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MILLS & BOON
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Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
One
“W ould you do it if I beg?”
Marina Nelson was careful to keep from smiling at Julie’s dramatic plea. Of course she was going to agree to help her sister, but not right away. After twenty-four years of being the baby of the family, it was nice to finally have a little power.
“You know I’m busy,” she said slowly. “It’s the start of a new quarter and I have a full class schedule.”
Julie sighed. “Yes, and your work is very important. But so is this. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t. I really need someone to take charge while I’m on this business trip. We have similar taste and you’re organized and I thought…” Julie tucked her blond hair behind her ears and looked sad. “Am I asking too much? I am. I know it’s crazy. I’m the one getting married, not you. So I should do the planning. But this trip to China is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Six weeks of Ryan and I working together before we settle in to being married and parents.”
Marina glanced down at her sister’s stomach. Julie was only about three months along and not showing at all. One of the advantages of being tall, she thought humorously—it takes longer to see the bump.
“I can see how a trip to China would be far more thrilling than the messy details of choosing a menu and picking out flowers,” she said, still not allowing herself to smile. “Not to mention deciding on a dress. What if you hate what I pick?”
They were close enough in size for the actual gown itself not to be a problem. Any minor tailoring could be done right before the wedding, after Julie got back.
“I won’t,” Julie promised earnestly. “I swear, I’ll love it. Besides, you’ll send me pictures, right? We talked about that. You’ll upload them into e-mail and I’ll write back with my opinion.” Her blue eyes widened. “Marina, please say yes.”
Marina sighed heavily. “No. I can’t. But thanks for asking.”
Julie’s mouth dropped open, then she reached behind her for one of the small, floral sofa cushions and swatted Marina with it.
“You’re horrible! How could you let me go on and on like that? I was practically begging.”
Marina laughed, then grabbed the cushion. “There’s no ‘practically,’ Julie. You begged. You whined. I have to tell you, I was a little embarrassed for you.”
Julie sighed. “So you’ll do it?”
“Of course. You’re my sister. Just give me a list and I’ll take care of everything.”
“You have no idea how you’re helping. Between getting married and our trip and closing on the new house, my life is a nightmare.”
They sat in Ryan’s study—an uncomfortably modern condo in West Los Angeles. It had a great view and electronic everything, but it lacked color and soul, except for a few throw pillows Julie had contributed. Rather than try to make it homey, Julie and Ryan had decided to buy another house that they both liked. Marina knew that Willow, their middle sister, was going to oversee the minor renovating Julie and Ryan’s new place needed, which left the wedding to Marina.
“I think of this project as practice,” Marina said with a grin. “I can figure out what I want and don’t want should I ever take the plunge.”
“Oh, please. You’ll get married,” Julie said confidently. “The right guy’s out there somewhere. You’ll find him.”
Marina wasn’t currently looking, but it would be great when it happened. Assuming she could trust herself to fall in love without losing her soul in the process.
“Until then, just call me the wedding planner,” Marina said. “Now, where’s that list of yours?”
Julie reached into her purse, then straightened without removing anything. “There’s just one other thing.”
“Which is…”
Julie drew in a breath. “Okay, so this is Ryan’s wedding, too, and he’s a little nervous that it’s going to be too girly. He wants a vote in what’s happening.”
Marina didn’t get the problem. “Fine. You two can argue all you want, then e-mail me the compromise. I don’t care.”
“Um, yes, well, that’s not exactly the plan. Ryan wants a representative to be with you for all the important decisions. The food, the cake, the band, the decorations, the flowers.”
“A representative? Like his mother?”
Marina had never met the woman. No doubt she was perfectly lovely, but another opinion could seriously slow the process.
Julie tried to smile and failed miserably. “Actually, no. More like Todd.”
“Todd? As in Todd Aston the Third, all around rich guy and jerk?” Marina couldn’t believe it. “Anyone but him,” she muttered.
“He’s Ryan’s cousin and they’re as close as brothers. You know that. Todd is the best man and he offered to help. Do you hate me now?”
“No, but I should.” Marina sighed. “Todd? Yuck.”
Nearly six months ago, the three sisters had been introduced to their maternal grandmother for the first time in their lives. Grandma Ruth had been estranged from her only daughter, the girls’ mother, ever since Naomi had run off and gotten married.
Now Ruth was back and she wanted a relationship with her daughter and granddaughters. In addition, she had a burning need to connect her family with her second husband’s family through marriage.
In a moment of dinner conversation that Marina was confident would go down in family history, she’d offered each of her granddaughters a million dollars if one of them would please marry Todd Aston the Third, her nephew—or maybe great-nephew, no one was sure—through marriage.
Julie had fallen in love with Ryan and Willow had found Kane Dennison, which left only Marina for toady Todd. Talk about bad luck.
For reasons she was still trying to figure out—maybe it had been a momentary brain injury—Marina had agreed to one date with the obnoxious Todd.
It’s not that the guy wasn’t good-looking—at least, that’s what Marina had heard. She’d never actually seen the man. He was also wealthy and successful in his own right, rather than just inheriting from Mommy and Daddy. Ryan liked him and Marina thought Ryan was okay—especially after he’d shown the good taste to fall for her sister. But Todd?
His idea of a significant relationship was to date the same woman twice in the same week. He went out with models. How could she ever have a serious conversation with a man who dated women who were paid to starve for a living? It violated the female code.
Plus, initially he’d tried to break up Julie and Ryan. Marina thought that was pretty low.
“I’m not asking you to have his baby,” Julie said. “Just work with him on the wedding. Besides, it won’t be too bad. He’s a guy. He’ll get bored at the first meeting with the florist and disappear. You’ll have to deal with him once. Twice at the most.”
“I don’t want to deal with him at all,” Marina said mournfully. “He’s everything I don’t like in a man.” Talk about emotionally useless. Or so she imagined.
A sound came from the doorway. It sounded like someone clearing his throat. When Marina looked up she found a pretty good-looking guy leaning against the door frame.
He looked more amused than annoyed, but based on Julie’s gasp and sudden blush, Marina was willing to go out on a limb and figure this was the infamous Todd Aston.
“Ladies,” he said with a nod. “Ryan let me in and said you were meeting in here. I’ve shown up for wedding duty. I’m also accepting a humanitarian award at the end of the month. Perhaps the two of you would like a shot at writing my bio for the event. It would certainly be entertaining.”
“Oh, man,” Julie muttered. “I’m sorry. That all came out more harshly than I meant it to.”
Marina studied him. He was the walking, breathing definition of tall, dark and hunky. Great face with soulful eyes and the kind of mouth that made a woman dream about being taken against her will. Broad shoulders, a muscled chest and jeans skimming over narrow hips and yummy thighs. All in all, a great package. Too bad Todd’s personality was stuck inside it.
He smiled at her. “You must be Marina.”
“I am. Nice to meet you, Todd.”
“Nice?” He raised one eyebrow. “That’s not what I heard. You’ve already decided I’m an ass. Or is it an idiot?”
She shifted on the sofa, feeling just a tiny bit uncomfortable. “You go out with models. Their airbrushed perfection in magazines make regular women feel bad about themselves.”
“Because of that, models shouldn’t be allowed to date?”
Logic? He wanted to use logic in a discussion about the objectification of thin, young women in modern society?
“Of course they should be allowed to date,” she said smoothly. “I’m simply not interested in someone who’s interested in them.”
“Right,” he said folding his arms over his chest. “Because you assume that if they’re beautiful they must be dumb. Therefore I like dumb women.”
“I didn’t say that, but thanks for clarifying.”
His mouth twitched as if he were holding in a smile. “I don’t date dumb women.”
“You should probably make up your mind about that,” she told him.
“I’ll get right on it.”
“If you two are finished…” Julie pointed to the chair opposite the sofa. “Okay, then. So, we should get started with all this. The wedding.”
Todd strolled across the room and took the seat offered, then pulled a PalmPilot out of his shirt pocket. “I’m ready.”
Marina looked at him. “You’re actually going to participate?”
“Right down to the organic seed we’ll be throwing at the happy couple when they head off on their honeymoon.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “We don’t use rice. The birds eat it and it’s bad for them.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. “Someone’s been spending a little too much time on the Internet.”
“Internet, bridal magazines, whatever. When it comes to wedding planning, I’m your guy.” A challenge brightened his dark eyes. “I’m in this all the way. Are you?”
If he thought he could scare her off, then he was in for a wild ride. “I’m in. And just for the record, I define stubborn.”
“Me, too.”
Ha! No way. He might think he was all that, but Marina was more than willing to take him on and win.
Julie sighed. “I thought you two might not get along, but I never considered this might become a competition. Listen. We’re talking about a wedding. My wedding to Ryan. We need help, not a Las Vegas-style show. Bigger is not better. Don’t be too creative. Let’s just make it low-key and elegant, okay?”
Marina felt Todd’s gaze shift to her. She stared right back at him and refused to be the first one to blink. “Julie, have I ever let you down?”
“No,” Julie said slowly, as if she didn’t want to admit it.
“So trust me.”
Julie gave them each a copy of her list. Todd scanned his, then turned his attention back to Marina Nelson.
She was blond like her sisters, only her hair was darker—more honey-gold. She was about an inch taller than Julie, with the same curvy build. They were obviously sisters and could almost have passed for twins. The main difference—aside from hair color—was the “I’m willing to take you on, big guy” attitude in the set of her chin. Julie was far more agreeable.
Todd had a rule when it came to women—why work hard? There were plenty of attractive females more than happy to come on to him. Some of it was due to his success as a businessman, some of it was his looks. Most of it was about the family fortune.
Whatever the reason, he rarely had to go searching for company. His romantic life was an ongoing series of short-term relationships with minimal commitment and effort on his part. That was how he liked things.
Marina was going to be anything but easy and he wasn’t even trying to get her into bed. But Ryan had asked for his help, so he would put up with the overly verbal Nelson sister for the sake of his cousin.
He was even willing to admit—only to himself—that he was looking forward to taking her on. It had been a long time since a woman had done anything but let him get his way. Working with her would be good for his character, even if he did plan to win in the end.
“Basically we have the invitations done and that’s it,” Julie said as she studied her own copy of the list. “Grandma Ruth offered her house for the wedding and Ryan and I agreed it’s an amazing place. But there are decisions to be made. It’s a winter wedding. Do we want to risk the outside thing? It could be seventy-five or it could be raining.”
“She mentioned something about a ballroom,” Marina said. “On the third floor. Want us to check that out?”
“I’ve seen it.” Todd kept his attention on Julie. “It would easily hold three or four hundred. A few less if you’re interested in a sit-down dinner.”
“We are,” Julie said, making a note.
“But the guest list isn’t nearly that big,” Marina told him. “It’s about a hundred.”
“Ryan said it was closer to two hundred.”
Marina turned to her sister. “That many?”
“It keeps growing.”
“That’s a lot of tables.”
“I know. So I need you to check out the ballroom and see how it would be. Is there still room for dancing with all the tables in place? Where would the band go? I’m torn. Being outside would be great, but I’m not sure I can trust the weather, and I won’t need to be stressed about one more thing.”
“We’ll decide that first,” Marina said, taking notes. “That will affect all the other decisions. What’s next?”
“Flowers, favors—nothing stupid, please—food, entertainment, a photographer and my dress. Oh, and you and Willow have to pick out bridesmaids’ dresses.”
Ryan was so going to owe him, Todd thought humorously. “Tuxes,” he said.
Julie stared at him. “Oh God. You’re right. The guys need tuxes.”
“I’ll take care of the dress myself,” Marina said, smiling at him. “The dress is purely a girl thing.”
“Do you plan to get a say in the tuxes?” he asked.
“Sure.”
He waited while she began sputtering.
“Wait a minute,” Marina said. “A bride’s dress has to be something special. She’s only going to get married once.”
“I could say the same thing about Ryan. He’ll want to look good and you don’t trust me to make that happen. Why should I trust you?” Of course he had no real interest in the wedding gown, but fair was fair.
Julie waved her hand. “I don’t care who goes to the bridal shop. Just find me an amazing dress. Nothing fitted at the waist, of course.”
That’s right, Todd thought. Julie was pregnant.
He knew Ryan was excited about being a father. While Todd never intended to marry, he liked the idea of having kids. The lack of wife would complicate things, but didn’t make the situation impossible.
“I can’t believe you want a say in the dress,” Marina muttered.
He leaned toward her. “Think of all those models I’ve dated. Some of their fashion sense must have rubbed off on me.”
“Did you talk about fashion much?”
“We didn’t talk at all.”
He heard her grind her teeth together and nearly laughed.
“Willow works for that nursery,” Marina said as she ignored him. “I’ll ask her for recommendations on the florist front.”
“Good idea,” Julie said.
“I know a photographer,” Todd told her.
Marina widened her eyes. “Does he take pictures of people with or without clothes?”
“Both. You’ll enjoy looking at her work.”
“I don’t care about naked,” Julie said. “Does she do weddings?”
“They’re her favorite.”
“Good. Put her on the list. Marina, nothing too artistic. Just regular pictures.”
“Gotcha.”
They went over a few more things, then Julie left to find the dress pictures she’d torn out of magazines.
Todd turned his attention to Marina. “I think this is going to be fun.”
“Oh, me, too.”
“You don’t like me much.”
“I don’t know you.”
“You don’t want to.”
“Actually I haven’t decided that. Amazingly enough, you haven’t been on my mind at all.”
One point for her side, he thought. “You didn’t say nice things about me before. I heard you.”
She tilted her head as she stared at him. “You have a reputation which, personally, I think you enjoy. But people form impressions based on that notoriety.”
“You think I’m shallow.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever had to work very hard at anything but your company.”
“Still, you agreed to go out with me. One date. You promised. Aunt Ruth told me.”
Her gaze narrowed. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
She might be uncomfortable with the idea of dating him, but he was the one who had to live with the reality of his aunt offering her granddaughters each a million dollars if one of them would marry him. It made him feel like a loser. What the hell was so wrong with him that a woman had to be paid that much money to make a commitment?
Not that he wanted to get married, but it was the principle of the thing.
Fortunately Julie and Willow were both out of the picture, which left only Marina. He would have refused even a single date with her, but Aunt Ruth had looked so happy at the thought and although he would rather face medieval torture than admit it to anyone, he was a sucker when it came to his aunt Ruth.
“It’s only one date,” he said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“It will be three hours that will seem like a lifetime?” But there was a flash of humor in her eyes as she spoke.
“The wedding,” he said. “We both have to be there, we’re both in the wedding party, which means it wouldn’t be much fun for anyone else we brought.”
She nodded slowly. “We will have just spent all that time arranging the event, so we’ll have plenty to talk about.”
“We can have lots of champagne.”
She grinned. “Always a plan. All right, Todd Aston the Third, I’ll be your date for my sister’s wedding.”
Two
G randma Ruth’s three-story Bel Air mansion was just as awe-inspiring the second time Marina pulled in to the stone covered circular driveway. It was massive and out of place—this was Los Angeles, not eighteenth century England. But the rich lived different lives, Marina thought as she climbed out of her aging import. Lives with live-in staff. Her idea of help at home was a package of premoistened glass cleaning towelettes.
She glanced at the double door leading into the house and decided to wait until Todd showed up before going inside. Okay, sure, she shouldn’t be intimidated by her grandmother’s maid, but she was. So what? She had other positive attributes she could focus on.
Less than a minute later, a gleaming silver Mercedes pulled into the driveway. The car was a sporty two-seater model, the kind that cost as much as the national debt of a small third world country.
The guy who climbed out of it was just as impressive. Tall, well tailored and sexy enough to encourage smart women to make some really stupid choices. She would have to make sure she didn’t fall into the category. Fortunately he wasn’t her type.
“Marina,” Todd said with a grin. “I thought you would have already scouted the house and made the decision.”
“We’re a team, Todd. I totally respect that.” Or she would as long as it suited her.
Speaking of suits, his was dark gray, with a subtle pattern in the weave of the fabric. His pale blue shirt contrasted with the deep burgundy tie. While she preferred a more casual look, he wore his power extremely well. She, on the other hand, looked like a college student with a limited budget. Although her skinny jeans had zipped up with no problem, which made this a very good day.
She collected her digital camera and a small notebook, then followed him to the front door. “I have about an hour,” she said as she checked her watch. “Then I have to be back at UCLA for a class.”
“What are you taking?”
“I’m not. I’m interpreting.” She glanced at him. “I’m a sign language interpreter for deaf students. I specialize in chemistry and physics, mostly the upper division classes.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Impressive.”
“It’s not that hard for me. I’ve taken all the classes myself, so I understand the material. I have three advanced science degrees. Eventually I’m going to have to pick a Ph.D. program, but I’m not ready yet. I already knew how to sign, so I decided to do this for a couple of years.”
His eyes widened. “Three advanced science degrees?”
She loved people underestimating her. “Uh-huh. It’s less impressive when you know I started college at fifteen.”
“Oh, sure. It’s practically ordinary. You’re pretty smart.”
She smiled. “Smarter than you, big guy.”
He laughed. “I’ll remember that.”
He knocked on the front door and when the maid answered, he greeted her by name.
“We’re here to see the ballroom, Katie,” he told the woman in uniform. “Then check out the backyard.”
The maid nodded. “Yes, sir. Your grandmother told me you’d be stopping by. Would you like me to show you upstairs?”
“We can find it. Thanks.”
Marina smiled at the other woman, then followed Todd across a huge foyer and up a wide, curving staircase.
“So how big is your staff?” she asked as they reached the second floor and walked along a long, carpeted hallway. There were dozens of paintings on the wall and pieces of furniture that were probably impressive antiques, if she knew anything about them.
“Five live-ins, six dailies.”
“What?” she asked. She’d only seen his house from a distance—and it had been bigger than this one—but still. “What do they do?”
He turned to her, touched his finger to the tip of her nose and smiled. “Gotcha. I have a housekeeper who hires people to keep the house clean and take care of the grounds. She comes in three days a week. I’d rather not have any staff, but the house is old and big and I’m not willing to deal with it, so she does.”
Okay, one housekeeper was better than five live-ins.
They took a second staircase that flowed into a landing that was bigger than Marina’s apartment. A wall of ornate doors opened into a ballroom the size of a football field.
She stepped into the center of the room and turned in a slow circle. There were gilded mirrors on the walls and dozens of sparkling chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The parquet floor gleamed and reflected the sunlight from the windows.
The walls had been painted a neutral pale beige, so any color theme would work.
“We’re talking about tables of either eight or ten,” Todd said as he pulled out his PalmPilot and pushed a few buttons. “We can fit as many as thirty tables in here and still have room for people to get around.”
Marina did the math. “Can we fit twenty-eight tables and still have room for dancing and the band?”
Todd looked at her. “Orchestra. Not band. Julie said elegant. Bands aren’t elegant.”