” Gwen said rather dryly. “But I knew there had to be a reason why your female relatives believe it’s your turn.”

  “And speaking of my single status, Gwen, you’ve been doing a great job. I’ve overheard comments. ‘Who is she?’ ‘How did Zane meet her?’ ‘She’s quite lovely, isn’t she?’ Things like that. You’ve got them all talking and wondering.” Zane took Gwen’s elbow and steered her into the aisle.

  “Then I guess I’m earning my pay,” Gwen said, deliberately striving to sound a bit sarcastic. She’d been slowly but surely becoming unnerved being with Zane. It was extremely discomfiting to look directly at him, especially into his cobalt-blue eyes. It wasn’t just his outstanding good looks that troubled her, either, it was him! All of him— his aura, his smile, his voice, his grace of movement. In truth, she could find no flaw in Zane Fortune. He was intelligent, friendly and charming. And he exuded a sex appeal that any woman would have to be totally numb not to feel. It was especially prevalent when he touched her as he was doing now, with a completely innocent hold on her elbow to escort her from the wedding tent.