A British Bride by Agreement (4 page)

His heart sped up. She was softening. “I
return from New York tomorrow and my parents fly back from Germany in a couple
of days. Perhaps, ten days from now, on the weekend?”

Her eyes widened, emphasizing the
radiance of her green gaze.
“So soon?”

With determination, he closed the binder
and pushed it aside. As much as he needed a wife to advance his career, he
wouldn’t manipulate her into this. He’d lived his whole life in the shadow of
his family’s expectations and he wanted to be sure that she knew what she was
in for. Marrying him would be challenging in ways she’d never thought of.

“Let’s spend this Saturday together and
get to know one another. We can talk about this more then. I’ve started
working… well, temporarily taking over the charity division of our company and
will be very busy at work, so if we could have the matter settled soon...”

“Yes, on the Saturday, and maybe on your
proposal.”

He liked the resolve in her voice. He’d
seen glimpses of her determined personality and found it as attractive as her
looks, and her British accent.

“
I’ll continue to
pray about it.” She set her mug down with a thump.

He nodded as an understanding passed
between them.
“As I will.”
He stepped forward and
touched the side of her face. Her skin felt like velvet. He didn’t want her to
see this offer of marriage as just another company deal. Anxious to show he
wasn’t some unfeeling businessman, he leaned in and kissed her cheek.
Very soft.

I
could be in trouble here.

***

The next evening, Jonathan strode into
his dressing room after arriving back from New York.

His driver walked into the bedroom with
his bags.

Jonathan nodded. “Just leave them there,
Orlando.”

“Yes, mister,” the driver touched the
brim of his cap.

Jonathan tugged at his tie and kicked
off his shoes. His back ached from the long flight and his mind was filled with
facts and figures on the new cold coffee products they were set to start
production on. He undressed and tugged on a tight t-shirt and sweats to go work
out. This was the last product development project he needed to wrap up before
he became full-time charity director. His pulse sped up. He still hadn’t gotten
over the shock of being demoted by his father…

“It’s the best for the company,” his
father said.

Jonathan eased back in his office chair,
setting his hands behind his head.
“How?”

“You’ve done a good job at
PD
, but now I want to see how you handle the charitable
division.”

“How can handing out money be that hard
?
 
Surely one of the
girls could do it.”

“No, I want you to handle this.”

“This is pay back for the soda deal in Brazil
falling apart.”

“That was poor judgment on your part.”

Jonathan leaned forward. “I was given
inadequate information by your field agents.”

“A good businessman double checks his
facts before he invests thirty million dollars.”

Jonathan settled back and
steepled
his fingers. He would not be goaded into an
argument with his father. If this is what it took to get to the top, so be it.
Jonathan’s eyes flickered over to a picture of
he
and
his older brother when they were fourteen and twelve. He knew it wasn’t his
fault his brother had died. “Three months and then I want to be moved out of
charity and back to development position.”

“You’ll move back when I say you’re
ready.” His father strode out of Jonathan’s office.

Jonathan got up and paced in front of the
row of windows that overlooked the city of St. Louis. Ever since his older
brother died, his father had been hard on him, as if Joshua’s death was his
fault…

Jonathan grabbed a towel and left his
bedroom and headed for the in-house gym.

“Mister Steller!” The driver stood at
the foot of the stairs. “Come quickly!”

Jonathan ran down a wide staircase,
thinking of his mother, his sisters. “What’s wrong?”

Orlando took a minute to catch his breath.
“I was putting the car away when I saw a gringo banging on Mrs. Banks door. I
stopped to see if there was anything I could do, and the man looked like he’d
been in one too many bar fights—really rough, you know. He told me if I was
smart I’d mind my own
busin
—”

Jonathan sprinted toward the front door,
flung it open, and ran down the long gravel path to Emma’s cottage. As he grew
closer, he could see a large man pounding on the front door. Emma must be
terrified. Why hadn’t she called him?

Jonathan caught up to the man in a
leather jacket who was still beating the door and jerked his arm away. “If you
have business,” he gasped for breath, “with Mrs. Banks, you go through me.”

The guy smirked. “Are you her husband or
something?”

Jonathan noticed the door inched open.
He could see Emma dressed in a white bathrobe and wet hair.

“No, but I am in charge of her,”
Jonathan answered.

The guy turned back to the door. “Aha,
lady, you finally decided to answer.” He took a look up and down at her
informal attire and headed for her. “Are you here to offer me a special deal?”

Jonathan leapt and grabbed the guy by
the waist and tackled him to the ground.

Emma screamed.

Jonathan grabbed the papers from the
man’s grasp, stood up, and shredded them. “Now, if you want payment on any of
these accounts, you don’t bother this lady. Your demands need to be sent to
me—”

“Jonathan, no.”
Emma stepped
outside, gripping the collar of her robe and a book of poetry. “These are
legitimate bills that I need to pay.” She shot a fearful glance at the ruffian.
“It’s just I can’t right now.”

Jonathan put his arm round Emma’s
shoulders and leaned in. “Go inside. I will be there in just a minute.”

“I—I didn’t mean.” She started pacing.
“I wasn’t trying to—”

“Emma.”

She stopped pacing.

“Go.
Inside.”

She shot a glance at the ruffian and
stepped back in the cottage.

Jonathan strode forward until he was one
inch from the man’s face. “Have I made myself perfectly clear?”

“Yeah.”
The guy hobbled
around his car, rubbing his shoulder. “Mighty fine woman you got there.” He
gestured toward the cottage. “I wouldn’t leave her alone at night. Someone
might want to pay—”

“If you value your life, you will stop
talking.” Jonathan shoved his hands to his waist.

The guy glared at him before getting in
his car and screeching off.

Jonathan waited until the back car
lights were gone before he lightly tapped on the door, “Emma, it’s me.”

She opened the door wearing white shorts
and a white sweatshirt. “I’m sorry. I feel like I am always causing—”

“You didn’t create this financial
disaster, and you have no one to help you sort it out. So I will.”

“But it’s hundreds of thousands of
dollars.”

Jonathan didn’t move. “Okay.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying.” She
stuffed her hands in her pockets and paced into the room. “My husband emptied
my trust fund, bank accounts, signed away my Steinway. It’s all rubbish.”

Jonathan came inside and shut the door.
“I know, and my agreement still stands.”

“No, these bills cannot and will not be part
of the agreement.” She continued pacing. “Not that I am saying yes. It’s just
these debts are part of my marriage and now that DJ’s gone and he was hiding…”
her voice cracked.
“All these secrets.”
She sat on the
couch and buried her head in her hands. “I never knew you could live with
someone and have no idea who they are.”

Jonathan came and sat beside her. “You
will let me take care of them—”

“No.” She shot to her feet.
“ I
don’t need your help—”

A screech of a car drew his attention to
the front window. Jonathan looked to the front of the house.

The bill collector’s car swerved past
the cottage at breakneck speed sending a spray of rocks clinking against the
front of the house.

“It’s that guy again.” Jonathan took her
hand and led her to her bedroom. “Pack an overnight bag. You are not safe here.
We have a guest lodge behind the house. I want you to sleep there tonight.”

Emma opened her mouth, but Jonathan
wasn’t in the mood to argue. He grabbed her phone and made a few calls. Minutes
later, his driver came and picked them up and drove them to the lighted
cottage, with Clive and another young gentleman standing in the open door.

“Thank
you, Clive.” Jonathan nodded. “Nick, have the police been called?”
“
Yes, Mr. Steller.”

Jonathan took Emma by the arm and led
her through the house.

She sat down on a couch but didn’t say a
word.

“You’ll feel safer here.”

She merely nodded with tears brimming.

Jonathan sat down next to her and
gripped her hands. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Emma cast a glance at all the workers
bringing in baskets of fruit, dusting off tables, straightening chairs. “I’ve
been enough trouble for one night.”

He put his arm around her shoulders.
“What’s wrong?”

She bit her lower lip.

He swallowed back the desire to kiss
that full lip.

“What if he comes here?”

He took a long, hard stare at the lovely
face in front of him. How could he have been so foolish
?
 
Shaking his head, he squeezed her
hands. He stood and spoke quietly to Clive.

Clive nodded. “Everyone,” he spoke in
his articulated voice, “we are done here. Please stop what you are doing and
head back to the main house.”

Within a minute, the house cleared out.

Nick stood at Jonathan’s side. “Anything
else you need, Mr. Steller.”

“No, Nick, thank you. I’ll see you at
the office in the morning.”

As soon as the door thudded behind him,
Emma breathed out a sigh.

Jonathan took her hand and led her outside
to his car and opened the door.

As she sat, she shot him a questioning
look.

He got in the car and headed for the house.
“You’ll sleep at the main house tonight.”

“Oh, dear.”
She looked
horrified. “I don’t think this is right. I haven’t agreed—”

He looked over at her face, still
beautiful in the nighttime shadows. “I just want to protect you. Unfortunately,
the only guest room is right next to my bedroom—”

“I can’t. I’m getting out right now.”
She pushed open the car door.

He reached over and shut the door. “I
will sleep in a downstairs room. Please don’t argue with me. I need to know
that you are safe.”

Emma nodded, staring straight ahead.

He could see the easing of her shoulders
as if a weight had been lifted.

He felt ten feet tall.

CHAPTER THREE

Two mornings later, as Emma stood in her
back bedroom, someone knocked,
then
open her cottage
door. A deep masculine voice called out, “Hello?”

Emma’s nerves jangled as she glanced at
her watch. Ten minutes early. Maybe Jonathan was looking forward to their day
together as much as she was.

“I’m almost ready,” she called from her bedroom.
She needed a few more minutes to calm herself. She peered, for the hundredth
time, at her reflection in the mirror. Her aqua colored sheath dress, the
eleventh outfit she’d tried on, didn’t look too bad. Tying a matching scarf
around the strap of her purse, surely she could pass for just a carefree girl
who was going to spend the day with her boyfriend.

She slipped on her white heeled sandals
with trembling hands. Over the last two days, her mornings had started with
prayer. She needed to seek the Lord with all her heart, as logically she should
never even consider this mad proposal. But deep inside, God’s peace continued
to reign.

She would feel much better if she could
be sure, somehow, that the Lord really knew about the details of her life. He
probably was upset at her for not being a better Christian the last two years.
Did He know the weighty decision she faced?
The debts?
The impossible situation she was in?