Marriage Of Convenience: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (9 page)

Still, she stood
straight and true and said her vows clearly, stretched out her hand
so that he could put a ring on it and smiled for everyone as the
judge declared them husband and wife. When he said “You can
kiss the bride”, though, she tensed visibly.

Jonathon turned to look
at her and smiled. He leaned forward slowly giving her plenty of
warning. And then his lips touched hers. His lips were chapped, and
dry; his breath minty fresh though. His tongue touched her lips,
gently exploring and they parted involuntarily. He didn’t try
to deepen the kiss though, just sucked at her bottom lip and then let
her go. It left her lips tingling inexplicably and she touched them
with her fingers, wondering what the hell…

“
Congratulations
Mrs. Leary,” he said startling her quite badly.

“
I’m
keeping my name,” she whispered hoarsely back.

Jonathon shrugged his
acquiescence and then Niall and Ken were there, talking loudly in
their inexplicable cockney accents, patting Jonathon on the back and
lifting Leila off her feet much to her chagrin. She squeaked in
protest but they ignored her, pin wheeling her around the room and
making the judge laugh.

“
Okay
okay you crazy kids,” he said flapping his arms in amusement.
“Go take this party elsewhere.”

Jonathon grabbed her
hand and pulled her away from Ken. “Come on,” he said.
“I’ve a wedding breakfast waiting at the hotel.”

Leila hesitated wanting
to refuse but Jonathon tugged her forward. “We have much to
discuss,” he said in a low voice. Leila nodded and let herself
be tugged from the room.

Ken and Niall did not
come with them, much to Leila’s surprise. Mathews dropped them
off at The Ritz where apparently Jonathon was staying.

“
You
don’t have a base in town?” she asked.

“
Not
yet. I mean obviously now we need to look for somewhere. My realtor
is already on it.”

“
I
own my apartment; I like my apartment,” Leila pointed out.

“
Fine.
Your apartment will be waiting for you when our contract is over.
Your mother can continue to stay there,” Jonathon said.

“
She
can’t stay alone!” Leila exclaimed.

“
Of
course she can’t,” Jonathon said handing her a folder. “I
have a list of some really good nurses, specialist in respiratory
ailments, for you to interview.”

Leila looked down in
surprise at the folder, she opened it to behold the photo of a middle
aged Hispanic woman, whose curriculum vitae was contained just
underneath that. She turned the page and saw another photo, another
CV.

“
Wow.
You’re thorough,” she said, impressed in spite of
herself.

“
Thank
you. I aim to please. Now, about your job,” he said.

“
What
about my job?” Leila asked a tad aggressively.

“
Are
you happy where you are?” he asked.

Leila stared at him,
“Yeah.”

“
Okay
then. Just checking. If that should change you’ll let me know.”

“
I
will let you know,” Leila said slightly perturbed. He was going
to get her other employment or what? Had he expected that she would
want to be a housewife? Leila looked toward the table where a lavish
spread was laid.

“
Shall
we eat? I’m hungry,” she said moving toward the food.
Jonathon followed her and they filled plates in silence. Leila went
to sit at the table as Jonathon poured her some coffee.

“
Are
you freaked out?” Jonathon asked her eventually.

“
Aren’t
you?” she replied.

“
Surprisingly
not. I think we’re going to work out just fine,” Jonathon
said placidly.

Leila laughed tiredly,
“So now what?”

“
Now…I
guess you move in with me?”

Leila looked around the
room. “Here?” she asked in disbelief.

“
Just
until we find somewhere suitable,” he qualified, covering her
hand with his.

“
And
how long will that take?”

“
I’m
sure we’ll have somewhere soon. Maybe even by the end of the
day. That’s the advantage when money is no object,” he
said with a smile. “Oh you should know, I already sent my
granddad a message that we’re married.”

“
Great,”
Leila said sarcastically.

“
It
truly is,” Jonathon said ignoring the sarcasm.

“
There’s
just one thing though,” Jonathon said slowly.

“
What?”
Leila said not liking Jonathon’s tone at all.

“
We
need to consummate,” Jonathon said looking down at his plate.

“
What?
Since when? That was not in the contract,” she protested.

“
The
marriage is not legally binding until it is consummated Leila. You
know that,” Jonathon said. Leila stared at him, unable to deny
his words but looking for a loophole to propose.

“
Your
mother said that I get to decide how this marriage goes,” she
said.

“
Yes.
And you do. But just for this one night, we have to go by the book
okay?”

“
Just
one night?” Leila repeated.

“
Yes.
We consummate, and then you’re free to live as you please.”

“
Promise?”

“
On
my father’s grave.”

Leila pursed her lips,
“Fine.”

“
Love
the enthusiasm. So we should probably go back to your place and
pack.”

Leila put up a quelling
hand. “Plan B, how about we stay at my place until you find a
suitable residence?” she asked.

“
Stay
at your place?” Jonathon repeated in surprise.

“
Yeah.
I promise you it's clean. There is enough space for your clothes…”
she coaxed.

“
I
thought you’d want to stay in separate rooms. The hotel has a
suite,” Jonathon pointed out.

“
That
is a point,” Leila said nodding. “But you said you’d
have something suitable by Monday so it's not like we have to share
for too long. One weekend.”

Jonathon looked at her
like maybe she wasn’t in possession of all her faculties.

“
Besides,
mom is in the hospital this weekend so I can use her room,”
Leila said triumphantly.

Jonathon snorted, “Okay
then, if it’ll make you more comfortable, we’ll stay at
your place. But this is the first time I’ve ever had a girl
turn down a weekend at the Ritz Carlton.”

Leila shrugged,
“There’s a first time for everything I guess.”

“
I
guess,” he said with a sigh. “Well, I better pack my
stuff then…you’re sure about this?” he peered
intently into her face.

“
I’m
sure,” Leila said with a smile. It was a no-brainer for her;
she hated packing.

*****

Leila left Jonathon to
settle in at her apartment while she went to visit her mother at the
hospital. She was still out of it; they’d done an CT scan and
chest X-rays on her during the night and so she hadn’t slept
much. She was making up for lost time. Leila sat quietly with her for
half an hour then went to seek the doctor out.

“
Can
I see Dr. Hatfield?” she asked his receptionist.

“
Ms.
Masters, we’ve been expecting you,” she said with a
smile. “Come with me.”

The receptionist led
her to an office where the good doctor sat studying some X-rays. He
looked up and smiled at her.

“
Ms.
Masters, you’re just in time. I have your mother’s X-ray
results here. We can look at them together.”

“
Oh,”
Leila said her heart beat speeding up. “Okay then. Lets do
that.”

Dr. Hatfield put the
X-rays up on the lighted screen and her mother’s lungs were
exposed.

“
You
see the slight enlargement of the lungs?” he asked.

“
Er
yeah?” Leila said.

“
The
CT scan also showed small pockets of air in her lungs. This seems to
indicate that your mother has some sort of COPD. We’re doing
some pulmonary function tests to confirm but taken together with her
physical exam we’re fairly sure your mother has Emphysema,”
he said.

“
What?
But doesn’t that usually manifest in people who smoke?”
she asked.

“
Yes.
But there are other causes.  Severe AAT deficiency, second
hand smoke and air pollution. You say your mother doesn’t
smoke? What about anyone else in your household?”

Leila shook her head.
“No we don’t. I don’t even know anyone in my circle
who smokes. It's not exactly fashionable these days.”

“
True.
Well we’ve tested for AAT deficiency and we’re awaiting
results but strong possibility is that it's pollution. Your mother
told us she was a first responder at 9/11?”

“
Yes.
She was,” Leila said with a proud smile.

“
That
is admirable, but it's also a clue. There was a lot of toxic dust
floating around at ground zero for weeks after it happened.”

Leila nodded, “Yeah
I know.”

“
Regardless
of that, we will do the best we can to manage the condition.”

“
Thank
you doctor,” Leila said standing up.

Dr. Hatfield stood up
too. “Your mother should rest for the remainder of the day.
Perhaps you could return to see her in the evening. We should know
more then.”

“
Will
do, doctor,” Leila said as he escorted her to the door. She
left the hospital feeling a lot more hopeful about her mother. Sure
the illness was severe and expensive but now she had the wherewithal
to take care of hospital bills, it didn’t seem so daunting.

When she got home,
Jonathon was lounging in the living room chatting with Sheila. They
looked pretty cozy and comfortable and the fleeting thought flitted
through Leila’s head that Sheila might have made a much more
suitable bride for Jonathon than she did. The thought did not please
her, and she couldn’t imagine why.

“
Hey,”
Jonathon said smiling at her.

“
Hi,”
she replied discarding her coat on the rack.

“
How
did it go?” he asked as Sheila turned to smirk at her.

“
Really
well actually. She’s resting now. I’ll go back in the
evening when I can get a more comprehensive diagnosis. I like Dr.
Hatfield; he gives off this aura of competence,” Leila said
moving to sit between Sheila and Jonathon on the couch.

Jonathon handed her a
cup of cocoa he’d poured from the flask on the table and she
took it gratefully.

“
Thank
you,” she said.

“
You’re
welcome. Sheila was just giving me a run down of the neighborhood. We
went shopping.”

“
You
did?” Leila said ruthlessly squashing the sliver of annoyance
that ran through her.

“
Yeah,
I needed some supplies, plus I thought I’d stock the fridge.”

“
That
wasn’t necessary,” Leila protested.

“
What?
Of course it was. It's my job to provide for my family,” he
said. Sheila let out a high-pitched giggle and Leila fixed her with a
stare, indicating she should explain herself.

“
He
said ‘my family’,” Sheila informed her still
shaking with the giggles into the throw pillow she was clutching.

“
And
that’s funny because…?” Leila asked.

“
Because
you married a white dude without telling anyone,” Sheila said
still shuddering and shaking with silent laughter.

“
Awesome.
I’m glad I made your day,” Leila mumbled.

“
Yeah,
I can’t wait to hear what aunt Raychelle’s gonna say
about this.”

“
Well
she’s not here now so…” Leila said.

Sheila dropped the
pillow and lifted her hands in surrender. “Hey, I get it. Y’all
newlyweds need some alone time. I’ll make myself scarce.”

Leila rolled her eyes
but didn’t bother correcting Sheila. Technically, she supposed
her cousin was right. They did need some time…she hadn’t
forgotten about the consummation of their marriage they needed to
carry out. She wasn’t one for one night stands or casual sex.
Her last boyfriend had been a state senator with whom she’d
gone on weekend hikes and long bike rides along the walkways. They’d
broken up because Leila had turned up unexpectedly at his house one
weekday afternoon and found him in bed with one of his constituents.
That had been two years ago and she’d been far too hurt and far
too busy to look for a replacement. Now she was faced with the
peculiar situation of having a one night stand with a man with whom
she was in a committed relationship. It was weird to say the least.

“
So…how
are we doing this?” she asked.

Jonathon smiled, “I
thought I’d buy you dinner first.”

Leila laughed, “Sounds
like a plan.”

“
Great.
Where do you wanna go?”

“
How
about we order in? I’m not really in the mood to get dressed
and go out.”

“
Aww,
and here I was looking forward to seeing you all dressed up again,”
he whined.

“
I
could dress up if it means that much to you,” she suggested.

“
Yay.
Do you want me to dress up too?”

“
Nah.
What you’re wearing’s fine.”