Chapter 5
Caden
Trees with candy-apple colored leaves sheltered the mile-long driveway to the club. Sundown Sands Country Club truly was a stunning piece of property. It would make me a lot of money and bring jobs plus investments to the village. Elizabeth might not see it that way yet, but in time she would.
I parked in the near empty parking lot and stepped into the crisp fall day. A few golfers braved the cold and the cut-up courses to hit a few balls. Redesigning the course would cost more than a few quid, but having a potential award-winning course would be worth it.
Elizabeth's unexpected phone call was more than welcome. I didn't know why she'd changed her mind and wasn't sure I wanted to know, but thank God she had.
The pickings for fake wives were slim. I'd spent the last few days browsing dodgy websites looking for a solution, but now Elizabeth had said yes, there was no longer any need to go down that route.
I strolled into the empty foyer and whistled. A place like this should be filled with guests and staff, and have at least a two-year waiting list.
The original checkerboard floor with hexagon tiles was beautiful. I tapped my foot over a few spots—and in good condition too. The ceiling and wall moldings were also original as was the low-hanging crystal chandelier. I'd make sure my designers kept as many features as possible. The place had lost enough over the years, and I didn't want it to lose anymore.
I wandered around the ramshackle interior, making mental notes about renovations and eventually found my way into the ballroom. Elizabeth stood silhouetted by a grimy bay window with her shoulders slumped. An urge to ask if she was okay tugged at me, but I wouldn't do it. If I showed any affection, she might get the wrong idea, and a business deal like this was no place for sentiment or emotion. But, on the other hand, if she showed any interest, I wouldn't say no.
I cleared my throat to alert her to my presence. She quickly lifted her head and gave me a sad smile.
Her glasses hung from her fingers, and the shadows beneath her eyes were darker than they were when we first met.
"Sorry. I was miles away. I didn't hear you come in."
"Is everything okay? I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.
"Everything's fine," she said in a bright and breezy tone that told me everything was far from fine.
"Something's obviously wrong." I strode across the dance floor toward her. "You look like you haven't slept in days."
She forced a smile. "I bet you say that to all the girls."
A lone tear slipped from her left eye and rolled down her cheek, and my fingers ached to brush it away, but before my fingers betrayed me, she wiped the back of her hand over her cheek and held it there for a few seconds.
I figured she wouldn't be happy about marrying me, but acting like someone had died wasn't what I'd expected. It wasn't like I'd handcuffed her and would drag her down the aisle by her hair. The only time I handcuffed a woman and pulled her by the hair was when she was a willing participant.
"I guess we should get started." She straightened her posture and strode toward a round table strewn with papers. Her signature scent of citrus drifted in her wake, and with each step, the high stilettos she wore gave her calf muscles a defined shape. A shot of lust cannonballed through my body and went straight to my dick. If Elizabeth knew where my thoughts were right now, she would probably tell me to get the fuck out.
"Let's get down the business." I shrugged my backpack onto the table and took out my laptop.
"If you want me to marry you," she said, "I want 80/20 in our favor." She put on her glasses and slid a sheet of paper toward me. A series of numbers were outlined and highlighted.
"No can do." I slid the paper back to her. "My original deal or nothing." I was calling her bluff, there was some wiggle room, not as much as she wanted, but if she pushed hard enough, and I hoped she would, I'd give her more. Not much, but some.
Desperation and fire filled her eyes. "Mr. Gallagher, when my father said you needed us more than we needed you, he was right. I've done a little investigating. Your consortium has resorts all over the United States. Buildings under development everywhere. If you have to leave the country, you stand to lose a lot more than your visa."
"Is that so?"
She might think she had the upper hand but the way she fiddled with her pen and the way she wouldn't meet my eyes, told me something very different. Elizabeth was more than a little nervous.
"You're right I do need you but let's be honest, I could find someone else to marry me and buy the club the day the bank decides to auction it off. 80/20 in my favor."
She licked her lips and clasped her fingers together but not before I saw her shaking hands. There was something the beautiful Ms. Beaufort wasn't telling me.
"60/40," she said, "and I'll marry you whenever you want. Hell, I'll marry you today."
"I'll tell you what," I said, not wanting to play hardball with someone on the verge of falling apart. "75/25. Take it or leave it."
Her cheeks flushed a beautiful shade of pink and my mind wandered to what she would look like in the middle of an orgasm. Shame that was something I'd never see.
She nodded and blew out a shaky breath. "Fine."
Why had she given in so quickly and easily? The woman I'd met a few days ago wasn't the same woman standing in front of me now. What had taken the wind out of her sails?
"We need to apply for the marriage license sooner rather than later," I said. "After that, we have 90 days before I have to get married. But I'd prefer to marry within ten days. I have too much going on to delay this any longer than I have to."
She smoothed her hands down the sides of her pencil skirt and gave me a tight smile. "As a sign of good faith, I need a hundred thousand transferred to my bank account today." Her words came out in a hurry as if she'd been rehearsing them.
I raised an eyebrow but didn't prod as to the reason behind her request. "Perhaps I should talk to your father before we go any further."
"You can't. He's in the hospital."
"This is the last place you need to be." I shut down my laptop and slid it into my backpack. "You should be with your dad. We can do this another time."
She shook her head. "We're running out of time as it is. I want to get this over and done with."
The less I entrenched myself in her life, the better for the both of us, but curiosity took over.
"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"
Elizabeth gave a tired sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "He was found on the roadside with a head injury. He's been drifting in and out of consciousness since last night." Her lower lip wobbled, but she didn't break down.
"How bad is it?"
"The CT scan showed no swelling or bleeding, but he suffered a grade 3 concussion. They're waking him every three hours, so he doesn't fall into a coma. He has cuts and scrapes all over his body, and there's a deep laceration on his head. He won't be home for a few days."
I slung my backpack over my shoulder and ran a hand through my hair. "Have the police started an investigation?"
"The sheriff and his team combed the area. They can't find anything out of the ordinary. It was dark. He may have tripped and hit his head. But what he was doing on an unlit back road after dark, no one knows. He might not even remember."
"Surveillance cameras?" I asked.
She huffed out a laugh. "Not in Sundown Sands. We can't do much more until he wakes up."
I swore I wouldn't get involved in her life. Swore she was someone I would have a shallow relationship with. Someone to get me a green card. But the way her lower lip quivered and the way she wouldn't allow her tears to fall caught me off guard. Even if she made my dick throb, and heart beat a little bit faster, and even if every cell of my being wanted to protect her, I wouldn't fall for her.
This was a business deal and nothing more. And, acting like a bloody knight in shining armor—as she'd called me—wasn't part of the deal. I wasn't here to save her, or anyone else for that matter.
"I'll have my lawyers draw up the new contracts, and I'll have the money wired to your bank account by lunchtime." I held out my hand. "This is something you won't regret, Lizzie. I think we'll make a great team."
"It's Elizabeth."
She took my hand and when she did a bolt of lightning raced up my arm, and from the way her lips parted and from the way she jerked her hand away, she felt it too.
"We're not a team," she spat, dropping my hand. "We'll never be a team. If I had any other choice, we wouldn't even be business partners. If I had a choice, I would never have met you."
The accusation in her voice and the twisted worry on her face side-kicked my stomach.
"I'm sorry you think you had no other choice, but I'm the good guy here and believe me, I'll put this place on the map. I'll make the club everything you ever dreamed it could be. I've researched you too. Your Etsy store is impressive. Your Facebook page has thousands of followers. You can sell your skincare products from the spa. I can have my architect look at the plans. Maybe you'd like to grow herbs and organic ingredients."
"Save the bullshit. Stop trying to earn brownie points or act like you know a damn thing about me. You can't buy my friendship or my respect. I don't care what you do with the place. After all, you own seventy-five percent of it."
Once again, her body language betrayed her. The way she leaned ever so slightly forward, the way her pupils dilated, and the way her skin flushed told me she cared very much.
I wasn't blowing smoke up her arse or feeding her horseshit. I would give her everything I'd promised. A world-class spa with a successful product line would be an added attraction.
Elizabeth sighed. "Congratulations, Mr. Gallagher, you now own me."