The Billionaire Bargain 2 (6 page)

Kat
e’
s hand shot out to stop mine, faster than a striking rattlesnake.

“
Oh no youdo
n’
t, Lacey Newman. Did you even read those articles I brought you? Have you been paying attention in meetings at all this week? The share price of Devlin Media is going up like a freaking hot air balloon. Grant probably made, like, eight million bucks from the engagement while he was sleeping last night
.
”

Well, when she put it like that, a few dozen thousand dollars on pretty clothes and gifts did
n’
t seem like such a bad thing. Guilt? What guilt? This was couch cushion change to Grant.

“
Excuse me
?”
I said to the cashier
.“
Do you mind holding all this for just one moment
?”
I grinned at Kate
.“
I do really love these shoes, and I think
I’
d like to get them in black, too
.
”

For the engagement party Grant opted out of the film noir car with its fancy chauffeur, picking me up instead in a cherry red convertible with fins so wide it would have been perfectly at home on the sets of a 1950s science fiction movie set on Mars.

“
Are
n’
t you a little young to be having a midlife crisis
?”
I asked him as I got in, my thin turquoise dress flapping around my thighs in the breeze.

“
Are
n’
t you a bit young to be a soul-sucking vampire
?”
he asked, sticking his tongue out at me as if he were seven years old
.“I’
ll inform you tha
t‘
Bett
y’
here is a classic
.
”

“
You named your car
,”
I said with eyebrows raised.

“
I name all my cars
,”
he informed me
.“
The one with which you are most acquainted is Hepburn
.
”

His eyes were dancing, and I could
n’
t help but laugh as I slid into the seat.
I’
d been planning on tearing him a new one, but
I’
d had a few days to decompress.

Today was sunny, Grant looked scrumptious in a tight red dress shirt and khaki slacks, and I could
n’
t help but shiver a little inside at the ways his eyes tracked up my legs to the hem of my dress.

If I was going to be a part of this farce, I might as well have fun. That was what farces were for, were
n’
t they?

The mood stayed light and teasing as he drove out to the gently rolling hills of Napa Valley, the scenery growing ever more green as we descended into the heart of wine country.

Rows and rows of staked vines stretched out to the horizon, plump grapes peeking like polished sapphires and amethysts between the wide leaves as we raced by, kicking up dust on the country roads.

“
The Devlin family vineyard concentrates primary on a variety of fruit-forward New World wines
,”
Grant was saying
.“
Though in recent years we have been experimenting with a more Old World, mineral Chardonnay. We do a very plush, concentrated Merlot, and White Zinfandel continues to be our most popular vintage. We use the same grape varieties passed down from the Korbel brother
s
—”

He chattered on and on about
metho
dé
champenoise
and acidity levels and all sorts of technical things that went flying over my head like hummingbirds, gesturing enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling more than any dessert wine ever could. Who cared that I did
n’
t understand a word he was saying, when he was so passionate about it?

I definitely didn’t notice the way he rolled his sleeves up his muscular forearms when he got really into some fine technical detail, or the way he popped open the top three buttons of his shirt, as if it were constraining him.

“
This really means a lot to you, huh
?”
I said
.“
This place w
e’
re going to
.
”

“
Some of my first memories are of this place
.”
He went quiet, and for a second I worried that
I’
d said the wrong thing, derailed him from his happy thoughts and doomed us to an awkward silence
.“
I can just barely recall my parents, you know. But I remember the flight here from Australia, looking out the window. And I remember this place. My father would hold my hand as we walked through the rows of grapes, the sun coming through their leaves like the stained glass ceiling of a church, and my mother would sit at the edge of our property making sketches for her watercolors, a glass of lemonade ready for us when we looped our way back to her
.
”

His eyes glinted slightly, but before I could look closer to see if he were tearing up, he pulled a pair of sunglasses from the glove compartment.

“
You miss them
?”
I asked instead.

“
I barely remember them
,”
he repeated
.“
I suppos
e…
I miss the sense of purpose they had. That they might have given me. I might have been a better person i
f…
well, my grandfather tried his best. But there was only so much he could do
.
”

His shoulders were so tight and tense, his tone was filled with such self-loathing that it pierced me to my heart.

I touched his arm
.“
Yo
u’
re not such a bad person, you know
.
”

“
‘
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
,
’
”
he quoted, his eyes still on the road
.“
Sometimes it feels as though
I’
ve spent my entire life doing nothing
.
”

It was hard to contradict that. Bu
t…
“
I
t’
s not too late. To do something. To do lots of things
.
”

“
I fee
l…
so responsible
.”
His voice nearly caught in his throat
.“
For the company. For you. Fo
r—
for making sure that everything turns out all right. Sometimes it feels like the easiest way to get rid of that anxiety is to avoid the issue altogether
.
”

“
But that only makes it worse
,”
I said
.“
Believe me, I know
.
”

“
You, irresponsible? Pull the other one
.
”

“
I
t’
s true
,”
I said
.“
Senior year, I was supposed to be planning Kat
e’
s birthday party. But it was right around the time of exams, and I kept putting it off and putting it off the more anxious I got, and eventually, wel
l…
le
t’
s just say i
t’
s a good thing Kat
e’
s got a forgiving personality, and a weakness for cheap wine you can buy at the gas station
.”
I shrugged, suddenly self-conscious that
I’
d turned the conversation back around to me like a total attention-whore
.“
Sorry, I know tha
t’
s not even remotely on the same scal
e
—”

“
Do
n’
t be sorry
,”
Grant said, and he briefly covered my hand where it rested on his arm before putting it back on the steering wheel
.“
Yo
u’
re right, about putting things off, avoiding things. I think I always knew that, deep down. When I inherited everything, I figured I would only mess it up. I had offers to sell, and I very nearly did it
.
”

His jaw tensed, and I rested a hand on this thigh. To be comforting, of course.

“
All that responsibility, and people would pay me money to take it off my shoulders--but the buyers planned to break up the company, move jobs overseas, lower the quality of our products. I just could
n’
t do it. Somethin
g
—
”
He shook his head, almost in disbelief at his own past actions
.“
Something in me knew that no matter how afraid I was, I could
n’
t let myself walk away
.
”

I gazed at his profile as he turned another corner, feeling new insight and admiration awakening in my heart. H
e’
d felt the temptation for the easy life, but he had
n’
t given in. He had face
d—
was still facin
g—
his fears. Maybe he was
n’
t just an immature playboy after all.

The car pulled into the vineyard parking lot, and the setting sun cast the low hills above in flames, while brightly colored lanterns threw rainbow shadows about the pines and vines, a thousand different shades of green, with orange clay beneath, lit by sparkling bits of light like stars. It took my breath away.

“
As I said, i
t’
s a place that means a great deal to me
.”
Grant turned off the car and covered my hand with his own
.“I’
m glad yo
u’
ll get to see it.

And then he took my hand and pulled me into the fray.

If
I’
d thought the scenery was breath-taking from far away, it became even more so close up. A lively salsa beat was playing as young couples whirled around the patio, drinks clinked as patrician older couples sipped wines whose subtle perfumes drifted over the night, silk rustled and diamonds rattled. I looked around for Jennings and his wife Patricia, but I could
n’
t see them anywhere.

“
Grant, I do
n’
t know any of these people
!”
I whispered
.“
I do
n’
t think I can pull this off
!
”

“I’
ll get you out if you really need it
,”
he promised, his arm sliding comfortingly around my shoulder
.“
Diplomatically, thoug
h—
ca
n’
t afford to burn any bridges. Shall we decide on a code word
?
”

“
What, a conversational safe word? Like what, I sa
y‘
appl
e’
and we hightail it out of here
?
”

Grant made a face
.“
Pssh
,‘
appl
e’
is so boring. Not a challenge at all to work into a sentence. I vote fo
r‘
fecund
.
’”

“
How the hell am I supposed to think o
f
—
”
I started, but Grant had spied a circle of girls my own age, and swooped towards them to deposit me in their midst.

“Shall I get you a sample of that famous Merlot?” Grant asked, and without waiting for an answer: “Look after her, ladies, I’ll be right back!”

Still slightly disoriented from the transition between the intimate car conversation and the loud party crowd, I blinked at the dazzling girls in front of me, trying not to be blinded by the gleam off their glossy hair and perfectly white teeth.

“
So, ho
w’
d you land him
?”
asked a busty blonde who could have been a model if her nose-job had been just a little less obvious.

“
Excuse me
?”
I said.

“
How. Did. You. Land. Him
?”
She blew an exasperated breath through her nose as if I were too stupid for words.

“
I did
n’
t
‘
lan
d
’ him
,”
I said, my temper flaring slightly
.“
H
e’
s not a fish. We just met
.
”

Another girl, this one a strawberry blonde with piercing blue eyes, looked me up and down with a skepticism usually reserved for atheists in church
.“
How
?
”

“
At work
,”
I said shortly. Somehow, the fun story Kate and I had come up with did
n’
t seem so fun here. It just seemed silly. Like Grant would ever care about rescuing me from snooty bitches when h
e’
d just plopped me into their laps and left?

“
That dress i
s…
nice
,”
the first girl said, not quite hiding her giggle
.“
Was it on sale
?
”