Chapter Thirteen

Amber

I wasn’t sure what I had been thinking when I agreed to go to dinner with Harry. I had caved under the pressure. The man was a snake charmer. I was usually so much stronger than I had been in the past couple months. The Martin men were my kryptonite. I couldn’t say no to them. It was something I needed to work on, starting tonight. I wasn’t going to sleep with him. No matter how charming he was tonight, I would stand firm in my conviction. I would have dinner with him and then go home to my own bed—alone.

I practiced turning him down while looking in the mirror.

“No, thanks. I have to get up early tomorrow,” I said as firmly as possible.

I put on a smear of light pink lipstick, smacked my lips together, and practiced my other line.

“Tonight was nice, but I think it’s best if we don’t see each other anymore.”

I practiced my facial expressions, wanting to make sure I got it just right. He had to take me seriously. I wasn’t sure how strong I could be if he really tried to convince me otherwise. Every time I thought about the last time I’d let my defenses down, I got hot and bothered. Harry was a master in the bedroom. We had only done the most basic stuff, but he had still made my toes curl. I would never forget that night. I could certainly blame the alcohol, but if I were being honest with myself, there was an animal magnetism that drew me to him. I was like a moth to a flame. It was so wrong and yet so right.

“Don’t even think about going home with him,” I said, scolding my reflection before turning off the light and heading to the living room.

I wanted to make sure I was ready to go the minute he rang the doorbell. I didn’t want to invite him in and risk getting naked with him. I was that worried about my self-control. More like the lack thereof. The fact that the man kept coming around was making it that much harder.

The doorbell rang, and my stomach dropped to my knees. I was nervous and excited at the same time. It was silly. It was just a simple dinner.

“Hi,” I said, opening the door. “I’ll grab my purse and then we can go.”

I turned to grab my purse. When I turned back around, he was inside my living room. His presence was overwhelming.

“Nice place,” he said with a smile.

I gulped. “Thank you. Uh, I’m ready. We can go.”

He was grinning like an idiot. “Relax. I’m not going to make a move. Yet,” he added with a wink.

We walked to his car. I was surprised to see he was driving. William never drove. Harry was the consummate gentleman and opened the passenger door for me.

“Thank you.”

It had been a long time since a man had been so polite. Good manners were hard to come by these days. He drove with practiced ease through the busy streets of Dallas. I half-expected him to whisk me away to a private, out-of-the-way restaurant. God forbid a Martin man be seen out on the town with a woman from the wrong side of the tracks.

When he pulled up to one of the trendiest restaurants in the city, I froze. I suddenly felt nervous, like I wasn’t good enough.

“Here?” I squeaked.

“Yes. Is that okay?”

The valet opened the car door, and I quickly jumped out.

“It’s fine,” I said when he came around to stand by me. “I’m surprised you picked this restaurant.”

He gave me a wink. “They serve great food. You’re going to love it.”

I nodded and let him lead me to the front door, his hand on the small of my back. I expected him to drop it once we walked inside. He didn’t.

“Martin, party of two,” he said, speaking to the hostess.

“Of course, Mr. Martin. We have your table ready for you.”

“Thank you.”

The hostess led us to our table. Harry kept his hand on my back the entire time. It seemed like he knew everyone. People smiled or said hello as we passed. William would never parade me through a busy restaurant filled with his peers.

We sat down, and I released the breath I had been holding.

“Why are we here?” I asked.

“I told you. The food here is phenomenal.”

“You know what I mean. This is your world. Why are you bringing me into your world?”

He smirked. “I’m going to say this one more time, and then I would appreciate it if you didn’t bring it up again. I’m not my brother. I’m not like him. I’m not like my family. I go where I want, with who I want, when I want. I’m not ashamed of you. I like you, and I like hanging out with you. Please, don’t compare me to him.”

I smiled. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t compare you two. You are definitely very different. Thank you for treating me so kindly.”

“There, now that we have that out of the way—tell me everything there is to know about you.”

“I’m not so exciting. I’m a simple girl who grew up in a simple world.”

“Are your parents from Dallas, too?”

“Yes. Born and bred. They own that small diner I told you about. I help them out sometimes. It’s where I was on Sunday. Sunday is rib day, and it gets hectic. They’re kind of famous in our little neck of the city,” I said proudly.

“I want to try these famous ribs.”

I laughed. “I can’t imagine you eating saucy ribs. It’s a messy business.”

“I love ribs. Believe it or not, I can get messy,” he said with a chuckle.

“Well, one of these days you’ll have to stop by,” I said, not committing to anything. “Tell me about you.”

He leaned toward me. “I think you probably know all the good stuff. I’m a bit of a freeloader. I’m not fond of the family business. I like to think I’m a bit of a free spirit—with clipped wings. I like to go with the flow.”

That made me laugh. His self-description was very accurate. The man struck me as a wild animal straining to get free from his cage. He was the same way in bed, very primal. We talked and laughed as we ate some of the best food I had ever had. I could see why the rich people flocked to this restaurant. It was well worth the high prices.

“Amber, I told you I wanted to run something by you,” he said, his tone serious.

“Why am I suddenly worried?” I said, smiling because I thought he was joking.

He wasn’t smiling. He was serious. Oh shit.

“Okay, here goes nothing. Hear me out before you shut me down. Okay?”

I nodded. “I don’t know if I can promise that.”

“I think we should get engaged,” he blurted out.

My eyes bulged, and I nearly choked on the wine I was drinking. I couldn’t have heard him correctly. That wasn’t something a practical stranger said over a casual dinner. He didn’t pull out a ring. I couldn’t have heard him right. Before I made a complete fool of myself, I needed to make sure I had heard him correctly.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I heard you correctly,” I stammered.

“I said I think we should get engaged. Not real engaged. It would be for show. I only need to convince my family I’m engaged.”

“Why?” I asked, dumbfounded. “You want to lie to your family?”

“I was given an ultimatum. If I can’t prove to my family that I’m settling down, they’re going to cut me off. I don’t want to sound completely shallow, but I like having an income that doesn’t require me to actually go to work. If I tell them I’m getting married, they will see I’m turning over a new leaf. They’ll back off, and I can return to my normal life and you can go back to yours. We’ll have some fun. No harm, no foul. We all come out winners.”

“You want me to pretend to be engaged to you so you can keep your inheritance?” I asked, needing to make sure I was hearing him correctly. “You want to lie to your family, and you want me to help you? Do I have that right?”

“In a nutshell, yes. But it isn’t only me who will benefit. You’ll get to rub it in William’s face. Isn’t that why you slept with me in the first place? Think of the look on his face when he learns we’re engaged. He is going to lose his mind!” he said a little too gleefully.

I blinked. I didn’t know what to say. How did one respond to a fake proposal? There was still a slim chance he was joking. It had to be a joke. He was trying to make me laugh. That had to be it.

“Um, I’m not sure what to say,” I said, struggling to find words.

“Say yes. It doesn’t have to be a long engagement. I need to be fake engaged long enough to prove to my family that I’ve settled down. We can break it off after William’s wedding. They’ll be so wrapped up with William and Tiffany, they won’t even be thinking about me.”

I shook my head. “No, thanks. Is that the right way to turn down your offer to be fake engaged to you?” I said snidely.

“Amber, I didn’t mean to offend you. I thought you would want a way to get back at William.”

I narrowed my gaze at him. “Do you think William will want me if he thinks I’m engaged to you or sleeping with you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not going to settle for one brother because the first one rejected me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Settle?”

“You know what I mean. That’s what it will look like. William is going to think I’m ridiculous. He’s going to think I was after his money. He’ll never want to talk to me again,” I said, barely able to control my voice.

“You still want him?” he asked, his voice full of disbelief.

I felt my face get hot. “No, but what if he wants to talk about maybe getting back together later?”

“You’re ridiculous. I thought you had figured it out. He doesn’t want you. You’re not settling for me. I’m not going to take it personally, but you are seriously insulting me.”

I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to insult you. I don’t want to be real or fake engaged to you. It was one night. That’s it. It was never meant to be anything more than that.”

“I know I’ve caught you off guard. This is all very sudden and unexpected. Take some time to think it over. I can pay you if that’s what you want.”

I closed my eyes, begging for patience. “I don’t want your money. You can’t buy me. I’m ready to go.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll take you home.”

We left the restaurant and silently waited for the valet to bring the car around. The ride home was quiet and awkward. I didn’t know what to say. I was still shocked by his proposal. I realized I was the one who was insulted. He actually thought I would jump at the chance to be fake engaged to him because I wanted revenge.

He pulled up in front of my building, and I quickly jumped out of the car, not waiting for him to open the door for me. I slammed the door behind me.

“Amber, wait,” he called out.

I ignored him and kept walking. I wanted to crawl into bed and forget about the whole night. I knew it had been a mistake to go out with him. I needed to learn to trust my instincts. Harry was as bad as his brother but in different ways.

I was so done with the Martin men. Assholes.