Hired Bride. Jackie Merritt
brought a smile to Gwen’s lips. Ramona was a very pretty young woman, but like herself, Ramona hadn’t dated since her husband’s death. They talked about men every so often, though, and both of them felt the same way. Their kids came first, but if some really great guy should stumble into their lives, neither of them was against a second marriage. However, they weren’t actively seeking a man, and sometimes they giggled together over some guy’s bumbling efforts to make time with one or the other of them.
Gwen was grateful that she had a friend like Ramona, someone in whom she could confide her innermost thoughts. Today she definitely needed to do some confiding.
“I’m sure you recall my mentioning that Zane Fortune is one of my clients,” Gwen said quietly.
“Yes. What about it?”
“I met him today.”
Ramona’s eyes got big. “You did? Is he as good-looking in person as he appears to be in photos?”
“He’s even better looking in person. But that’s neither here nor there, Ramona. He asked me to do something that…” Gwen frowned, then went on. “He offered me two thousand dollars to attend a wedding with him this weekend.”
“You’re kidding!” Ramona frowned too. “Why on earth would Zane Fortune have to pay a woman for a date?”
Gwen groaned. “You just hit the nail on the head. I agreed to take money for going out with a man. Ramona, there are names for women who do that.”
“Oh, but surely he doesn’t expect…” Ramona’s voice trailed off, and she weakly added, “Does he?”
“I asked him point-blank what he expected for his money, and he made it sound… Well, let me explain how this all came about.” Gwen related the incident with Alamo, then how Zane Fortune had offered her the business deal.
“He said that the most I would have to do was to act a bit love-struck, and maybe hold his hand.”
Ramona sat back, appearing dumbfounded. “That is the strangest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Yes, isn’t it?” Gwen agreed. “I asked him why he didn’t simply tell his female relatives that he didn’t want a wife, and he said that he’d tried but never quite made the grade. Apparently he doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Ramona, I admit that I saw dollar signs when I agreed to his request, and you know how badly I need the money, but would I be selling myself? It’s been driving me crazy since the moment I left his house.”
Ramona held up her hands. “Let’s look at it this way. You’re in the service business, and wouldn’t this just be another service? Gwen, with his looks, position and money, Zane Fortune could have any woman he wanted. I don’t think he would have to pay for any sort of hanky-panky. But if he is one of those men who does pay for it, wouldn’t he go to a professional?”
“I…suppose so. Actually, I’m not worried about his motives or morality, I’m worried about mine. Just how far would I go for money? There has to be a point where a decent woman says no. Did I go past that point today by agreeing to accept money for two days of my time?”
“Two days?”
“Yes,” Gwen said with another sigh. “It’s a two-day wedding party at the Fortunes’ Double Crown Ranch. Big doings, apparently. Nothing at all like any event I’ve ever attended.”
“It might be fun,” Ramona exclaimed, startling her friend. “Gwen, you haven’t done anything just for fun since you lost your husband. I think you should stop worrying, and go to that wedding and enjoy yourself.”
“You really feel that way?”
“Yes, I do. Gwen, you know you’re a respectable woman and so do I. Apparently Mr. Fortune wants an uninvolved escort, and since he talked about needing an attractive woman to play the part, I think he paid you a very nice compliment. And as you said, you could certainly use the money. I believe that if you turn down his proposal, you’ll regret it for a very long time.”
“I have thought of that,” Gwen said. “Maybe I just needed a pep talk. Usually I’m pretty optimistic and open to new ideas, but this one really threw me for a loop. Are you sure you approve?”
“Of course I approve. Now, let’s do something else fun and figure out what clothes you should take with you.”
Before they discussed clothes, Gwen needed to ask one more question. “Will you be able to watch my kids for the whole weekend? I’ll pay double, Ramona.”
“I’ll watch the kids and you don’t have to pay me double, for heaven’s sake. In fact, let’s call this weekend a trade-off with no money involved.” Ramona grinned. “Maybe something exciting will happen to me one of these days, and I’ll need a baby-sitter.”
Gwen smiled. “You’ve got yourself a deal, my friend.”
Gwen was glad she had talked to Ramona about Zane Fortune’s proposition. If nothing else, it had made her realize that the issue of her own morality hadn’t been the cause of her reluctance at all. She’d never been a Goody Two-shoes, after all. She’d been pregnant when she and Paul got married, which was the reason she hadn’t finished college.
So what she had really done, after leaving Zane’s home yesterday, was hide her true concerns behind questions about right and wrong. That had been much easier to do than face what had really been bothering her: spending two days with Zane Fortune, meeting his family and friends, and pretending that she and Zane were lovers.
She faced it squarely the next day while getting ready for Zane to pick her up. She had already driven her kids over to Ramona’s, each of them with a small overnight bag, then had returned home and started working on herself. It was no small task to turn herself into a lady of some leisure. While she filed and polished her short fingernails, and gave herself a pedicure, she worried about whether she would be able to fool anyone into thinking that a man like Zane Fortune would find a woman like her attractive. And if she were to believe Zane’s story to the letter, she was going to be under a lot of scrutiny. From people who were millionaires, yet! Probably not one woman she would meet at that wedding had ever done her own fingernails or given herself a pedicure.
But all that aside, Gwen’s biggest worry was Zane himself. He was too good-looking, too rich, too sure of himself. She’d never met anyone even remotely similar before, and there was some part of her that was uncomfortably drawn to the glamorous appeal Zane exuded. Gwen was positive that her pragmatic side would never let her actually fall in love with anyone like Zane Fortune, but was it strong enough to prevent her from developing a silly, futile schoolgirl crush on the man?
She couldn’t deny the possibility, and it bothered her so much that she dialed Ramona’s phone number. “How are the kids doing?”
“You should be getting ready instead of worrying.”
“I am getting ready, but I just realized something. Last night I talked about morality versus money and that wasn’t what was eating at me at all. I—I’m afraid of Zane Fortune.”
“Oh, God, there’s something you didn’t tell me. Do you think he’s a pervert, or something?”
“Ramona, no!” Gwen was appalled that she’d given her friend such a horribly false impression. “The truth, Ramona, is that I’m going to be spending two days with the most incredible man I’ve ever met, and what if I…well, end up liking him?”
“Well, think about this,” Ramona said wryly, “What if he ends up liking you?”
“Oh, he wouldn’t! I mean, how could he?”
“For heaven’s sake, Gwen, are you deliberately looking for a reason to drive yourself crazy? In the first place you might not like him at all. In the second, why are you so positive that he could never like you?”
“I just know it. Compare his life-style to mine and you’ll know it too.”