An Offer He Can't Refuse (2 page)

“Mind if we have a seat?” the woman with Madison asked in a cheery voice.

Collin finished his beer in one gulp.

Jackson stood and pulled out a couple of chairs. “Please do.”

“I’m Jennifer and this is Madison,” the redhead said, taking an offered seat. “Are you two from around here?”

“Santa Monica—” Jackson began.

“And we hate to cut this short,” Collin interrupted, “but we were just about to leave.”

Jackson smiled tightly. “This is Collin. I’m Jackson. My friend here is eager to try out that new place, Ziggy’s down on Fifth Street. How about the two of you joining us?”

Jennifer’s face lit up. “We would love to—”

“But we can’t,” Madison broke in. “Don’t let us stop you two, though. Really. Go right ahead.” She made a motion with her hands, as if she were shooing away a couple of stray dogs.

Relieved, Collin stood. Then he glanced at Jackson and plopped right back down in his seat, clearly frustrated.

Jackson noticed the way Madison smiled when she thought she’d gotten rid of them. Not a nervous, polite curve of the lips as before, but what looked to him like a genuine smile of relief. The smile faded when she realized they weren’t leaving. Jackson couldn’t help but wonder why she would be disappointed that they were staying. According to Heather, Madison Brown needed a husband, fast. She didn’t have time to be choosy. He felt ridiculously offended. “Can I buy you two a drink before we go?”

“Certainly,” Jennifer said. “I’ll have a glass of wine. No, make that champagne. It reminds me of weddings. Speaking of which, are either of you married?”

Collin began to choke on a peanut he’d just popped into his mouth, prompting Jennifer to pound on his back.

Madison looked horrified.

“Have you two been friends long?” Jackson asked Madison.

“Oh, no…I mean, yes,” Madison said. “I’m afraid so.”

He smiled. “What can I get you to drink?”

With her lips curved into a tenuous smile, he noticed big blue eyes behind her thick-rimmed glasses.

“Nothing for me, thanks.”

“How about water?” Without waiting for a response, he signaled for the waitress and ordered two beers, champagne, and a glass of water.

Jennifer gave Collin one last pat on the back and said, “I hope I wasn’t too candid. People always tell me I shouldn’t be so frank, but—”

“No,” Collin interrupted, raising a hand to stop her from explaining. “Neither of us is married.”

“Engaged? Any significant other?” Jennifer asked.

Collin gave Jackson a look that told him he owed him one. “Nope. Not married and no significant other. Right, buddy?”

Jackson answered with a tight smile and a nod.

~~~

Jen kept making faces, her friend’s not so subtle reminder to spit it out and get things rolling. Neither man was attached, which meant the rest was up to her.

Time to pop the question.

But Madison could hardly think, let alone speak. Her mouth felt dry, her palms moist. Tom Petty was singing, “I’m free…free falling,” and she told herself over and over again that this was a business deal. Nothing more. She was an accountant. She dealt with clients every day. So what was the problem? All he could say was no, and wouldn’t that be a relief?

“Are you okay?” Jackson asked her.

Everyone glanced Madison’s way. “I’m fine, really.” Wringing her hands, she looked straight into Jackson’s cool brown eyes. He smiled, encouraging her to say what was on her mind. He could work magic with those eyes.

Business
, she reminded herself, though her better judgment told her that marriage to a man like Jackson would be something else altogether. She took a deep breath and said to Jackson, “I have a very important question to—”

Swallowing a knot in her throat, she turned toward Collin instead, “—to ask you.”

Collin drew a finger to his chest, looking surprised and more than worried that the attention was now focused on him.

She nodded, letting Collin know that she was indeed talking to him. Madison didn’t know what made her change her mind, exactly. Maybe Collin looked safer, a little less movie-star gorgeous. “I have an offer to make you that I hope you can’t refuse.” Although they were in the middle of a crowded bar, she felt suffocated by the silence. “I need a husband.”

As if she had leprosy, Collin pushed away from the table. “And?”

Her palms were sweating. “And I was hoping you might be interested.”

Collin’s jaw dropped, but no words came out.

“I’ll pay you one hundred thousand dollars after three months of marriage,” she quickly added. Her throat felt drier than a martini, but somehow she managed to blurt out all the details of her proposal.

After she finished, Jackson winked at her, launching her right back to reality, which at the moment seemed to be analogous to the
Twilight Zone
. Why would he do such a thing? Did he think this was some sort of joke?

Collin’s wide-eyed look of disbelief would have been laughable if her situation wasn’t so darn depressing.

“Let me get this straight,” Collin said, laying both palms flat on his chest. “You want me to marry you for three months. During that time I’m supposed to pretend to be madly in love with you in front of family and friends?” He scratched his chin, making the seconds feel like hours. “Feel free to stop me if I heard wrong.”

Nobody said a word.

“When the three months are up,” Collin continued, “you hand me a check in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars to stay out of your life forever. Do I have it all straight?”

A lump formed in Madison’s throat. “That’s right,” she said, despising the uncertainty in her own voice and the humiliation burning inside of her. Begging some stranger to marry her for money—what was she doing? If he refused, she wouldn’t ever put herself through this again. She’d known enough humiliation for one lifetime.

Her stomach knotted as she waited for an answer.

Collin burst out laughing. People at a nearby table looked over to see what was so amusing. Madison’s cheeks heated.

For the first time in her life, Jen appeared to be speechless.

Madison’s temples throbbed. The headache she’d been trying to overlook for the past hour burst forth, hitting the front of her skull with a blinding flash. She shut her eyes, put a hand to her forehead, and waited for the bright light to dissolve. It wasn’t working. She could see the boys in sixth grade laughing at her, teasing her about her weight, pulling her hair at recess and calling her names. Flash forward to prom night. She came out of her room in the dress she’d made herself, her father stooped over in a drunken laughter after telling her she looked like the pumpkin that Cinderella rode in.

And now this man—a complete stranger—laughing at her
.

“Sorry,” Collin said, “I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just that I’m definitely not the man you’re looking for, not even close. I’m not the marrying type and neither is my friend here.” He stood. When Jackson didn’t budge, he added, “Then again, you never know. It’s been an interesting night. I’ve gotta go, buddy. Ladies, it’s been a pleasure.”

The waitress returned with their drinks. Collin threw a few bills on her tray and walked away.

Madison watched him leave.

Jackson didn’t try to stop him. Instead, he reached over and touched her arm. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Please. Go with your friend. Don’t let us keep you.”

Jen gave him an apologetic shrug of her shoulders.

“You really need a husband?” he asked.

Madison looked deep into the man’s eyes. “It may sound comical to you and your friend, but unfortunately, it’s not a joke. My grandfather thought he was doing me a favor by forcing me to marry.”

Appearing to consider her words, he regarded her for a moment, his eyes dark, thoughtful. He raked his hand through his hair and said, “I guess it’s settled then.”

“What’s settled?”

“I’ll do it.”

Madison blinked. “Do what?”

“I’ll marry you.”

Jen grinned.

Madison pushed her glasses a notch higher and stared at him with disbelief. Clearly, Jackson was dark—his hair, his shadowed jaw, his eyes. He also came across as dauntless, wearing confidence as if it were cologne. How could she risk being around this man day and night? Her heart had been broken too many times and was only hanging together by a thread. “I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “This was a mistake. For the first time in weeks I’m beginning to see what a bad idea this was.”

Jen shot her a murderous look from across the table.

“I only made the offer because you struck me as sort of desperate,” Jackson admitted.

Madison snorted. “I am not desperate.”

He raised both hands as if in surrender. “I meant your situation. I thought you were—”

“Desperate,” Madison finished for him, nauseated by the realization that he was right.

His mouth formed a crooked smile. “I guess that’s what I meant after all.”

Madison wondered why he was doing this. He didn’t know her from Eve, but he was offering to marry her. What kind of man would marry a stranger for money? A very poor one, she thought. But with his well-tailored jacket and expensive watch, he appeared to be far from lacking. More than likely he was wondering what kind of woman would pay a complete stranger to be her husband. She frowned. If only she didn’t have to stoop to something so…unethical…so risky…so downright awful in order to help those kids.

Madison folded her arms across her chest. “Why?” she asked. “Why would you do it?”

“Because I promised myself I would do one good deed a week. This pretty much takes care of the next few years.”

“Very funny.”

He didn’t flinch. “Let’s just say I have my reasons, and I would prefer to keep them just that—
mine
.”

“Well, that’s fine,” Madison said, annoyed by his mystery-man attitude, “but I’ll need your first and last name at the very least.”

“Jackson Lang,” he offered.

“If you’re serious about this, Mr. Lang, I’m sure you won’t mind if I do a background check on you first. Something I would do for any new client.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, especially since I plan to do the same.”

Her hand flew to her chest. “A background check on me?”

“You have something to hide?”

Jen laughed, breaking into their exchange. “It would take all of two minutes to learn about Madison Brown. She has no social life whatsoever. She’s responsible, fairly dependable, and she—”

One piercing glare was all it took to stop Jen mid-sentence.

Madison turned back to Jackson. “How about we meet again in a few days to discuss this further…in private?”

“Wednesday’s good,” he said. “Meet me at the Hollywood Café on the corner of Second and Fifth.”

“It would have to be after work.”

“Six-thirty then.”

They all stood.

Madison shook his hand when he offered it. His warm touch sent a wave of hot tingles up her arm. Taking note of his long, tanned fingers, and feeling the way her body responded in pulsating flutters, she jerked her hand away, unable to bury the feeling that she was making a deal with the devil and she was about to get seriously burned.

Chapter Two

The next day Jackson Lang walked into the L & L building on the corner of Dayton and Camden and headed for his office. In the last six years, his company, L & L Developing, had grown from a half dozen employees to triple that amount and now a maze of cubicles took up nearly three thousand square feet of office space.

His administrative assistant strode toward him, her short blond hair bobbing up and down. “Thank goodness you’re here,” she said, following him as he continued toward his office. “Mr. Crawford and Mr. Blake are waiting for you in conference room B. Mr. Milburn left over an hour ago and Heather Garrett is waiting in your office.”

Jackson tried not to show his disappointment. He knew why Heather was here and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with her emotions right now. Her husband, Walter Garrett, had been like a father to him, taking him and his brother under his wing after their mother passed away more than fifteen years ago. Three years after Jackson and his brother moved into Walter’s house, Walter met and married Heather, a woman half Walter’s age. Since Walter’s death months ago, Heather had become increasingly insecure and worrisome.

“Is there a problem?” his admin asked. “Mrs. Garrett assured me you were expecting her.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Tell Crawford and Blake I’ll be right with them. And call Mr. Milburn to reschedule. Give him my apologies.” He took two more steps before turning back to face her. “Has my brother returned from Chicago?”

“He’s in his office. Should I send for him?”

“Not until I’m finished with Mrs. Garrett.”

She nodded.

Jackson continued down the carpeted aisle until he came to his office. He pushed through the heavy oak doors. Across the room he noticed sharp stiletto heels accenting long legs, crossed at the knees, swaying in time to the
tap, tap, tap
of long blood-red nails on his mahogany desk.

He went to his desk, catching a glimpse of Wilshire Boulevard through the window before he turned to face Heather.

“Any luck last night?” she asked before he could say hello. Her voice was smooth and low, like the purr of a Siamese. At thirty-five, they were the same age, but with her flawless skin and slender shape she didn’t look a day over thirty.

“I finally ran into your cousin, Madison, if that’s what you mean,” Jackson said. “I hardly recognized her. She looks much different than the photo you gave me. How is it that I never met her before?”

“Grandfather didn’t get out much, being that he was confined to a wheelchair.”

“So Madison took care of him?”

Heather waved away the notion. “He had maids and nurses to attend to his every need. Madison lived at his house, but she spent most of her time fretting over her drunk of a father.”

Jackson took off his coat and hung it on the stand behind him. “I see.”