The Billionaire's Runaway Bride (12 page)

“Good evening, ma’am,” the first security guard said politely. “How may I help you?” he asked.

“I’m here to see my husband, Mr. Randal,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster. It seemed a little odd that she would have to announce herself like this but she supposed there were reasons Jason’s offices were so heavily guarded.

The man looked her up and down, taking in her drab outfit and unsophisticated demeanor. Obviously the man doubted a man as sharp looking and charming as Jason Randal would choose a mousy life like her but she stood up straighter and tried to look intimidating.

“May I see some identification, please?” he asked.

Sophie was floored but she pulled out her driver’s license. Unfortunately, it was still her old name and the man shook his head, looking back at her skeptically. “Do you have anything with your current name on it?” he asked, still holding her license.

Sophie shook her head. “No, I don’t but if you call up to my husband’s office, I’m sure he’ll be able to describe me easily,” she said, trying not to become discouraged.

The man called somewhere but it obviously wasn’t Jason himself. Nevertheless, she was immediately granted a visitor’s pass which did not require an escort. That was something, she told herself as she pressed the button on the elevator, refusing to look back at the security guard she knew was still watching her skeptically.

Jason’s secretary met her at the elevator as soon as the doors opened. She introduced herself as Maggie and looked to be in her mid-fifties with a very polite demeanor. She struck Sophie as being extraordinarily efficient. “Good morning, Mrs. Randal. Mr. Randal is still in a meeting but I’ve sent someone to let him know that you are here to speak with him. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to his office,” she said and waived her hand to the right, indicating that Jason’s office was in that direction.

Sophie followed Maggie and replied to many of her polite questions but was extremely nervous about imposing on Jason in this way. She kept reminding herself that it was necessary and she must be brave enough to get through this ordeal. The possible benefits would far outweigh the embarrassment she was currently feeling.

“Sophie! What are you doing here?” Jason said, his deep voice coming from the doorway to a conference room.

“I…I needed to speak with you. I’m terribly sorry about interrupting your day,” she said, her eyes worriedly searching his for any sign of annoyance.

“Thank you Maggie,” he said and nodded to his secretary. He put an arm to the small of her back and guided her into his office, closing the door behind him.

“What’s the surprise visit about?” he asked.

Taking a deep breath, she turned away from him and started, knowing it was the only way to get her requests out. “I need some money and since I can’t really work, I was hoping you could….” She started but had no idea how to stop.

Jason was quiet for a long moment and she finally looked back to see his reaction.

“You came all the way down here to ask for money?” he said and she had the odd impression that he was hurt for some reason.

She nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anyone else to ask. I know this is terribly bold of me,” she said awkwardly, unable to finish her sentence again since his eyes turned hard and unyielding.

“Sophie, if you ever ask any other person for money other than me I’ll be furious with you,” he said tightly. He reached into his wallet and extracted a gold card. “Here. Will this work for you?” he said.

She took the credit card and nodded, still unable to say anything else. He had every right to be furious, she thought. She didn’t deserve anything from him. He’d been nothing but generous. And now she was asking for more. Sophie felt awful but reminded herself that this would all make him proud of her in the end. “Well, thank you.” She said and started for the door.

“You’re not going to run away again, are you?” he said, his deep, hard voice halting her steps.

She spun around, horrified that he would think such thoughts when it was exactly the opposite that she was trying to accomplish. “No. Oh, Jason, nothing like that has occurred to me,” she said, moving several steps closer.

“Except Saturday morning when you demanded to be released from our marriage,” he replied grimly, his hands sliding through his hair. “I’ll take you on your word, Sophie. You have Michael driving you about, correct?” he asked.

“Yes. He’s been very nice,” she said, looking down at the floor.

“Well, then. I guess you have a busy day, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she said, wishing she could just run out of the office. But she forced herself to look up at his handsome face and ask, “Do we have plans for tonight?”

He looked at her for a long moment. “I don’t have any plans until Wednesday night. I would appreciate it if you would accompany me to a cocktail party I’m throwing for the company we are trying to acquire,” he said simply.

“Of course,” she said and smiled brightly. “Well, then, I’ll see you tonight at dinner?” she asked hopefully.

Jason shrugged. “I’m not sure. The negotiations are pretty tense right now. That’s why I had to work so much this weekend.” He walked closer to her, putting a finger to her cheek and looking down into her eyes. “I’m sorry I missed you yesterday. What did you do?”

She tried to focus, wishing he wasn’t so devastatingly handsome but loving the fact that he was hers. “I finished working in my garden.” She smiled mischievously before continuing, “Then I moved several plants which is sure to get the gardener’s dander up.”

Jason chuckled but dropped his hand. “Well, just don’t take any more abuse from him,” he said.

“I won’t,” she said and took a deep breath. “Well, you have important things to do. Again, I apologize for bothering you. I’ll let you get back to…whatever you were doing,” she said and turned towards the door.

She was almost to the door when Jason’s voice stopped her. “Sophie,” he said loudly, “you’re my wife. You don’t count as an interruption,” he said as if amazed that she would consider herself such.

She couldn’t respond but only smiled her appreciation before slipping out of his office and down the hallway again.

“Okay, Michael,” she said when she reached the street level again, “I’m not exactly sure where to go,” she explained. “But I need to buy clothes.”

Michael looked at her with a blank stare. “Clothes, ma’am?”

“Yes,” she said and nodded determinedly. “But not these kinds of clothes,” she said, pulling her large jumper out from her body. “I need something that will make me look beautiful,” she explained.

Michael smiled. “I know exactly the place,” he said confidently and opened the back door for her.

She hesitated. “Are the salespeople knowledgeable? They won’t let me buy anything that will make me look even more ridiculous than I already do, will they?”

Michael chuckled. “Trust me, ma’am,” he said, “I will put you in the hands of a personal friend and will explain the situation to him.”

Sophie smiled brightly. “That would be wonderful,” she said, greatly relieved that there would be someone else to advise her on her purchases.

He drove her into the shopping district and stopped at a large department store she had shopped at several times with her father. She knew the clothes were very good quality. The best in fact, without getting into the personally tailored clothes. But she had experienced this store before and hadn’t had a very good experience.

“Um, Michael?” she asked, reluctantly stepping out of the car. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

Michael smiled gently. “Never fear, ma’am. I never go back on a promise.”

“But this is where my father always took me to get my clothes. In fact, I believe he purchased this dress right here,” she said, wishing she could just hide in the car again, feeling defeated.

“You didn’t get any help from Sasha, did you?”

“Sasha?” she repeated. “No, I don’t believe that’s the salesperson who helped me. Her name was Mary something or other,” she said.

“Sasha is the best. I promise,” he said and closed the car door behind her.

Michael walked in ahead of her, opening the front door for her instead of the uniformed doorman standing at attention. He led her through the makeup counters, right to the back of the store. Exactly where Sophie’s father had taken her.

Immediately, a woman with brown hair and preppy, black flat shoes. “Ms. Brandon!” Mary said enthusiastically. “It has definitely been a long time. How are you?” she said.

Michael immediately stepped in front of the ordinary looking woman. “We’re here to see Sasha,” he said. “I called a few minutes ago to make sure she would be available.”

“I’m right here, Michael,” a gorgeous lady with black hair curling in every direction, strategically pinned to accentuate her prominent cheekbones. Large silver earrings were attached to her perfect little ears but the most amazing part of this woman was her outfit. It positively yelled “style” and “daring”. “Thank you so much Mary, but I believe my services are needed here,” she said and smiled warmly at Sophie. “Hello, Mrs. Randal. It is good to meet you. I understand from Michael that you are in search of a different look. Is that correct?” she asked.

“I don’t think this is appropriate,” Mary said, trying to step out from behind Michael. “Mr. Brandon had very particular tastes and he wasn’t willing to pay for anything outlandish, Sasha!”

Sasha only laughed. “Mary, may I introduce you to Mrs. Randal?” she said. “She married Jason Randal, the financier a little over a year ago,” she explained. “You know Jason Randal, don’t you? He’s the one who attends all the society functions and openings.”

Sophie didn’t like the fight that was starting between the two salespeople. “Mary, thank you so much for your services, but Sasha is right. I’m in search of a different look now.”

“But…” Mary tried to interject but Michael just shook his head and guided Mary away.

Sophie looked worriedly at Sasha. But the salesperson immediately put her at ease. “Now, with your fabulous hair and pale skin, perhaps something in muted golds and soft blues but adding a few bright greens that will bring out your gorgeous eyes,’ she said, one finger tapping her lips as she considered all of Sophie’s features.

“Golds and blues?” Sophie said excitedly.

“Yes, but I’m thinking that your personality is a little shy so you don’t want to be too daring. Am I right?”

Sophie visibly relaxed. “Yes,” she said.

“How many outfits do you need?” she asked.

Sophie bit her lip, wondering how much she could get away with. Sasha laughed. “Since your husband is the current billionaire, you don’t really have to worry about costs, my dear. I guarantee that anything you spend in here will not even be noticed on his bank balance but it will definitely be noticed in the society columns. I’ll make sure of that.”

Sophie laughed. “Well, then with that kind of confidence, I need a complete wardrobe.”

“Then let’s get to work,” she said and was suddenly serious. “How about if I order you a cup of tea and some refreshments and I’ll put some things together for you to try on. Does that sound convenient?”

“That would be lovely,” Sophie said, relieved beyond belief and suddenly needing a chair to fall into. A strong cup of tea would not be ignored either.

Within an hour, Sophie already had ten outfits lined up with several more to go. In addition to cocktail dresses and evening dresses which were an absolute necessity, she gave Sophie jeans that curved to her slender figure, solid colored slacks and contrasting blouses of daring fabrics with matching heels that helped Sophie to step out carefully instead of a complicated outfit that might look silly and fall apart too easily. The evening dresses were made of bright colors that hugged her figure, showing off curves that Sophie hadn’t realized she had. Sophie had always thought she’d had small breasts and was too skinny. But with Sasha’s advice, Sophie found that her breasts were in perfect proportion to the rest of her figure. With the right clothes, Sophie felt like a new person.

“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to encourage you into this dress but since you’ve had so much fun with the other outfits, I thought I might entice you with this dress,” she said, holding up an emerald green, silk, strapless dress. The folds were demure enough on the hangar, but when Sophie zipped it up, the pleats lifted and hugged her breasts, making them look larger, pushing them upwards for a voluptuous look. The folds underneath wrapped around her tiny waist, then flared out slightly around her hips to finally fall gracefully to the floor.

“Do you think I could really pull that off, Sasha?” she asked, her voice filled with doubt.

“Oh, yes,” she replied enthusiastically. “But you’d have to save it for a very special occasion,” she said. “Isn’t your husband’s annual company party coming up?’ she asked. “I thought I read about some preparations recently in one of the columns.”

Sophie didn’t know anything about it but didn’t want to admit that to Sasha. It was too embarrassing that a salesperson knew more about her husband’s business than she did. “I suppose so,” she finally said, her fingers touching the material lovingly.

“This would be the perfect dress for that kind of event. I’ve seen them in the past and it will definitely thrill your husband beyond belief,” she enthused.