A Bet With Benefits (The Eden Empire Book 3)

by Karen Booth

  He’d always admired Mindy’s determination. When she wanted something, she did not take her eyes off the prize. That had actually been part of the fun of being with her—trying to distract her. It almost always involved the two of them taking off each other’s clothes. “Then how can I help? Do you want me to see if I can help you find a different space?”

  “No. I want you to sell the Mercer Building to me.”

  He stepped back, perching on the very edge of his desk and stretching out his legs, crossing them at the ankles. He pinched his lower lip between his thumb and index finger. It wouldn’t be a travesty if he decided to sell her the building, but Mindy was his key to an event he’d been certain before now he’d never get into. An event he needed to be at. “I need something in return.” He didn’t want to be greedy, but he also didn’t want to be foolish. Why do a favor for Mindy? Out of the goodness of his heart? She’d ground his ego into the dirt with her stiletto heels. He didn’t owe her a thing.

  “A pile of money?”

  “No. An invitation to your sister’s wedding.”

  Mindy reared back her head, eyes wide with astonishment. “That’s in a week. There are no invites to be had. Plus, why would you even want to go to Sophie’s wedding? Half of the guest list doesn’t like you.”

  Sam didn’t hurt easily, but that wasn’t an easy remark to hear. “It makes me look second-rate to not be attending the social event of the year.”

  “Since when do you care what people think about you?”

  “A good businessperson always cares about their reputation. I’ve been concentrating my work in New York and I need to be firmly entrenched in those social circles if I’m going to get anything real done in this town.” His sister, Isabel, had been the one to encourage him to stick closer to Manhattan over the last five months. She’d told him he couldn’t outrun his feelings by buzzing to Prague or Buenos Aires or wherever the smell of money and big deals lured him. Logic said that the minute Mindy dumped him last time, he would want to be as far away as possible. The Eden family was impossible to ignore in this city. But he suspected Isabel was right. He couldn’t avoid everything that caused him pain. Even when he’d had more than enough to last him a lifetime.

  “I couldn’t get an invitation for the queen of England right now. Sophie has been moaning for months about how tight the guest list is, and now that we’re this close, she’s perpetually freaking out.”

  Sam’s mind immediately leaped to a solution. He cleared his throat and prepared himself for another potentially insulting answer. “Who’s your date?”

  A rush of pink colored Mindy’s cheeks. She batted her lashes and looked away. “I don’t have one. So what?”

  “There’s no need to be defensive about it.” Sam had to fight the smile that wanted to cross his lips. He didn’t want to be so happy that Mindy Eden, one of the most extraordinary women in the city, didn’t have a date for her own sister’s wedding. But he was. “I could fix that for you. You’d be killing two birds with one stone. Getting your building and a date.”

  “You’ll really sell me the building if I take you to Sophie’s wedding? That’s all you want?”

  Sam was surprised Mindy had asked the question, a classic misstep in negotiations. Never let on that you think you’re getting a great deal. “Take me to the rehearsal dinner, too. You know, make it seem like I’m really in the inner circle.”

  “I’m not sure this is such a good idea. You and I both know we don’t work as a couple.”

  Sam shrugged and pushed off from the desk, taking his seat behind it. He was wary of the idea, only because he knew how frustrating it would be to spend time with Mindy and not be able to touch her. But he could get some real business done at Sophie and Jake’s wedding. He might even mend a few Eden fences. “Like I said, not struck with affection for you. But I think I could be convinced to keep you as a friend.”

  Mindy’s blue-green eyes were full of questions, and maybe disappointment, too. He was okay with that. She’d taken him down many notches more than once. Let her know how much it hurt. “Okay. If you’ll sell me the Mercer Building for what you paid, I will bring you to her wedding.”

  “And the rehearsal.”

  “I’ll have to figure out how to play it with Sophie, but okay. The rehearsal, too.”

  “For what I paid?”

  “Yes. Not a penny more.”

  “And as friends.”

  She grumbled and plucked her handbag from the chair, hooking it on her arm. “If that’s what we’re shooting for, then yes. Friends.”

  Sam got up to walk her out.

  “I can find my way,” she shot at him.

  “I know that. I just want to be sure you don’t steal anything on your way out.”

  “Very funny.”

  “Okay, then. You go ahead. I’ll just watch.” He leaned against the door frame, grinning to himself. Their impromptu meeting had been a win for him, especially the last part. He’d come off like a gentleman, when really he’d been after only a spectacular eyeful as Mindy walked away.

  Two

  As Mindy left Sam’s office, only one thought was running through her head: What in the hell did I just agree to? Letting Sam be her date to Sophie’s wedding? On a long list of bad ideas, this not only belonged at the very top, it was the entire reason for making a list in the first place. Sam was trouble. Her family, for all intents and purposes, hated him. He was the king of underhanded behavior, which he always managed to explain away as somehow noble or good. Then there was the unavoidable fact that Mindy seemed to lose about fifty points off her IQ when she was around him. He had a real talent for making her do stupid things. Case in point, agreeing to let him take her to Sophie’s wedding.

  Judging by the way she’d felt during their short meeting, it wouldn’t be hard for him to do it to her again. Her physical attraction to him was still off the charts. That was why she hadn’t taken a seat, even when her brand-new Louboutins were killing her feet. She couldn’t allow herself to linger or get comfortable, even when she’d wanted nothing more than to unbutton her jacket and ask him if he wanted to rekindle the flame between them. One more time. For old times’ sake. But Sam was too sly and clever. Whip-smart and devious. There were plenty of reasons to stay away.

  Of course, he’d been clear that attending the wedding together would be only as friends. That one detail of their agreement had helped her decide she could escape this scenario unscathed. So she’d be on the arm of a ridiculously hot guy for a few nights, she wouldn’t have to go stag to Sophie’s wedding and she’d get the building her business so desperately needed. This was a win-win-win. As long as she kept her clothes on and her head out of the clouds.

  Clay whisked Mindy off to Eden’s, dropping her off at the south entrance on Thirty-Sixth Street. She breezed through the store, past cosmetics and the perfume girls, through ladies’ accessories to the back elevators that would take her up to the executive offices. She still hadn’t figured out how to handle this news with Sophie, although she had an idea about an approach involving one of Jake’s groomsmen, Gerald, and his wandering hands.

  “Hey, Soph,” Mindy said, knocking on Sophie’s doorway, which was almost always open. “Do you have a minute?”

  “Sure. I can’t keep my mind on work right now anyway.” Her sister pushed back from her desk, gathering her sleek red locks in her hand and pulling them in a bundle over one shoulder. Always fashionable and put-together, Sophie was wearing a jade green floral dress with dramatic bell sleeves.

  Mindy was making herself at home on Sophie’s gray velvet sofa when Emma appeared at the door.

  “Discussing wedding stuff, by any chance?” she asked.

  “Yes. Actually. That’s exactly why I wanted to talk to Sophie.” Mindy patted the seat next to her. “Join us.”

  “You guys want to talk about the wedding?” Sophie aske
d, incredulous. “I always feel like I’m jamming it down your throat.”

  Emma glanced over at Mindy and without words, conveyed their shared desire for the relief they would feel when Sophie’s wedding was over. “Oh, no. We love to talk about the wedding,” Emma said, putting on an excellent front.

  “It’s the best part of the day,” Mindy lied.

  Emma tucked her long chocolate-brown hair behind her ear and crossed her legs, showing off an incredible pair of cherry-red Manolo Blahnik pumps. The three sisters did enjoy outdoing each other when it came to shoes, although this was a daring choice for the otherwise more subdued Emma. Her charcoal tweed pencil skirt and jacket made a nice counterpoint. “Absolutely. Mindy, what’s your news?”

  Mindy wasn’t about to stall. She wanted to get this over with. “I found a date for the wedding. If you can just let Jake know and have him somehow filter that news down to Gerald, that would be great.”

  “Why don’t you tell Gerald yourself? Doesn’t he text you four or five times a day?”

  This was true. Gerald had been putting the full-court press on Mindy from the moment he met her at the first engagement party. He was one of Jake’s business school pals, and Sophie had known him then, as well. He had it in his head that Jake and Sophie along with Mindy and Gerald would make the perfect pair of power couples. Mindy had been clear that she wasn’t interested, but she’d delivered that news gently, only because she knew she was going to see Gerald a lot at the various events leading up to the wedding. Apparently she’d been too soft with her approach. Gerald didn’t seem to be taking the hint.

  “Yes. He does. I just don’t know how to work that particular detail into a text conversation.”

  “Then call him,” Sophie said.

  “I don’t want to encourage him. And this was all your idea in the first place. Telling me to get a date to send him a signal.”

  “So?” Emma knocked Mindy’s knee with her own. “Who’s the guy?”

  Mindy couldn’t afford to hesitate with her answer. “Sam.”

  The room went dead silent. Mindy braced for the fallout.

  “No. No way,” Sophie said. “Absolutely not.”

  “What? You can’t tell me who I can bring as a date. I’m a grown woman.”

  “Not around Sam you aren’t. And it’s my wedding. I don’t like Sam. My future husband despises him. And frankly, you shouldn’t like him, either. Just think about the things he’s done to interfere with our business.” Sophie gestured to Emma. “Or our own sister, for that matter. He was the one who leaked the story of Emma’s childhood to the tabloids.”

  “Which was ultimately a good thing, wasn’t it?” Mindy turned to Emma, pleading with her eyes.

  “It was.” Emma looked back and forth between Mindy and Sophie, seeming stuck. “I just wish I would’ve had the chance to do it myself.”

  “See? There you go.” Sophie sat back in her chair. “You are not bringing Sam Blackwell to my wedding. If nothing else, he is going to stomp all over your heart, and I am not going to watch that happen again.”

  “Ah, but see, that won’t be a problem. We agreed that we’re only attending as friends.”

  “Why in the world would you even want to be friends with him? Does he have any friends? Is he capable of it?” Sophie asked.

  Mindy had been afraid of that question, but she’d anticipated it. She considered telling Emma and Sophie about the deal for the Mercer Building, but that seemed like news for after the wedding. She didn’t want to give them any more reasons to question his motives. “Whatever you think of him, we were good friends. We understand each other, at least from a business standpoint. And I couldn’t find a date. That’s the very sad reality of my life right now. I know you think Gerald is harmless, but I’d like to keep him at bay.”

  Sophie nodded, seeming to think hard about all of this. Emma sat back and wrapped her arms around her middle.

  “What, you guys? Just tell me what you’re thinking. I can take it.”

  “Even if it all goes fine, even if there are no problems, I worry about you and Sam together, especially in a romantic environment like a wedding,” Sophie said softly.

  “It’s true. It’s hard not to get caught up in the romanticism. And you were so sad after the last time you and Sam broke up,” Emma added.

  “I broke up with him because I couldn’t be in any way disloyal to you guys. I told him as much. And of course I was sad, but we’ve had five months apart and I think we’re ready to be friends.” Mindy doubted whether that was at all possible, but she had to try, at least to get the Mercer Building.

  “I’m worried you’ll fall for him again. Then you’ll be miserable. Again,” Sophie said.

  “I won’t.”

  “You will.”

  “I will not,” Mindy insisted.

  “Wanna bet?” Sophie asked.

  “I told you I won’t fall for him,” Mindy restated.

  “Then bet me. I know you and you hate to lose. So we’ll make a bet and as long as you don’t lose it, you won’t get hurt.” Sophie grabbed the pencil on her desk and began tapping it against a legal pad. “The question is what to bet.”

  “I know,” Emma said. “The one thing Mindy doesn’t want, to stay at Eden’s longer than she has to.”

  Mindy was struck with horror while Sophie’s expression became one of sheer delight. “Yes. That’s perfect.” Sophie clapped her hands together gleefully. “You promise me there will be no romance between you and Sam, and I will stop pestering you about staying on at Eden’s beyond the deadline next year.”

  “And if I lose?” Mindy asked, wary of the whole thing.

  “Then you have to stay for one more year. That should give Emma and me enough time to convince you to stay full-time.”

  Mindy was starting to feel trapped, a feeling she didn’t handle well. Sophie and Emma had both been making their case for Mindy to sell BMO and stay at Eden’s. But maybe this bet could be a good one. It would keep her from falling under Sam’s spell. The very last thing she wanted was to spend an extra year at Eden’s. The second-to-last thing she wanted was to deal with Sophie’s and Emma’s regular hints about her staying.

  “We’re talking a real bet, you two.” Mindy pointed back and forth between Sophie and Emma. “You guys don’t get to say one more thing to me about walking away from BMO if I’m able to keep Sam in the friend zone. Not a peep. No guilt trips. Nothing.”

  Emma nodded. “I’m good with it.”

  “Me, too,” Sophie said.

  “Fine. It’s settled.” Mindy got up from her seat, feeling pretty good about having gotten everything she needed out of a second meeting today. “Oh, and just so you know, I’m planning on bringing Sam to the rehearsal dinner.”

  “Seriously?” Sophie asked.

  “Yes. Just think of it as one more chance for you to win your bet.” Mindy stopped at the door and turned to Emma. “I almost forgot. Emma, did you have something you wanted to talk about?”

  Emma noticeably winced. “I guess my mom and your mom had a phone conversation. It didn’t go well. Your mom hung up on mine.” Jenny Stewart, Emma’s mom, and Jill Eden, Sophie and Mindy’s mom, had a complicated relationship. They were sisters. Who didn’t speak to each other. They’d also each had children by the same man, making Emma not only Sophie and Mindy’s cousin, but their half sister, as well. It was a bizarre situation, to say the least. All three sisters had hoped that the occasion of Sophie’s wedding and the fact that they were all working together now might be a reason for the moms to make amends. Apparently not.

  “Is this going to be a problem at the wedding?” Sophie asked. “I don’t think I can handle any more stress.”

  Emma shook her head. “I figure I’ll handle my mom and Mindy can handle yours. As long as we keep them apart, it should be fine. There might be some steely silence, but tha
t should be the extent of the drama. I promise we’ll keep everything going smoothly.”

  Sophie took a deep breath, her shoulders rising and falling. “Okay, then. Let’s hope this all goes off without a hitch.”

  * * *

  Sam couldn’t keep Mindy off his mind, even though he had a mountain of work to do. This will be a good thing, he kept saying to himself, although he wasn’t 100 percent sure. Attending Sophie and Jake’s wedding certainly had the potential to put Sam back into a few business and social circles he’d managed to spin himself out of. But he also worried there was something else to it. Every time he read about the upcoming nuptials, it sent him into a downward spiral, thinking about Mindy’s life and wondering what she was doing and—most important—whom she was dating. He’d jumped at the chance to stake his claim on Mindy the instant he realized she didn’t have a date. But there was no claiming Mindy. She was her own person, through and through. Would this wedding just end up being an exercise in public humiliation? Quite possibly. But without risk came no reward. And he knew that his bad relationship with the Eden family had to end. It was keeping him from making all of the money he wanted to make.

  Sam jumped when his phone line buzzed.

  “Mr. Blackwell. Mindy Eden is on the line for you.” It was almost as if she knew he’d been thinking about her.

  “Mindy, hi. Two conversations in one day. I hardly know what to make of this.”

  “I won’t keep you long if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “Believe me, I’m not worried.”

  “I was calling to give you the details of the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. I tried to reach you on your cell, but some woman answered and told me to call you at the office. Please tell me that wasn’t Valerie Cash I just spoke to. I refuse to go with a taken man to my sister’s wedding.”

  Sam pursed his lips to stifle a laugh. Mindy did have a bit of a jealous streak. “Valerie and I are no longer dating. It was a very short-lived thing.”