Chapter 1 #2
"Those bony-assed white girls with their proper pores. With all the jocks panting after them."
"We sure showed them," Indigo murmured, mahogany eyes twinkling.
For a minute, she allowed herself to reflect on the past, on one that was not so painful.
And then reality hit. She was going to be losing her shop, a place she had worked so hard to build and maintain.
And when her lease ran out in a month, she was going to be homeless.
Depression settled on her like a very heavy cloak.
She had no idea where to turn. She had tried borrowing from the bank, but they had turned her down, the same bank she had been doing business with for the past five years. She could still hear the pompous voice of the manager in her head, explaining to her why she wasn't a sure bet.
"With the economy the way it is right now, we're calling in our short-term loans and limiting the businesses we lend to. I would really like to be able to help, Ms. Shepherd, as you've been a valuable client over the past five years, but our hands are tied."
Bitch, she thought bitterly.
"You know what? Enough of this gloom and doom. Let's go and raid the kitchen and try and think of something positive," Juliet announced.
"You cannot be serious." Angeline O'Keefe stared at her son as if he had lost his mind.
"It's the perfect solution, and it's killing two birds with one stone."
"Darling, you're not thinking. This woman is not even your type."
His response was a shrug as he wandered over to the window. The mild fall weather had been exchanged for the mean slap of winter. All around he could see evidence of the Christmas season in full blast. Lights hung from the various trees lining the quaint and colorful town square.
Their head office was located right in the middle of an iconic and historical township and had been in the same location for more than two hundred years.
The building had changed, of course. Where once it had been a single-story concrete structure, it now stretched towards the winter-gray sky, forming a huge thirty-eight-floor formidable building of chrome and glass.
It was his legacy, and he should rightfully be stepping into his father's very impressive shoes.
But he lacked the direction and maturity.
It did not matter that he was thirty-two years old. The board, which comprised twelve very rigid and unbending old men, had decided that. And they had the authority.
He wasn't married, and in the past, his reputation had been anything but stellar.
For them to hand over the temporary reins to his mother meant that they thought very little of him, because women were not allowed to be board members.
The only reason why Angeline O'Keefe had been chosen was because her name was O'Keefe, and that was another unbending rule.
An O'Keefe had always been at the helm. His hands were bloody tied, and he hated it.
He was operating at a limited capacity, unable to take the company even further.
He turned when he felt his mother's presence behind him and could not help but smile.
Angeline Day-O'Keefe was in her early sixties but had the skin of a woman twenty years younger.
She had passed on her stunning good looks to her son, looks that had graced the TV screen for over three decades, and then the stage.
She had gracefully retired a few years before her husband's tragic death, which had left her reeling.
Placing a hand on his arm, she tilted her head back to meet his eyes.
"I will talk to them again. This is downright ridiculous. They have no right-"
He shook his head, reaching out to touch her smooth cheek gently. "They have every right. I was a wastrel for years. All I wanted to do was party and spend as much of my generous allowance as possible."
His smile faded. Stepping back, he strode to his desk and picked up the weighty dossier, expression grim.
"You should have a read. After I left the hospital where her brother was admitted, half dead, I had Ingram do a full check on the family.
Christ, Mother! Not only has she lost her parents, but her brother is a drug addict.
Not to mention the fact that she will be losing that antique store of hers, and her lease will not be renewed.
In a matter of four weeks, she will be homeless. "
He paused, a frown touching his brow. "Ingram was more thorough than I requested."
He eased in a breath. "She has a hormonal imbalance and has been going through treatments at the free clinic. She's in dire straits. I don't want a wife, but I'm required to have one. We could be doing each other a favor, and no matter what the police reports said, we owe the family."
"The father was a gambler!"
"Be that as it may, I've made up my mind and would love it if I had your support.
Indigo would have a place to live, and her store would be saved.
I've checked into several rehabs, and there's one a few miles away from here, in the rural area where they offer excellent treatments and a work program. "
"And if she says no?"
He smiled slightly. "I'm going to offer her security and the freedom to do whatever she pleases. She will say yes."
"Willow? May I help you? As you can see, I'm busy. Where-"
"Someone's here to see you." The woman stood there, twisting her long fingers and looking a little dazed. "I suppose I should have invited him to come right around-"
"But you know that's not something I like."
"I did ask him to come around because, well, he's-"
"I hope I'm not disturbing you."
The familiar deep voice had her rising slowly from her chair and staring.
"Brant."
"I wanted to talk." He turned towards the still dazed-looking Willow. "Would you mind leaving us alone?"
"Of course." She stood there for a few seconds as if undecided what to do next, until she met her employer's eyes. Turning around, she hurried away.
"I'm afraid I took her by surprise."
"She's hung up on celebrities and the very rich."
"A celebrity, I'm not." He stepped into the tiny space and dwarfed it even more with his height.
"I'm sorry I left so abruptly-"
"When I returned you were gone. May I?" He gestured to the padded chair in front of the desk.
"Yes, of course. It's almost closing time-"
"And I'm keeping you from working. I would have called, but this is better said in person."
She sat back down and pushed away the bank statements she had been perusing to see if she could spot some sort of miracle in the mix of figures.
"How's your brother?"
"Holding his own." He was actually suffering from withdrawal, and it was ugly to see. And she still had not found a solution to that problem. The hospital was going to release him into her care, and she had no idea what to do.
"Have you considered my offer?"
"Brant-"
"I get it. You have your pride. Never accept something for nothing. How about a business proposition?"
"What?" She stared at him with a frown.
"I need something from you."
"What could I possibly have to offer-"
"Marriage," he interrupted flatly, his tone unemotional.
For a minute, she thought she had heard him wrong, and then the word registered, bringing her half out of her chair.
"I'm sorry. What?"
"Marriage. As in we stand before a judge and say the words that will bind us together as a couple. You take my name if you choose, and I give you a ring. That sort of thing." There was a faint smile on his lips that did not reach his intense tawny-colored eyes.
"I'm in a fix. The board members think I'm a fluke, an irresponsible man of thirty-two years and not fit to run my own company. They're old-fashioned enough to believe that marriage will fix my problem. I'm desperate enough to agree with them.
"Marriage to me would ensure your brother getting the best possible care and allow you to keep this place. It would also ensure you have a place to live. I have a place. It's too big for one person. Five suites in all, complete with their own bathrooms.
"We would share the place, and you get your own rooms. We'd more or less be roommates when I'm there. I intend to do a lot of traveling. So I wouldn't be in your hair. What do you say?"
This time she was the one mimicking Willow's expression of dazed incredulity.
"I-I don't understand."
"I'm offering you a way out of your troubles, Indigo."
"By offering to marry me."
"Yes."
"You could have any woman you want."
"More or less. I've been a bit of a slut in the past, and now I find that lifestyle is distasteful to me. It's a lifestyle that has been frowned upon by the board. I need to change their opinion of me. Say yes."
"Brant-"
"The lawyers will expect you to sign a prenup, of course, which I'm sure you won't mind doing under the circumstances.
But it would be foolish to say no. Put aside your pride and consider it a boon.
I've never been inside your shop before, but from what I just saw, I think it's charming and rustic.
Am I right in believing you don't want to lose it? "
She shook her head, still unable to speak.
"You could buy it outright. That's what I'm offering you, Indigo. I have money of my own, independent of that of the family. A trust fund set up by my maternal grandparents that matured when I reached thirty. Marry me." He rose, and so did she.
"I expect you'd want time to think about it." He glanced at his watch. "I have a meeting." Taking a card from his pocket, he handed it to her. "Call me when you do."