Marriage Of Convenience: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (5 page)

*****

“
I’ve
already called Talbot and Barnes to do a background check on her mom,
trust me this time I’m going in with my head on straight and my
eyes wide open.”

“
Well,
don’t propose until I’ve at least met her,” Jaime
said.

“
When
can you come to Atlanta?” he asked.

“
After
the Widows And Orphans event. But don’t you have that thing in
Philadelphia after?”

“
I
can delay leaving here for a day or two if you can come down. We need
to nail this down, and quickly. Right now I know she’s a bit
desperate. If she finds another way to solve her issues, we’re
back to square one.”

“
Jonathon
Leary what the hell are you talking about?” his mother said in
alarm.

“
I
just mean her mother is ill, and obviously she’s having a hard
time getting her the care she needs. I’m guessing she could use
some help right about now. But she looks like a resourceful girl; the
kind who will think of something if we give her time. We must be
SMART about this. Make a time sensitive proposal, lay out the
advantages, bang out a contract before she has too much time to
think.”

“
Sounds
vaguely criminal,” Jaime objected faintly.

“
Eyes
wide open mama, remember that.”

“
Okay
Jonny,” Jaime said. “I’ll see you soon.”

*****

Leila needed to find
flats for the event now that her ankle would not support heels. She
found some lovely cappuccino Vince pointed toe D'Orsay Flats to go
with her bi-color one shoulder Lanvin gown. The top of the gown was
red poppy knit with a washed satin skirt. It had a one shoulder
neckline with a wide right shoulder strap and ruffled trim at the
gathered waist. The pleated skirt had a front slit along her left leg
and an exposed side zip completed the look. It was the perfect dress
to show off her assets; her perky breasts and tiny waist as well as
the substantial swell of hips and long muscular legs. The length of
the gown meant that whatever shoes she wore didn’t count and
she tied her braided hair in a complicated pony tail knot that left
her long neck exposed. She wore a tiny gold necklace that had
belonged to her grandmother with her birthstone, citrine, embedded in
the locket. She looked like a Disney Princess if she did say so
herself. She examined herself in the mirror, taking in every aspect
of her countenance.

“
Very
nice,” Sheila said from the doorway. “Who’s your
date to this shindig?”

“
Ha.
Date? I’ll be too busy running around trying to make sure we
don’t run out of canapés to have a date.”

“
Yeah
but isn’t there like going to be dancing? You said you booked
India Arie to perform right?”

“
Yes
I did, and I’m looking forward to hearing her but that doesn’t
mean I have to dance with a date. I’m sure I’ll take a
whirl with the guest of honor. He’s James Maitland you know?
Some big time Hollywood star of yesteryear and current billionaire.
He’s donated substantial sums to our project over the year and
tonight he’ll be handing over the keys to premises where we can
spread out, have all our projects in one place.”

“
Wow,
I’m so happy you get to dance with some old guy,” Sheila
said wryly.

“
Old
rich
guy,”
Leila corrected.

“
Yeah
that makes it better,” Sheila said straightening up and heading
to the living room. She was staying with Raychelle while Cinderella
went off to the dance in her glass sandals. The intercom buzzed and
the doorman’s raspy voice informed Leila that her taxi was
here.

“
Okay
ladies, I’m off to the ball,” she announced as she swept
into the living room to envelope her mother in a hug and kiss Sheila
on the cheek.

“
Have
fun dear,” her mother said. The oxygen mask was sitting on the
coffee table; always a good sign.

“
You
too ma. No keggers you crazy kids,” she said faux admonishingly
to her mother and cousin. Sheila shooed her away and told her not to
return without a prince charming. Leila stuck her tongue out at her,
totally intending not to take her advice.

*****

She was early of
course…as the organizer she had to make sure everything was
running as it should before the guests and the guest of honor got
there. She made sure that flowers were delivered and in place for
presentation to the guest of honor; place mats were all arranged in a
politically correct manner and that the caterers were on site and
ready to go. Martha followed her like the obedient foot soldier she
was, taking notes at all of Leila’s observations and following
up on them at once.

“
Microphone
check?” Leila inquired.

“
Check,”
Martha replied. The band was just setting up on the stage, India
Arie’s people had been by earlier to inspect the set up and see
that everything was ready for her performance.

“
Dressing
room?” Leila asked.

“
All
set up and ready with all requested refreshments and toiletries,”
Martha replied.

Leila nodded, “Good.
Wonderful job Martha now run along and change.”

Martha stared at her
open mouthed; she was wearing a long purple strapless gown and her
hair was done up with a tiara to boot. She was most definitely
already changed. Leila grinned at her.

“
Just
fuckin witchu,” she said.

Martha heaved a sigh of
relief. “Oh,” she said and smiled sickly.

“
You
need to lighten up a little Martha. There is nothing life and death
here,” Leila said placing a hand on her arm. “Now go tell
one of those gorgeous waiters to hand you a glass of champagne, drink
it, and relax. Okay?”

Martha nodded and went
off but Leila knew she wouldn’t be touching any champagne. She
was of a nervous and uptight disposition, always seeking to do
everything perfectly. It made her an excellent assistant to the
Project Manager but it also made her extremely exhausting to be
around. Leila sighed and walked slowly to the bar, taking her own
advice and swiping a flute of champagne. She sipped it slowly as she
waited at a table for the guests to begin arriving. Once the party
had began, it would be non-stop all night so she might as well take
the opportunity to rest her ankle now.

Slowly but surely the
guests began to trickle in and Leila circulated ensuring that
everything was running smoothly. Mrs Elkins, the organizations
patron, gestured for her to approach the high table and she did so
apprehensively, hoping that nothing was wrong.

She smiled as she
reached the table, leaning in to hear what Mrs. Elkins had to say.
“We’ve just received word that our guest of honor will
not be joining us,” she whispered and Leila’s heart sank.
This could prove disastrous for their evening. But Mrs. Elkins was
not through talking. “Instead he’s sent his grandson to
represent him. Apparently he’s not feeling well enough to
travel.”

Leila nodded, sagging
inwardly with relief, “What do you need from me?”

“
I
need you up here at the high table Leila. We don’t want to
overwhelm him with us old fogies after all. Better he has someone
near to his own age to talk to,” she said.

“
I
see,” Leila replied wondering what she could possibly say to
some Hollywood prince. Perhaps they could discuss boy bands and the
possible resurgence of Madonna… “I’ll join you as
soon as he arrives,” she promised. Mrs. Elkins smiled
gratefully and shooed her away. Leila resumed her rounds with
increased urgency. Clearly she would not be able to run things from
the floor as soon as the guest of honor arrived; which meant she
needed to hand over to Martha forthwith. She located her at last,
checking on the items availed to Ms. Arie in her dressing room.

“
Martha
darling, I have some news, maybe bad; maybe good. Depending on how
you take it,” she said.

“
What
is it?” Martha inquired anxiously.

“
I’m
required to sit at the high table to make the guest of honor
comfortable so you have to do all the behind the scenes running
around.”

“
Oh,
okay. Of course,” Martha said straightening up like she’d
been given command of the USS Enterprise.

Leila nodded. “Thank
you dear. Now just relax, and make sure everything goes great,”
she said with a pat on Martha’s shoulder.

Martha took a deep
breath and nodded; then she straightened her back and marched off
with purpose. Leila watched her go, sighed and went the opposite way.
Hopefully Martha did not suffer a stroke from being wound so tight.

She arrived in the
function hall just as the MC was announcing the arrival of the guest
of honor. All the tables were now fully occupied and the hall was
loud with conversation and laughter. It was a good group; fundraising
would go great. Leila was sure of it. She wondered if she should wait
until the guy arrived before heading to the high table. She peered
around, trying to see if the model they had got to present the
bouquet of flowers was in place. She just glimpsed Martha leading her
with what looked like a kung fu grip on her arm to the designated
spot. Leila sighed, the model did not look too happy at being
manhandled but she was a professional. If she was in pain, she played
through it. Leila nodded her approval and sidled a little closer to
the high table. She could just see Mrs. Elkins stepping back into the
room leading a group of tuxedo clad men. She went on her tip toe for
a second trying to see over everyone’s heads as to what they
looked like; but her ankle sent up a sharp warning that she was
overstepping the bounds of what it was prepared to do for her so she
desisted. She would see them soon enough anyway.

They had reached the
model now, and she was handing over the flowers with a sexy smile.
Her face had brightened considerably Leila could see. Hmm, maybe the
grandson was good looking. There was clapping in the hall as the MC
gave the stats for what the Maitland Foundation had done for Venture-
GRAD over the years, ending in an announcement of their generous
donation of premises to house the project.

“
Venture-GRAD
will have the space and facilities to expand its activities such as
counseling services, expand its resource center and accommodate a
higher number of potential graduates in terms of recruitment,
monitoring and evaluation. For this, the future professionals of
Atlanta thank the Maitland Foundation and welcome our guest of honor,
Jonathon Leary who is here to represent his grandfather, James
Maitland!” the MC wound up with flourish to raucous applause.

Leila stood as if
frozen. “Jon…?” she murmured to no one in
particular. Surely it couldn’t be…Not the idiot who hit
her bike the other day. There was no way.

Actually
there was; the crowds parted as Mrs. Elkins led the entourage to the
table and there he was…shaggy dirty-blonde hair, slicked back
now with some sort of gel, really too long for an adult unless he’s
a model. Of course with that towering muscular physique and the green
eyes he
could
be a model. Not that Leila was noticing…he was hardly her type
after all. Wrong color for one – she liked her strong black
brothers. Her eyes shifted to his companions; she didn’t know
them – Mathews wasn’t one of them. They were just as tall
as Jonathon was, definitely topping six feet and a bit and they had
the same laissez faire cocky ‘I grew up rich’ vibe that
emanated in waves from him. One was dark haired, and the other was
red haired…maybe they really were models coming from a shoot
or something. Or maybe they were just aware of what a compelling trio
they made with their tallness and their…handsomeness.

Jonathon’s eyes
landed on her and he smiled. “Leila,” he said as one
would say ‘chocolate cake!’ if they were starving.

She smiled and nodded
at him. “Jonathon,” she said taking a deep breath and
trying to compose herself.

“
Oh
you know each other?” Mrs. Elkins looked extremely pleased.
Leila’s smile was strained.

“
We’ve
met.”

“
Wonderful,”
Mrs. Elkins said turning to Jonathon. “Leila is our project
manager here at Venture-GRAD and she is doing a phenomenal job.”

Jonathon smiled, “Is
that so? I’m glad to hear it.”

Leila didn’t know
if she was imagining it but there was something really predatory in
his eyes when he said that. She took a deep breath and widened her
smile.

“
Shall
we sit?” she suggested.

“
Yes.
Let’s,” Mrs. Elkins said leading the way. Jonathon
stopped in front of her and gestured for her to precede him. She
hesitated for a second, not wanting to do as he wanted but then
shrugged internally and stepped in front of him.

“
How’s
the ankle?” he murmured to her, leaning in slightly so his face
was just left of her ear. Leila tried not to jump at the exhalation
of breath on her shoulder.

“
It's
fine. Stop talking,” she said trying to move a little faster.
She heard Jonathon laugh behind her but he at least shut his mouth.
They all sat down and the sommelier came by to take their wine
orders. Leila stuck to sparkling non-alcoholic cider, she did not
think tonight was a good night to get drunk or even tipsy. Something
told her she’d need her wits about her.

“
So…it's
nice to see you again. Mathews and I dropped off your bike at your
house but you’d already left. Your mother and your…cousin?
Sheila, were very nice. Invited us in for coffee and everything. We
had a great chat.”