Hired Bride

“Never did, never will. But it’s what you’re paying me for, and I’ll do what I can to help you pull the wool over your relatives’ eyes.”

“When you put it that way, it seems pretty underhanded,” Zane muttered.

“It is underhanded.” Gwen sighed. “But it’s your family, and I’m just the hired help.”

That last remark hit Zane the wrong way, and he fell silent to stew privately. It was too late to wish he’d met Gwen under different circumstances and hadn’t instantly seen her as a replacement for Heather, but the thought was there, all the same. He didn’t like Gwen thinking of herself as the “hired help,” but what could he do about it now? They were almost to the ranch, and he knew they would be rushed by relatives the minute they arrived. Everyone would want to meet his lady friend; he and Gwen would instantly have to go into their act.

No, there was no turning back now. He was caught in a trap of his own making, and wishing that he’d never thought up this ridiculous scheme was an exercise in futility. He’d forever set the tone of any possible relationship with Gwen Hutton, and he would have to live with it.

Three

G wen had known she was in for a range of new experiences during this November weekend, but the armed guards at the entrance to the ranch took her completely by surprise.

Zane pulled to a stop and rolled down his window. “Hello, Dan,” he said, as one of the guards bent over and peered into the car.

“How are you, Zane?” Dan asked cordially.

“Just fine. Nice day for a wedding.”

“That it is.” Dan stood away from the car and motioned Zane on.

“What was that all about?” Gwen asked.

“They’re just making sure that everyone is an invited guest.” Zane paused, then added, “Dad has become very security conscious. It started after Matthew’s infant son was kidnapped.”

“I recall reading about that. The Fortune name is often in the newspapers.”

“It’s in the papers too damn often,” Zane said gruffly. “That’s another reason for those guards at the gate—to keep out the media.”

Gwen’s next surprise was the valet parking. Young men, smartly dressed in black trousers and red jackets, were parking the arriving guests’ vehicles in neat rows in a field of freshly mowed grass.

“Is that huge parking area the norm?”

Zane found himself pleased with Gwen’s curiosity. At the same time he hoped that the army of family and friends she would meet this weekend wouldn’t overwhelm her. Dressed as she was today she looked sophisticated and confident, but the Fortune family en masse could daunt the strongest spirit, and Zane suspected that Gwen had never attended an affair like this one promised to be. He suddenly felt very protective of her and swore that he would do his best to shield her from some of his nosier relatives.

“For special occasions, yes,” he said. He stopped the car at the Valet Parking sign. “We’ll get out here.”

At last Gwen could see the ranch compound, and she was mesmerized by the sight of Ryan Fortune’s sprawling mansion, the huge white wedding tents set on emerald-green grass, the number and variety of flowers that seemed to be everywhere and the mingling crowd of fabulously dressed people.

She was still staring, still attempting to digest everything, when someone opened her door. “Ma’am?” one of the valets said politely, and offered his hand to help her from the car.

She felt a bit dazzled by it all, but she managed to smile at the young man and thank him when she was out of the car and on her feet. Zane was instantly at her side.

“Our luggage will be taken care of,” he told her. “Your suitcase will be brought to the bedroom you’ll be using tonight.” She wore a strange expression, and Zane hoped that her confidence wasn’t already slipping. “Are you all right?” he asked.

Gwen lifted her chin. It was true that she wasn’t accustomed to such luxurious surroundings, but she’d never been afraid of meeting new people, and that was really all she was going to be doing.

“I’m fine,” she said. When he still looked a little uncertain, she added, “Zane, I really am. Stop worrying.” She took in a breath. “Shall we get started?”

He offered his arm, grinned and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

The first couple to greet them was Dallas and Maggie Fortune. Zane and Dallas shook hands, Zane kissed Maggie’s cheek, and said, “Gwen, this is my brother, Dallas, and his wife, Maggie.” To his brother and sister-in-law he said, “This beautiful lady is my very special friend, Gwen Hutton.”

Gwen saw surprise in both Dallas’s and Maggie’s eyes, but they shook her hand and smiled warmly. Smiling herself, she murmured, “Very nice meeting you.”

That was just the beginning. By the time everyone went into the designated tent for the wedding ceremony, Gwen’s head was spinning with names and faces. Not so much that she didn’t notice the elegant decorations inside the tent, however. It was all so lovely, so tastefully done, she thought emotionally. She had never pined for great wealth, but from what she’d seen so far today, wealth did have its advantages. If she had to pay for a wedding, for example, it would have none of the glamorous pageantry of this affair. Her thoughts drifted to the future, and she hoped ardently that when the time came for her children to marry she would have the financial means to at least help them pay for a memorable wedding.

She remained emotional throughout the ceremony. The bride was beautiful in a stunning white gown, and the groom was extraordinarily handsome in a formal gray cutaway suit. Their attendants were beautifully attired.

Zane and Gwen had been seated in the second row of chairs, almost directly behind Zane’s father, Ryan, and the bride’s mother, Lily Cassidy. Gwen was positive she had never met a more beautiful woman than Lily, who possessed an exotic, ageless beauty. Gwen recalled meeting Cole Cassidy, Lily’s son, and his fiancée Annie, and then meeting a young woman named Maria Cassidy, who had been standing alone. Was Maria another one of Lily’s children? Gwen wondered. If she was, she was very different from the rest of her family. Of course, Gwen reasoned, she hadn’t yet met Hannah Cassidy, or rather Hannah Malone, she amended just as the minister said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

As the bride and groom kissed, people began rising. Parker and Hannah, arm-in-arm and wearing big smiles, swept down the aisle.

Gwen and Zane stood up. “It was a beautiful wedding,” Gwen said huskily, still feeling emotional.

“I think weddings are catching,” Zane said with a laugh. “There’ve been almost a dozen of them among my friends and family in less than two years. Did I tell you I’m the last holdout in the Fortune family?”

“I don’t remember your mentioning it,” Gwen said rather dryly. “But I knew there had to be a reason why your female relatives believe it’s your turn.”

“And speaking of my single status, Gwen, you’ve been doing a great job. I’ve overheard comments. ‘Who is she?’ ‘How did Zane meet her?’ ‘She’s quite lovely, isn’t she?’ Things like that. You’ve got them all talking and wondering.” Zane took Gwen’s elbow and steered her into the aisle.

“Then I guess I’m earning my pay,” Gwen said, deliberately striving to sound a bit sarcastic. She’d been slowly but surely becoming unnerved being with Zane. It was extremely discomfiting to look directly at him, especially into his cobalt-blue eyes. It wasn’t just his outstanding good looks that troubled her, either, it was him! All of him— his aura, his smile, his voice, his grace of movement. In truth, she could find no flaw in Zane Fortune. He was intelligent, friendly and charming. And he exuded a sex appeal that any woman would have to be totally numb not to feel. It was especially prevalent when he touched her as he was doing now, with a completely innocent hold on her elbow to escort her from the wedding tent.

Gwen wasn’t at all numb, and her involuntary reactions to Zane were making her nervous. The second they were outside the tent, she moved her arm just enough to discretely get rid of his hand.

She could see that the mingling had begun again. People were milling, talking and laughing. “Come on,” Zane said. “You have to meet the bride and groom.”

“Of course,” she murmured, and once again he took her elbow, this time to steer her toward the newlyweds. After introductions, Gwen offered congratulations and best wishes. Since others were waiting to do the same, she and Zane didn’t linger. But she’d sensed something from Parker Malone that she’d felt with no one else today.

“Does your friend know I’m a paid date?” she asked sharply.

Zane was startled. “Absolutely not! No one knows, and I’d just as soon keep it that way. What made you think Parker knew about our arrangement?”

Gwen felt a little foolish. “Obviously I misunderstood his, uh, scrutiny.”

“He’s curious, Gwen, same as everyone else. He might be even more curious than most because we’re good friends and I never mentioned you to him. Which I couldn’t do, of course, since you and I only met yesterday.”

“You sound angry. I’m sorry if I upset you.”

“I’m not angry. Look, we’ll be eating soon. Maybe you’d like to go to your bedroom and freshen up.”

Gwen eagerly grasped at the opportunity to be alone for a few minutes. “Yes, I would. How do I find it?”

“There are people in the house directing traffic. Most of the family will be staying overnight. Just tell anyone your name and someone will show you to your room. I’ll go over and talk to Dad and Lily while you’re gone.”

Grateful for his thoughtfulness, Gwen laid a hand on Zane’s arm. “Thank you.”

Zane grinned. “Maybe I’m not as bad as you thought, huh?”

Gwen flushed. “If I gave you that impression, I apologize. See you later.”

Zane walked over to Ryan and Lily. “Great wedding, Lily,” he said. “Hannah is very good at her craft.”

“Yes, she is,” Lily agreed, obviously proud of the career Hannah had built around planning weddings and other special events.

“Zane,” Ryan said with a broad, approving smile, “your companion is a lovely girl. Is it serious this time?”

The one person Zane didn’t want to lie to was his dad. Lily, with her usual tact, saved him from doing so. “Ryan, darling, why don’t we just wait and see?” She smiled at Zane. “We’re all very glad you brought Gwen with you today.”

“Thanks, Lily. So, when’s the big day for the two of you?”

“Shortly after Christmas,” Lily replied. “The invitations should be going out in a week or so. Oh, there’s Cole and Annie. Cole! Annie!” she called.

In a few minutes there was a small crowd around Ryan and Lily, and Zane slipped away. He peeked into the second large tent and saw the many tables set up for the wedding feast, which he could see was going to be buffet-style. Waiters in white jackets scurried to get everything ready. The long tables of food were already laden, and more was being brought in as Zane watched. There was also a small stage where musicians were preparing to entertain the guests. Zane took note of the cases of champagne, scotch and bourbon stacked behind two different bars as bartenders readied glasses, napkins and cocktail mixes.

Grinning, Zane shook his head. Obviously a Texas-style party was in the making. A Fortune-style party, he amended. Sensing someone behind him, he turned to find his sister Vanessa, whom he greeted with a hug.

“How are you, Zane?” Vanessa asked.

“Couldn’t be better,” he said breezily.

“Your lady friend took everyone by surprise.”

“Did she really?”

“I like her, Zane. She seems to fit you.”

“You mean that Gwen and I look like a couple?” Zane asked teasingly.

“The two of you strike me that way, yes, but you seem amused by the idea.” Vanessa sighed. “Is Gwen just another short-term girlfriend? She appears to be so much more.”

Zane braced himself for an out-and-out lie. “She means a lot to me, Vanessa.” But then he saw the sudden hope on his sister’s face and quickly added, “Of course, who knows how long that will last? Personal relationships are such damnably unpredictable things.”

Vanessa looked disappointed. “Your relationships have been very predictable, Zane, which I find terribly sad.”

“Sad! Sis, there’s nothing sad about my life-style.”

“Since I’m on the outside looking in, I’ll have to take your word for it. But, Zane, when you finally fall in love—I mean really fall in love—then you’ll realize what you’ve been missing by flitting from woman to woman.”

Zane laughed with genuine relish. “I guarantee that I haven’t been missing much, old girl.”

Vanessa couldn’t help laughing too. “Don’t you ‘old girl’ me, Zane Fortune! You’re four years older than I am, and don’t you forget it.”

While Zane and Vanessa teased each other and laughed together, Gwen enjoyed the silence of the lovely bedroom to which she’d been shown. As Zane had predicted, her suitcase had been brought up, and she unpacked her things. The room had a private bathroom, and the two rooms were decorated in a delicate lemony color.

Gwen wished she could stay in that lovely suite for the rest of the day, but of course that wasn’t an option. She had to earn that two-thousand dollars; Zane certainly wouldn’t pay her that sum if she hid in her bedroom. Dinner was still to come, then dancing and partying until a supper was served at midnight. The best Gwen could hope for was that Zane would call it a day long before the midnight meal.

Sighing, she washed her hands at the sink and took stock of her face in the mirror above it. Her hairdo was still in place and her makeup was fine, except for her lipstick which took about five seconds to refresh.

She brushed small specks from her stylish black suit and was glad she’d worn it. She’d noticed quite a few women wearing black today, and had, in fact, received several compliments on her outfit.

Thus far, she felt that she had fielded questions about Zane and herself quite well. There’d been a lot more curious looks than outright questions, she realized, and if that pattern continued she wouldn’t have to relate any detailed stories about how they’d met and how long they had known each other.

Of course, right now she didn’t know which was worse—lying or telling the truth. If she was honest with herself, she could not deny that she was exceptionally attracted to Zane—and becoming more so with every minute they pretended to be a couple. But she didn’t try to kid herself about how he might feel about her. Their arrangement was business and nothing more. Tomorrow he would pay her, and other than the off-chance of running into each other when she went to his house to bathe Alamo or to take care of other chores, they would never see each other again.

The thing that seemed so unfair about it all was that she had not been even slightly attracted to another man since her widowhood. Why her hormones should suddenly come to life over Zane Fortune, a man she could never have, was an annoying mystery. He was a Fortune, and she was…well, what was she, other than a woman alone who struggled daily to feed and clothe her children? Yes, she could dress herself up as she’d done today and put on a pretty good show of sophistication, but down deep she wasn’t a bit sophisticated. She was ordinary—very, very ordinary—and Zane Fortune was anything but.

It was time she returned to the party, and Gwen left the bedroom. She said a pleasant hello to everyone she saw as she made her way through Ryan’s fabulous home to reach the same door through which she’d entered the mansion.

A short plump woman with a lovely silver streak in her black hair approached her. “Hello. You’re Zane’s friend, Gwen Hutton. I’m Rosita Perez. You probably met my daughter Maggie. She’s married to Dallas.”

“Why yes, I did meet Maggie.” Gwen offered her hand for a handshake, and Rosita Perez took it in both of hers, startling Gwen into a stammer. “It’s, uh, very nice meeting you, Mrs. Perez.”

“Call me Rosita,” she said as she turned Gwen’s hand over and peered at her palm. “Ah, yes, just as I suspected.”

“You suspected what?” Gwen said cautiously. Was this woman a little light in the upper story, or what?

“You’re in love,” Rosita said calmly. “And you will be married right after the new year. What’s this I see? Children! How wonderful! You and Zane will have four children.”

Gwen yanked her hand back. “Mrs. Perez, everything you think you saw in my hand is as far from the truth as it could get. Now, if you’ll excuse me?”

“You’re quite wrong, my dear,” Rosita called out cheerfully as Gwen hastened away.

Outside, Gwen tried to calm her shaken system with breaths of fresh air. Without a doubt Rosita Perez was the strangest person she’d met here today. Zane’s relatives might be curious about his latest girlfriend, but at least they were polite about it.

Latest girlfriend? Gwen’s spirits dropped another notch. She was a hired girlfriend, and she had better not forget it for even a moment!

In the next heartbeat she saw Zane walking toward her. Apparently he’d been watching for her. How was she going to get through the rest of today and then tomorrow morning with him being so consistently attentive, when she couldn’t seem to rid herself of feelings for the man that just kept going deeper?

Well, she had to do it, that was all there was to it. She had to smile and talk and act as though he wasn’t the most incredible guy she’d ever met. Inwardly she groaned. Why was this happening to her?

Zane walked up to her and smiled. “Is your room satisfactory?”

“It’s a lovely room. Zane, I met the strangest woman in the house. She’s Maggie’s mother, Rosita, and when I offered to shake her hand, she took mine and read my palm.”

Zane let out a whoop of laughter. “So you met our local oracle.”

Gwen’s jaw dropped. “Are you saying she’s a genuine soothsayer?”

“I’m only saying this, Gwen. Rosita Perez has accurately predicted many an event, and folks around here have come to respect her predictions.”

“You don’t mean it,” Gwen said weakly.

“What did she see in your palm?”

“Uh, I’d rather not say. I don’t believe in that foolishness, anyhow, so it doesn’t matter what she told me.”

“Really,” Zane said with a small chuckle. “Know what I think? I think Rosita told you something that shook your underpinnings, and you wish she hadn’t. Come on, be a sport and tell me what she said.”

“Think what you want. I’m still not telling you what she said to me.” Gwen noticed people filing into the second tent. “Shall we join the others?”

Zane nodded amiably, but he would have given almost anything to know what Rosita had told Gwen. Maybe he could pry it out of Rosita, but he’d much rather hear it from Gwen.

As they strolled toward the dinner tent, he realized how much he was enjoying the day. And his enjoyment was mostly thanks to Gwen. That was food for thought—some very pleasant thought, he discovered.

Throughout the meal people kept rising and offering toasts to the newlyweds. Gwen’s—and everyone else’s—champagne glass was filled again and again. Gwen became more mellow and relaxed with each swallow she took of the most delicious champagne she’d ever tasted. She realized, if a bit fuzzily, that she was truly enjoying herself. It was becoming much easier to smile at Zane, and even to flirt with him. It was, in fact, almost possible to forget that she was being paid to flirt with him for the benefit of his female relatives, and to pretend that this was a real date.

When he laid his arm across the back of her chair, she smiled and leaned his way. He whispered in her ear, “This is great. I’d bet anything that a good half of my family is wondering when our wedding is going to take place.”

“Right after the new year,” Gwen murmured dreamily.

“Pardon? I didn’t catch that.”

Gwen felt heat in her face. “Uh, it was nothing.” How could she have repeated Rosita’s prediction so carelessly? It certainly was not going to come true, for pity’s sake. Watch yourself, Gwen Hutton!

The bride and groom got up to dance the first dance, and soon others were dancing as well. Zane talked quietly, for Gwen’s ears alone. “I should dance with you first, then do a little circulating.”

“Whatever you say.”

A few minutes later she was on the dance floor with Zane, and he was holding her as a lover held a woman. It had been a long time since Gwen had done any dancing, especially this kind of dancing, and she unconsciously stroked the back of Zane’s neck as they floated around the dance floor, all but glued together.

The intimate caress startled Zane for a moment, but then he told himself that Gwen was merely putting on a good act. Rationalizing didn’t stop his body from responding, however, and he brought her closer still and deliberately inhaled her arousing scent. However this whole thing had started out with Gwen, business deal or not, he knew now that he wanted her. She hadn’t only impressed his family and friends today, she had impressed him.

“You’re very beautiful,” he whispered.

“Thank you, kind sir. You’re beautiful too, you know,” she said teasingly.

“You think I’m still pretending, Gwen, but I’m not. You really are beautiful.”

The hoarseness in his voice jolted Gwen a bit, but she could only think that if he wasn’t pretending at this moment, then he was handing her a line.

“I know all about your reputation with women,” she whispered, “so please don’t insult me with false flattery just because we both drank too much champagne.”

For a few seconds Zane was at a loss. He certainly hadn’t expected that sort of reply, and it hurt that she would bring up his reputation at a time like this.

“Don’t you recognize a sincere compliment when you hear one?” he finally asked.

“Yes, I believe I do.”

“Meaning you don’t believe in my sincerity.”

“That sounds about right.” The music had stopped and they had stopped dancing, but Zane kept holding her. She tilted her head back to see his face and was rather surprised by his frowning expression. “Right now you are getting exactly what you wanted from today. People are watching,” she said, adding, “A lot of people. You really should erase that frown or they’ll think we just had a disagreement.”

“Right now I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks,” Zane growled. “Except for you.”

“Why would it matter to you what I thought about anything?”

“That’s a damn good question and maybe it’s something we should both think about.” Releasing his hold on her, he took her hand and led her back to their table. When she was seated, he leaned over and said, “I’m going to dance with Lily and my sisters. Will you be all right?”

“Of course I’ll be all right,” she stated confidently, but after he’d gone she sucked in the breath she needed very badly and told her racing pulse to calm down. Without question Zane had come on to her. She’d imagined all sorts of things happening today and this evening, but not that. And the turmoil in her system because of a few words of phony flattery scared the daylights out of her.

What scared her even more, though, were her own reactions to Zane Fortune. Whatever had made her think that she would be impervious to the famous Fortune charm?

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