For
him, it was easy. He’d lived with the condition of his uncle’s will for a long
time now, and it was only in the last couple of months that he realized that
he’d need to do something drastic if he wanted to retain his uncle’s voting
stock. When he had met Jen at a party, they had hit it off. Not in a romantic
way, but more two cynical personalities coming together and enjoying each other
over a drink. So when he’d eventually decided to propose a deal to Jen, it had
been with an understanding that their relationship was strictly business.
Neither of them was interested in the other - for two hard and cynical people,
neither of them found themselves attracted to those same character traits in
the other.
But
Jen had gotten cold feet. That was interesting. And what was even more
interesting was that she had sent her sister over to tell him about her change
in plans. And her sister was clearly a completely different person from Jen. So
why did she send Emma, rather than just calling him or texting him with the
news? Perhaps because she was not only backing out of the deal, but she was
taking a lot of his money with her. Had she sent Emma to smooth that over? Or
was it because she was worried about the contract, and Emma was the one person
Jen knew would feel responsible enough to fill in for Jen, thus freeing her
from the conditions?
Physically,
the two sisters were nothing alike. Jen was tall, blonde, beautiful, and
stacked. Honestly, she was like Jessica Rabbit with blonde hair. And no bunny
ears. Emma was a brunette, a bit shorter than Jen, and more petite. She was
also fiercely loyal to her sister, which intrigued him, particularly since Jen
was not a woman who automatically inspired loyalty.
Emma
had a profession. She had opinions. She had a dog. She had a brain. And Mason
was willing to bet that she was probably attracted to him. Most women were, he
thought matter-of-factly. But as long as they stayed clear of each other, there
shouldn’t be anything major to overcome here. She was nice-looking,
well-spoken, had a good job, and was obviously a kind person. So, for the next
three years anyway, she’d fit well by his side. Perhaps even better than Jen
would have. People would always have assumed that he’d married Jen for sex and
she’d married him for money. With Emma, people wouldn’t be sure. There would be
gossip, questions, rumors, and lots of speculation, and Mason found that it
amused him to think about that. Because nobody would ever guess the truth.
Watching
as Emma at last drove away from the curb in front of his house, he tackled the
one last issue that was bothering him. Emma drew him in a way that Jen hadn’t.
Physically, yes, but it was more than that. Something about her was attracting
him - something deeper than what was on the surface. Mason took a long pull on
his drink. He prided himself on his lack of emotion. So despite her appeal to
him, he needed to be sure that Emma never ever got close. Because he had no
intention of getting emotionally involved with anyone.
Chaos
looked at Emma suspiciously. She had spent the entire night ranting and raving.
And while she had remembered to feed him, and take him for his walk, and let
him out to take care of business, she was distracted. So he had hopped up on the
bed with her last night, put his head on her pillow, and snored into her ear.
He figured it was the least he could do.
Emma
woke up to a paw in her ear, dog breath on her face, and fur up her nose.
Flipping over on the bed and rubbing her nose vigorously, she hugged one end of
the pillow closer to her and sighed deeply. She had looked more carefully at
the contract Jen had signed last night, and she saw no loopholes. Yeah, she
could refuse to do anything here, and she could probably protect her own interests,
but Jen would be toast. She would lose everything. And as mad as Emma was at
her sister, she just couldn’t bring herself to sell Jen out.
So
she could either go find some stranger to marry Mason Parker, or she could go
through with it herself. And given the strict confidentiality clause in the
contract, she was surprised he hadn’t already threatened to sue Jen for
confiding in her. So she was slowly coming to terms with her fate, after a lot
of venting last night at Chaos. The dog had taken it well though, she thought.
But then, she had made it up to him with a handful of Snausages.
She
had a busy day today. She had a full day at work, but also needed to find some
sort of outfit that would suit, and then get ready for her business trip next
week. She needed to draw up a contract to send to Mason’s lawyer, so he could
clear it before Mason signed it. This weekend, she would need to drop Chaos off
with her parents, and probably explain to her family why she had gotten married
to a man they had never heard of, all without implicating her sister. But
today, she still needed to reschedule a couple of hours worth of work so she
had time to go over to Mason’s home tomorrow to sign papers and complete a
legal joining of their lives. Geez, she couldn’t even say the word, she
thought. Marriage. She needed to make sure she had time to go and get
married
tomorrow, for heaven’s sake.
She
stayed in bed a few minutes longer, hoping that by refusing to get up, time
would stop. But Chaos knew she was awake, and hopped off the bed, rounding the
corner to plop himself down in front of her and stare. Emma opened one eye,
seeing her dog sitting hopefully in front of her. Sighing, she rolled onto her back,
wiped her hand across her face, and slowly got up.
“OK,
OK. I’m coming. Geez, dog. You ate like a million dog treats last night. You
can’t be hungry.”
Chaos
looked up at her with a combination of impatience and adoration. Patting the
dog on the head, she padded over to the sliding glass door in her bedroom and
opened it up to let Chaos out into the yard.
Coffee
got made, breakfast got eaten, and somehow Emma got herself ready for work. Her
stomach was in knots. Her hands shook as she fixed her hair, but when she
looked in the mirror on the way out the door, she was surprised to find that
she looked much calmer than she felt. She dropped Chaos off at doggie day care
for the day, since she wouldn't be able to make it home at noon to let him out.
After kissing him on the head and scritching his ears, she told him that she
loved him and that he should behave. He looked up at her with some sense of
incredulity, since he believed that he always behaved, a feeling that most of
the staff at the doggy day care did not share. After a friendly chat with the
woman behind the desk, she headed to the office.
Work
was a panacea for Emma. It took her mind off things and made her day go
quickly. By the end of the workday, Emma had not only completed most of the
things on her task list for the day, but she had also written the contract for
Mason to sign, gone over Jen's contract one more time, and even gotten a start
on some work she had planned for the next day. Funny how needing a distraction
can make you that much more focused at work, she thought.
“You're
a dynamo today,” her secretary, Rhoda, observed as Emma dropped one more letter
on her desk for mailing.
“Some
days, I’m the picture of productivity. Other days, I can’t put a sentence
together to save my life. Fortunately, I’m having a good day today, at least as
far as verbiage goes. You doing OK?”
“Fine,
thanks for asking,” Rhoda smiled up at her. “I managed to change most of your
meetings tomorrow for either later in the day, or to reschedule them until
Monday. I haven’t been able to reach Ben yet to try to move your 2:00.”
“If
you can’t reach him, I should be able to make that one, though I might be
late.”
“You
have a hot date?” her secretary teased.
“Oh,
if you only knew,” Emma smiled back, thinking to herself,
no, really, if you
only knew...
“I’ll
keep trying. Was it time-sensitive, or can it wait until next week?”
“I
think it can wait, but Ben can make the call.”
“Hey,
if you’re free tomorrow night, a few of us are headed to that new Mexican
restaurant over on Glendale. Frank wants to try their margaritas.”
Emma
grinned. “Any other time, I’d take you up on it, but I can’t tomorrow. I’ve got
plans, and I need to have an early night since I’m headed to San Diego this
weekend. Speaking of which, do you have all of the Drellis files ready for me?”
“Most
of them. I’ll have everything ready to go by noon tomorrow. Is that soon
enough?”
“Oh
yeah. Plenty soon. Thanks, Rhoda. If the margaritas at that new place are good,
I’ll be wanting our next scheduled happy hour there,” she warned.
“We’ll
let you know. Sorry you can’t join us.”
Me
too, Emma thought. But she didn’t think that scheduling a work happy hour on
her wedding night seemed entirely appropriate.
Mason
was pacing. It was Friday, and it was nearly noon, and yet there was no sign of
Emma. He had the paperwork ready, and he had the contract that Emma had sent to
his lawyer at the end of the day on Thursday. So that was a positive sign - she
had taken time yesterday to put that together. But other than that, nothing. No
contact, no calls, nothing. Was she coming?
If
she didn’t, he’d sue for breach of contract. It wasn't the money, he reasoned.
It was the principle of it. People couldn't promise things and then renege.
Well, Jen, anyway. Emma hadn’t promised anything. He chuckled to himself. She
was probably still reading through the contract on the way over here in a cab,
trying to figure out how to get out of it.
He
checked his watch again. Their appointment was at 1:00. They’d need to leave
his home by 12:40 to ensure that they made it there in time. So that didn’t
leave a lot of time to work with. OK. What if she didn’t come? What was the
first step? Well, contact his lawyer of course. But then what? He’d have to
figure out if he was going to let the voting stock go, or try to find a wife in
a few weeks. He wanted no emotional attachment, of course, so that meant that
approaching anyone he knew or had dated was out. He could...
The
doorbell rang. Mason was surprised by the relief he felt. Straightening his
tie, he headed for the door. Pulling it open, he did a double take. Emma was
standing there, looking completely different from two days ago. Gone was the
black skirt with sensible heels. Gone was the unruly hair and the business-like
scarf around her neck. Instead, she was dressed in an ivory-colored dress suit
- a lovely simple tailored jacket over a plain matching ivory sheath, that
stopped above her knees. Her wavy hair was tamed, and swept up into an elegant
chignon. She wore one single pearl around her neck, simple pearl earrings, and
carried a teal-colored purse over one shoulder. Her legs were enclosed in silk
hose, and her feet were lovingly encased in the most amazing shoes Mason had
seen on a woman. Three inch heels that matched her purse made it look like her legs
stretched to eternity, but the shape and height of them added to Emma’s elegant
appearance. She looked like a society woman, a lawyer, and a fashion model, all
rolled into the same woman. And while he felt a wave of heat roll over him as
he took in her appearance, he quickly hid his reaction, and just stepped back
to let her in.
Emma
was having a similar moment. Mason was dressed in a black suit, with an
ivory-colored shirt and a blue and black striped tie. It was a normal business
suit, but his appearance was giving her heart palpitations. Good lord, she
thought, this man was sexy. Not a hair out of place. Not a piece of fur on him.
She had needed to use the lint brush she kept at home, and the one she kept at
work, to ensure that all of Chaos’ fur was removed from her outfit. The suit
was one she wore occasionally in the summer, so it was no big deal to wear it
today - she had just thrown a scarf around her neck and used sensible shoes at
work, then pulled off the scarf and changed her shoes on the way over. But
Mason looked like a model from a catalog. He was gorgeous. Still, Emma noted
that there was no warmth in his eyes as he pulled the door wider and stood back
to let her by. So she took a deep breath, and reminded herself that this was a
business transaction, and nothing more.
“You
came.” The relief in Mason's voice was especially surprising, given the cool
way he’d looked at her when he opened the door for her.
“Of
course. You really gave me no choice,” she said quietly.
He
smiled slightly. “True. You look lovely, Emma.”
She
looked at him with some suspicion. Why was he being nice? “Thanks,” she finally
said. “Can we get this over with please? I took a long lunch, but I’ll need to
get back to work as soon as we're done.”
He
nodded. “Of course. Did you have a chance to look everything over?”
“Yes.
I signed everything this morning. And you?”
“My
lawyer read over the copy you sent to him yesterday and gave me his approval.
So we can countersign everything and take the forms with us. He’ll take a quick
look, make copies, and we'll be set.”
It
took less than fifteen minutes for them to deal with their paperwork, and for
Emma to sign the marriage license. Emma had taken a cab over to Mason's home,
so she joined him in his car on the ride over to the office of his lawyer,
where a justice of the peace would be waiting. She had expected that Mason
would use a driver, but she realized that this was exactly what he had told her
it would be - a quiet marriage between two people. He wasn't yet ready to announce
it to the world. He helped her into the passenger seat, then moved over to the
driver’s seat and got in next to her.