Inherited: Expectant Cinderella

CHAPTER TWO

PARKER had called his secretary to tell her that he might be in Las Vegas an extra few days, and now Fran, who had worked for his family for years, was lecturing him.

“You know, you could simply hire someone to take care of that Mathilda situation.”

He knew … even though his late aunt wasn’t the only or even the main reason he was here.

Sutcliffe’s is failing. I have to stop it. The thought slipped in. No surprise. The words had practically become his mantra. Still, he did need to take care of his aunt’s belongings. Something was very wrong here, and it wasn’t just the luscious and bold Daisy.

“No, it’s up to me,” he said, “because clearly someone else took care of Mathilda’s situation years ago or I would have known that I had an aunt before she passed away.”

“Parker, I’m sure that your parents had good reasons,” she began.

“I’m sure they did.” And he had a good idea what those reasons had been. “But they’re both gone now, and I don’t intend to leave here without getting what I came for. I don’t like surprises, I didn’t like this surprise and I intend to make sure there aren’t any more. By the time I leave Las Vegas, I plan to know all there is to know about Aunt Mathilda including why the family didn’t acknowledge her existence, and I’m going to sort the situation out myself. If I hire someone, important personal information may be missed. Or if there’s anything incriminating—which I assume there is—it may become public knowledge and I don’t want to risk having anything floating around out there that would be bad for Sutcliffe Industries.” That was all that was needed to push the company off its fragile golden pedestal.

He also didn’t want to think about the fact that Daisy might know things about his aunt that he didn’t know. The wrong information in the wrong hands …

He frowned. There was something undeniably intriguing and enticing about Daisy, but that only made her doubly dangerous. He didn’t want to be intrigued or enticed. His life had been devoted to his business, the one thing that had never let him down until now, and that was how he liked things. All he had to do was contain the trouble with Sutcliffe’s. Then his world could return to its uneventful but satisfying path.

“You know,” Fran began, breaking into Parker’s thoughts. “Jarrod thinks this trip is a sham and that you’ve simply escaped to Vegas because he and the rest of the board have started picking out potential wives for you.”

Well, there it was. Leave it to Fran to get right to the heart of things. Too bad she couldn’t see his scowl through the phone lines, because she was definitely partly right. Jarrod, his cousin, had recommended an administrative assistant candidate to him last week who was clearly Boston royalty and knew nothing at all about the job.

“Jarrod may think that the board knows what’s best for me and Sutcliffe’s,” Parker said. “But he and the rest of the board are way off base. Marriage isn’t a good idea.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Remember how the stock of Ensign, Incorporated, shot up for months while Lloyd Ensign and his fiancée were engaged and inviting the public to sign in to their website and become part of the wedding-planning process? The company became a household name overnight.”

“I remember. And I remember thinking that Lloyd Ensign was an even bigger ass than I’d always known him to be. Opening my emotional doors to the public for money? Not my style, Fran.”

“I know, and you wouldn’t have to take it that far, of course, but … people love the fairy tale, Parker. You know … billionaire bachelor finds the love of his life, his own personal princess, and has a romantic wedding with all the bells and whistles. And you and the board have agreed that you want to snag the public’s attentions when you launch the new spa complex.”

Which was true. Opening the Sutcliffe Spa Complex was the first major change in the company’s long and successful history, definitely the first since Galen Sutcliffe had died and Parker had taken full control.

Parker’s grip tightened on the phone. His father had been larger than life, a friend to every television screen. His image and voice had launched a hundred hotels and kept people coming back for more. Now there was a hole in the company where he had been, and Parker wasn’t completely confident that the new spa complex could fill that hole. But this plan to boost the company’s ratings by painting him as a Prince Charming in search of the perfect bride …?

“You, too, Fran? Trying to convince me the way everyone else is?”

“Why not me?”

“Because you know me.”

She sighed. “Yes.” And what Fran knew was that Parker wasn’t interested in emotional entanglements. He’d had a lonely childhood until he’d found solace in work, and his solitary ways hadn’t translated well to his relationships as an adult. Women found him too restrained, but they liked his money; they wanted his name. And after the incident when Evelyn had tried to manipulate him into marriage by pretending he was the father of her unborn child … Parker’s blood nearly froze at the thought. Besides the obvious betrayal and lies, the thought of raising a child … no. No. Children needed so much more than he was capable of offering.

“I know you don’t want to get married, and I see your point, but Jarrod won’t give in as easily as I will,” Fran warned. “He’s planted the idea of a big Sutcliffe wedding in the minds of the other board members and it’s starting to take hold.”

Parker didn’t want to tell her that even he had examined the idea. Because while he’d been burned by women and didn’t want to try again, still he understood that his father’s personality had been the secret to Sutcliffe’s success. If a meaningless wedding could breathe life back into the business he’d built his life around … It was just one of the things he needed time to think about, and he couldn’t possibly think with Jarrod and the board singing the Wedding March twenty-four hours a day.

“I have to go now, Fran. I’ll tend to the spa situation from here, and I’ll keep you posted on what’s going on,” he promised.

“All right. I’ll keep you posted, too. Just don’t …”

“What?”

“I don’t really think you should be handling this Mathilda thing yourself. Now that you know there’s something odd going on and some strangers living in her house … it’s just … there might be dirt. The kind that might harm you or Sutcliffe Industries.”

He laughed. “I’ve been expecting dirt from the moment I learned that I had a secret relative. Doing damage control is part of why I’m here. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to bury anything unsavory and make it disappear before the reporters find out anything.”

“Good luck with that. You know how they were with your parents’ divorce.”

He did. It had been ugly, brutal and had torn his young world apart, so he wasn’t letting anyone from the press get close. Maintaining a low profile was part of why he was here alone.

Well, not exactly alone, he thought as he hung up. There was one impetuous redhead and her three pale sidekicks lurking in the shadows. What in the world was he going to do about his … tenants? About one tenant in particular?

For half a mad second, he wondered what the board would think of Daisy. They’d probably all start hyperventilating, scared to death that she might tarnish his shiny aristocratic most-eligible-bachelor image.

Or hand them a container of bubbles.

Parker almost smiled at that thought. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Sutcliffe’s had saved him when he’d desperately needed saving, and, with the company teetering, he had to do everything right. If Daisy had been living here illegally, what other secrets was she harboring? Was there something about the situation that could further harm Sutcliffe’s if it came to light?

Probably not. He had, after all, been unaware of Daisy’s presence before today. Still, this was a delicate situation and a possible PR nightmare. He didn’t want to harm anyone, but the truth was that he was planning on relocating an entire crew of elderly people.

Parker blew out a breath. “Fine, it’s delicate,” he muttered. It was also ludicrous for a man who had eschewed marriage to inherit a wedding chapel. He would just have to deal with the situation.

“So get on with things,” he muttered. “Do what you came to do.” Make a quick sweep of your aunt’s possessions, hire someone to place Daisy and her brood elsewhere, make them disappear from your life and sell the building. Then figure out what’s gone wrong with Sutcliffe’s and fix it.

Parker frowned. Clearly, he had plenty to keep his mind occupied, especially since the spa would open in a month. So, why were his thoughts stalling on Daisy’s smile and the way she had stood up to him? The woman certainly made a man take notice. Even if he didn’t want to.

Daisy was rushing. No surprise. She spent a lot of time rushing … from her part-time job as a tour guide to her even more part-time job as a freelance reporter for a local newspaper to organizing weddings. She also did her best to oversee her group and make sure that no one starved to death or forgot to pay a bill. And when they did forget, she wasn’t too proud to try to schmooze the bill collector. Or evade him. Today shouldn’t have been so different from that.

Except it was. Parker Sutcliffe was no ordinary bill collector. He had caught them in the act of mooching off him, and now he was going to put them out on the street. And it was clear as anything that she was the one who would have to try to get him to change his mind.

But, there had been no light-bulb moments in her dreams last night. Just a few erotic images of Parker with his suit off.

“Oh, that really helped a lot,” she had grumbled when she woke up and remembered—vaguely—what she’d been dreaming. Undressing the villain didn’t make him less a villain. It just made her look pathetic. Besides, she didn’t have time for any of that.

“Lydia, help me make these pew bows look a little perkier. We weren’t at the top of our game yesterday when Mr. Sutcliffe dropped by, so we’ve got to make this place shine before he shows up today.”

“Do you think he’ll like us better today, Daisy?” Nola asked, and Daisy wanted to cry. Or scream at Parker and beat her fists against his broad chest. Honestly, the man must go to the gym every day. What rich guy looked that fit without a personal trainer riding his butt all the time? He probably lived off arugula and bean sprouts while she and the gang ate a lot of mac ‘n’ cheese. The discount kind.

“Daisy?” Lydia sounded worried.

“He might like us better,” Daisy said, trying to sound confident. “If we can wave some dollar signs in front of his eyes. I’ve met Mr. Sutcliffe’s type before, men who are all about getting what they want. If we can convince him that the Forever and a Day has the potential to be profitable for him, he might want to leave things as they are. Maybe he’ll agree to hire us and let us stay on here.”

She looked at the cheery but inexpensive bows she and Lydia were affixing to the pews, but a part of her couldn’t help seeing them through Parker’s eyes. They weren’t real silk. She remembered how his suit had looked … and felt. The man was not going to be impressed by this.

But he’s not going to sneer, either, she vowed. She would punch him in the nose before she would let him make fun of Lydia or John or Nola. They had had tough lives and now they were old, but they had their pride. Tillie had been proud, too. And Daisy was not going to let some pompous rich guy look down his nose at them.

Just because they were squatting in his building. Breaking the law.

The truth hit her. It nearly did her in. They really had no right to be here. Parker Sutcliffe was completely within his rights to throw them all out.

She had three elderly people dependent on her … and her baby. Her baby. She still had trouble believing that she was going to be a mother. It was a scary thought, but she was determined not to mess up. Having no home for her baby would be messing up in a major way. So, what on earth was she going to do?

Something foolish, most likely, she thought. And that kind of thing had gotten her in trouble in the past. Big trouble. Put-you-in-handcuffs-and-write-bad-stuff-on-your-permanent-record trouble.

But that’s not going to happen today. I’m not going to let things get out of control. Come on, Mr. Sutcliffe. I’m putting on my tour-guide face. I can fake it with the best of them. Let’s do this thing.

The first thing that Parker noticed when he entered the Forever and a Day, documents in hand, was that someone had made an attempt to make the inside of the chapel shine. The pink bows affixed to the ends of the pews were more attractive than the ones that had been on display yesterday, there were two potted plants on the small staging area at the front and the cream-colored curtains that had been closed for privacy yesterday had been tied back to let the morning sunlight stream in. Unfortunately, while the sun made the place much brighter, it emphasized the fact that the pews were rather old, their upholstery somewhat shiny with age.

And apparently his inspection hadn’t gone unnoticed. “We’ve been meaning to reupholster them when we get the funds, but we wanted you to see that this is a nice place to have a sweet, old-fashioned wedding. With just a small infusion of cash, it could be even better. We fill a niche that the bigger, flashier places don’t. People who want something homey, loving, not overly commercial or expensive seek us out,” Daisy said, walking toward him down the center aisle of the chapel. She had a determined smile on her face, but her eyes looked wary.

“Daisy,” he drawled. “I told you—”

“I know. You’re not interested in the marriage business. I went to the library and looked you up on the internet last night. I know what your company does, the properties you own and some of the women you’ve … um … dated. You’re not exactly into small fish, are you?”

“I have nothing against small fish.” He heard a giggle coming from his left. Daisy turned slightly and shook her head at whoever had been giggling. “I just have no interest in becoming the owner of a wedding chapel. It’s not the kind of business I … invest in.”

“You were going to say ‘want to be associated with,’ weren’t you? Because I’m not criticizing. I know we’re not exactly posh or anything like that. But I want you to know that we have real potential, and we’re not too tacky, either. We’re not one of those we’ll-do-anything-you-want places. We don’t do … I don’t know … half-naked weddings. No one gets married in a bikini, even if it’s a white one,” she said, just as if this was a normal conversation. “At least, not anymore.”

A slight pink flush turned Daisy’s creamy skin rosy, and every male cell in Parker’s body responded in a way that was completely inappropriate and unwelcome.

All right, this whole situation was totally preposterous and impossible. Parker managed to maintain his stern look, despite the fact that part of him wanted to smile. He held up one hand to stop Daisy, just in case she continued talking about women in bikinis. Already his thoughts were wandering into forbidden territory, wondering what Daisy would look like in a tiny white bikini. He needed to head her off. “I’m not worried about the tackiness factor,” he said.

She gave him a you-have-to-be-kidding look. “Your family came over on the Mayflower, and you … you wear those suits that probably cost more than this building does.”

Probably more than ten of these buildings did. “I’m not concerned about it because you won’t be holding weddings here much longer. I thought I made that clear. I’m selling this place, going back to my life and my real business, and when I do …”

“You’ll evict us,” Daisy whispered. “But you said you weren’t totally heartless.”

“I also told you that I’d help you relocate.”

“I know but … to where? Do you really think it’s going to be easy to find affordable housing for all of us together? At least give us some time.” She crossed her arms over the lilac fabric of her sundress, which only drew his attention to the curve of her breasts. Again.

He frowned. What was wrong with him? He’d never been one of those guys.

“I’ll help you find someplace suitable,” he insisted, glancing down and away, but not before he noted that the woman was wearing flip-flops. With lilac plastic flowers between her pretty and very bare pink toes. Did he even know another woman who would be caught out in public in those things?

She shook her head, sending those long red curls flying. “I was hoping you would reconsider once you got past the shock of finding us here, but since you haven’t …”

Daisy looked toward the wall. “All right, you three, come on in.” She turned toward Parker. “We’re like family, and this concerns them every bit as much as it does me.”

Parker turned as the three elderly people shuffled out. The harsh sunlight wasn’t exactly kind to them, but he could see that they had done their best to dress to impress. Nola had taped a red ribbon around her cane. Lydia had a silk flower in her hair, even though it was beginning to slide out of its clip and droop a bit, and John was wearing a different threadbare suit from the threadbare one he’d worn yesterday.

“Mr. Sutcliffe, sir, I heard what you said about us having to leave, but … can you keep us together?” Nola asked. “Because we’re a … a team. We stay together no matter what. Daisy says so.”

“Yes,” Lydia said, her head nodding non-stop. “Daisy leads tour groups and writes articles to help keep us in food, and we’re really good at doing the weddings with her. She organizes things and takes pictures, I make cookies and play piano, Nola helps sew costumes and fixes flowers and sings and John …”

“John performs the services,” Parker said. “Yes. I know.”

“And sometimes Romeo serves as a ring bearer,” John added. “He’s very well behaved.”

“Romeo?”

“My puppy,” Nola said. “Romeo, come here, dear—”

“No!” Daisy called out, but it was apparently too late. A monster “Woof!” echoed through the walls, followed by the sound of something large pounding down the stairs. Within seconds, a huge German shepherd bounded into the room, ran up to Parker and gazed up at him, cocking his head.

“Romeo?” Parker asked.

“He was a groom’s dog, but the bride didn’t want him even though Romeo did his best to woo her,” Daisy said. “He’s one of the reasons we can’t relocate just anywhere.”

“He’s rather large,” John offered. “Too large.”

“Don’t say anything bad about my Romeo!” Nola said, and she looked as if she might cry. Daisy shot John a look, and he quickly apologized to Nola and patted Romeo’s head.

“The thing is, we are a team,” Daisy said, fiercely. “We go together. Everywhere.”

And they had most likely been coached by Daisy to say all those things, to try to make him feel guilty. Daisy had her game on, all right.

“It’s very nice that you’re a team,” Parker said, feeling a reluctant hint of admiration for Daisy’s devotion to her aging friends. “But it’s not really my concern.”

“Mr. Sutcliffe,” Daisy said, moving forward, and now all of that luscious flesh and intensity was much closer to him. His chest felt a bit tight.

Irrelevant, he told himself. He’d made some mistakes with women before, but getting any more involved with Daisy than he already was would be a much bigger mistake than he’d ever made … for so many reasons. Besides, she didn’t exactly like him. And that wasn’t going to change. He was still selling the building. In the end, she would have to leave her home.

Parker looked down into her unhappy brown eyes. He knew that his own were cold. He’d been told that before.

Daisy blew out a frustrated breath. Then she turned and whispered something in John’s ear. Together the three elderly people and the dog wandered back into the other part of the house. “They can’t go just anywhere,” she said, fiercely. “Between them they don’t have enough money to survive.”

“You’re the money-maker?”

“I work two part-time jobs, and between them and the chapel, we make enough to keep us from starving, but that wouldn’t be true if we moved somewhere else. Besides, this place gives their lives meaning.”

Parker looked around at the wedding chapel, a study in cotton-candy pink and white.

“A wedding chapel doesn’t fit your image, does it?” she asked.

He wasn’t going to lie. “It’s definitely outside my realm of experience. My father built Sutcliffe Industries brick by brick, banking on a name, a reputation and a fortune that goes back generations. All my energies go toward making the business a success. And while we started out in the beverage industry and have our fingers in many pies, at the heart of the business is the subsidiary that provides luxury accommodations for people who happen to like their entertainment sanitized and their lives shielded from anything …”

“Common?” Daisy gestured to the slightly gaudy chapel.

“I’m not judging you, Daisy. I’m merely saying that I’m not planning on changing my line of work. Right now I’m on the cusp of an expansion into new territory, and that’s the only business I’m interested in. Still, I’ll do this much. I’ll give you a little time. Two weeks. That should give you enough breathing room to find a new home and make some new plans.”

She looked at him as if she had just found out that he was really a vampire intent on drinking her blood. He’d never had a woman look at him with that much distaste.