The Wedding Wager (8 page)

She was hungry, but not just for food. When she got to the lobby, things were quiet. It was only six-forty on a Sunday morning. Outside, Monday’s rush hour traffic was just a promise. She couldn’t stay inside. She had to walk! She moved through the revolving doors and took a deep breath on the sidewalk. The brisk morning air was a delight. She was smack dab in the heart of the city! She didn’t have to breakfast in the hotel. She would walk until she saw a place that appealed to her.

Thirty minutes later, she found herself peering through a window at a cute little pastry shop with ice cream parlor chairs and tables, and a clientele dressed for the weekend and exercise, having a coffee before running their miles or unwinding afterward.

With a secret smile, she joined them. She picked out a chocolate chip bagel and ordered a small coffee to go with it. Sitting in the little bakery and watching non-medical personnel going about their day filled her with joy. Once again she was overwhelmed with gratitude at having come out of the hospital a whole person.

And then the memory of the bills and the billing office tried to sour her experience. But she wouldn’t let them. She pushed those thoughts away. She was already taking care of her situation. She had made a tough decision to marry a man she knew nothing about so she could put her life in order.

Marry a man she didn’t know.

All the hustle and bustle around her dropped away as she realized what those words meant. But she was desperate. And so was he. They were a perfect match, in equally desperate financial straits.

A patron came panting through the door and the small breeze sent her napkin fluttering to the floor. Megan realized she’d been daydreaming. How long had she been sitting here? Darn! Still no watch.

“Excuse me, do you have the time?” She asked the woman behind the counter.

“On the wall,” she said.

Megan looked around and saw the clock. It was the same pattern as the wallpaper, so she forgave herself for missing it.

Eight o’clock! She needed to get back.

Thirty minutes later she felt winded as she entered the hotel lobby and pressed the call button for the express elevator. Once inside, she pressed the up button, but nothing happened. She pressed a second time, a third time, but still nothing.

Frowning, she approached the registration desk.

“Excuse me,” she said. “I’m staying on the 35th floor but the elevator doesn’t seem to be working.”

The maroon-coated employee eyed her up and down. “Thirty-fifth floor? That’s Mr. Wake’s suite.”

Megan nodded. “Yes. I’m his fiancée.”

“Oh? Just run your room key through the slot, then press UP.”

“But I—” Megan stopped herself. She was supposed to be a rich man’s fiancée, soon to be bride. She pulled herself up to her full height of five-eleven. “I seem to have left my room key behind. Would you mind?”

“One moment.” Maroon Coat was still not convinced, but looked more helpful. He picked up the phone and after a moment, spoke. “Mr. Wake? There’s a young woman down here who claims to be your fiancée. She says—. Oh, I see. Yes, sir, I’ll send her right up.” He put the phone down and almost bowed as he spoke to Megan. “Right this way, ma’am.”

Megan tossed her hair, suppressed a smile, and followed him to the elevator. He slid a key card, then handed it to her before the doors closed. After they slid shut, Megan laughed out loud.

When the doors opened again, her laughter died on her lips.

Kevin Wake was furious.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!
I was worried sick!”

Megan clutched her purse against her chest. “I’m fine. I went for a walk. I left a note.”

“Where?!” He spread his arms and turned at the waist to indicate no note in his general vicinity.

Megan pointed at the bar, irritation sharpening her tone. “Did you look on the bar? Where the paper and pens happen to be?”

Kevin put his hands on his hips. “I hadn’t gotten that far yet. Did anybody see you? What am I saying? The whole freaking world saw you!”

Megan turned a hand over. “You didn’t say anything about staying invisible. Besides, so what if people saw me? They don’t know who I am! They don’t know why I’m here. What’s the problem?”

Jeffrey Wong stood up from the sofa and a room service tray covered with croissants and coffee cups and two carafes.

“He was worried that one of his father’s spies might have seen you.”

Kevin shot Jeffrey a warning look, and Jeff put his chauffeur’s cap on and saluted.

Megan laughed.

Kevin snorted.

Megan said, “You are really quite attractive when you’re angry. But if you do this often, I may think twice about signing that prenup.”

Kevin took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “This is too big a deal to take chances that my old man might have people keeping an eye on me, and that includes you now as well.”

Megan moved coolly past him and into the big room. As if he had asked about her well being, she said, “I’m doing much better, thank you. The walk in the fresh air did me a lot of good. And I was not approached by anyone.”

“Not followed?”

Megan tossed her bag on the sofa and turned her hands out in a question. “I was supposed to be on the lookout for someone following me? You need to communicate more fully, Mr. Wake. Oh, sorry, fiancé Kevin. Anything else I should know? Do you have an old girlfriend who might be pissed off because I’m marrying you? Do you owe money to the Mafia? Are you in the Witness Protection program?”

“Very funny,” said Kevin, mollified.

“No, seriously. You are the most paranoid person I ever met. Should I be giving you back your thousand dollars and getting out while the getting is good?”

“No, please. Stay,” said Kevin. “You’re right. I
am
paranoid. I just lost it when I couldn’t find you this morning.”

“You were asleep when I left. Do we need to write that into the agreement? Me telling you my every move? If that’s part of the job, I’ll do what I have to do.”

A cell phone rang.

Megan said, “Don’t look at me. No phone, remember?”

“Not mine either,” said Kevin.

Jeffrey patted his pockets. “Sorry, it’s me. Excuse me, Mr. Wake. I have to take this call.” He slipped away in the direction of his room.

Kevin said, “We’ll get you a cell phone today. It’s on my list.” He glanced at his watch. “Patrick will be here soon. Then we can get this show on the road.”

Megan decided the fireworks were over. She poured herself a cup of coffee. It was lukewarm, but she didn’t care. “Are we flying to your summer place in the morning?”

“Jeffrey will be flying. You and I will be driving.”

Megan felt her insides twisting at the thought. “There’s something I have to tell you,” she said. “I hope it’s not a deal breaker.”

“Go on.”

“Ever since my accident, the idea of getting behind the wheel of a car terrifies me. Sweaty palms, butterflies. In fact, more like stampeding ibexes.”

Kevin laughed out loud. “Oh, I’m sorry. But, ibexes? Where did that come from?”

“I watched a lot of nature shows in the hospital.”

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll do the driving. Er, you still have a valid license, don’t you?”

Megan frowned. “Yes, I do. It’s good for another year. But I don’t understand why we don’t fly. You’re rich. Don’t you have a private plane?”

Kevin’s good cheer faded. “My
father
has a private jet.
We
are driving to Colorado. As soon as we get there, we should get our marriage license.”

“Driving to Colorado? The two of us? Without Jeffrey?”

Kevin’s features twisted in a question. “You are about to sign a prenup agreement to marry me, but you’re worried about us traveling together for a couple of days?”

Megan tossed her hair. “Well, if we’re going to be traveling together, maybe we should get married in Reno on the way. Then we can legally register as man and wife, and add more ammunition to this war you’re waging with your father.”
And I can rest assured that our agreement takes effect without waiting until the end of the month!

Kevin looked thoughtful. “That might be a good idea. In fact, that’s a very good idea.”

The elevator pinged on the other side of the door.

“Patrick’s a few minutes early. That’s good. We have a lot to do today.”

Jeffrey emerged from the other room. “Shall I get the limo ready?”

“Not yet,” said Kevin. “Patrick’s here. We’ll need you as a witness for the prenup.”

The next hour was a blur of legalese and signatures. Megan got through it only because she could finally see Kevin’s promise to pay off her medical bills in black and white, with his signature and initials on every page. The first leg of her mission was accomplished.

When they were done and Patrick had left, Kevin sent Jeffrey to prepare the limo.

Megan spent a few minutes in her room, freshening up. She couldn’t get the worry about driving to Colorado out of her mind. It sounded like a very long trip, and she wasn’t sure her leg could tolerate it. She would try to talk to Kevin about it again. When she returned to the great room, Kevin was on the phone. Megan entertained herself by nibbling at a croissant.

Kevin hung up. “They’re ready for us at the bank. Um, they’re going to expect me to walk in with my fiancée. Are you up to faking some affection?”

Megan smiled brightly. “Would you like me to cling? Or just stare at you adoringly from arm’s length?”

Kevin chuckled. “Let’s play it by ear.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

FOR ONCE, KEVIN
was grateful for his mother’s wealth and connections. The bank president was circumspect and obsequious. He asked no questions, except to request Kevin’s identification and the information required to retrieve his safe deposit box.

Alone in the little room with Megan at his side, Kevin opened the long box and set aside a small stack of thousand dollar bills in order to retrieve four bundles of hundreds.

Megan’s eyes widened. “I’ve never seen a thousand dollar bill,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to whisper.”

Megan pulled her shoulders up around her ears. “It just feels so reverential in here.”

Kevin grunted. “It’s sort of a banker’s holy room,” he quipped.

“Grover Cleveland? People would remember him better if he were on a common bill. Like Ben Franklin on the hundred. Oh, those are pretty and new.”

Kevin nodded.

“Why are the thousands old looking?”

“Because the treasury doesn’t issue them anymore. These are still legal tender, but they’re not new bills.”

“So how much cash is this?” she asked, nodding at the crisp new hundreds.

“Forty thousand. I need pocket money.”

His impression of Megan improved with each passing hour. If forty thousand in cash impressed her, she didn’t say so. Nor did she ask what he needed it for. She was dignified and attractive. In fact, she was very attractive, and even in her casual capris and sleeveless top, she drew stares from other men. Kevin enjoyed that.

With a couple thousand in cash in his wallet and the rest in his brief case, he enjoyed their next stop on 4
^th
Avenue, where they chose her phone.

“Something simple will do,” said Megan.

“No, it won’t.” He addressed the salesman. “I’d like my fiancée to have the top of the line model, voice assistant, GPS, everything you’ve got. And can we sync it to mine?” He laid his iPhone on the counter. “Sort of a romantic gesture,” he added. “The monthly billing will be added to my account, but I’ll pay cash for the phone.”

“No problem,” said the salesman. “Would you like to browse the accessories?”

An hour later they were back in the limo. Megan was as excited as a little girl facing a tower of birthday presents as she tapped app after app on her iPhone screen.

“It’s a camera, too! And a video recorder! Oh, there’s a notepad. And look! You can even use it as a phone!”

Kevin laughed. “Don’t tell me. You could never afford a smartphone.”

“Never. Believe it or not, I spent my first two years at college using the computer labs for typing up my papers because it took me a while to save the money for a laptop.”

“Wow. I am impressed.”
And a little embarrassed
, he thought to himself, wondering what she would think when she met his eight-year-old brother and saw the collection of techno gadgets he had already acquired.

Megan waved his comment away. “Impressed by poverty? Really? Poor people are not impressed by it, believe me.”

“Well, maybe by your thriftiness, then, and your resolve to wait until you saved enough money.”