14. Liz
Chapter Fourteen
LIZ
After another cup of coffee and getting my head straight, I head back upstairs, where I’m directed to Kent’s office.
When I arrive, I spot an older woman sitting behind her desk, seeming enthralled with whatever is taking her focus.
As I get closer, I can see she’s reading something on one of those eReaders.
“Excuse me,” I say and the woman startles with a yelp.
“Oh, goodness! You gave me a fright.” She sets down her device, pats her disturbed white hair, and quickly lowers her glasses hanging around her neck with a gold chain accented with pearls. “How may I help you?”
“I’m looking for Kent Bonnaire. Is he available?”
She looks me up and down but in a much more approving way than Dean Bonnaire’s assistant did last night. “You’re quite lovely, you know that?”
“Thank you,” I say.
“Like a young Rita Hayworth. Is there any relation?”
I shake my head and clutch my bag. “No.”
Her gaze shifts, and she gasps. “That’s some ring you’re wearing.”
“Yes, it certainly seems that way.” I’m going to need to talk to Ken about getting a different engagement ring. This one is getting way too much attention.
She slips on her glasses and reaches for my hand. “May I?”
“Okay,” I say, letting her examine the ring like she’s a jeweler.
“This is a spectacular diamond. Where did you get it?” she asks.
“Um . . . My fiancé.” This feels so strange to be saying. I’m just glad I didn’t say, fake fiancé.
“Well, he must be a very wealt—wait, what did you say your name was again?”
“I didn’t. It’s Liz McKenna.”
“Oh, my word, you’re Mr. Bonnaire’s new fiancée,” she says, still clasping my left hand.
I can’t even bring myself to say yes. I simply shrug as if to say, you caught me!
“Ooh, this is wonderful! I was thrilled when Mr. Bonnaire shared the news with me this morning.” The woman lets my hand go and shuffles from the other side of the desk, coming at me with wide arms. “Congratulations, love.” She slams into me with one of those big, mama hugs, not unlike the hug Dahlia gave me last night.
“Thanks,” I say. “And, you are?”
She lets me go and lets out a laugh. “I’m Poppy, Mr. Bonnaire’s assistant.
And if there’s anything I can do for you, Ms. McKenna, you let me know.
” Both Kent’s close cousin and his assistant are over the moon about him being engaged.
It’s sweet, and I almost feel bad that it’s all for show, and they’ll soon be sorely disappointed.
Don’t get it twisted, I don’t feel bad enough to pull out of the deal.
“So, have you begun wedding planning?” Poppy asks.
“Not yet,” I say.
“I see. Well, the sooner, the better, so you two can start having little ones.” She shoots me a wink and nudges me with her elbow.
I reply with an awkward smile. Her enthusiasm is sweet, but it only reminds me that I planned a beautiful wedding that never happened.
And kids, well, I’m pretty sure that’s never going to happen now.
I’ve resigned myself to being married to my business and letting my products be my babies.
Lately, it feels like that’s the best I can hope for.
The closed office door to our left opens up, and I expect to see Kent. But instead, that guy from the elevator emerges with a deep scowl on his face. What’s he doing here? Then the man looks over at me, and the recognition of my face softens his expression.
“Hello again,” he says and his gaze rolls down my body.
I take a step back. “Hi.”
His brown wrinkles and he whips his head back and forth from the office behind him and me. “Are you . . . are you here to see Kent?”
“Yes,” I say, becoming somewhat annoyed that I haven’t actually met with anyone about my company—the entire reason I flew all the way here from California.
Okay, maybe not the entire reason. But seriously.
Kent, Collin, Jacqueline, hell, even Poppy.
It would be nice to do what I actually came here to do.
Though, I’m beginning to think it’s going to be damn near impossible with the way things have been going.
“Are you two working togeth—” Collin begins, and Kent emerges from the doorway.
“Liz, there you are . . . Darling,” he says.
“Darling?” Collin blurts.
“Yes.” Kent steps up confidently. “This is Liz, my fiancée.” So what?
We’ve gone public now? Everyone knows? Kent places his arm gently around my waist. A shiver ripples through my skin even though there are several layers of clothing between his hand and my hip.
My nerves jumble with the sensation of Kent’s closeness, and my pulse picks up speed.
I glance up at him and breathe in the scent of aftershave lingering on his face.
He turns to me with a smile, and my gaze drops to his lips.
Why do I feel the impulse to kiss him again?
And more importantly, why does it feel like more than an impulse?
Like kissing him right here at his office in the presence of his colleagues is the most natural thing in the world.
And by the way he’s looking back at me with that lovestruck gaze, maybe he feels the same.
“She’s your fiancée?” Collin asks with a look of disbelief, breaking my Kent trance.
“Yes, she’s my beloved. Aren’t you, Darling.” Kent looks at me again, and his uniquely-colored eyes draw me in again.
“That’s right.” For a moment, I want to be Kent’s darling. But there are just too many reasons why this would never work. Especially now.
“And this is Collin, my colleague,” Kent offers.
“We’ve met,” he says.
Kent’s grinning mouth begins to pucker. “Have you?”
“On the elevator this morning,” I say.
“I see.” Kent doesn’t seem pleased with our earlier encounter.
“Well, if you’ll excuse us, I’d like a moment alone with my future wife.
” Kent leads me into his office. There’s something about the way he says future wife that sets off butterflies in my gut.
Uh-oh, I cannot get caught up in this London billionaire fairytale.
“Did you hear that, Mr. Evans? Future wife!” Poppy gleams, all starry-eyed. The woman could not be more excited about her boss getting married. I hope Kent lets her down gently when the time comes.
“Hold my calls, Poppy,” Kent says as I walk into his office, and she confirms with a giddy tone. Kent’s corner office is spacious with floor-to-ceiling windows. If this is where he works now, I can only imagine what the president’s office is like.
Kent shuts the door behind us. The moment it clicks shut, a tingle runs up my spine. We’re alone. Why does it feel so illicit when we’re in a closed room together?
“Sleep all right?” he asks.
“Fine,” I say. “You?”
“Not exactly.”
“Well, if you want your bed back, you’re going to have to get Dahlia another place to stay.”
“I’m working on it,” he says. “Have you heard the news about Jacqueline?”
I set my bag down on one of the leather club chairs in his seating area. “I have. And I’m told that you’re going to be taking over my case.”
“As of right now, I’m the only one qualified to take your case.” Kent stands tall, and my gaze draws down his navy silk tie, all the way to his leather belt. I linger for just a moment before glancing away.
“Agreed.” Objectively, Kent Bonnaire is the best that Bonnaire Capital can offer.
I know because after he called and invited me back to London, he wasn’t the only one doing extensive research.
From what I gathered on the internet, it seems that when Kent’s on the case, businesses flourish.
And between his expertise and my relentlessness, SOLIDS will have no place to go but up, and up, and up!
It’s not an ideal arrangement considering the engagement.
Far from it. But it could end up being for the best.
“However, I’m concerned it may not be wise under the circumstances. So let’s hold off on your deal until after New Year’s when the vote is done and Jacqueline’s back at work.”
Hold off on starting my deal? Why should my company suffer just because of his agenda? I don’t think so. He’s not going to railroad me. Not on this. I pop my hip and cross my arms. “No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean, that wasn’t part of our agreement. I’m not spending two weeks here, sitting around and playing your fiancée. Ever since we made this deal, I’m the one doing all of the bending over backward, and it stops now.”
“Liz, please. I need you to be flexible. This is a precarious situation.” Kent throws his hands in the air with a strained voice.
“Well, you should’ve thought about that before you paraded me in front of your father.” I march over and jab my finger into his lapel. Even a frustrated touch sends a tingle through my hand. “Don’t forget. This is your master plan, not mine.”
“You and I working together isn’t a good idea.” He points a reciprocal finger at me and now our noses are less than a foot from one another. I suck in a breath as he exhales, and my gaze falls to his mouth.
Too close, Liz. Back up.
I turn on my heel and take a lap around his seating area, creating a lot more space between us.
“Getting my own hotel isn’t a good idea.
Working together isn’t a good idea. How do I know that by January 1st, all the money you promised me isn’t a good idea?
It’s not like we have a written contract or anything. ”
Kent knits his brow. “What are you insinuating? I’m a liar?”
“Yes, Kent. You are. You’re lying to everyone about something that’s pretty damn important for self-serving purposes. How do I know you’re not lying to me too?” I take a protective stance.
Kent sucks in a breath, puffing up his chest as if he’s ready to defend himself but then comes up with nothing. He stares at me for a moment. “I suppose you don’t. But I’m not. I will make good on my promise to you and your company. You just have to trust me.”
Right, because trust comes so easily. I want to trust him.
And if I’m going to continue down this road, I have to.
Because I seriously doubt putting this in writing would be enforceable in any court—here or in the States.
I wish I could have some kind of guarantee.
Then I unfold my arms, and the light catches the diamond again.
Hmm.
“Well, if this whole thing goes south, I can just sell this diamond,” I say, flashing the sparkly ring on my finger. “I bet it’s worth a pretty penny. Belonged to a prince, you said?”
He gulps. “Yes.”
“Hmm, I can already see the bid cards at Christie’s.”
“You would really sell my grandmother’s rare royal diamond?” he asks like he doesn’t believe it for a second.
“No,” I say. “As long as I have no reason to.”
“You won’t. We stick to the plan, we’ll all win big.”
It sounds so heisty. And I guess it is. “Okay.”
“Then, we’re agreed. We’ll hold off on furthering your deal until Jacqueline returns to work.”
“I didn’t say that. You know the state of my company after what happened.
I don’t have two weeks to waste. We have to get started now.
” It’s not only the truth, but I’m also sick of getting screwed over by these VC guys.
By all guys. If Kent and all of them are going to be out for themselves, then I have to be too.
Kent narrows his eyes like he’s reaching for a better argument, but there isn’t one from a business standpoint. “You know, you’re a real ball-buster, Liz.”
“Thank you,” I reply, not knowing if he means it as a compliment.
He rubs his face in his hands with a long sigh. “Okay, I’ll take over your case until Jacqueline gets back. But that means we have to keep quiet about the engagement thing.”
“Like you were out there with that guy? Ah, hello, Darling. This is my fiancée!” I mimic the scene in my best British accent.
“My father was the one who told him,” he says.
“Why would he do that?” I ask, feeling my chest tighten.
“Because he’s the one the board is planning to promote over me. He fancies himself a Bonnaire. I’m sure my dad felt the news was a courtesy.”
I take it all in. In the light of day, is this still a good idea? “You really think this can work?”
Kent steps closer to me, so close that my hands begin to tremble with every step. He places his hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eye. “It has to. You and me. We’ve got this.”
I feel something shift in my gut, telling me to trust him. Even if it is crazy. We may be partners in crime, but, nonetheless, we’re a team. And it’s okay to lean in.
“So now what?” I ask, as his gaze falls to my lips.
I get that feeling again. That impulse to kiss him because it would just be so easy and feel so good.
We’re two consenting adults. Why can’t I have a fling with a cash bonus?
I’m a heartbroken entrepreneur from California and he’s a playboy wannabe VC president from London.
It’s not like either of us would fall for the other. Not for real. Right?
My chin begins to tilt as if wanting to find out. Kent leans in like he wants it as much as I do. My eyes gently close, bracing for contact.
Knock, knock!
I jump back at the sound of a fist to the door and clear my throat. Again, with the interruptions. Could it be a sign that a fling amidst this chaos is a terrible idea? If so, the universe is sending a lot of mixed signals.
“Yes, come in,” Kent says, sounding as annoyed as I feel.
The door creaks open. “Pardon me, Mr. Bonnaire,” Poppy says, popping her head in. “But your lunch meeting was just postponed.”
“Thank you, Poppy,” he says, keeping his eyes lowered.
“Perhaps, you can keep your reservation and take Ms. McKenna instead?” The woman winks at me with a knowing smile.
Kent looks at me as if conferring with me telepathically.
“A working lunch might be perfect,” I say with a shrug.