The Billionaire's Runaway Bride (10 page)

She shivered but shook her head. “Those don’t make for happiness, Jason,” she countered.

“What do you think could make you happy?”

“A feeling of self-worth!”

“Well, I’m not stopping you from getting it,” he tossed right back.

“I was happy, I was working doing something I loved until you came back into my life. Why did you do that, Jason? Simply because of this latest acquisition?” she asked, realization dawning on her. Her eyes widened. “Was that it? Did you need your steady, homely wife to meet and greet your clients so they wouldn’t cause you trouble when you made your next ten million dollars?”

A muscle started twitching on the side of Jason’s face but he kept his tone even. “If you want to work, then do so. I’m not stopping you.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that, Jason, when that is exactly what you stopped me from doing!”

“I just didn’t want you working for a man that was in love with you, Sophie!” he countered, which got a higher tone. But he forced himself to calm down. “That man wasn’t after your work ethic, he was after you.”

“Henry?” she asked quietly, dumbfounded by his comment.

“Yes! Don’t tell me you were in love with him, Sophie because I will simply destroy the man. You are mine!” he said and stood up, tossing his newspaper down onto the table. He came around the table and towered over her, intimidating her with his height and breadth. “If you want to work, then work. But not for him. Hell,” he spit out, “I’ll set you up in your own damn landscaping business if that’s what you want,” he said and started walking out of the room, “but you’re not to go back to that company. Do you understand me?” He didn’t wait for an answer, assuming that his commands would be obeyed instantly.

“Where are you going?” she called out, wanting to throw something at his arrogant back.

“I have work to do,” he said and slammed the door shut.

Sophie looked at the closed door and shuddered. Jason had been angry, she thought in shock and awe. That was definitely a scene to view, she thought. She’d never known Jason to lose his temper. Ever.

His words struck her then. Her own landscaping business? What a novel thought. The idea tempted her and she had to sit down and mull it over in her mind. Could she do it? She sipped her coffee and considered the idea. What would it take to start her own company? Would she really want to? What would be the reason to do so? She had the time, she knew. It would get her out of the house and away from that awful man Jason employed as a gardener.

Sophie pushed the idea aside. It was too silly to consider. She didn’t know the first thing about running her own business, she thought to herself.

She went through the day, avoiding Jason who she found out was working in his library, and finding a spot in a far away part of the yard where the gardener couldn’t glare at her.

Plants, she thought after she’d dug up a plot of grass. She needed plants.

Sophie went into the house and found some paper and pencils, then drew out the plans she wanted to create in her new garden. She sketched and erased, playing with various ideas for the small plot of land. After several hours of drawing, she knew what she wanted to do with the area. And it would require lots of plants and much more digging.

She stared at the doors to the library. It was just after lunch time but she hadn’t heard or seen Jason since breakfast. Should she knock and ask him for permission to do what she wanted?

No! She wasn’t here of her free will. If he was going to keep her here, he would deal with the consequences. She would just do what made her happy until he realized that she was the wrong wife for him.

Marching to the back of the house, she found Michael. “Michael,” she said, interrupting a game of cards between the driver and Higgins. “I’m sorry to interrupt your game but I need to find a nursery,” she explained.

“A day care facility?” he asked, not sure what she was trying to say.

Sophie laughed slightly. “No, a plant store,” she said. “Do you know where one is nearby?” she asked.

“Of course, ma’am,” he said and immediately stood up to pull on his jacket. “Are you ready to leave now?” he asked.

“Yes, if that is okay with you,” she said.

“Absolutely. I’ll pull the car around front,” he said.

“That’s not necessary,” she said. I’m here. Isn’t the car right there?” she said, pointing to the garage in the back of the house.

Michael obviously didn’t like the idea of the mistress of the house leaving from the back door but he acquiesced when she smiled at him tentatively.

Within minutes, they were driving down the street. The nursery was only a few minutes away and she was thrilled with the number and variety of plants on display. Michael stayed next to her and pulled a small red wagon as she loaded up her selection. The nursery was more than happy to open up an account and even arranged for delivery of mulch the next day.

Michael loaded the trunk first with her plants, then the front seat but there were too many of them. So Sophie sat in the back, surrounded by the plants and could barely sit still on the short drive home, too eager to get to work planting all of her new “babies”.

Michael arranged for several other of the household staff to help carry the plants to their ultimate destination and Sophie worked until dusk digging holes and carefully planting her new purchases. She was only halfway finished when Jason found her.

“What in the world?” he said, his eyes taking in the newly planted area.

Sophie swung around, her mouth open in shock and fear that she might have overstepped her place. “Jason, it isn’t as bad as it looks. And it wasn’t as expensive as you might think. The area is far enough away from the main gardens so none of the houseguests will see it. I promise,” she finished lamely, realizing that she was babbling out of fear of his reaction.

Jason only stood there, staring at the oasis she had created in one day. There were weeping cherry trees on four corners and the sides were lined with plants that looked to be varying heights, starting on the outside with the higher plants, then moving towards the center with the smaller ones that would stay close to the ground even when mature.

“They are all perennials so they’ll come back year after year. I didn’t waste any of your money on annuals,” she explained when he didn’t say anything but continued to stare at her work.

“It’s going to be lovely,” he said, then looked right into her eyes.

Sophie’s whole world brightened. She smiled tentatively at first, then broader as she noted the sincerity in his eyes. “Do you really like it?” she asked again.

“Yes. It is very creative and welcoming,” he said, nodding his head to reinforce his words. “are you done?” he asked.

Sophie looked around and thought of many other things she could do. “It needs a fence of some sort,” she said. “And the fence should be lined with flowering vines. I don’t know what kind but maybe morning glory or a hydrangea vine.”

“And a fountain,” he said. “In the center.” He walked into the middle. “And some chairs to sit in.

Sophie wasn’t looking at the yard anymore. She was staring at his face. What he was saying was exactly what she envisioned and it meant more to her than she could have imagined that he would understand her idea. “yes,” was all she could get out.

He turned to face her. “This looks great, Sophie. You have real talent. I wasn’t kidding this morning when I mentioned that if you wanted to do this as a career, I would back you.”

“Really?” she asked, her smile broadening.

He laughed softly. “Yes,” he repeated. “Just come up with a business plan and present it to me.” He moved closer to her. “And one more thing,” he said, his large hands holding her shoulders, then sliding gently down her arms.

“What’s that?” she asked, trying to care and ignore the sensations speeding to her stomach with his touch.

“If the gardener ever glares at you again, fire him,” he said firmly.

His words snapped through her haze of feeling. “Fire him?” she asked, astounded.

“Yes. Just get rid of him. I will not tolerate rudeness from my staff and neither should you,” he explained.

“But they work for you,” she said, stepping back and immediately feeling cold without his touch.

“Sophie, that is ridiculous. You are not a guest in this house.” He came forward and turned her so she was facing him again. “Is that what you feel like? Is that one of the reasons you were so unhappy before?”

“I suppose that’s part of it,” she lied. The whole reason had been because she wanted his love and knew that he could never love someone as drab and ordinary as she was. It had been too painful. It still was, she knew. He had married her out of pity after losing her father and she’d let him, knowing how much she’d loved him from the first time she’d seen him. Those feelings hadn’t gone away.

“Are you going to tell me the reasons or are you going to demand to be released from this marriage each time you get angry?” he asked, his mouth lowering to kiss the curve of her neck.

“Um…” she couldn’t think anymore. His mouth was nibbling on her earlobe now, his hands pulling her body against his and all she could think about was getting more of him.

“What’s your favorite color?” he asked suddenly, lifting his head and looking right down at her.

“My favorite color,” she repeated, confused by the sudden change of subject.

“Yes,” he was looking down at her intently. “And do you know how to drive?”

“No,” she replied, unable to hold his gaze. “My father would never let me learn.” She stepped out of his arms and picked up her shovel and gloves intending to go back to the house. She had another sudden thought. “Isn’t it Saturday night?” she asked, finally looking back at him.

“Yes. Why?”

“Don’t you have some sort of function you have to attend?” she asked, worry seeping into her body. “Have I made you late?” She finished picking up all her tools and stuffing them into her work bucket. “I’m sorry. I can be ready to go soon. I just need to shower and change. What’s tonight?” she asked.

“Sophie, stop,” he said and pulled her bucket of tools out of her hand to carry them back to the house for her. He put a hand in the small of her back and walked beside her. “I canceled our plans for the night,” he explained.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I was told you were absorbed in a project,” he replied as if that answered all her questions.

“I’m sorry! I could have stopped. You should have sent someone out to get me.”

“It wasn’t as important as you finishing what you were doing,” he said. “It was only a diner party at Lois Metzinger’s house, I believe.”

Sophie was silent for a moment. “But isn’t Lois a good friend of my father’s?”

“I believe that was the reason I accepted the invitation. She isn’t a good friend of mine. So I didn’t mind not attending. And I didn’t think you would be overly devastated by it either once I remembered the last time we had dinner at her house.”

“What happened?” she asked, not sure which painful dinner event he was referring to. There had been so many, several of which she’d been the butt of some jokes and had wanted to just hide under the table.

“I believe she criticized your dress that night as soon as you walked in,” he said. “Looking back, I guess I shouldn’t have accepted the invitation. It only arrived a day or so ago so it was probably organized when they heard of your return.”

“Oh,” was Sophie’s only reply. She watched as he easily stored her heavy bucket of tools on a shelf.

“How about watching a movie with me before dinner?” he suggested.

“A movie? Just the two of us?”

Jason chuckled. “Yes. Occasionally I like to stay in and just relax. If that’s okay with you. Or we could go out to a restaurant.”

“No!” she said quickly. “A movie sounds lovely,” she enthused, eager to spend the night not surrounded by strangers. She didn’t even care what movie it was just so long as she didn’t have to dress up and face the fact that she was so plain yet again.

“Great,” he smiled. “How about if you go change and meet me downstairs in the screening room in a half hour?”

She looked up at him, confused. “you have a screening room?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Sophie, have you ever taken the time to explore my house? How could you not know that there is a screening room down by the solarium?” But then he chuckled. “I guess I answered my own question. You never got past the solarium, did you?”

She didn’t admit that she’d spent a lot of her alone time in that room, fantasizing about Jason falling in love with her and announcing his intense and never-ending love for her. “I did spend a lot of time in there,” she said, smiling back at him. She didn’t mention what she was doing though.

“I bet you did,” he laughed again and hugged her close. “And the rest of the house never interested you, did it?” he said. “Sophie, you are one of a kind. Most other women would have searched out every inch of the house just to see what rooms are available, then make a list for me on improvements and additions,” he said. “You’d be happy with a tent outside in the backyard, wouldn’t you?”

She laughed with him. “Not a tent but maybe a one room cabin,” she said.