Marriage Of Convenience: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (4 page)

BOOK: Marriage Of Convenience: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story
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She moved into a studio
apartment in downtown New York and got a job at an art gallery. She
and her school friends worked hard and played hard, frequenting the
dive bars in SoHo over the weekend, wanting to mingle with the
bohemians there. One such evening, she was on a date; having coffee
with a man she’d met at the art gallery when she looked up and
met the eyes of their waiter.


And
what can I get for you today?” he asked. He had piercing blue
eyes, black curly hair and the body of a rugby player. Jaime’s
mouth went dry.


Er,”
she said.


We’ll
have two cappuccinos and we’ll share a chocolate cake slice
thank you,” her date cut in. The waiter, his name was Tommy
Leary, did not break eye contact with her the whole time her date was
speaking.


Coming
right up,” he said as he walked away. Jaime’s eyes
couldn’t help following the sway of his extremely tight ass…
until her date startled her by grabbing her arm. He began to regale
her with tales of his yacht and sailing on the weekends and his last
trip to the Bahamas. Jaime listened politely, all the while making
plans to come back as soon as possible and find Tommy Leary again.

She came back the next
day and asked for him by name. He emerged from the kitchen, a puzzled
frown on his face, clearly not understanding what was happening. When
his eyes fell on her however, the frown cleared and he smiled.


You
came back,” he said.


Of
course I did,” she replied.

Tommy straightened up,
“I’m off at six, would you like to have a beer with me?”

Jaime smiled happily at
him, “I thought you’d never ask.”

*****

Tommy wanted to get his
fireman’s license before they wed and Jaime was perfectly
content to wait; as long as she knew they would be together one day.
She introduced Tommy to James when he came to New York on business
and called on her at her residence. Tommy and she were practically
living together at the time and so it was he who opened the front
door, dressed in nothing but a towel; expecting the pizza guy.


Oh.
Er, hey?” he said to James who looked him up and down
impassively.


And
you are?” he asked much to Tommy’s chagrin. After all,
the old geezer was the one who had come knocking at
his
door.


I’m
Tommy. Who are you?” he asked stretching his hand out to be
shook. James stared at the hand like it might have the plague.


James
Maitland. Is my daughter around?” he asked.

Tommy straightened
abruptly, his olive complexion not exactly reddening but seeming to
glow. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “Er, she’s er,
she’s right here,” he said stepping back from the door
and gesturing for James to enter. Jaime was sprawled on their couch,
knitting a cap for Tommy. She was fairly proficient at it, but it
still took most of her concentration and so she wasn’t really
listening to the exchange at her daughter.


Hallo
Jaime,” her father said and she looked up startled.


James!”
she exclaimed. “What a surprise.”


I
have told you repeatedly to call me dad,” he said irritably.

Jaime ignored that,
putting her knitting aside and standing up. “Have a seat. Can I
get you some coffee?”

James looked over at
Tommy, still clad in nothing but a towel. “You can explain
this,” her father said with a flick of his hand toward Tommy.

Jaime looked at Tommy,
who shrugged, and then at her father. “This is my boyfriend,
Tommy Leary,” she said. “Tommy, this is James Maitland,
the man who donated his sperm to my mother.”

Tommy’s head
dipped to hide the grin on his mouth as James frowned. “Pleased
to meet you sir,” he said.

James frowned, “I
wish I could say the same.”

Chapter 3


It's
awkward enough that I have to deal with that Hailey girl; but I’ll
concede that one was my fault. I really thought she was a nice mature
girl,” Jaime said.


She
was
a
nice, mature girl; she just also happened to be a man-eating piranha
with absolutely no chill who almost stabbed me to death for engaging
in some mindless flirting,” Jonathon said.


Speaking
of, was that really necessary?” Jaime asked.

Hailey Flintstone was
the daughter of one of Jaime’s ‘widows and orphans’
friends. Her mother had been a first responder when the twin towers
collapsed and hadn’t made it out alive. Jaime and Hailey’s
father had dated briefly a few years later, brought together by their
shared loss. Hailey had been a sweet girl then and Jaime had thought
of her when the prospect of James Maitland’s deadline became an
issue. She figured that Hailey and Jonathon would get along quite
well given their shared history and if they hit it off, they could
give wedded bliss a chance.

It had started out
idyllic; Hailey was a pretty girl with curly brown hair and gray eyes
who smiled a lot and seemed to genuinely like Jonathon. While he
wasn’t exactly head over heels for her, she was okay to be
around and they didn’t fight so he counted it as a win. The
night he was getting ready to lay his proposition out to her though,
they visited a club in the village known as Pegu, where Jonathon was
well known. Sadie, the waitress on duty, and he had spent a few
energetic nights together in the past and they still flirted
occasionally. That night had been one of those occasions and Hailey
had gotten extremely quiet. She answered Jonathon in monosyllables
and he thought maybe it was the wrong time to lay out his proposition
as she was clearly in a bad mood.

As he drove her home
though, she reached into her handbag and withdrew a small penknife
which she drew up and drove into his inner thigh, just missing his
femoral artery by like…an inch.
“I don’t
tolerate cheating Jonny,” she growled.

Jonathon was too busy
trying not to crash the car or faint from the pain to answer. Luckily
by some muscle memory his foot hit the brake and he stopped abruptly,
the car swishing across both lanes.


You
stabbed me!” he shouted trying to gauge the damage through
touch.


Did
you hear me?” she yelled back at him.

He fished out his cell
phone and called 911. Hailey was still screaming at him when he
passed out from the pain…

*****


Was
what really necessary? Talking to a bloody waitress?” Jonathon
answered in disbelief. “You’re taking the side of the mad
woman?”


Of
course not Jonny, you know I’m always on your side. I’m
just saying…women don’t like it when you pay attention
to other women when you’re out with them.”


I
got that thank you,” Jonathon bit out.


Sometimes
though, I wish you’d pressed charges then I wouldn’t have
to deal with her at these meetings. She’s always wheedling and
crying and begging,” Jaime sighed tiredly.


Crying
for what?” Jonathon asked amused in spite of himself.


Forgiveness…a
second chance…who knows? She wants a meeting with you; said
she made a mistake and she’s sorry.”


No
thanks ma,” Jonathon said.


Well,
you might reconsider if you’re really serious about meeting
that deadline. At least she’s very available,” Jaime
commented.


I
told you, I have a plan,” Jonathon said.


Yes.
That’s what you said about Miriam,” Jaime said with a
laugh.

*****

Miriam Cortese was an
Italian heiress who was something of a socialite as well. They met
through business as Jonathon’s company was sponsoring an event
Miriam was hosting. They got on like a house on fire and Miriam had
her own money and therefore the prospect of her being a gold digger
never came up. Jonathon saw her as the perfect complement to him;
physically, mentally and emotionally. Her diminutive yet voluptuous
figure complemented his tall powerful frame perfectly. Jonathon’s
dirty blonde locks contrasted nicely with her red tresses and his
green eyes complemented her dark brown ones. Emotionally, Miriam was
all light and happy, floating from one social event to the next
without a care in the world while Jonathon worried and sweated his
way through life, always bracing for the next problem and covering it
up with a cocky grin and a devil may care attitude. Mentally though,
they were well matched sharks, always keeping an eye on the prize.
They had very different views of what the prize was though. Miriam
was out to be one half of a golden couple. She wanted, not Jonathon’s
money but his name. She wanted to be associated with the grandson of
a great movie star, who was a successful businessman in his own
right. Even before Jonathon had decided they would make a good fit,
she was in negotiations with an entertainment network to pick up a
reality show based on their lives. Jonathon was not against being
exploited for profit per se…but even for him, this was just
too blatant. And he had a feeling his grandfather would not approve.
He was still alive, hale and hearty and well able to change the terms
of his will if he felt Jonathon showed impaired judgment. And being
on some Keeping up with the Kardashians remake was probably a sign of
impaired judgment in his grandfather’s eyes. Jonathon had bowed
out, as gracefully as he could. Still he had to contend with months
of tabloid rumors as to the reason behind their ‘broken
engagement’. The stories ranged from the ridiculous to
downright libelous and his grandfather had not been amused to have
the family name dragged in the mud like that.

*****


Who
could have predicted Miriam?” Jonathon said in bewilderment.


Certainly
not me,” Jaime said and Jonathon could hear her shrug down the
line.


Still,
I have to compliment you for daring to get back into the fray after
those two fiascos. But I’d have thought Britney Marshall would
have been the absolute last straw.”

Jonathon snorted,
“Trust me she was. No more attempted love matches for me. This
last one will be strictly business.”


Oh
really. And you say she’s not a gold-digger?”


Actually,
I’ve just known her for a day-“ Jonathon began before his
mother interrupted him with a long-suffering sigh.


Jonny…”
she said tiredly.


She’s
no Britney Marshall, I swear.”

*****

He’d met her on
the strip, in Vegas; on his annual pilgrimage to Sin City. She was
dancing on a pole for the night at a strip club and she’d drawn
his eye with long fake blonde hair and her long, long legs and double
D breasts. She danced for him and only him, all night. He was drunk,
and in love by morning. They spent three days in bed, ordering room
service and fucking their brains out. On the third day, they
whispered sweet nothings in each others’ ears and Britney
proposed that they go down to the hotel chapel and get married.
Jonathon had been just drunk enough to think it was a good idea and
besides, he had that deadline to keep always in the back of his mind.
The bride was dressed in a hot white bikini and Kindra heels by
Badgely Mischka. Her veil was a tiara of white flowers artfully
arranged in her hair to make her appear as ethereal as a flower
child. The combination of innocence and sin blew Jonathon’s
mind right out of his head and he said ‘I do’ with no
hesitation. They went home to New York two days later and Jonathon
smugly sent his grandfather a message that he was a happily married
man. He took Britney home to meet his mother and Jaime tried to like
her for all of five minutes; but then Britney announced that she
intended to keep stripping, much to both Jaime and Jonathon’s
surprise. Jonathon hastened to reassure her that he had enough money
to keep them both fed and clothed so there was no need for that sort
of thing. An image flashed through his mind of his grandfather
hearing that he was married to a stripper and he shuddered
internally.

Jaime had taken him
aside and urged him to get an annulment. While Jonathon could see
where she was coming from…the sex was phenomenal and he was
not ready to give that up.


Just
till I’m thirty mom, then I’ll cut her loose,” he
murmured to her.

Jaime had sighed but
said nothing else. She was way too used to indulging all of
Jonathon’s whims, ever since his father had died. It was her
way of compensating for him losing his father at such a young age.

His grandfather had
insisted on meeting the newly weds to ‘personally hand over his
gift’. They had breakfast with him at the Four Seasons which
Jonathon found strange as James kept apartments in New York for when
he was visiting his family. Still, Britney was impressed…until
the ‘present’ that James gave them turned out to be an
inch thick file chronicling Britney Marshall’s criminal record.
There was everything from drug dealing to petty theft to prostitution
in there.


I
was young. Everybody makes mistakes,” she said.


I
want an annulment,” Jonathon replied.

The annulment was
harder to get than Jonathon could ever have imagined. Britney dug her
heels in, she threatened to go to the tabloids with made up stories,
she pretended to be pregnant…at long last James cut her a
large check that would ensure she was independently wealthy for the
rest of her days if she signed the papers. He got rid of her sure,
but the price was high and it was paid in distrust and derision.
Jonathon had no intention of going through that again.

BOOK: Marriage Of Convenience: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story
7.72Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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