A Royal Surprise: ( BWWM Romance )

by Tiana Cole

  “Right. I was optimistic. I was at loose ends after he and I had dinner. When he went off I ran into an old friend. We both had a slow day scheduled for today and I accepted his invitation to have a few drinks and relive old times. That turned into more than a few. I must’ve not been paying attention, because I lost control. When I met this beautiful lady,” he smiled at Deja, “I let my guard down.”

  “Normally that guard of yours is more like a wall.”

  Here it comes.

  “How long are you going to hate me because I wouldn’t marry Kathy?”

  “After making her think you would. And I don’t hate you. I just don’t like what you did.”

  “Right from the beginning I told her I wasn’t looking to get married. She just wouldn’t believe me.”

  He laughed. “You weren’t looking to get married and yet here you are married to some tramp you just met.”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your sister, Kieran.”

  “But you did.”

  “Yes, I guess I did.”

  “That guard of yours worked fine with Kathy, but not with this one. Did she outfox you, or was this love at first sight?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe neither. Maybe just a good time that got complicated.”

  “And now you called me because you need me to save your ass? I’m supposed to protect your business interests, not save you from yourself.”

  “C’mon Kieran. I’m asking your help here. We go way back.”

  “I don’t understand you, James. You’ve got all the experience in the world when it comes to negotiating deals—you work magic. Sometimes I think you can fucking read people’s business minds. You can turn them for or against almost any sort of business plan. Yet, when it comes to dealing with regular people, you fall on your face. You don’t care about people much, or you’re afraid of them. I’ve never sorted out which it is.”

  “Does that matter?”

  “Yes. Think about it. This woman found whatever chink you left in that armor, dude. Neither of us knows if she did it deliberately or lucked into it, but, for a time, she connected with you. She must have or you wouldn’t have married her. Even drunk you would have wanted some kind of connection.”

  He thought of telling Kieran the truth, that she was his dream girl, but under the circumstances that sounded dumb—incredibly dumb. Besides, saying that would rub salt in the wound, make it clear that even though he’d had an affair with Kieran’s sister, she hadn’t been the kind of woman he wanted to share his life with. That she felt the same about him cut no ice with his lawyer either. “So what do I do?”

  “That depends, doesn’t it?”

  “On what?”

  “On what you want out of this. You’re the one who told me that you have to begin any negotiation with asking yourself what outcome you want. I took that to heart and now you need to apply it. All sorts of things are possible, but what outcome do you want?”

  “I don’t get what you’re asking.”

  “Look, James, being married isn’t a crisis. It is a standard business and legal arrangement between two people. As a lawyer, I have to approach it that way. Like any other contract, you can choose to end it or make a go of it. Breaking a contract will cost you, and so will honoring it. In this case, there is an emotional price to consider, as well as her right to assert some sort of economic claim on you. You gave her that right.”

  “I guess I did.”

  “So before you leap into action you might spend a little time thinking about the consequences of those actions. For instance, how do you feel about the girl?”

  “Feel about her? I hardly know her.”

  “She was smart enough to bag you, so she’s got something going for her. She obviously appeals to you. But then, maybe only to a drunk you—I can’t say. At any rate, you might want to spend some time seeing if that’s worth keeping.”

  James looked over at Deja, who was sitting quietly, prettily, and listening. It amazed him that each time he looked at her he saw something else to like. Why was he insisting on being foolish? He couldn’t stay in a marriage with a woman he’d married almost by accident. “What if I decide I want out?”

  “I’m not licensed to practice law outside of California, but as I recall, Nevada law allows for an annulment under what is called a ‘want of understanding.’ If you were stone drunk, you’d qualify.”

  “Nice.”

  “You’d need the testimony of the minister or someone else who saw you. How about the friend you were drinking with?”

  “He was long gone by then.”

  “Anyway, if you want out, I’ll research other grounds for an annulment too, but I’d expect that would be the most sensible.”

  “How long would that take?”

  “I’d need to talk to local lawyers to find out. Like all things legal, it depends on lots of factors, such as the backlog in the courts. More important, will she agree to it?”

  James looked at Deja. “We haven’t talked about that.”

  “Well, you damn well better. If she doesn’t want to cooperate, you’ll have to file what’s called a single signature petition, and you’ll have more trouble proving you were drunk if she says you weren’t. That can take longer because she can fight it. It could take months.”

  “Crap. There is a video, though.”

  “Of the marriage.”

  “Yes.”

  “And it shows you being stupid drunk?”

  “I haven’t had the stomach to watch it yet. I assume so.”

  “So send me the video online and be nice to her in the meantime.”

  “I am. That’s easy to do.”

  “Did you screw her?”

  “What?”

  “Did you fuck the girl?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Because if you got her pregnant, the child is considered legitimate even if you have the marriage annulled. So you’d have child support to take into account, even if you aren’t paying alimony.”

  James remembered the condoms on the nightstand and let out a sigh of relief. “I think I’m safe there.”

  “Good. Beyond the support, offspring always complicate things later on, such as inheritance. If that isn’t an issue, you still need to find out what she wants. It might be a lot different than it was last night. You need to learn what it would take for her to help you get what you want. If she wants to remain Mrs. Andrews, you might have a minor problem, but even that wouldn’t be insurmountable.”

  “You find out what I need to do and how fast we can do this,” James said. “I’ll negotiate things here.”

  Kieran laughed. “Negotiate? Right, that sets the right tone.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t negotiate, dude. Just talk to the woman? Be a gentleman.”

  “You just be my lawyer and find out the options.”

  “One bit of lawyerly advice. If you intend to dump the chick, don’t fuck her anymore.”

  “Why?”

  “If it turns out that we need to fight her, if it has to go to family court, that would undo the claim that you were only interested in her because you were drunk. She’d be able to make the claim that you were enjoying conjugal favors while trying to get shed of her. That wouldn’t keep you from getting rid of her, but it might make doing it a lot more expensive—even result in significant alimony payment forevermore.”

  James looked at Deja and felt a longing. “Okay. I understand.”

  When he hung up, Deja laughed at him.

  “You think this is funny?”

  “Some of it. Especially the look on your face.”

  “And what part of this is funny?”

  “You don’t see the humor in waking up and finding out we are married?”

  “Not at all.”

  “I do. And I think it’s funny that you are a businessman.”

  “Why is that funny?”

  She made a face. “I would assume that being a businessman would require people skills, the ability to charm an
d cajole the people you work with, yet you seem to deliberately antagonize people, or at least make them not happy to help you get what you want.”

  “How am I doing that?”

  “After our night together, you look at me like I’m the enemy, then you call your lawyer to talk about the grand mistake you made. And what makes that funny, is the way you spar with him—you are nasty to the very person you called for help.”

  The comment struck a sensitive chord and he resented her insight. Who was she to coach him on interacting with people? “Kieran’s my lawyer. Sometimes he confuses the role of legal advisor with that of old friend.”

  She scowled. “You are rotten to him because he acts like a friend?”

  “It’s mutual rottenness. A while back I was going with his sister. She wanted to get married and I didn’t. We had a rather nasty break up. He won’t get over it and this little silliness reopened the wound.”

  “Are you sure that’s what he can’t get over?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You were sharp right from the beginning. You sounded very defensive.”

  “I’m embarrassed by what we did, and having to tell him.”

  “But your tone of voice said you expected him to rip you apart for it, that you don’t trust him.”

  “But I do trust him. I wouldn’t have a lawyer I didn’t trust.”

  Deja shrugged. “Okay. So, did your trusted lawyer give you step by step instructions on how to get rid of me?”

  Again, her grasp of the situation unsettled him. She was sharp, and that made her dangerous. Unfortunately, it also added to her attraction. “He’s going to have to research it. There are a lot of options for us.”

  “Fine. I’ll be interested to see what he comes up with.”

  “That will take some time. In the meantime, can we talk about things?”

  “Things?”

  “Us.”

  She laughed. “Us? First you call your lawyer about making me go away, and now you want to talk to your new wife? I suppose I should be flattered you are interested in what I have to say at all, but, frankly, that you do things in that order makes me wary. My guess would be that he told you that you need my help or you might be stuck with me. Maybe I need to talk to my lawyer.”

  “You have a lawyer?”

  “I have an entire phone book packed with them. Unlike yours, most won’t be top flight, but they’ll work on a contingency fee, and I don’t think the situation requires a legal genius.”

  James decided to tell her exactly what Kieran said. “He said that if I’m smart, I’ll to get you to agree to an annulment. I should do whatever it takes to gain your cooperation, otherwise, apparently, it takes forever.”

  She sneered at him. “What a fascinating person you are! I wake up in bed with my new husband saying, ‘Good morning, Deja. How was the honeymoon? I enjoyed screwing you, so would you mind signing these legal documents for me like a good girl so I can dump your black ass?’”

  He thought of telling her how much he liked her black ass then thought better of it. Mixed messages wouldn’t help. Besides, if he really liked her, why was he pressing so hard to void the marriage? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you, or take you for granted. I’m having a bad day.”

  “So you think that makes it all right to ruin mine? What did I do to you?”

  He sat on the bed. “Maybe you conned me.”

  Despite him being right, even though he didn’t know it, his attitude was starting to really get to her. “Seeing that getting married was your idea, how is it that I conned you, James?”

  He glared at her. “I’m curious why you agreed to marry me.”

  The question struck her as funny. “Right now it’s hard to remember. My memory doesn’t include what I was thinking at the time, or what I recall isn’t convincing, but I’d guess it was for the same reason you proposed—it seemed like a good idea at the time. We were drinking a lot and having a lot of fun. We both wanted it to go on forever.” She pointed at him. “Your words.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Like I said, you told me that if we got married, it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t go to work tomorrow. Today, now. Maybe I better call in sick. It looks like losing my job now might be a bad idea.”

  As he considered that, room service arrived with their breakfasts.

  James signed for the food and closed the door. As he turned back to face Deja, she took a sip of coffee, then leveled her gaze at him. “James, while you are working through the many ideas and fears you are dealing with, please keep in mind that you aren’t the only one whose life was changed by what we did last night. I got married too, and that turned my world upside down. Just because you have money, marrying you didn’t necessarily improve my life. It didn’t solve my problems or help me realize my goals.”

  “It might cost me a major deal.”

  “Yes, you’ve said that. You got a business deal screwed up, and I am honestly sorry that happened. I had no idea of any of that. But even though I am not doing a business deal, you aren’t the only one waking up in a haze this morning and trying to put the pieces together to find out where you are. I had a life that was a work in progress before we met, you know. I was dealing with issues that are important to me, James Andrews. I am a real person with feelings and a life that is every bit as important as yours.”

  “Damn. You have a feisty streak.”

  “With you dumping on me all the time, I think I need to show some attitude just to keep my head above water.”

  The phone rang and James answered it.

  “Hey, buddy, it’s Alan. I’m downstairs in the coffee shop. Want to grab some breakfast?”

  “I think I do.”

  When he hung up, he looked at Deja. “I’m still sorting things out too. I guess I was short with you and I apologize. Truth is I’m rattled. Not only have I never been married before, but I’ve never lost memories. That was Alan.”

  Right on cue. He’d want to see that things had gone according to plan. His plan.

  “Oh, that’s your friend, the one I met last night.”

  “Right. He wants to meet me for breakfast in the coffee shop. I’d like it if you stayed here and ate breakfast while I go have a talk with him.”

  “So I eat alone while you get more advice from friends about dealing with the new wife?” She put more bite into the question than she’d intended. It made her sound hurt, and that was dishonest.

  “I want to see if he can shed light on last night.”

  “Because I’m lying?”

  “Because he’ll have a much different perspective, okay? Last night is a mess in my head and I’m trying to sort out what happened. I need to get some clarity.”

  “Staying sober would’ve provided that.”

  Seeing the hurt that clouded his face, she regretted that too.

  “True. Look, we both need time to think about what happened, and me more than you, but only because you remember things more clearly, and not because I’m more important. You’ve had some time to take it all in and I’m just learning about it.”

  His anguished tone cut through her heart. No matter why, she had hurt this man. “Okay.”

  “When I come back, we can talk. Really talk over things and see where we are.”

  “If we can do that, it would be nice,” she said.

  As he dressed, he glanced at her. Damn but she was incredibly sexy, even in morning light, even under circumstances that scared the crap out of him. Now that he was sober, hearing her, he could tell she was a lot more than sexy. She was smart. Wicked smart, he suspected. That could be either good or bad, but it meant she couldn’t be played. She had that attitude that said she wasn’t going to stand for being talked down to. He liked that. In business, he won most often by finding out what the other side wanted and finding a way to give them as much of it as he could while getting what he wanted.

  Kieran had been right about that.

  If he was going to come out of this a
dventure whole, he’d need to figure out what made Deja Fontaine tick, learn what she wanted. If she was what she seemed to be, it would be complicated no matter what. Sorting it out meant talking to her like a person who mattered. He could do that. His concern was that she did matter—too much. He couldn’t ignore her attraction. Letting himself feel it could mess everything up.

  * * * *

  When he met Alan in the coffee shop, they sat in a booth. “Two Bloody Marys for now,” Alan told the waitress. “We’ll order breakfast in a bit.” Then he smiled at James. “You look a bit worse for the wear. Have a rough night?”

  James noted his friend’s puffy face. “It doesn’t look like you made an early night of it yourself. You’ve looked prettier.”

  He wiped his hand over his face. “I earned this look. I don’t mind telling you that I had one hell of a fucking night. Or a hell of a night fucking. It works either way. That woman I picked up was a wildcat.”

  James tried to remember what she looked like, but couldn’t manage more than an image of a blonde with a slinky body. “I remember her. So you got lucky?”

  “Lucky?” He laughed. “I’m not sure what luck had to do with it, unless you mean I was lucky enough to be able to afford her.”

  “She was a pro?”

  “Absolutely. A genuine professional girlfriend, available by the night, or week if you can afford her. She made that quite clear when she read me the rather rich menu and richer pricing.”

  “You knew that when you took her up to your room?”

  “Sure. I prefer hookers to making commitments. They provide a high level of sexual pleasure along with the simplest form of relationship the world has ever known—commercial congress. It’s so uncomplicated. You tell her what you want and she tells you the price. It isn’t love, but it’s reliable.”

  “I didn’t know she was a hooker.” He started to say she didn’t look like one, and then remember his thoughts about Deja. What did a hooker look like?

  “Wasn’t yours? I figured that’s why she was so eager to dance with you even though you were drunk.”

  The idea of talking to Alan and getting information didn’t seem so promising now. Now that he was here, facing the man across the table, things were coming back to him that made James wonder how much to tell Alan. It had been a long time since they’d hung out together, which was why running into him here had seemed so crazy.