He wired the first payment to her bank account just as he’d promised.
As she closed her laptop, Bethany breathed a sigh of relief. Having money in her bank account was a real weight lifted off her shoulders. She wouldn’t be able to find a place of her own to live just yet, but at least she had a little independence.
Her relief gave way to trepidation as she realized that she had scheduled a meeting with Kirk. She hadn’t seen him in the two days since she had tried to kiss him. What a fool she was. Lust had gotten the better of her. Had thrown her off her game. She was here to prove that her father’s enemies had set him up, not try to seduce them. Thank goodness the butler had interrupted them before she did something she couldn’t undo.
Bethany got up from the sofa to shove her laptop into its bag. Kirk had texted her yesterday, agreeing to meet with her at the mansion this morning. It was the weekend, so they would have time to talk over breakfast.
With her laptop bag in hand, she grabbed the guesthouse keys from the coffee table and stepped out into the early morning sun. She walked towards the mansion, winding her way around the sparkling, aquamarine swimming pool. Her pulse quickened with each step she took as she crossed the expansive patio into the mansion. After she had tried to kiss him, she had decided not to bring it up with him. The best idea was to pretend it hadn’t happened. That plan didn’t stop her heart from pounding in anticipation. She was going to see him for the first time in days and she had to find a way to play it cool around him. If he brought up her attempt to kiss him, she would probably die of mortification.
When she got to the dining room, she found a dark-haired man who looked a lot like Kirk piling food onto his plate. The handsome man grinned at her. “You must be Kirk’s date for the wedding.”
“Oh.” She stopped in her tracks and swallowed hard. “Date?”
“Sorry, you have no idea who I am.” He smiled again. “I’m Kirk’s cousin, Ian Sterling.”
“You’re the one getting married,” she said, recognizing his name from the wedding invitation. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Ian poured some tea into a teacup. “Last night my uncle told me that Kirk was bringing a date to the wedding, so it’s nice to meet you in person.”
She sucked in a breath, stifling her protest. For whatever reason, Ian believed that she was Kirk’s plus one to the wedding. Denying that might put Kirk in an awkward position, so she’d keep tight-lipped until she got to the bottom of this.
“Nice to meet you, too,” she said slowly. “I’m Bethany.”
“Why don’t you sit by me, Bethany?” Ian patted the chair beside him, and she sat down reluctantly. “This is the perfect opportunity for us to get to know each other. It’s not often that I get to meet one of Kirk’s girlfriends. Usually his relationships end so fast I never meet them.” He chuckled.
Girlfriend? Her eyes widened at his words.
“Not that I think you guys are going to end quickly or anything,” Ian continued, his voice wavering. “Sorry. I’m just nervous.”
She glanced at him, noticing the sweat that had formed on his brow. He was tapping his fingers nervously on the large dining table. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s just… my fiancée has left me in charge of choosing some last-minute meals for the wedding reception and I don’t know if I’ve got the taste for it.” Ian frowned. “We Sterlings are pretty new to stuff like this. I mean, my uncle got my family from eating canned cheese to all this fancy stuff.” Ian gestured to the food on the table.
Food she had taken for granted as a child, but now looked at longingly. The table was laden buffet-style with croissants, frittatas topped with caviar, scones and clotted cream, tarts, Italian sausage, fruit salad, juice, coffee, and tea served in a silver tea service.
She tried to ignore the sudden rumbling in her stomach. “Your uncle?”
Ian nodded. “Yeah, Kirk’s dad. My uncle can be kind of a hard ass, but he brought my father along for the ride. Gave my dad money to start his own business and we’ve been selling cars ever since. Pretty sweet, huh?”
“Yes. I suppose it is,” she said weakly. Kirk’s father had given money to his own brother, while her family had languished in their upper-class poverty all these years. Jealousy reared its ugly head again. She grabbed a croissant and started to cram it into her mouth. Not the most ladylike move, but if she didn’t stuff her mouth she’d probably say something they’d all regret.
“Anyway, my fiancée’s family is pretty wealthy, so I don’t want to screw this up,” Ian went on. “I want to make the right choices for the menu. Can’t afford to embarrass myself in front of my new bride, can I?”
She swallowed some of the buttery croissant. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
“You sure are nice. I can see why Kirk likes you. He doesn’t always meet nice women.” He grimaced. “Sorry. I’m blathering like an idiot. Guess all this wedding stuff is giving me jitters.”
“It’s okay to be nervous.” She flashed him a reassuring smile. Jealousy aside, it wouldn’t hurt to be nice to Kirk’s cousin. “That’s how you know how important this is to you.”
“You’re right.” Ian smiled. “Come on, help yourself. Can’t let this food go to waste.”
Bethany did as he told her, adding croissants and scones to her plate. “Where is Kirk anyway?”
“He’s taking some mysterious phone call in his study.” Ian started to cut into his sausage, jabbing at the meat in a way that would have made her mother gasp in horror. “Every time he takes a call in there I know something big is about to happen. All the important stuff happens in there.”
That made her perk up. “Do you know what the call is about?”
Ian shrugged. “Probably has to do with the deal in Latin America. There’s a secret merger coming up, but you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Why is it a secret?” she asked, lowering her voice.
His eyes darted around the room, like he was making sure nobody was listening in. “Just in case the deal doesn’t go through. If SIB tries and fails, it would send serious shockwaves through the market. Plus, the media always starts snooping around in earnest when a merger is on the horizon. Nobody wants the media digging through their trash.”
“Oh.” She gave a cheery laugh. “I’ll never understand all this big-business stuff.” It was better to let Ian think she had no need for the information. That way, he wouldn’t suspect her while she sent word to her father about the potential merger.
“Well, remember that information doesn’t leave this room.” Ian took a sip of his tea. “It’ll be our secret. And don’t tell Kirk I said anything. He’s always going on and on about how indiscreet I am. The only reason he told me about the merger was because he needed my dad’s help with something and had to let me in on it.”
“Of course. My lips are sealed.” Ian’s lack of discretion was her gain. If she could get him to keep talking, maybe he’d spill all the Sterling family secrets.
AFTER THEY CHATTED about Ian’s upcoming wedding for several minutes, she saw Kirk enter the dining room.
“Bethany, I didn’t expect to see you up so early.” He was casually dressed in khaki pants and a shirt with rolled-up sleeves that showed off his tan forearms.
It took incredible effort for her not to stare at how stunningly gorgeous he was even this early in the morning. “You forgot about our scheduled meeting?”
He grimaced. “I’m sorry. I got a phone call and I forgot all about it. I see you’ve met my cousin already.”
Ian popped a grape into his mouth and nodded. “Yep. I’m glad you finally found a date for the wedding.”
Surprise flickered in Kirk’s eyes for a moment. “Date? For the wedding?”
“Yeah, your dad told me you were bringing some mystery woman. Looks like I found her.” Ian grinned. “You be careful with her, Kirk. She might end up making an honest man out of you.”
Her face heated, the rush of embarrassment forcing her to take a sudden interest in her fork. Almost kissing Kirk had been mortifying enough. Now his cousin was playing accidental matchmaker with them.
“Right. My father.” Kirk’s jaw tightened. “Bethany and I need a second to talk, so you can go find Chef Henri in the kitchen. You can get started without me.”
“Sure.” Ian stood up from his chair and left the dining room.
A palpable tension settled over the room. It was so thick that she had to force herself to take a sharp breath before she lifted her gaze to look at him. The sensation of that brief moment their lips touched came back to her, sending a tingle down her spine.
“Ian seems to think you’re my date for the wedding.” Kirk folded his arms. “I’m sorry for the discomfort that must be causing you.”
“No, it’s fine.” A heart-stopping realization suddenly hit her.
If Kirk had a date for the wedding, that meant he had some other woman in mind. A woman who was definitely not her. Her heat squeezed tightly, cutting off her already-shallow breathing. This unfamiliar feeling was much more than jealousy. Jealousy was something she had grown accustomed to after her family’s downfall. This was like having the floor give way beneath her. It was like having her hopes dashed even though she’d never even hoped.
Furious with her treacherous reaction to him, she pushed away from the table and jumped to her feet. That kiss must have really knocked all the sense out of her. She was pining over him, when she was plotting to destroy him.
He gave her a hard stare, studying her like didn’t quite trust what she had said. “It’s not fine.” Kirk paused. “It’s not fine, because now that my cousin has made an assumption inviting you would be the best course of action. I’d like you to be my date for the wedding.”
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Suddenly, she was so unbalanced from the shock that she gripped the back of a chair to hold herself up. For some unfathomable reason, knowing that he wanted to take her elated her. She had to talk him out of it. “Me? Don’t you have a million other women you could ask?”
He held up his hands. “This isn’t some kind of romantic gesture, Bethany.”
Her heart sank. Disappointment and relief gripped her, the contradiction setting her adrift emotionally. Part of her wanted to be his real date. Wanted to be the woman on his arm. But that was the part that was ruled by lust and desire. The part of her that was ruled by reason knew that entertaining any kind of romance with him was utterly insane. “So, what is it?”
“My father wants me to bring a date to the wedding.” He heaved out a sigh. “He wants me to project a certain image. I’m not actually dating anyone, which is making it nearly impossible for me to find a real date on such short notice. Not that it matters to my father. In his zeal to get what he wants out of me, he’s probably told the whole family that I’ll be bringing a date to the wedding.”
Even though she knew better than to ask personal, probing questions, she wanted to ask him despite the risk. The more she found out about him, the more she liked. Which made completing her mission that much harder. But she had to know. Had to know why he suddenly looked so troubled. Curiosity got the better of her. “What kind of image?”
“Dad believes that we’ll get in with the old families if we project a certain kind of stability,” he explained. “In his mind, me having a date signals that I have a steady girlfriend. It probably sounds crazy to you—”
“No, that makes sense,” she said quickly. “A lot of wealthy people judge a man by the woman who has chosen him. If they like the woman, they’re more likely to give the man a shot even if they don’t know much about him.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “That’s exactly right. How did you know that?”
Panic made her grip the chair even tighter, turning her knuckles white. She had almost given too much away. Of course, she knew exactly how old money operated, but Kirk couldn’t know that. Cursing herself inwardly, she said, “I’ve designed clothes for some wealthy people. Getting close to them is all about connections, networking, and image.” There was no use telling him she had only gotten some wealthy clients through the sheer luck of her changing her last name.
Kirk nodded. “That’s why I’d like you to be my date. You could pretend to be my new girlfriend. Buy me some time while I bring some older families to SIB.”
She chewed her lip. Going to this wedding was only going to invite trouble. One of the guests was liable to recognize her if the bride was as wealthy as Ian had let on. If someone recognized her, she’d be sunk. Her mission would be over and she’d never get justice for her father.
“I’d pay you, of course,” he went on. “Like I said, this will be a strictly professional arrangement. You won’t have to do anything other than stand by my side, make small talk, and be your usual charming self.” He flashed a smile so dazzling it actually made her mind fog up. “Just name your price. No price is too high.”
Some of the frost around her heart began to melt at his offer. Kirk had done so much for her. He didn’t even know her, and yet he had given her a place to stay, fed her, paid her for work she had barely started. Now he was offering to pay her again. None of her family’s upper-class friends had shown her this much kindness in ten years. They had slammed the door in her face countless times. Pretended not to know her. Refused to help her in her hour of need.
His kindness was throwing her off-kilter. Life had jaded her over the years. She had learned that people weren’t generous or kind. Nobody did anything unless there was something in it for them. The only person she could count on was herself. Before she had met Kirk, she had believed him to be cruel. Selfish and unfeeling. Like all the other Sterlings. But he wasn’t cruel at all.
She released her grip on the chair. “I can’t take your money.”
“Bethany, I really don’t expect you to do this for free.”
“I know you don’t.” She swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. “That’s why I can’t do this for money.”
Bethany told herself she was agreeing to this favor because she didn’t like owing people. Didn’t want to be in his debt. Doing a favor for him would free her from any obligations in the future. Plus, he would trust her more. Rewarding his kindness didn’t mean she was turning her back on her mission. Besides, his cousin Ian would be at the wedding, which would give her a chance to get more family secrets out of him.
She told herself all these things, but her heart knew better. His kindness was getting to her. Making her feel guilt. Making her like being around him when she knew that she shouldn’t. Especially since kissing him had been a mistake. Maybe helping him would put her mistake behind them like nothing had even happened.
“Are you sure?” Kirk asked.
“I am.” There was a chance she’d be recognized at the wedding, but she’d have to chance it. How could she leave him hanging? She stood up taller and stretched her hand out to shake his. “I don’t need money to agree to do this. I want to help. So, Kirk, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
