His Marriage Bonus

Chapter Three

“I thought you said you were bringing a date tonight,” Grace Deveraux said to Mitch as he walked into the family’s Charleston mansion several hours later.

Mitch looked at his mother. Thanks to her career as a television newswoman, she had one of the most widely recognizable faces in the entire country. She couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized, which was why she was currently staying with Tom Deveraux in the home they had shared before their divorce, some thirteen years ago. It was the only way she could get any privacy in the wake of her very public firing.

Not that his mother had let the catastrophe get her down—her short and fluffy blond hair was as youthfully and impeccably arranged as always, her blue eyes lively, her trim figure clothed in a stylish silk pantsuit.

Mitch smiled, glad to see his mother looking so well. The idiots who had pronounced her “too old” to do her job might not know it yet, but Grace would land on her feet yet. And Mitch and the rest of the Deveraux clan would be there to applaud her when it happened.

Mitch accepted a glass of wine from his dad. “Lauren called and said she was running a little behind schedule and would just meet me here.” Mitch hadn’t been pleased to get the message from his secretary. He had the feeling it was just one of many excuses Lauren would offer up over the coming week to avoid spending even one more second than she absolutely had to with him. But since he hadn’t known where Lauren was when she called, and she hadn’t been answering her cell phone, he’d had no choice but to do as she had asked, and arrive without her.

“Lauren who?” his father asked as he sat down kitty-corner from Grace and Mitch.

Mitch figured now was as good a time as any to lay the bomb on his parents. “Lauren Heyward.”

Tom Deveraux frowned. Mitch wondered if it was his imagination or had the gray at his father’s temples recently become more pronounced?

“You know the rule about climbing into bed with the competition,” Tom said.

“Tom!” Grace chided, a flush coming into her pretty cheeks.

“Mitch knows what I mean,” Tom said, raking a hand through his closely cropped dark brown hair. “I wasn’t speaking literally. Although now that we’ve brought it up, that better not be the case, either.” Tom leveled a warning look at Mitch, his brown eyes darkening all the more. “There’s nothing more potentially damaging than pillow talk, when it comes to industrial espionage.”

The last thing Mitch wanted to be imagining was his head next to Lauren’s as they exchanged teasing quips and soft words of love and lust after making love. He didn’t want to think about her lying naked beneath him, either, her slender arms and long sexy legs wrapped around him. His relationship with her was too potentially beneficial to both of them to risk ruining with casual sex. If things went his way, he could make his mark with this deal with Payton Heyward, and Lauren would own the historical home of her dreams. And that was as far as Mitch was prepared to take it at this time, despite Payton Heyward’s very interesting offer. Or his own desire for Lauren.

“Lauren doesn’t work for her father,” Mitch said, putting his own uneasiness about Payton Heyward’s unprecedented actions aside. “Furthermore, she has zero interest in his company.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Tom said gruffly. “She’s still an heiress to our biggest rival. And could inadvertently end up passing information to her father about what we’re doing at Deveraux Shipping Company.”

Mitch had no intention of letting Lauren know anything she shouldn’t. He would also keep a very close eye on her. “The competition between Payton Heyward’s company and ours isn’t the biggest threat to our continued prosperity, Dad. The Web-based exchanges on the Internet are.”

“Those companies are a fad.”

Mitch knew a lot of top businessmen thought so, given all the dot-com firms that had already gone under. He didn’t agree. He felt it was one of the fastest growing markets and would continue to be for some time. “They also offer faster bookings at cheaper prices.” And that was a problem, Mitch thought.

“Most big deals are made over a meal and closed with a handshake. That’s always been the case and always will be.” It was the really big deals, not the unpredictable little shipments, Tom Deveraux was interested in locking up.

In the past, those big deals had kept the Deveraux and Heyward shipping companies on top. But Mitch knew there was more money to be made by pursuing lots of smaller customers, too. They just needed a cost-effective way to do it. “I still want to use this year’s expansion money to put up our own Web site and start doing business that way as well,” he said.

Tom gave him a look that reminded Mitch just who was CEO of the Deveraux Shipping Company. “And I want to invest in more container ships.”

They would have more ships at their disposal if they merged with Heyward Shipping, Mitch thought. Because Payton Heyward had just added two new state-of-the-art vessels to his fleet. And then they could still add an e-commerce component to their business, too, without over-mortgaging the firm, without worrying whether Payton was going to edge out Tom on an upcoming deal with a customer or vice versa. But he sensed he was going to have a hard time convincing his father to put his own uneasiness and suspicion aside and merge companies with Payton Heyward.

“When did the two of you start dating?” Tom asked.

“Tonight’s our first date,” Mitch said. “And you might as well know there are going to be six others this week as well.”

Grace looked over with a raised eyebrow. “Cleared your calendars, did you, dear?”

Briefly, Mitch laid out the deal that had been offered to Lauren and him by Payton Heyward, while Lauren was present. He did not tell them about the dowry Payton had promised after she left in a huff. As he had expected, his parents were as shocked as he had been.

“Forget for a moment the fact that I would never agree to a merger between our two companies,” Tom said when Mitch had finished. “This whole idea of an arranged courtship is crazy! I’m surprised you even agreed to hear Payton out, never mind agreed to follow this cockeyed plan of his.”

Grace nodded her agreement as she swiftly took Tom’s side in this. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing here, Mitch?”

Mitch knew he could convince his father a merger between the two powerhouses was the right way to go, once he had Payton Heyward firmly in his corner and all the details worked out. His business case was that strong. But he would have to wait for the right time to do that and, unfortunately, now was not the right time. It was victory enough that he had even been able to broach the topic with his father, given his father’s insistence they keep their firm private and family-owned, despite all business indicators to the contrary. “Look, all Lauren and I agreed to do was spend time with each other every evening for one week so she can get this mansion that she wants and I can talk merger with her father. The way we see it, what we’re doing is not any different than schmoozing a client to close a deal.”

“It’s a heck of a lot different,” Grace interjected firmly. She looked at Mitch as if he had just sold his soul. “It’s always a mistake to date someone for the wrong reasons.”

“It’s only a week,” Mitch said impatiently. Although he hadn’t actually ruled out the idea of eventually marrying Lauren, he hadn’t ruled it in, either. He figured he would just have to wait and see how things developed. But if those kisses they had shared this afternoon were any indication of the fireworks yet to happen between them, he’d definitely be thinking about it by the end of the week.

“You tell yourself it’s only a week, now,” Grace said. “But you’re just marking time until you get what you really want. Peoples’ feelings are involved here, and things have a way of getting complicated when you least expect them to.”

No kidding, Mitch thought, recalling how fast and unexpectedly his previous marriage had gotten ugly and come to an end. He’d thought he’d known Jeannette, too. He’d thought they could make each other happy forever. And look how wrong he had been.

“I agree. You shouldn’t be spending time alone with a woman unless you’re genuinely interested in her,” Tom said. “I don’t care what prize was offered to you in return. To do otherwise usually ends up with someone being hurt. And you’re better than that.”

“Who says I’m not genuinely interested in Lauren?” Mitch stated angrily, resenting the implication that he was in some way cold-bloodedly using Lauren, when that wasn’t the case at all. They hadn’t pursued this deal. Her father had presented them with the arrangement, as well as the prizes. He and Lauren had just opted to take Payton Heyward up on his offer.

“Are you telling us you find her attractive?” Grace asked.

Attractive wasn’t the half of it, Mitch thought, thinking back to the way his senses stirred whenever he was close to her. And the way she kissed! He’d never felt lips as soft or sensual, or wanted anyone so much so fast… Deciding there was no harm in being honest with his parents about that much, especially because it would make him look better in their eyes, Mitch said, “Yes.”

Grace and Tom groaned in unison. “Even worse,” Tom said.

Grace agreed. “Now I know someone is going to get hurt.”

Mitch rolled his eyes. With this family of his, sometimes you just couldn’t win.

The doorbell rang. Theresa Owens, the family’s housekeeper, swept through the foyer to get it and ushered Lauren in. She looked breathtakingly beautiful in a sleeveless black dress that had embroidered flowers along the hem. Her golden-brown hair was loose and tousled, and pink tinged her cheeks. She had a bottle of wine in her hands and fortunately not an inkling about how Mitch’s father felt about Mitch consorting with the “competition.”

“Sorry I’m late,” Lauren said as everyone stood to greet her.

Mitch glanced at his watch and saw it was indeed ten minutes after six o’clock. He grimaced, wondering what Payton’s rules were about that. He’d hate to be disqualified on a technicality before they’d even really started.

“I ran into Daisy Templeton,” Lauren continued breathlessly, and handed the bottle of wine to Grace. “She’s starting a search for her biological parents. And she knows I’ve done a lot with birth records to better understand some of the complicated real estate transactions that have occurred on some of the properties I’ve bought and sold. You know, sometimes a property was supposed to go to an heir, only the heir died, and then it ended up with a second cousin, so what originally started out as a Smith-family holding suddenly became a Donahue property or a Calhoun. Anyway, I got hung up, giving her some advice on the best way to proceed.”

Grace suddenly looked very pale as she handed the wine to Tom and eased her way into a chair.

“Why would she want to do that?” Tom asked calmly, putting the wine on the bar. “I mean, we’ve all known for years that Daisy was adopted, but I always thought Daisy was very happy with the Templeton family.”

“Then you’re the only one,” Mitch murmured.

Tom shot him a reprimanding look.

Mitch shrugged. “You don’t get as wild as Daisy’s been without some reason,” Mitch said. “Frankly, I don’t think she’s ever felt she really belonged with the Templetons.”

“Of course she belongs with the Templetons,” Tom said sharply. He gave Mitch an impatient look. “They adopted her, didn’t they?”

“If you’ll excuse me—I—” Grace stood abruptly and put her hand to the back of her neck as if she had one of her tension headaches coming on. “I forgot I had a previous engagement this evening,” she murmured as everyone turned to her in surprise. “I’m so sorry, Mitch, Lauren. I won’t be able to have dinner with you after all.” She turned on her heel and walked toward the door with all the careful poise of an actress leaving the stage.

“Grace—” Tom started after his ex-wife.

Grace put up a hand to halt him, but did not turn around. Tom stopped in his tracks, and his broad shoulders slumped dejectedly, as he watched her disappear up the stairs.

Mitch looked at his father. “What was that about?” Clearly, his mother was annoyed with his father. Grace hadn’t even looked at Tom as she had made her excuses.

“I don’t know,” Tom said in a too-vague way that made Mitch think his father most certainly did.

“I hope it wasn’t something I said.” Lauren pressed a hand to her chest. She looked stricken.

“Of course not,” Tom and Mitch reassured in unison.

“Mom just…she’s been this way since she returned from New York,” Mitch explained. Things would be going along smoothly, and then his mother would suddenly look his father in the eye and end up walking out of the room, visibly distressed. They all assumed it had something to do with her being fired, that she was just feeling very tense and emotional in the wake of her public humiliation.

“I think we should take Grace at her word,” Tom said, going over to open the bottle of wine that Lauren had brought as a gift. “And accept that she had another invitation she forgot about and intends to honor.”

If you say so, Mitch thought. But he wasn’t buying it. Not for a red-hot minute.

DINNER WAS SERVED shortly thereafter. Mitch urged Lauren to talk about her career in acquiring and renovating historic properties for resale, which she did happily. He also asked her a few questions about her experiences with the family shipping business, and learned, along with his father, that Lauren never set foot in the executive offices if she could help it, and she usually could.

When Lauren excused herself to run out to the kitchen to get Theresa’s recipe for hummingbird cake, Mitch looked at Tom. “See? She’s not exactly Mata Hari.”

“How do you know?” Tom retorted grimly, looking as if he was all too willing to place Lauren in the ranks of the notorious World War I spy. “Just because she acts innocent in the ways of the business doesn’t mean you aren’t the one being set up here.”

Like the real Mata Hari, Lauren was sexy and beautiful, maybe even a tad mysterious. But Mitch couldn’t see Lauren seducing him for information. “What do you mean?” Mitch demanded.

“Payton Heyward has never been interested in taking his company beyond the Heyward family.”

Mitch regarded his father pragmatically and pointed out the obvious motivation, “Until now, Payton Heyward was probably hoping Lauren would marry and produce a child so Payton and Lauren would not be the last of the blood-line. But since that hasn’t happened, Payton’s decided to take matters into his own hands, and secure her financial future, and the Heyward family legacy in the shipping industry, in another way. Through a merger with us.” As far as Mitch was concerned, businesswise Payton’s actions made perfect sense. Personally, it was risky. If the situation backfired in any way, or Lauren learned of the dowry Payton had secretly offered on her behalf, Lauren might not ever forgive her father. Or Mitch. And therein lay the real risk.

Tom’s jaw hardened. He looked not the least bit appeased. “Look, call me suspicious if you will, but I’ve been around this business for a very long time. If Payton Heyward is suddenly wanting to merge with us, if he is really even wanting to consider it, then there’s a damn good reason.”

Mitch looked at his father warily. “You think they’re in trouble, financially, and he’s looking to bail out through us?” Mitch asked uneasily, realizing his father might have a point. Payton Heyward had recently bought those extra container ships. And as yet the scuttlebutt was the ships weren’t fully booked. That had to be putting a strain on the Heyward-company finances.

Tom shrugged, abruptly looking as unsure as Mitch felt about the situation. “I don’t know what’s going on there. I’m not sure I want to know,” Tom replied unhappily, sighing before leaning forward urgently once again. “And by the way, what I’ve told you about climbing into bed with the competition goes both ways. Don’t be pumping Lauren for information, either. It would be unethical.”

“I’m more principled than that,” Mitch said, beginning to get angry now. He loved his father with all his heart. But he loathed the way Tom kept treating him when it came to the family business, like a student who still needed schooling, lots of it. Tom didn’t treat his other children that way. But then his other children weren’t involved in the family business.

“I’m going to go out for a while,” Tom said, getting up from the dining-room table abruptly. “I need to clear my head.”

Mitch nodded and watched his father go.

“WHERE’S YOUR FATHER?” Lauren asked when she returned several minutes later, handwritten recipe in hand.

“He went out for a while,” Mitch said.

“Meaning we’re on our own for the rest of the evening,” Lauren supposed, looking no happier about that than Mitch felt.

“It would appear so.” Mitch glanced at his watch, saw nearly two hours had passed. Only four hours and two and a half minutes to go.

“So now what?” Lauren said, suddenly beginning to look as restless as Mitch felt.

Mitch shrugged and got up from the table. “I don’t know. We’ll figure out some way to kill the rest of the evening.” Without getting extraordinarily close.

“Such as…?” Lauren slipped the recipe into her handbag, then waited for Mitch to fill in the blanks.

“I don’t know.” Mitch shrugged again. All the things Mitch would normally want to do with a woman on a first date were pretty much out, given the unusual circumstances of their pairing. Too late, he realized he should have treated this date like a business deal and come up with more of an agenda ahead of time. “We could go to one of the clubs and listen to music, or, uh, maybe go to a very long movie,” Mitch suggested. Walking on the beach was out, as was anything else even quasiromantic until he’d had a little time to decide whether he could persuade Lauren to forget about her rules.

“Anything, just so long as we’re not alone,” Lauren qualified, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Right,” Mitch replied.

Lauren inclined her head at Mitch and grinned. Abruptly looking like the mischievous playgirl he knew she wasn’t, she sauntered closer and teasingly tugged at the knot of his tie. “Ah, Mitch.” She batted her eyelashes at him coquettishly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were afraid to be alone with me.”

She could be Mata Hari for all you know.

Mitch shifted his weight uncomfortably as Lauren came closer yet and wreathed both her arms around his neck. She stood on tiptoe, pressed her slender curves close to him. Then looked deep into his eyes and whispered in a soft teasing voice that sent the blood rushing like a riptide to the lower half of his body. “What’s the matter, Mitch? Afraid I might seduce you into doing something against your will?”

Chapter Four

“Don’t we both wish that were the case,” Mitch said, tightening his arms around Lauren’s waist, holding her closer yet, so their bodies were all but intertwined. “But not a chance,” he murmured, looking deep into her eyes. “Because I never do anything I don’t want to do.”

Gazing into his eyes, listening to the conviction in his low voice, Lauren could believe him.

The phone rang. Mitch leaned back just enough to be able to reach into the breast pocket of his suit coat and extract his cell phone. He checked the caller ID screen, pushed the button. Frowning, he held the phone to his ear. “Yeah, Jack, what’s up? …I don’t know. Well, if he’s not answering…yeah… I’ll be right there.” Mitch ended the connection and slid his cell phone back into his suit jacket. He released Lauren with a beleaguered sigh, the sexual electricity of moments before forgotten. “We’ve got to go. There’s trouble at the docks.”

Lauren picked up her handbag from the floor next to the sofa. “What kind of trouble?” she asked, sincerely interested.

Mitch looked at her with sudden wariness. “Problem with a shipment,” he said vaguely, after a moment, looking strangely loath to confide anything in her at all. “The company attorney, Jack Granger, can’t find my father—he’s not picking up his cell phone—so I’ve got to handle the situation.”

Lauren wondered if that was all Mitch was upset about. Somehow, it seemed like more than just that worrying him. “Does this happen a lot?” she asked casually as they walked outside to his car, wanting somehow to help him feel better about whatever was going on, even if it was just by talking about it.

Mitch tensed as they reached the passenger side. “Lately, more than I’d like to admit,” he said, making no move to open the car door for her. “What about what happened just now?” Mitch backed her up against the side of the Lexus and caged her there with his arms, one hand planted on either side of her. “Does that happen often?” All too aware of the sudden pounding of her heart, Lauren leaned back against the metal, putting as much distance as she could—which wasn’t much—between herself and his strong, hard body. Flushing self-consciously despite herself, she asked, “Does what happen often?”

Mitch favored Lauren with a challenging half smile she found even more disturbing than the way he was holding her captive. “Do you tease men about seducing them?” he queried in a low, inherently seductive tone.

Lauren’s neck and shoulders drew taut as a bow, even as she defiantly lifted her chin. “I’m not a flirt, if that’s what you’re asking,” she stated plainly.