Chapter12
Carter was sitting behind his large wooden desk in the study when Ryder came in the next morning with a dour expression on his face. He was displeased with having been summoned by the old man.
“You sent for me?” He asked with a dark undertone.
Carter looked up from the paperwork on his desk and rose from his chair, his brow furrowing deeply and his eyes glinting angrily. “Yes, I most certainly did send for you. I want to know just what in the hell you think you’re doing asking some cocktail waitress to be your wife in front of God and everyone we know!”
Ryder had known that some fallout would come of it. He had anticipated it, and he was ready for it, though his stomach tensed at the oncoming fight with his father. He kept his face still, free of showing any sign of emotion as he replied evenly, “I fell in love with her and I want to marry her. You should be pleased. That’s exactly what you wanted me to do.”
Carter came out from behind his desk, furious with his son. His normally ivory face had begun to turn red in his anger. “Don’t you play games with me young man!”
“I’m not playing games.” Ryder shot back, knowing that it was a blatant lie. He was playing the biggest game of all. “You’re judging her because of what she does for a living, rather than who she is. Besides, after I marry her, she won’t be a cocktail waitress anymore.”
“You’re playing with fire here, and you have no business doing it! You don’t know anything about her!” Carter shot at him coming within a few feet of his son, facing off with him. He was a few inches taller than Ryder, and it seemed like more as he stood there glaring down at his son hotly.
“You have no idea what I know about her.” Ryder snapped irritably.
Carter’s sharp blue eyes pierced into him, almost as if the old man was seeing straight through him. “How long have you known her?”
Ryder was ready for him. “I’ve known her long enough to know I want her. Listen,” Ryder held his hands up between them as if to stem the flow of the fight, “just be happy that I’m settling down and tying the knot.” He gave his father a cold stare. “Just like I was ordered to do.”
He turned away from Carter then, and walked out of the study, closing the door firmly behind him. Carter glared at the closed door and walked around his desk, standing at the large window behind it, looking out onto the back grounds and the sea. He clasped his hands together behind his back and pressed his lips together tightly in a thin line as he contemplated the situation.
***
There was a knock at Regina’s door and she looked up from the kitchen table where she was doing her homework. She hadn’t been expecting anyone, and she was surprised by the visitor. When she opened the door, she saw Ryder standing there before her with a defiant and fiery grin on his face.
“Well hello, fiancé of mine. How are you doing?” He asked with a hint of delight in his voice.
She smiled and stepped out on the porch to give him a hug. “I’m good! Just doing some homework. How are you?”
“I couldn’t be better. I was out in the neighborhood and thought I would drop in to see you. I hope the timing is alright.” His blue eyes twinkled.
She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed him suspiciously. “You just happened to be in this neighborhood?” She laughed a little.
He shrugged. “Well, I might have gone a little out of my way, but I had to. I have an early wedding gift for you.” He grinned at her and held his hand out to her.
Regina laughed and smiled broadly at him as she let him take her hand and lead her outside. “A wedding gift? You don’t have to do that, especially since it’s not a real wedding.”
Ryder gave his head a shake. “Yes, I do. I told you that I would. I’m just calling it a wedding gift, and it fits anyway.”
He walked her down the steps to the sidewalk and held his hand out, indicating the vehicle in front of them. It was a shiny new red Tesla. She gaped at him in disbelief.
“A car? You bought me this car?” she could only take her eyes off of it long enough to look up at him, stunned.
He grinned and nodded, pushing his hands halfway down into his jean pockets. With a shrug, he looked at her happily. He knew that it was probably the nicest thing she had ever owned, except for the ring on her hand.
“You deserve it, you work hard and you study hard, and you deserve it. I told you I’d get you a car, anyway. I don’t want you driving around in that wreck you have. It’s a disaster waiting to happen; that old jalopy is on its last tire.” His brow lowered somewhat in distinct disapproval. “Besides, if you’re going to be my wife, even for a little while, you have to have the best.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, you did say that you were going to buy me a car, but I thought you meant some little used car… something small and cheap that ran better than mine. I didn’t think that you meant something like this!” Covering her mouth with her hands, tears sprang to her eyes and she tried to blink them back as her breath came shallow and she tried to hold in the emotion that threatened to overwhelm her.
Ryder saw her reaction and reached for her, taking her into his arms and embracing her. She cried a little for a moment and then dried her eyes and stood back from him, almost unable to believe her incredible situation.
Excitement overtook her shock, and she began to grin and giggle. “You’re really giving me this car?”
He nodded, pulling the keys out of his pocket and holding them up in the air between them. “It’s done. It’s in your name. This is your car.” He had never felt so good about a gift he had given anyone in his whole life, except for a few to his mother when she was still alive.
Regina let out a muffled scream of delight and ran around it to the driver’s side to open the door and check it all out. He chuckled as he watched her for a moment, and then he took some time to show her the special aspects of it, and when she was familiar with it, she gave him a bright smile and a mischievous grin.
“Do you want to go for a ride?” she asked, twirling the keys on their keychain around her finger.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he winked at her and climbed into the passenger’s side.
She drove them through the city and onto the highway headed north until the traffic had dissipated and she was able to really open the engine up and let it roar on the open road. After a while she turned it toward Long Island to take him home.
When she dropped him off at his home, she got out and went around to where he was beside her new car. She couldn’t stop the wide grin on her face, and she reached her arms up around his neck and hugged him tightly, holding him for a moment before letting him go and kissing his cheek softly.
“Thank you so much. Thank you more than I can say.”
He gave her a nod and a heartfelt smile. “You’re very welcome.”
Something changed inside of him at that moment. The lust he felt so often for her seemed to shift a bit, and he felt the bond of friendship growing within him. She saw that he looked at her differently in that moment, and she began to wonder if somehow beneath all of his flirting and audaciousness, he wasn’t truly a good man deep down.
She called Marie and told her that she wanted to take her out for a coffee. She said nothing about the car, but when she pulled up to Marie’s apartment, Marie was shocked to see it, and thrilled for her that such good things were happening for her.
Her best friend hugged her tight and suggested that perhaps all of the good things had been building up over time and they were finally all happening at once.
Regina wasn’t sure if it was all the good things that should happen to her happening at once or not, but she was glad for it all and she wouldn’t trade it. She drove home with the window down and the breeze in her red hair, sending it sailing back over her shoulder like all of her troubles and worries, going, going, long gone.
***
A week later, Regina, Marie, and Camilla went dress shopping. They were on the hunt for bridesmaid dresses and a wedding dress. Regina had asked Camilla to be one of her bridesmaids, and Camilla couldn’t have been more excited to be part of the wedding. Ryder was going to make her his best man, but Regina asked her first and she had committed. They had laughed about it, and Camilla had joked that she wished she would always be in such high demand.
The wedding guest list had been made quickly, and it had been capped at four hundred people. It was going to be a massive wedding. Regina looked over the guest list as the three ladies sat at lunch during their shopping outing, and frowned slightly.
“What’s wrong?” Camille asked worriedly. “I know you don’t know most of those people, but they’re really close to the family. They’re must have’s.”
Regina sighed a little. “It isn’t that I don’t know them. It’s that out of all of these four hundred people, only fifteen of them are coming for me. I guess I just didn’t realize how few people I know or who I would want at such an important event in my life.” Even if she was faking the wedding and the marriage, she still would have wanted her friends and family there with her. It was supposed to be real to all the world except her and Ryder.
Camilla smiled at her and reached her hand out to Regina. “Those people are all going to be there for you, too. You’re going to be a Carrington. You’re going to be family, and that means that they are your guests too.” She spoke with a comforting voice, and Regina was grateful for her sentiment.
“Thank you, Cami.” She said to her future sister in law. She still felt a little sad about it, but she was cheered by the way that Camille had positioned it. As far as anyone knew, she would be a part of the family, and all of the people who were coming to the wedding were coming to celebrate that and welcome her to it.
“You know, I wanted to tell you, Regina, I’m really impressed with you for working so hard like you have, to make ends meet and go to college, especially while you’re working, so that you could make something of yourself. That takes real courage and guts, and I admire that so much. I love it. I’m so proud that you’re going to be my sister-in-law. I think Ryder has never had a better lady on his arm, and I know that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” Camille beamed brightly at Regina.
Regina felt her heart swell. No matter that the wedding wasn’t real, it was a wonderful benefit to have Camille there as a sister, and she was going to enjoy every minute of it while she could. “Thank you, Cami. It’s been a real challenge for me, but it’s so important to me to graduate and really try to make the most out of myself that I can. It’s nice to have that recognized.”
Camille grinned. “Of course! I’m also really excited to have a sister finally! I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to have one!” She hugged Regina and then excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. When she was out of earshot, Marie turned to look at Regina and saw a disappointed expression on her face.
“What is it? What’s wrong, Regina?” Marie asked, giving her a sympathetic look.
Regina shook her head gently. “This is a sham wedding! Cami is so sweet, and I like her so much. I feel bad. I’m lying to her, and she doesn’t deserve that. Not at all. She’s going to be so devastated when we get divorced.”
Marie gazed at her thoughtfully. “Maybe not. I mean, look at this, it might be a sham wedding, but it’s not so bad. I think you’ve got a new friend in Cami, and she’s wonderful. That’s a good thing, even if it is based originally out of a fake engagement. The friendship that you two are building is real. That’s not fake. Her affection for you isn’t fake, and yours for her isn’t either.
The most important thing to remember is that this is just a job that you’re doing for the money, and when it’s all over, who knows, you might wind up being friends with Camille after the divorce as well. That would be the best of both worlds. You get the money and the friend, and things are good.”
Regina nodded and gave her best friend a smile. “You’re the best. That’s a really good point, and I hope you’re right. I mean, it’s going to be an amicable divorce anyway, so hopefully when we end it on a good note, she’ll want to keep the friendship and there won’t be any hard feelings.” She reached over and gave Marie a hug. “Thank you so much. You’re an amazing friend, and I really appreciate you keeping this secret for me.”
“My lips are zipped.” Marie winked at her and pretended to zip her lips closed and throw away an invisible key.
Ryder and Taylor were out for drinks at just about the same time that the ladies were out dress shopping. Taylor was fascinated with the entire scheme, hoping that it would work, and simultaneously curious to see if it would implode. He took great pride in the fact that the idea was originally his, and that it had been working so far. He felt like a relationship and family problem resolution genius.
“How is the wedding planning going?” He raised an eyebrow and looked at his best friend with an impish grin.
Ryder shrugged. “I guess we have a wedding planner handling most of it. Thank god. I don’t really want much to do with making it happen. My biggest goal is to get down the aisle and get married so that I can get my inheritance. I don’t really have an opinion about what color the flowers are or what the cake tastes like along the way.”
Taylor laughed at him. “Are you guys doing any of it or leaving it to the planner?”
“Well, we’re doing as little as possible. Regina is out shopping for part of it, and Cami is helping her with it. Cami’s really excited about it and she wants to be a part of whatever planning and putting together that she can be.” He smiled at the thought of it. “They’ve really hit it off, Regina and Cami. I like that. It makes this whole thing easier.”
“I’m glad to hear that at least someone in the family is happy about it. What’s Carter got to say about it?” He asked looking pointedly at Ryder.
Ryder rolled his eyes and groaned a little. “He is furious about it. He didn’t say anything when I proposed to her at the Carrington Literacy fundraiser, but he had plenty to say the next morning. He told me off about it, and I told him that I really don’t care. That’s where it is now. I’m getting married, like he ordered me to, and there’s not really anything else that he can say about it. That’s it.”
Taylor shook his head. “I don’t envy you the family drama, that’s for sure.”
“You know, the thing that really gets me about it is that he doesn’t really care whether or not I love her or she loves me, or if she’s the right girl for me. No, he doesn’t care about any of that. What he cares most about is that she was a cocktail waitress, and more than that, he cares about the family name and the money. That’s it. He doesn’t care about anything else.” Ryder picked up his glass of bourbon and tipped it back, sipping at it.
“Do you think he’s going to get over it?” Taylor asked, eyeing his friend curiously.
Ryder shrugged. “Well, to be honest, I don’t really care if he does. I only care about getting the inheritance and being able to be in Cami’s and my brothers’ lives. I’ll tell Carter that there’s a prenup and then the old man won’t have anything to worry about.”
“I guess not. The money and the family will be protected from any legal backlash from the divorce, so it’ll be alright. He’ll calm down. I bet he’s just pissed off that you did it to begin with, and that you chose a strip club cocktail waitress rather than a high society girl.” Taylor chuckled softly and gave his head a shake.
They both sat in silence for a long moment and the jukebox played in the background, smothering the quiet conversations that were being spoken around the bar. Taylor looked back at Ryder a few moments later, and he lifted an eyebrow.
“As your best man, I feel that it’s my duty to check in with you about the pre-wedding responsibilities. Would you like me to throw you a bachelor party?” He asked with piqued interest.
Ryder shook his head. “No, not really. I mean, what would we do anyway? Get drunk and go see naked women. We do that already.”
Taylor frowned a little. “Are you sure? Are you alright?” Doubt shrouded his face.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ryder said thoughtfully. “I’m just… I’m really focused on Regina right now. I guess it’s bothering me a little… I can’t stop thinking about her. Like, at all. She’s constantly on my mind, and I want her. She just keeps pushing me away. I’ve never had a girl push me away before. Not one, not ever. They flock to me. You know that.
But this one… she’s not even playing hard to get. She’s focused on the business we’re doing and that’s it. No play. No fun. No sex. I can’t stop thinking about it, and the more I try not to think about it, the more I do think about it, and the more I want her. I haven’t looked at another woman in weeks. It’s bizarre.”
Taylor stared at him and cocked his head to one side. “Brother, I’m telling you now, you better be careful. That’s dangerous ground you’re treading there. I don’t think anything good can come of it. You better try to set your mind on another woman, or several other women. Don’t get hung up on this one.”
“I’m not.” Ryder said, looking back at Taylor. “I know what I’m doing. I’m just trying to get her to open up to me, and she won’t. She has this wall up, and I keep trying to find a way around it, and it’s tricky. I’m in new territory. I haven’t ever had to work this hard to get a girl in my bed before, and it’s really becoming a challenge to me. I want to meet it. I want her. I want her bad. I’ll get her, you can bet on that, but it’s just taking a while and it’s difficult figuring out how to make it happen. She’s different. She is more different than any woman I’ve ever known, and I’ve known a lot of women.”
Taylor laughed a little and pointed his finger at his friend. “I hope you do get her, she’s a hottie, but in the meantime, you better watch what you’re doing and keep your head as clear as you can. Don’t go falling for her.”
“I’m not going to fall for her. There’s no way. I’ve never been in love and I’m never going to be. She’s not going to change that,” Ryder stated flatly, looking back at Taylor. “Don’t you worry. I’ve got this under control.”
Even as he said it, he wondered just how much under control he had it.