Rent-A-Bride (5 page)

When it became apparent that she could not out muscle him she began kicking him. “Leave me alone, you psycho!”

Just then the security guard arrived. “What’s going on here?!”

Ed glanced at the man long enough to see that if it came to a physical altercation he had the advantage by at least twenty pounds of muscle and six inches of height. The smaller man didn’t seem to know what to do. He just looked back and forth between the pair as if hesitant about diving into the scuffle.

“This man is trying to steal my suitcase!” She huffed out while continuing to tug and shoot death glares simultaneously.

“Sir! Please let the lady’s suitcase go!”

“No! I hired her to do a job and she’s going to do it if it’s the
last thing she does
.”

“
The last thing I do
?!” Her hazel green raccoon eyes widened as if he’d just confirmed something she already believed. “I knew you had to be some kind of sadistic sicko!”

“Why are you making this so hard?! I’m paying you a lot of money for just a couple of hours out of your life—what is wrong with you?!”

The security guard placed his hand on the only weapon he had, a Billy club at his waist. “Sir, I’m gonna ask you one more time. Let go of the lady’s suitcase.”

“No!” A small crowd of gawkers had surrounded them but Ed didn’t care. Nothing mattered but getting the suitcase away from her. He would worry about why later for now he needed to focus on the task because she was surprisingly strong for such a little bit of nothing.

“
LET-ME-GO
!” In something akin to a Hail Mary move she threw her full weight in the opposite direction and the raggedy suitcase ripped from Ed’s grip, tumbled opened and a shower of colorful clothing rained down over all three of them. The sudden silence was broken by something hard hitting the floor. It clattered loudly and then subsided into a soft, low buzz.

“Oh damn!” The security guard was the first to realize what it was because he suddenly doubled over in laughter.

Ed’s eyes were still on Amelia, so even the startled gasp and laughter of the gawker’s didn’t penetrate his brain until he saw the horrified expression that came across her face. His eyes went to the floor and there vibrating across the concrete was a dark brown…
tubular object
.

Ed’s eyes went back to Amelia’s and he saw the tears quickly forming there. They both dived for the vibrator at the same time but she reached it first.

With a quick flick she turned it off and tucked it in her purse before scrambling to collect her things piling them into the wreckage of her suitcase in an even more haphazard manner than they were previously.

As if he’d been awakened from a dream Ed suddenly realized how insane this all was. His eyes glanced over the now dispersing crowd of gawkers. The security guard and Amelia were both on the floor collecting up her items and he was just standing there, too stunned to move.

What in the world is wrong with me?!
He bent to pick up a red blouse laying across his left loafer. But like a rabid dog she snarled at him and snatched the shirt away.

He sighed. “I was just trying to help.”

“I don’t want your help! Just leave me alone!” She tossed the red shirt in the suitcase.

The security guard glanced at him briefly and returned to tossing clothing in the suitcase.

Ed rubbed both his hands over his face. Many times he’d been required to work seventy hour shifts and more in the chaotic environment of the hospital’s ER but never had he been this tired in his life.

“Look, I’m sorry. I have no idea what just happened here. I don’t know what this is all about but for some reason you don’t seem to want the part anymore. So…”

He sighed heavily and looked around as if hoping an answer to his problem would suddenly appear. “I don’t know. Fine. So be it.”

He shook his head and started down the corridor toward the sliding double doors. What was he going to tell his grandfather? Should he just try to find another actress? He’d deliberately avoided local agencies for fear that on the off chance his grandfather would recognize the woman from some local something. Even as he exited the airport, crossed the walkway and entered the parking lot a few seconds later he still had no answer. Except that he’d been away from his grandfather’s side too long already.

• • •

As she collected the last of her items Amelia watched the retreating back of the man. She managed to get the bag partially zipped again and as she rose to her feet her eyes narrowed on the last of the gawkers. A woman who’d stuck around to see the end of the show.

“Can I help you?!” She snapped almost hoping the woman would give her a reason to release all the frustration and anger caged in her heart at that moment.

Instead the woman’s eyes widened like a guilty child before she scuttled away down the corridor.

Amelia looked back toward the doors and caught one last glimpse of the man as he disappeared through the sliding doors leading out to the busy street.

He was not at all what she had expected. Actually she hadn’t
expected
anyone. Terry never said a word about him being at the airport to pick her up. In all fairness there was the possibility that Terry hadn’t known since he’d just given her the address of the hospital and twenty dollars to take a cab. Amelia had obediently written the information down although she had no intention whatsoever of using it.

Once her plane landed she’d planned to just head home and try to make things right with her family leaving Terry to deal with his disappointed client. After the stunt he pulled on her yesterday sending her to that so-called-audition this would make them even. At least that had been the plan.

But now…those eyes…the pain and sadness reflected there…could he have been faking that? It had been too hard to look directly at him. He was so tragically beautiful it was breathtaking. His need for comfort was like a magnetic force, raw and terrifying. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him, pull his head down on her shoulder and just hold him. Instead she turned and ran.

The security guard glanced at the sliding doors seeming reluctant to leave her side. “You want me to walk you outside?”

Amelia tried to force a reassuring smile. “No. I should be fine from here. But thanks for your help.” With that the guard headed back in the direction he’d come from and Amelia dragged her raggedy bag to the escalator and down to the baggage carousel to collect her second bag. She was careful not to bump it and risk spilling her belonging all over the floor again and relive that humiliating experience.

As she was standing there watching the neatly packed bags go around and around it suddenly occurred to her what the guy at the boarding house had meant with his
real man
crack. She covered her face with both hands wondering if there was any way this experience could get any more mortifying.

An hour later she had an answer after watching every bag be removed from the carousel except hers—which was nowhere to be found.

The suitcase she’d taken the time to pack correctly, the one with all of her newer clothing, her jewelry, personal papers and precious possessions was lost. While the bag containing a few personal hygiene items, some raggedy pajamas and her vibrator was sitting on the floor beside her.

She sighed simply too tired and too hungry to do anything more. A short while later after filing a report with the airport she trudged out of the airport dragging her one suitcase with her.

Once she was outside Amelia stood there wondering if the twenty dollars Terry had given her would be enough to get her to her family home. Probably not.

She tried calling Byron but the number she had for him was disconnected. She thought about just walking the couple of blocks to the closest bus station but instead she just stood there staring at the long line of cabs awaiting fares…and unable to get those soulful eyes out of her head.

What if there really was some dying old man hanging on to life just long enough to glimpse what he believed to be his grandson’s fiancée? What if this was his dying wish? What if this grandfather died never having this wish fulfilled and the pain in those eyes never went away?

With a sigh of resignation Amelia climbed into the closest cab.

• • •

Ed stood outside his grandfather’s hospital room and took several deep breaths. On the drive back from the airport he’d tried to come up with some explanation for why his fiancée was unable to come. But now when he needed his new compulsion to lie more than ever it seemed he’d returned to his typical honest self. He’d even taken a long drive trying to form some believable story or explanation. Anything but the truth and the disappointment that would follow.

How could I have been so selfish?
He’d known for years that his grandfather wanted him to marry but his inability to commit to one woman for life was now affecting them both in ways he never anticipated. He straightened his shoulders and prepared to enter the room.

“Wait! Hey wait!”

Ed spun around and saw his runaway actress heading straight for him. She was waving a hand in an attempt to get his attention he assumed but she already had his undivided attention.

He took a few steps in her direction wondering if she was real or imagined. The woman he’d met at the airport had made it clear she had no intention of helping him and yet like a miracle here she was.

She came to a stop in front of him. Now in additional to her already messy appearance her hair had fallen almost completely out of the scrunchy and was cascading around her shoulders giving the impression she’d just risen from bed. The thin sheen of sweat on her skin was surprisingly flattering giving her copper complexion a soft bronze glow. Even in her rumpled state she was stunning. Ed could only imagine what she would look like in full Hollywood regalia.

“Alright. I’ll do it.” She huffed. “Long as you understand—this is it. This one introduction and then I’m done. Agreed?”

That was completely unacceptable, but they could work out the details later. Right now Ed was too filled with gratitude and relief to do anything but agree. So he nodded and then nodded again.

She went to move past him but he caught her arm to stop her.

“I’m really getting tired of you manhandling me.” Her golden eyes came up to meet his brown ones.

“Sorry. It’s just that…you can’t go in there like that.”

She braced her hand on her hip. “Like what?”

“You look like you just got off a plane.” Ed chose diplomacy over accuracy.

“That’s because I just got off—”

“I know! But he thinks you’re just getting off work across town—you’re a nurse by the way.” Ed glanced up the hallway. “Come with me.”

She took a wary step away from him. “Where are we going?”

“I need to find some scrubs for you. And you need to freshen up a bit.”

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so.” She glanced back at the door to Stanley’s room which was a few feet away from her. “Is your grandfather really in there?”

“Yes. But he can’t see you until you’ve had a chance to change.”

She glanced at the door and then back at him and then back to the door. “Look, Ned, I don’t know you from a freakin hole-in-the-wall, okay?”

“My name is Ed, as in Edward.”

“Whatever. My point is I’m not going anywhere with you. I only followed you to the hospital because I felt sorry for you and now you’re trying to lure me somewhere else.”

“Nobody’s trying to
lure
you anywhere. But if you’re going to play the role then you need to look the part.”

“Right.” She made a flippant gesture with her hand. “I’m outta here.”

Ed’s long strides passed her quickly and grabbing her arm he dragged her along with him. As expected she tried to dig in her heels but Ed still pulled her along until they were standing at an intersection of the corridors. He pointed to a safety mirror high up in the corner of the wall.

“Look!”

She looked up and he watched her reflection as her eyes widened in realization.

“I was trying to be polite but the truth is—you look like road kill! This man has waited a long time to meet you and I am
not
taking you into that room looking like
that
!”

A
melia pulled off two paper towels from the dispenser and dried her wet face wiping her eyes until the mascara along with all her other smeared makeup was completely removed. She rummaged around in her suitcase until she found her comb and then pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

Dressed in a set of blue scrubs Ed had found for her she stepped back and took a look at her much improved appearance. She had been mortified by the hot mess she’d seen reflected in the mirror and what he must’ve thought when she stepped off the plane. It’s a wonder he approached her at all. Instead of dropping his sign and running for the nearest exit!

It had been a rough couple of days and her appearance had been the least of her troubles when put against no place to live and nothing to eat. And true, she’d never actually planned to meet the man but now knowing he’d seen her in such disarray was still beyond embarrassing.

She closed up her suitcase and pulled the zipper as far as she could and left the bathroom carrying it under her arm. Ed was leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom, his legs crossed, arms folded and eyes closed. It almost looked as if he’d fallen asleep standing up and Amelia was able to get her first real good look at him.

It wasn’t her imagination. He really was that fine. Long and lean-
ishly
built—he looked to be a touch over six feet. His oval face had the perfectly formed lines of a male model but the scruffy five o’clock shadow shaping his chiseled jaw line kept him from being too perfect. Despite his stillness his whole being screamed exhaustion and she was once again consumed by the need to ease his burden.

Lord! I hope all this on the up-and-up
.

“I’m ready.”

His eyes opened and Amelia caught her breath. As gorgeous as he was in repose the intensity of his dark eyes was electrifying and she felt it like a touch as his eyes roamed over her from top to bottom.