Chapter3
When night fell over the eastern coast, Ryder was sitting in the study off of his den. His mind had been a tangle of dead end schemes that did nothing but fail him in his every attempt to come up with a plan that might work to appease his father’s unreasonable request.
Reaching a summit of frustration, he pulled out his cell phone and swiped his finger across the screen, dialing one of the most frequently called phone numbers on it. It rang a few times, and was answered by a man the same age as Ryder.
“Hey buddy, how are you?” he asked in a pleasant voice.
“I’m in dire need of a drink, or several.” Ryder answered morosely. “How do you feel about going out tonight, Taylor?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” His best friend answered. “Meet you at Sal’s?”
“The strip club?” he laughed. “Actually, that’s perfect. I could stand to be distracted for a while. I’ll meet you there in an hour.”
“See you then,” Taylor replied, and Ryder could hear the light smile in his voice.
A night out with his best friend was exactly what he needed to steady his nerves and forget his problems for a few hours. He dressed in a blazer, button up shirt and jeans. He ran his fingers through his slightly tousled hair and finger combed it just a bit. It was just enough to make him look a shade rough around the edges and devil may care.
An hour later he parked his cherry red Ferrari in the parking lot at Sal’s, and glanced around looking at the other cars. He noted that Taylor’s jeep was there. His friend was already waiting for him. He smiled and walked through the doors.
Taylor was sitting at a table alone, a tumbler of whiskey before him. He nodded at Ryder, and Ryder walked over and sat in the chair opposite him. At the other end of the room was a contemporary stage, and on it were three chrome dancing poles, around which three women danced in nothing more than the hint of a G-string; their bodies twisting and turning, their hair flying, suggesting eroticism with every nuance of their beings.
Ryder sighed heavily and Taylor leaned forward and rested his arms on the table, wrapping his hands around his drink. “You want to talk about it?”
“Not without a stiff drink.” Ryder answered. He flagged down the cocktail waitress and she came over to their table. “Bring me a double bourbon.” He requested, eyeing her lustfully. She had wavy red hair that hung to her breasts, curled and styled carefully. Her makeup was perfect, enhancing her brown eyes, full lips and high cheekbones. Her sculpted body was barely covered in a black leather mini skirt and a brief red leather tank top.
He let his eyes travel slowly over her, drinking her in as she stood before him. When he finally met her eyes, she nodded. “One double bourbon coming up.”
“No ice, I like it warm.” He gave her a half smile.
She gave him another nod and turned, walking away with a sway to her hips that held his attention for a long moment before he finally turned and looked at Taylor.
“I might have stepped over a moral boundary last night.” He began quietly, looking down at the table between them.
“Stepped over? I saw the papers today.” Taylor said without looking up at Ryder.
“Okay, perhaps I went blasting over it like a rocket shooting past earth’s gravitational pull.” Ryder corrected himself, rolling his eyes.
“You could say that.” Taylor gave his friend a sympathetic look. “Was she worth it?” he asked, looking hopefully optimistic.
Ryder shook his head. “Not even close. If we hadn’t been caught, then yeah, she would have been worth the good time. The sex was good, not life changing or earth shattering, but it was good. Getting caught though…” He trailed off and sighed, “that was life changing.”
Taylor tilted his head somewhat. “I bet. I’m sure you heard about it from more than one person. That’s a hell of a price to pay for a quickie with a married woman. I’d hate to have my picture in all the papers and become the city gossip hot topic.”
“Oh, you know I don’t care what people think. It’s not that at all. I’ve never cared what people think. It was my father.” Ryder frowned slightly and picked up his glass of bourbon, taking a long pull off of it.
“You don’t care what your father thinks, either.” Taylor stated pointedly.
Ryder smirked and gave his head a shake. “Normally, no. I don’t care. This time… well, this time it kind of came back to bite me in the ass.”
Taylor furrowed his brow in confusion. “How so? We’ve been best friends since high school. Since when do you care what your dad thinks?”
With a heavy sigh, Ryder looked over at him. “Since he threatened to disinherit me, disown me, and evict me from the family and the house this morning.”
Taylor’s jaw fell full open. “What?” he blanched.
“Yeah. He was serious.”
“Holy crap.” Taylor stared at him, unmoving. He didn’t speak for a moment, but when he finally found his voice, it was quieter. “What are you going to do?”
“Well, he gave me one out. One… opportunity, I guess, is what he would call it, to make this right and make a change. He said I can get married and settle down with a wife and change my errant ways, or I can get out permanently. Those are my options.” Ryder wished he could laugh about it, but there was nothing funny in it at all. Ironic yes, he thought to himself, but not funny. It wasn’t even worth trying to find the hint of a smile.
Taylor stared at him. “Married? Has he met you?”
A sarcastic scoff escaped Ryder. “Yeah, I think that’s why he’s pushing it. It’s the most extreme he could get, one way or the other, trying to force me to take up his agenda or get the hell out. We had it out this morning. I told him what I think, I told him how much I don’t care, and he wouldn’t budge. That’s it.”
“Are you going to leave?” Taylor asked, immediately assuming the most realistic option.
Ryder took another long sip of his bourbon and leaned back in his chair, looking at the glass before him on the table. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I want to tell him to go to hell and just leave… just walk out of the door and never come back again, but Camille heard it all and came in to talk to me about it after Carter left.”
Taylor groaned and nodded. “Camille. Ouch.”
“Yeah.” Ryder raked his fingers through the tumble of black locks on his head. “My father can go to hell, but my sister… my sister begged and pleaded for me to stay around. I feel like I have to do it for her, and it would suck to lose a billion dollars and actually have to get a real job and work.”
Pursing his mouth thoughtfully for a moment, Taylor looked back over at him with a sliver of hope. “Well, let’s look at the options. What about some of the girls you date? Tiffany? Amy? Mandy?”
Ryder rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Oh hell no. They’re not good for anything more than a few hours in bed or the back seat of a car. I’d never make any of them my wife. Not in this lifetime or any other.”
Taylor waved at the hot redheaded cocktail waitress and ordered another round. He lifted his hand to his chin and rubbed the side of his finger of it in deep thought. “What if you got a fake wife?”
Blinking in confusion, Ryder looked up at him. “What if I what?”
“Got a fake wife.” Taylor answered as he mulled the crazy concept over in his mind a little more, leaning forward to the table as his idea picked up momentum. “You know, find someone to marry you and then once you get your inheritance, divorce her and send her on her way. Problem solved.” He looked as if the idea had taken hold in his mind, and as if it might be a fully viable option. His smile brightened and he looked enthusiastically over at his best friend.
Ryder burst out laughing and shook his head, looking down into his lap for a moment as he tossed the idea aside like the rubbish that it was. “You’re too much, Taylor. I don’t know where you come up with half of the crazy ass ideas you think of.”
Taylor looked harder at him. “I’m serious, Ryder. Think about this,” he rested his arms on the table and leaned closer, lowering his voice a little as he caught Ryder’s gaze and held it. “You find a girl, have her sign a pre-nup, and get married. Don’t tell your dad it’s not the real thing. Just act like it’s all legit and go for it. You would have a woman in your bed whenever you want her.”
Ryder shook his head and looked away as he emptied his glass of bourbon. “I have women in my bed anytime I want them now, and I’m not tied down to any of them.”
With a nod, Taylor acquiesced. “Yeah, but look at the whole picture. You would have her there anytime you want to have sex, you’ll get your inheritance, your father will shut up about it and leave you alone, and you can screw around on the side all you want, especially because you have a pre-nup. You get the best of all of it.”
Lowering one brow, Ryder gave him a half-serious look as the concept began to take form in his mind.
Taylor continued, lifting his hands as he expounded on his idea. “You just find the girl, tell her it’s a job, she agrees to the contract, you have her sign the pre-nup, it’s just business. No emotional ties, no hassles, it’s just business.”
“Huh.” Ryder tilted his head to the side a little, seriously contemplating what Taylor was selling him. “You know, that’s not a half bad idea.”
“Anyone would do. Even this hot little number right here.” Taylor grinned, looking up at the redheaded cocktail waitress as she handed their drinks to them.
Ryder actually looked at her for the first time then, taking her in as he considered what his best friend was telling him. She was easily one of the sexiest, most beautiful women he had ever seen. Her shoulder length red hair curled around her shoulders and her breasts, her full hips giving her an hourglass shape. Her legs were long and shapely, made longer by the high heels that she was wearing.
Her eyes were as blue as the sea and the sky where they meet at the horizon. She had high cheekbones, full red lips and looked like a pin-up girl from the forties who happened to step off of a poster into real life.
She gave both of them their drinks and a pleasant smile. Ryder let his gaze wander up her figure slowly, devouring her with his mind as he went. She did look completely delicious to him. He felt himself harden at the groin as he took her in.
As she walked away from them, he watched her go, eyeing the sway of her curved hips and appreciating the view. He lifted his bourbon to his lips and drank. Setting the glass down, he finally took his eyes off the woman and looked back over at Taylor.
“I wouldn’t mind having her waiting in my bed every night, but it would piss my father off to no end if I married a cocktail waitress.” He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders and set his bourbon down on the table.
Taylor looked at him pointedly. “Exactly.”
Eyeing his best friend thoughtfully, Ryder laughed and gave his head a shake. “You know, you’re right. You have a point. I probably should do something like that, just to spite the old bastard.”
He thought on it a while longer and when his glass was low on liquor again, the cocktail waitress came by to see if they wanted another drink. He looked at her curiously and lifted a brow.
“Do you have a few minutes to sit down and talk with us?” He asked with a lightness to his voice.
She gave him a half smile. He was sexy as hell, but he knew it, and she wasn’t too impressed with any man who not only knew how good looking he was, but played the hot card into his game all the time. Still, she thought to herself, he and his friend seemed decent fellows, and there wasn’t much else going on in the strip club at that moment.
“Alright. I have a minute.” She pulled out a chair at their table and sat down across from them.
Ryder glanced over at Taylor who nodded once to him in agreement, then he looked over at the young woman. “I’m Ryder.” He extended his hand and she shook it.
“I’m Regina.” She replied, giving him a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you as well.” He felt his nerves quiver slightly. He’d never felt any kind of nervousness talking to any girl or woman in his life; they always came to him, drawn like moths to a flame, and he’d never had to make much effort at all, but a strange uncertainty came over him as he faced her. He was going to ask her about hiring her to take on the role of his wife, and that made t him uneasy,
“I wanted to talk with you about a business proposal.” He cleared his throat and glancing at Taylor again. Taylor was watching Regina.
Many men often spoke to her about plans and ideas, they spoke to her about dating and loneliness, about dreams and desires. They talked to her about themselves and everything that they wanted. She was used to listening, nodding, and when she needed to, telling them no. There were proposals of many kinds, and the business proposals were usually to do with the men making money off her one way or another, or offering her money to fulfill fantasies or desires of theirs.
She was never one to take any of them up on their proposals and offers, and so when Ryder voiced his introduction, telling her that he had a business proposal, she knew right away that it was something she would not accept.
All the same, she gave him her full attention and listened politely. “What is it that you’re thinking of?”
Everything in him tightened and he curled his fingers more firmly around the glass in his hand. He willed himself to speak the words.
“I come from a wealthy family. It’s a prominent family in this city, and with that prominence comes a great deal of responsibility. I…” he hesitated, wondering just how to propose his plan to her, “I have come to an impasse with my father. He believes that it’s time for me to get married and settle down. I disagree. I don’t wish to be married at this time. I’m still very interested in living a life without a permanent partner in it.” He tried to keep the groan he was feeling inside from being heard in his voice.
She cocked an eyebrow. For the first time, a man was putting forth a plan involving her, and she could not see where he was going with his request. “That sounds like a problem.”
He rolled his eyes slightly. “It is a problem. Mostly it’s a problem because if I don’t get married, my father is going to disinherit me and kick me out of the family. I don’t want that to happen, obviously.”
“That’s understandable.” Regina intoned, still unsure of where he was going with his idea.
“So, I-” he began, and Taylor stopped him.
“We.” He looked over at Ryder.
Ryder nodded slowly, looking from Taylor back to Regina. “We… had an idea that might be a viable solution for this problem. We were thinking that I could find a woman to hire to be my wife.”
Regina’s mouth fell open slightly. A light dawned in her mind and suddenly she knew exactly where Ryder and Taylor were going with their plan. A wave of irritation and anger began to rise up in her. She narrowed her eyes at Ryder. “You want to hire me to be your wife?” she asked, hardly believing that the words were coming from her mouth.
He held his breath as he watched her, seeing in her eyes that she was completely unimpressed with his proposition. “Uh… well, yes. Actually. It would be nothing more than a business arrangement. I would pay you, you would sign a prenuptial agreement stating that the only money that you would get from me would be the agreed upon amount. We would have a wedding-”
She held up her hand and looked at him seriously. “A real, legal wedding…” she asked, her eyes wide as she blanched in surprise. She wanted to be certain that she was hearing him correctly.
“Yes, a real, legal wedding. You would be my legal wife.” He drew in a deep breath, trying to steady himself as the words sounded in his mouth and he heard his own voice sounding them out, and heard himself say it with his own ears. It was completely surreal to him. “We would be married long enough for me to get my inheritance, and once I had it, we would divorce, you would take the money that we agreed that I would pay you, and you could go your way and I would go my way, and we’d be done with it.”
She stared at him. Her mind couldn’t even begin to comprehend such a ridiculous notion. Speaking slowly, she tried to make herself believe it. “How much money are you thinking you’d pay me for marrying you as your fake bride?” She couldn’t fathom the idea at all, and speaking the words aloud made it sound even more incredulous and totally unbelievable.
He looked over at Taylor and Taylor shrugged. He considered it for a moment as he looked back at Regina. They hadn’t talked about an amount. He had no idea what the going rate was for a fake bride. He knew that he didn’t want to lose his shirt in a messy divorce, and he knew that it must be a fair price, though he had no notion at all what that number might be. His mind went to the inheritance that he would have coming.
A billion dollars, plus property and a quarter of the business. His siblings would each have a quarter of it as well. He’d have part of the house they lived in at the Hamptons, and there were other properties around the world that they owned. A fraction of that seemed to him a likely amount.
“A million dollars.” He finally said, looking back at her squarely. “I could see my way to paying you a million, if you signed the prenuptial agreement and didn’t ask for anything else. I think that would be fair.”
He stopped talking and waited. It was what all business people who were any good at selling a pitch knew; you made the offer and then you shut your mouth and waited. She would make up her own mind, and there was nothing else that he could say either way to persuade her. There was nothing more that he could add that might sweeten the deal or convince her. He had laid it out, heart pounding at the very thought of it, and he must wait for her to respond.
She blinked at him. It was clear as day that the man before her was either drunk or insane, and she had only brought him two drinks. Granted, they had both been doubles, so that was four shots of bourbon in about an hour, but even so, it wasn’t enough liquor to make a man with a right mind offer her a million dollars to be his wife until he could divorce her. Obviously, he was completely out of his mind, because he wasn’t drunk, though she knew he was probably getting tipsy.
With a shake of her head she pushed herself back from the table. “That’s a great offer, but I’m sorry, I’m going to have to pass on it. For one, there’s no way you’re a billionaire and you’re coming in here to drink. What’s more, I can’t be bought.” She stood up and glared down at him.
He was dumbfounded. Her words didn’t quite seem to make sense to him. It couldn’t be possible that she was turning him down, she was a woman. Women didn’t turn him down. Not for anything. Ever. On top of that, she was turning down more money than she would ever see in her life.
“Not even for a million dollars?” he asked in amazement.
She lowered her eyes at him and planted her hands on her curvy hips. “Not even for a million dollars. I think you had better look somewhere else for your fake bride.” She turned then and walked away as disgust and irritation stole through her. She knew she should have been laughing it off; it was easily the most ridiculous offer she had ever heard, but it was a plain as day that he was serious about what he was asking of her, and both he and his friend fully expected her to believe it. They both thought that she was going to buy into it, and that they could buy her and get her to go along with their cockamamie idea.
Taylor frowned and Ryder groaned as they both watched her walk away. “Well that didn’t go like I thought it would.” Taylor watched Regina in disappointment.
“No, it didn’t.” Ryder agreed. He shook his head slowly. “How could she have said no? How is that even possible? It’s a million dollars. How does a cocktail waitress turn down a million dollars? How does she say no to me? Women don’t say no to me….” He was thoroughly astounded.
Taylor lifted his shoulders as if giving up. “You got me. I haven’t ever seen a woman turn you down for anything. You’re always beating them back off you. And as far as the money… well… I’ve got nothing. She’s never going to make money like that in her life. Never. But I guess maybe it’s like she said, she can’t be bought.”
“Everyone can be bought. Business 101. Everyone has a price.” Ryder narrowed his eyes as he continued to watch Regina.
“Do you think she didn’t believe that you’re a billionaire?” Taylor asked.
“She said that… she said she didn’t think I was a billionaire.” Ryder tilted his head thoughtfully. “I thought she wasn’t serious, though. Maybe you’re right. Maybe she doubts it.”
“So, leave her your phone number and leave a big tip for her. Maybe she’ll come around.” Taylor suggested helpfully.
Ryder nodded. “I could. Maybe she’ll change her mind. If she doesn’t, then no big deal. I have no doubt that I could find any number of women who’d be more than willing to take me up on this offer and marry me.”
Taylor pressed his lips together firmly and then looked over at Ryder earnestly. “Yeah, you’re right, you could find any number of women to marry you, but think carefully about that… could you find one who would be willing to divorce you? It seems to me like all those women who would want to marry you would also want to keep you. You’re rich, you’re good looking, and they’d be legally bound to you. That’s the downside to this sweet idea. You’d have to find one who would be more than happy to walk away from you when it’s all over, and who wouldn’t try to stay married to you, or refuse to get a divorce, because then you’d be stuck with a real, legal wife.”
He gave Ryder a pointed look. Ryder felt his stomach clench again. “You’re right. Finding one to marry me wouldn’t be a problem. It could be that finding one to marry me and then want to divorce me might be the challenge. The most important part of this. Hmm.” He hummed thoughtfully, gazing from Taylor back over to Regina who was going around the room checking on patrons at other tables.
“She walked away. She wouldn’t even take the deal.” Ryder said quietly, still trying to work out in his mind how it was even possible that she had turned him down.
“She’d probably walk right away from a marriage to you, if you could figure out how to get her to marry you in the first place.” Taylor bemoaned in disappointment.
“If a million dollars won’t get her to marry me, then I don’t know what else could change her mind.” Ryder sighed and reached for his glass, tipping it back and swallowing all of the contents of it.
They sat in silence a while, watching her as she worked. She had become a bit of a fascination to them. She knew that they were watching her. She kept her attention and her eyes on everything but the two of them, hoping that they would leave and she could be at some peace without them there. She knew they weren’t dangerous at all, but they were definitely not sane, and she wanted no part of their company, whether personal or professional.
Another half hour had passed when the two friends finally decided to give up on it and call it a night. They stood up and Ryder took a business card from his pocket, along with a hundred dollar bill.
Making himself do the walk, he left the table and went to her where she was at the end of the bar, bringing empty glasses to the bartender. He reached out and touched her arm, and she turned to look up at him in surprise.
“You need another drink?” she asked, hoping that drinks were all that they wanted. She hadn’t been back to their table again since she had left it, and they hadn’t gone to the bar for more.
Ryder shook his head. It was clearing from the liquor he’d ingested. “No, we’re heading out for the night. I just… I wanted to thank you for listening to my offer, and I wanted to leave my number here with your tip. I hope you’ll give it some more thought and consider it seriously. If you change your mind, my cell phone number is on this card. I hope you’ll call me, and perhaps we can talk about it a bit more and maybe find a way to work it out. I think you’d be just right for it, to be honest.”
She pursed her full lips and did her level best to give him a serious look. “I’m not going to change my mind.”
He sighed and lifted his hand, reaching over to give her his business card, wrapped up in a hundred-dollar bill. “Listen, I’m not crazy. I promise. I am a billionaire, and I do need someone who would be willing to be married to me for just a short time. It’s a million-dollar job. Just… just think about it. Consider it. I would be willing to bet that another offer like this will never happen again in your lifetime.”
She took the tip and the card and gave him a nod. “I bet you’re right. This offer will never happen again in my lifetime. And yes, I think you’re crazy.” She tucked the money and the card into her pocket and watched and waited as he sighed and looked away from her.
“Well, have a good night.” He walked back over to Taylor. She watched as the two of them headed out of the front door of the bar. They were the last to leave, and the dancers had gone back to their dressing rooms, so it was only herself and the bartender left in the room.
He turned the overhead lights on throughout the room and walked to stand beside her at the end of the bar. “You alright? Those two giving you a hard time?”
She raised her eyebrows and gave her head a shake as she pulled the tip and the card out of her pocket and looked at them. “Oh my god. He gave me a hundred dollars.” She blinked in astonishment, staring at the bill in her hands. She had never gotten so much money from one person in her life. Not as a tip, anyway.
The bartender smiled. “Good! I know how hard you work. You’re worth that hundred, and much more.”
She lifted her eyes to him, smiling back at him. He was tall and thin, with salt and pepper hair, and a favoring eye for men rather than women. “Thank you, Garrett. I think you’re right. I am worth this much and more.”
Turning the business card over in her hands, she read the name aloud. “Ryder Carrington.” She said in a soft voice. “Well he was certainly good looking, but unfortunately, he’s insane.”
Garrett raised a brow and looked at her. “Why are they insane?”
“Maybe not clinically insane, but just a couple of drunk guys with a crazy scheme. Craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” She rolled her eyes and he leaned on the bar and gazed at her.
“What did they want?” he asked curiously.
She couldn’t believe she was saying it. “The dark haired one who gave me his card offered me a million dollars to marry him and be his fake bride. He said that his dad was going to disinherit him if he didn’t get married, so he wanted to marry someone just long enough to get his inheritance and then get a divorce. He was going to pay me to be the fake wife.”
“He sounds like he’s all heart.” Garrett chuckled quietly. “A million dollars huh? That’s a lot of dough.”
“Yeah, it would be if he was serious, but think about it. Why would a billionaire come looking at a strip club for a woman to marry and offer to pay her a million dollars to do it? That’s the most insane thing I’ve ever heard. There’s no way he’s serious. Jerks.” She shook her head and reached her hand toward the trash can to throw the business card away.
“Wait a minute,” Garrett stopped her. “Did you say he’s a billionaire?” he looked at her curiously.
She nodded. “That’s what he said, that’s not what I believe. I think he’s full of it, and full of himself for that matter, but yeah, he told me that he was.”
“What’s his name?” Garrett asked, looking at the card that was about to fall from her fingers into the trash.
She stopped and drew the card back, turning it over in her hand to look at it again. “Ryder Carrington.”
Garrett frowned and took the card from her, eyeing it closely. “I’ve heard of that name. Rich folks. Live on Long Island. I think they own some big companies around Manhattan.”
Regina looked at him in surprise. “You think he’s really one of them?”
He looked back at her as he handed the card back to her. “You think he isn’t?”
She shook her head. “No. What would a billionaire be doing in a strip club?”
Garrett smiled at her. “This is a nice club… men love naked women.” He chuckled again. “Well, most men. I like naked men, myself.” He gave her a wink and she laughed.
“Yeah, you certainly do,” she replied, tucking her tips for the night into her purse.
He tilted his head to one side and gave her a thoughtful look. “I think you should hold on to that card. At least sleep on the idea. You know, give it some thought; and if you don’t call him, you give that card back to me and I’ll call him. If you won’t marry him for a million dollars then I will. He was one beautiful boy, and I love lots of money. Hook a girl up.” He winked at her.
With a shake of her head and a quiet laugh, she tucked the card into her purse. “I don’t need to sleep on it, it’s a ruse and it’s a stupid idea, and I know he was totally full of crap, but I love you and I’ll listen to you and keep the card for now.” She slung her purse over her shoulder. “I can promise you, it wasn’t a real deal and it’s not going to happen. It does make a funny story, though, so there’s that.”
She pulled her long curled red hair back into a pony tail and reached her arms up to Garrett to hug him. “You’re a good man, Garrett. I love you. I’m glad you’re in my life.”
“I’m glad you’re in my life too, honey.” He kissed her cheek. “Text me when you get home, so I know that you made it safely.”
“I will.” Turning from him, she walked out of the bar and headed for her car. She was tired and it had been a long night, closed off with a crazy cap.
The drive home felt like it was longer than usual to her, and when she reached her little house, she stopped to check the mail but didn’t bother to go through it. She could barely see, she was so tired. Instead she tossed it on the table and got ready for bed, falling into her blankets and pillow just a short while later.
Sleep overtook her, and all the worries and cares of her day disappeared as her dreams came to life and freed her from the ties and binds of the world she lived in every day.