A Steele for Christmas (12 page)

“I came here tonight to ask you to marry me.”

S
tacey was convinced if Eli hadn’t been so close to break her fall that she would have tumbled right off the sofa. Instead, every breath was sucked from her lungs and every ounce of blood in her body suddenly rushed to her head.

Her reaction to what he’d said evidently was amusing, which would account for the smile that touched the corners of his lips. Now, she was equally convinced he had gone over the deep end.

“Marry you?” she somehow found her voice to ask.

“Yes, on Christmas Day.”

Stacey frowned. “What have you been drinking, Eli? You don’t love me and I don’t love you. Why on earth would you suggest we marry? And besides that, you are
not
the marrying kind and we both know it.” Deep in her heart, Stacey wished Eli did have intense feelings for her. It would have been wonderful if Eli sincerely wanted her as his future wife, but that was just a farfetched fantasy.

She watched him eyeing her as he leaned back on his haunches. That too-serious look reclaimed his features. “Yes, we both know it.” He didn’t say anything for a minute and then asked, “Do you recall me mentioning that a friend of mine suggested that I consider doing the wife for hire thing to win the presidency of the business council?”

She nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

“I decided to take his advice and do it.”

His words had her looking at him like he was stone mad, but there was no help for it. He wasn’t thinking rationally. People didn’t pretend they were married to win elections.

She eased off the sofa and stood. Being naked and having this sort of conversation with him didn’t jibe with her, so she dressed herself in the clothes he’d taken off. She knew he was watching her every move.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said.

She glanced over at him while slipping on her caftan. “Do you?”

“Yes. You think what I’m doing is manipulating the process.”

“And you don’t?”

“No. I see it as a way to get what I want.”

And Eli Steele always got what he wanted, she thought.

“Okay, you’ve decided to take your friend up on his idea and hire someone to be your wife to win the presidency of this business council. What does that have to do with me?”

He pulled himself to his feet to put on his own clothes. “Your name was the first to come to mind.”

“As a possible wife?”

“Yes.”

Stacey frowned as she went back to sit on the sofa, trying not to notice how sexy he looked slipping back into his briefs. “Let me explain something to you, Eli. What happened between me and my ex-fiancé left more than a bitter taste in my mouth regarding marriage. The old me used to walk around and see things through rose-colored glasses. Well, those glasses are now broken and I see things more clearly now. What I see is that marriage—pretend or otherwise—isn’t for me.”

“You haven’t heard the deal I’m offering. I suggest you do so before turning down my proposal.”

Stacey sighed and looked away, knowing what he was offering really didn’t matter. She wasn’t getting married for all the wrong reasons. She pushed to the back of her mind the thought that she’d once planned to get married for all the
right
reasons, yet she’d gotten screwed over anyway.

She leaned back against the sofa and crossed her legs. “Okay, Eli, what are you offering?”

He zipped up his pants and to Stacey, the sound seemed to echo all through the room. “For starters,” he said, holding her gaze. “I will pay you one hundred thousand dollars.”

Stacey’s eyes widened. “One hundred thousand dollars?”

“Yes. And you’ll retain ownership of anything—gifts or otherwise—that you get from me while we’re engaged or married. I consider myself a very generous man.”

Stacey nervously licked her lips. That she could believe. She doubted he had a selfish bone in his body, just several arrogant ones. She shook her head. “All that sounds good but I’m still not interested.”

He inhaled what sounded like a frustrated breath as he belted his jeans. “Then what will it take for you to be interested? There has to be something you want that will convince you to change your mind.”

There really wasn’t, Stacey thought. There was nothing to make her want to share anything with a man other than what she was already doing with Eli. Now that she was getting the hang of this casual affair thing, she thought it wasn’t so bad. No emotional entanglement was the only way to go. Her heart wasn’t on the line and she didn’t have to worry whether he was being faithful to her.

And now he was proposing marriage of all things. Not a real marriage, just a fake one if it got that far. But there would be an engagement and she knew far too well how those worked. At least she thought she did. Wallace had come with his own set of rules.

Out of curiosity, she asked, “What happens if I agree to do it?”

He slid into the wing chair opposite her. “We announce to family and friends we’ve decided to marry, which of course will garner a lot of surprise and questions. But I’ll have a script prepared in advance so we’ll know what to say.”

Stacey nodded. She knew for sure that he would.

“And then,” he continued, “nothing between us changes other than we will be operating in the open pretending to be an engaged couple very much in love. In other words, we will have an exclusive relationship like we have now.”

A look of surprise showed in her expression. “We’ve been having an exclusive relationship?”

He seemed surprised she would ask. “Yes. You thought I’ve been seeing other women while sleeping with you?”

She shrugged. “I really wasn’t sure what you were doing, Eli. I didn’t concern myself with such things. You assured me you were healthy and would stay that way. That was good enough for me.” She could have sworn she’d seen something flash in the depths of his green eyes at her statement. But it was so quick she couldn’t be certain.

“And then we will have a very private wedding on Christmas to make it seem that we want to ring in the New Year right,” he added. “The election is the last week in January and you’ll remain married to me for a full year after that. And just in case you’re worried, the contractual terms of our marriage and subsequent divorce will not be drawn up by me to avoid any type of conflict of interest. I plan on using Jared Westmoreland. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”

Yes, she’d heard of the nationally known attorney who handled the divorce cases of a number of the rich and famous. “Yes, I’ve heard of him.”

“Well, Jared happens to be the brother of my cousin-in-law. Quade Westmoreland is married to my cousin, Cheyenne, and they live in Charlotte. I called Jared to discuss my proposal before coming over here.”

She looked at him skeptically. “And he didn’t see anything strange about what you want to do?”

“No.” Eli paused for a second and then said, “So now that you see my offer is on the up-and-up, I’ll go back to what I asked earlier. Is there anything I can throw into the pot that will seal the deal?”

After a few quiet moments, Stacey glanced over at him. He was waiting on her answer. She decided to ask for something so ridiculous, something he wouldn’t give up in a million years, just to stump him, make him think twice about ever proposing to her again. When an idea came into her head, she forced back the smile that threatened to spread across her lips.

“Yes, Eli, come to think of it, there is this one thing.”

“What is it?”

“My shop. I really like it and think it’s in a good location on the ground floor of your office building. It’s a prime spot that draws in a lot of traffic and I know that’s one of the main reasons I’m doing so well in sales. However, I’m paying you close to six thousand dollars each month for rental.”

He nodded. “You want me to reduce the amount you pay to lease the space?”

A smile touched the corners of her lips. “No, I want to
own
the space.”

He looked taken back. “Own it?”

“Yes, own it free and clear. It’s just a few square feet out of many so you won’t miss it. You’ll still own the rest of the entire building.” A satisfied look appeared on her face. He might want to be council president but he wouldn’t want to get elected
that
bad. Everything had its limits and she’d heard he prided himself on owning such a prime piece of real estate in downtown Phoenix. He wouldn’t readily share it with anyone.

He stared at her for what seemed like the longest time and she could imagine the wheels turning in his head. Let them turn. It shouldn’t take long for him to realize he would do better making his offer of marriage to someone else.

“Fine.”

She looked over at him. He had spoken in a somewhat quiet voice. “Fine, what?”

“I’ll give you the shop. Free and clear. I’ll have Jared include it in the agreement.”

She was speechless. Her head began spinning. “You want the presidency of the business council that much?”

“Yes, it’s an investment in my future. Besides, I’ll also be getting you in the deal and you better believe I plan to make having you worth my while.”

Eli leaned back in the chair and watched Stacey wear down her carpet by pacing back and forth. She still hadn’t given him a final answer although he had conceded to her one concession. Doing so had left a bitter taste in his mouth but he figured it would all work out in the end. Sooner or later she would decide to join Cohen in Florida and when she did, he would make her a good offer for the space. He would just make sure Jared’s contract gave him the first option to buy.

And speaking of Jared…

She had asked earlier if Jared had thought his proposal strange. What he didn’t tell her was that Jared had found it rather amusing since he and his wife, Dana, had started out sharing a fake engagement and it had worked out fine. In the end, they’d fallen in love and had gotten married.

Eli knew for him and Stacey such a thing wouldn’t be happening. She’d pegged him right earlier tonight when she’d said he wasn’t the marrying kind. But he could certainly pretend to be. And he had no qualms pretending with her.

His gaze stayed on her legs as she walked back and forth. They were such a gorgeous pair. He took note of that each and every time he saw them uncovered. His eyes reluctantly strayed from her legs up to her face. He could tell she was still thinking and he couldn’t help wondering what she was thinking about. Her answer should really be a no-brainer. He wasn’t a bad catch and being engaged to him—pretend or otherwise—couldn’t be all bad. But since she was still in her “weighing the options” mode, he decided to tip the scales in his favor.

“As your fiancé, I’ll look forward to attending that party with you in Memphis.”

She stopped walking and glanced over at him. Their gazes connected and he felt a hot rush consume his body. He didn’t have to ponder what that was all about. Stacey could turn him on like nobody’s business. “You would be willing to go with me?”

He smiled. “Of course. I’ll officially be your fiancé so it wouldn’t be as if you were lying to anyone. Besides, I want to see the jerk stupid enough to let you go.”

She smiled but he hadn’t made the comments to garner brownie points. He was dead serious. He needed to see this Wallace guy. The man certainly had more than a few screws loose.

She dropped back down on the sofa and crossed her legs again and he was definitely taking it all in. Remembering what was between those legs and how much enjoyment he got sampling it. His gaze then traveled up the rest of her body. But then he liked her breasts as well. The nipples fit perfectly in his mouth. He definitely like licking and sucking on them.

“Neither Cohen nor your brothers are going to believe it,” she interrupted his thoughts by saying. “As far as they know, we aren’t even involved that way and now you’re proposing that we marry around the holidays?”

He grinned slyly. “Yes. It will be our job to convince them we’re madly in love. Just think of how much more relieved Cohen will be to leave you behind knowing you’re engaged to me.”

A skeptical look showed on her face. “He also knows your reputation as a ladies man.”

“Yes, but my job is to convince your brother, as well as those on the business council, that I’m a changed man. I no longer embody the playboy image. Now I take on the role of a man who has fallen in love and intends to marry and settle down.”

He glanced at his watch. It was getting late. “I much prefer an answer tonight, but if you feel you need to sleep on it then go right ahead. I’d like your decision by tomorrow. If you decide to go along with my plan then we can surprise everyone and make the announcement at your brother’s going away party this weekend. That will make Cohen feel a little more comfortable leaving for Florida without you. He will know you’ll be not only left in my care, but the care of all the other Steeles since we’re a close family and Cohen knows it.”

What he didn’t say was that it would also effectively remove her from Tyson’s care and protection.

“I will have to sleep on it, Eli. There’s a lot I need to think about.”

“Okay.”

“And I promise to give you a decision as soon as I make one.”

“That’s fine.” He eased up from his seat. “But just so you’ll know, Harry Farmer caught me off guard when he came to visit me today and when I felt pressured into telling him I was an engaged man, he asked for a name. I gave him yours.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You gave him my name and told him we were engaged to be married?”

“Yes. I was backed up against the wall and you were the first woman I thought about, mainly because you’d been on my mind all day. Hell, you’ve been on my mind every day…for quite some time.”

He hadn’t meant to tell her all that but it was the truth, although he wasn’t all that happy about it. No woman had ever dominated his thoughts that much and the very idea that he couldn’t control it from happening did not sit well with him. The thought of marrying her wouldn’t be so bad as long as they understood each other and he was certain that they did.

When he’d read his horoscope this morning, it had said that by the end of the day he would have what his heart desired most. And now that the presidency was so close to his reach, he knew his horoscope prediction was true.