Love's Gamble (20 page)

Chapter 29

M
any hours later, Pru, Max, Sunny, Gus and Cole found themselves alone in the Sinclair Lodge’s downstairs sitting room. Cole, Max and Pru had matching tumblers of whiskey. They’d all been filled by Sunny, who, though unable to partake, had insisted that they needed something after hours of answering local law enforcement’s questions about what had happened in the master bedroom, which had now been taped off as an official crime scene.

Pru carefully sipped on her whiskey, thinking about how many things had been resolved over the course of the day. Gus and Max now knew they were brothers, and Cole had officially declared the executive retreat over. Harrison and the police had vacated the lodge—along with the rest of the Benton execs, most of whom were happy to leave early after discovering there had been a dangerous traitor in their midst the entire week.

But the main point was that everyone was safe now, and perhaps that was why Pru felt so at peace.

Max, however, had been uncharacteristically quiet since the police had arrived and taken over with Harrison. Pensive, as if he was still wondering if he should have pulled the trigger. Pru was glad he hadn’t, but could understand the inclination. Harrison had turned into a wild card in those last few moments of their standoff and she was just happy everyone got out unharmed.

Still, she watched Max, who was standing by the window now, his whiskey remaining untouched. She was worried about him.

“Pru.”

Cole’s voice dragged Pru’s gaze away from Max.

Cole had an arm around his pregnant wife, who was nursing a cup of tea. “I want you to know that I’m very grateful,” he told her. “Not only because you solved the case, but also because of the selfless way you put Sunny’s life before your own.”

“You shouldn’t have put yourself in danger like that,” Sunny chimed in, “but thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Pru shook her head, refusing to accept their gratitude. “Thank Max. He’s the one who wrestled Harrison to the ground.”

Max came away from the window then, shaking his head in adamant denial. “If that gun hadn’t gone off, we might never have known you needed our help,” he pointed out. “You could have been taken out of here by that maniac, without us even knowing.”

Pru started to protest again, but Max growled. “Take the credit, Pru. You deserve it.”

“Yes, you do,” Cole said, for once agreeing with his brother. “Which is why I want to offer you something I rarely promise. A favor. Anything you need, no matter how big or small, I’m prepared to grant it.”

Pru set down her glass on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Really? Anything?”

Cole nodded gravely. “Yes, anything. Just name it.”

Pru didn’t have to think long. “I want you to give Max his trust money without any strings attached.”

Cole blinked. “What?” he said, his arm dropping from around Sunny’s shoulders.

“It’s his money, and even though I’m still not cool with the word
deserve
after what happened with Harrison, the fact is your grandfather left it to him. It’s his birthright, and you shouldn’t mess with that.”

Pru could feel Max’s eyes on her, but she kept her own eyes on Cole, who was now sitting straight up on the couch, his face tight with irritation. “So let me get this straight. The favor you’re requesting is that I sign off on Max’s trust, so that he can build a rival hotel to the Benton New Orleans?”

Pru looked at Max, her eyes widening. “You told him?”

Max looked back at her, his own expression unreadable. “Yeah, I told him.”

Pru threw him a little smile. She was glad Max was communicating more with his brother, but she refused to back down from her initial request. This was the right thing to do, and the only action that would end the battle of wills between the two Benton brothers.

She turned back to Cole. “You said anything.”

Cole opened his mouth. Then snapped it closed. Something ticked in his jaw for a few seconds, and then finally he let out a sound of disgust. “Fine, if you want to waste your one favor on Max. That’s fine, I suppose.”

He glared at Max but started toward the lodge’s front door. “C’mon out to the car with me. I packed the paperwork in my luggage when the police told us to get everything we needed out of the room before they taped it off. You can look through it while my assistant arranges for a notary to come up here—”

“No.” Max didn’t follow Cole. Just said the one word while continuing to stare at Pru.

“What do you mean no?” Pru and Cole asked him at the same time.

* * *

“No,” Max said again, barely able to believe the words were coming out of his mouth. “I don’t want the money.”

Pru stood up now, looking at him as if he’d gone crazy. “What do you mean you don’t want the money? That was the whole reason you married me, and that’s the deal for our prenup—we only have to stay married until you get your trust money.”

“Exactly,” Max answered. “That’s why I don’t want the money. Not if it means you get to divorce me.”

Pru shook her head. “I don’t understand—”

“I love you, Pru,” he said. “Do you understand that?
I love you.
You challenge me. You’re sexy as hell, and I’ve had more fun with you at this boring executive retreat in Utah than I’ve had with any other girl ever. I meant every word I said to you the night before Jake came up here, and I want us to stay together. I want you to move to New Orleans with me after Jake goes away to BIT. Because I love you. I love you so much, I don’t care about using my trust to build my hotel, because I’m not going to build it if you’re not going to share the penthouse suite with me when it’s done.”

Pru stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. Max opened his mouth, fully prepared to pour more words over the situation, as many as it took to make her believe he was dead serious about this.

But Pru cut him off with a shake of her head. “No, Max,” she insisted. “I want you to sign those papers.”

He took a step toward her, but she moved away before he could so much as touch her.

“I’m serious. I’m not saying another word to you until you sign those papers. Then I can go back to Las Vegas and file for a divorce, ending this sham of a marriage.”

He started to take another step toward her. But he knew anything he said would be useless. Yes, he loved her, but that didn’t mean she loved him back or ever would after what he’d done.

Max’s jaw set. He did love her, which meant that he’d do anything. Anything it took to make her happy. If she didn’t want to be with him...he realized in those moments he had to let her go.

He looked over at Cole. “How fast can we get a notary here?”

Pretty fast as it turned out. Less than forty minutes later, all the necessary paperwork was signed. Max had a spoken guarantee from Cole that the sum of his trust would be delivered into his bank account within the next few days.

After the business was all done, Max turned to Pru, who for some reason still hadn’t left. Maybe because she wanted to make sure she’d be free to divorce him without penalty, he thought.

“There, it’s done,” he said. Then, because he, too, was learning to keep his promises, he added through clenched teeth, “I’ll have my lawyer draw up the divorce papers. It’ll take a few weeks. Six tops. But I’ll sign and have him send them to you immediately after.”

The smile Pru gave him was positively beatific, as if he’d just granted her most fervent wish. “Good. But I won’t be living in Las Vegas six weeks from now. I’ll give you my new address. Tell him to send it to me, care of my boyfriend, Sorley Greer, at—I’m not sure what that hotel’s address is in New Orleans. Do you have it on you?”

Max smiled. “You knew?”

She came to stand in front of him. “Almost from the beginning,” she informed him. “In New Orleans, you said Sorley Greer was your college roommate, but I knew you didn’t have a college roommate. I did some digging after agreeing to marry you.”

Max had no idea why he’d believed Pru might not solve Cole’s case even for a minute. As it turned out, she was extremely thorough at her job. No wonder she’d been so emphatic about him being a liar. She’d known this whole time, known and probably wondered why getting the trust had been so important to him. Then she’d figured out why before he’d even had it all figured out himself. Figured it out and then explained it all to him so that he understood, too.

He knew then that he wasn’t being crazy when it came to Pru. Nobody else got him as this girl did, and nobody else ever would.

“Detective Pru caught me,” he said. “And that’s why you’re refusing to stay married to me, because you think I’m a liar.”

Her face softened. “No, I’m refusing to stay married to you because Detective Pru is practical. Too practical to let you give up your inheritance just to prove you love me, and too practical to stay married to a guy I’ve only really known for, like, a week.”

She broke off with another grin. “
But
there’s still enough of the Old Pru left in me to take a gamble on moving in with you in New Orleans. And Sorley Greer is much more Detective Pru’s speed, so there’s a good chance this might all work out after all.”

She laid her hands on his chest and peeked up at him. “Luckily we both have two people inside us. I guess it was meant to be.”

Max more than guessed. As he drew Pru into his arms and gave her the kiss that would officially begin a new phase of their relationship, he knew. Knew that Pru and he were a sure bet.

Somewhere in the distance he heard Sunny say, “Oh, my gosh, this is so romantic.”

Right before Cole said, “Wait a minute.
You’re
Sorley Greer?”

Epilogue

“N
o, Max, I don’t want to marry you! I really, really don’t!” Pru yelled.

Her refusal might have been taken a little bit more seriously if she wasn’t buck naked, clinging to the edge of the new bed she’d picked out with Max for the penthouse suite just a few weeks ago. And if Max didn’t already have a firm grip around both her ankles, in the midst of literally dragging her out of that bed.

“Too late. Today’s the day. And we’ve got two hundred people, including press, due in just a few hours to witness the big event.” The brass bed frame groaned as Max tugged on her legs again.

“Let’s just call it off,” Pru insisted, clawing the mattress. “That will get us more press than doing another nightclub wedding.”

“First of all, my business partner would kill me. He’s invited just about every press outlet in New Orleans to this shindig.”

“Gus will understand,” Pru said. “He’s much more reasonable than you when it comes to publicity stunts like this. That’s why you two make such a good team.”

Pru was wheedling to get her way, but it was true. Between Max’s social savvy and Gus’s dedication to grind work, they’d gotten The Sorley up and running in record time. It was a feat that truly deserved celebration in Pru’s proud opinion—just not with another crazy wedding extravaganza to kick off The Sorley’s soft open.

“Besides, we’re already married,” she pointed out. Somehow in the year since they’d moved to New Orleans together, despite her near-constant reminders toward the beginning of her stay, Max had never gotten around to asking his lawyers to put together their divorce papers. And now it was too late.

The hotel was ready to open, and instead of a divorce, Max had somehow talked her into a second stunt wedding, this one even crazier than the first.

Looking over her shoulder at the man who was still her husband, she sometimes didn’t know where the surprisingly consummate businessman ended and her ridiculously obstinate lover began.

“Getting married again purely for the press doesn’t make any sense,” she said, trying to get through to the reasonable man who also ran a successful hedge fund and had somehow convinced Cole Benton to allow The Sorley to go up without a dirty business fight. Not only that, but he’d also gotten his older brother to silently invest money from the Benton Group into The Sorley by pointing out that it would be the beginning of a possible cycle, attracting young people who’d eventually have families and move on to the Benton Inn. Then eventually on to the Benton New Orleans, when they grew older and once again had more income at their disposal.

“It’s a waste of money, don’t you think?” she asked, trying to appeal to Sorley, Max’s more logical side.

Her ankles were abruptly released and Pru’s body hit the mattress with a little bounce. But her release was short-lived. As soon as she let go of the mattress, thinking Max had finally seen reason, he picked her up off the bed and twisted her around until her body was fully cradled in his strong arms.

“Max...” she started, struggling to get back out of his arms.

“I see what’s happening here,” he said, walking over to the bright red couch, which was shaped like a pair of lips. “You’re holding out for further convincing.”

Pru’s cheeks heated. True, he’d gotten her to agree to another outrageous wedding after a particularly body-rocking night of lovemaking. “Max, this isn’t about—”

“You know, I once had a dream about you naked on this couch. Let’s make that dream come true.”

He let her go, and Pru yelped as she landed on the red couch in a naked heap. Max soon followed, using his hands and mouth on her in such a way that she definitely knew whom she was dealing with now—the man who had ruined her for any other.

He took his time, once again laying down his argument with kisses, caressing her most sensitive spots until she was quivering with need. And begging him to stop teasing her with desperate whispers.

He gave her what she wanted, sitting on the couch and pulling her on top of him. But when he was inside her, instead of letting her ride, as she thought he might, he hugged her closer, anchoring her body on his so that he could guide the action.

Pru was happy to let him do it. She bit down on her lip as he rocked into her, filling her up to her very core, with his base pressed into the hot button at her center.

She didn’t last long in this position, and she screamed out his name before bursting into a million stars. Vaguely she registered him coming soon after. Max, her companion in all things, she thought with a happy smile.

After he was done, he stroked one hand into her hair, curving it around the back of her neck. Her hair was a little longer now, getting big in its natural state, and she could feel some of the curls his hand displaced on the lower part of her neck.

“Pru, I love you,” he said, the look on his face both somber and tender.

Making it so Pru doubted she could have denied how she felt, even if she’d wanted to. “I love you, too,” she answered.

“Will you marry me?” he asked her. “Again? Tonight? Just like I planned?”

“Yes,” she answered, thoroughly enchanted by the look in his pale green eyes.

“Good,” he said, patting her naked backside before lifting her off him and setting her aside on the couch. “Because Sunny’s waiting for you downstairs.”

“What? Sunny? What’s she doing here?” she demanded, her voice rising a few pitches.

“Dunno.” Max stood up and headed for the closet. “Something about missing the first wedding, and how could we even think about excluding her, Cole and Nora from the second one. Especially since I named Gus my best man over Cole.”

“Wait, Gus is the best man now?” she asked.

“Yeah, we had to balance it out, since Sunny’s your matron of honor,” Max answered as if it was obvious. “I was hoping to make little Berta the flower girl, but no dice. Cole says the kid’s still not walking.”

He disappeared into the large closet to the left of their bathroom.

“Maybe because she’s only nine months!” Pru called after him, quickly coming to their goddaughter’s defense. “And I can’t believe you would invite a child to a nightclub wedding—or your grandmother!”

“Whatever. Gran’s just happy she gets to see the wedding outfit this time,” he answered from inside the closet. “She even offered to loan you another one of her old costumes. But I told her we already had your wedding outfit shipped from Vegas.”

Pru rubbed her eyes, tired at just the thought of the scanty showgirl costumes she’d have to wear for this event.

“Seriously, I don’t know if I can act like a wild party girl in front of your family. I think we should call this off.”

Max poked his head out of the closet to answer, “But Jake flew all the way out here for this.”

And Pru did a double-take. “You invited Jake. You invited
my brother
!”

She waved her hands in front of her face just thinking about it. True, she had learned over the past year to start treating Jake like an adult, especially after he had chosen a summer job at the Benton Las Vegas over coming to stay with her and Max in New Orleans. But this was a line she totally refused to cross. She’d never even let her brother see a Benton Revue show, and she sure as heck wasn’t going to act a fool for the press in front of him.

“I won’t do it,” she told Max, covering her eyes. “I won’t fake marry you, wearing a showgirl costume, in front of my brother.”

“Okay, how about wearing this?” Max asked.

She uncovered her eyes to see Max now standing outside the closet door, holding up a hanger with a maxi dress hanging on it. The dress was made of ivory lace, off the shoulder, with a lovely ruffled overlay. It was definitely a vintage dress, one Pru recognized immediately, even though she hadn’t seen it in years. Not since she and her brother had moved from a house to an apartment and put most of their parents’ things into storage.

It was her mother’s wedding dress.

Pru covered her mouth with one hand, tears slipping down her cheeks. “It’s not a fake wedding, is it?”

Max shook his head, the usual wicked gleam in his eyes gone. “No, I want you to marry me, Prudence Washington. For real this time. Will you spend the rest of your life with me? Say yes, sweetheart.”

“Yes,” she whispered, with no hesitation.

She’d gambled her heart when she’d agreed to come with Max to New Orleans. But looking at the man she’d soon be marrying in front of her dearest friends and family, she knew for certain that love gamble had paid off.

And even more so, that once she’d gone Max, she’d never, ever go back.

* * * * *