chapter THREE
Danny was right. The safest thing to do was use her time off to get her head straight. Rob had paid for the trip but the tickets were on her credit card. Only she knew the itinerary and with that she planned to disappear for the next few days. She checked into a hotel near the airport, clear on the other side of town from her apartment. She stayed there for two dreadful nights until her flight for Fort Lauderdale was ready. Rob called her cell numerous times. The calls had begun sweet enough. He begged for her to talk to him and let him explain. Then he called just to ramble on about how much he loved her and that Nina meant nothing to him. He broke down in tears on her voice mail, claiming he planned to propose to her on the trip and he and Nina were simply saying goodbye.
When she refused to answer his calls, he became upset. He cursed her and everything under the sun, demanding she call him immediately.
After a call from Mary-Knight asking about some bullshit at the office, Laney happily turned off her phone and swore to never look at it until she returned.
She released a resounding sigh of relief as the plane taxied to the runway and propelled into the sky. During the flight to Florida she had the first sound sleep she"d been able to find in days.
* * * *
Standing in line with her rolling suitcases waiting for check-in, Laney felt a heavy sense of sadness. She was going to spend the next ten days on a romantic boat cruise alone. How pathetic. Perhaps she should have let Danny join her. At least she would have been entertained.
The line moved up and she braced herself to pull her bags, but the stranger in front of her was so absorbed in his cell phone conversation he didn"t step up. She gave him a second to realize that he was holding up the line, but he was too busy staring down at his shoes to pay any attention. She tapped him on the shoulder. He wordlessly held up his index finger, the universal signal that translated to, Whatever I"m doing is more important than you. She huffed as she waited for him to wrap up his conversation.
She fidgeted in her heels. She loved these shoes, they made her calves look firmer than they actually were, but they killed her feet after long periods of time. If this creep in front of her would pay attention she could have a better view of how long the line was, thus how long she would be in pain. She glanced down at her heels again but this time got distracted. The guy in front of her had a great ass. She had never been into white guys but this jerk was actually worth looking at. He wore dark slacks that could only be tailor-made to fit. They cut across his butt and thighs loosely, yet couldn"t hide the muscular body that lay underneath.
“What"s wrong with me?” she muttered. She tapped the guy on the shoulder again, and as before, he waved his index finger.
“I know, Roger,” he was saying, “but come on. I"m dying here. You have to dig up something for me. You have no idea how bad things are here. I"m about to be stranded at sea with no….”
“Excuse me, sir.”
Nicolas Sinclair watched in shock as a delicate caramel-colored hand snatched his phone out of his grasp and snapped it shut in his face. He turned around to confront the woman but was brought up short. She was cute. She was short. She was pissed.
“Look, guy, I"ve tried to be polite, but now I"m just ticked off. If you can"t move up with the line then you need to step aside.”
“Excuse me?” He was amazed at her gumption. She barely reached his chin yet she was breathing fire at him.
“My feet hurt and I"m about one second from walking up and down your ass,” she snapped.
“Look, lady,” he whipped his sunglasses off his face, “Perhaps some other day I might be inclined to put up with this shit but I"ve about had my fill of female hysterics.”
Nick was beyond annoyance. Right now he didn"t care if her boyfriend was a pro-wrestler he was going to put the woman in her place.
He had expected a war on his hands but the woman looked suddenly horrified. She was staring at him in utter shock and he had a strong feeling it had nothing to do with what he had just said. “Well?” he snapped. “You started this.”
“I"m--I"m so sorry, Mr. Sinclair,” she stuttered. “I didn"t see you.”
“I think you saw me just fine ….” He paused. “How do you know my name?”
“I"m Laney Parks.” She looked at him expectantly. “I work for Sinclair Corp.”
He just stared at her.
“I assist Mary-Knight Tyler.”
His mind spun slowly. I"m waiting for my assistant, Laney, to type them up.
She"s going on a cruise to the Caribbean with her boyfriend. It was finally starting to click. This was the assistant Mary-Knight always complained about? The one who was forever messing up her reports and sending out incorrect budget updates?
This was the infamous assistant?
“Sinclair!”
Laney and Nick turned at the same time to see an older man and woman waving to him. Nick had to do a double take. Yes, the man was definitely William Zelman and the woman holding his hand lovingly could only be his wife. Nick again did a double take. He forced his face to not look so obviously dumbfounded. William Zelman was married to a black woman.
Nick looked at Laney Parks and back at the Zelmans. Sliding his sunglasses back on, he slapped a bright smile on his face and waved at William and Vivian Zelman.
“Wave,” he gritted out between his teeth.
“What? Are you talking to me?” Laney looked up at him quizzically.
“Yes. Please wave to that couple.” He turned her around and pointed at the Zelmans.
“Wave.”
Laney shaded her hands over her eyes and spotted the couple. She waved at them and smiled, not quite sure what she was doing, but confident she looked like an idiot.
She was also confident Mr. Sinclair had lost his mind. He placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side.
The older man cupped his hands around his mouth. “Join us for dinner?”
Nick waved. “It would be our pleasure.” He turned to Laney and pulled her bags along the line. “Why haven"t you checked these in?”
“I didn"t know I could.” She grabbed his arm. “What just happened back there?”
“Are you here with someone?”
“Why?”
“What was your name again?”
“Laney Parks,” she repeated.
“Ms. Parks, we need to talk.”
Panic rushed into her voice. “If it"s about that threat I made earlier, I apologize. I had no idea what I was saying.”
He shook his head. “Where is your boyfriend?”
“How do you know I have a boyfriend?”
“Can I get one straight answer out of you?”
“What"s that supposed to mean?”
He sighed. “Ms. Parks, I"m going to ask you a question, and I need you to answer me, okay?
Where is your boyfriend?”
He said the words slowly as if he was talking to a child and Laney instantly took offense.
She placed her hands on her hips. “Where is your girlfriend?”she snapped.
He shook his head and gently took her hands into his, wanting to keep them away from her hips. The last thing he needed was for the Zelmans to see him get into an argument with the woman they assumed was his wife. He pulled her hands up to his chest. Laney tried to pull away but he held strong.
“Ms. Parks, there are people watching us. I need you to listen to me.”
She looked at him cautiously.
“Where is your boyfriend?”
She hesitated before answering, “He"s at home.”
“Are you here alone?”
“Why?”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I"ll explain in a minute.” They were finally at the front of the line.
Nick gave them his ID and waited for her to complete check-in and paid for her bags to be taken away before taking her hand in his and escorting her onto the boat. He was careful to make sure they were long gone before the older couple was even out of half-heartedly as attendants called safety instructions to the passengers. He pulled her none too gently down one corridor after the next until they arrived at a paneled door.
Laney pulled her hand out of his reach. “Mr. Sinclair, I don"t know what you take me for, but I am not that kind of person.” She turned and started walking in the opposite direction. Nick grabbed hold of her hand.
“Ms. Parks, this isn"t what you think. Please just give me five minutes of your time.” He watched her back away from him.
“I promise nothing inappropriate will happen. If it makes you feel more comfortable I will stand on the opposite side of the room.” She eyed him warily. “Please, Ms. Parks.”
Laney had no idea what he was up to but something told her he wouldn"t harm her. She looked at his hand, which encircled her wrist. He immediately dropped it and held his hands out to the side in surrender.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “Five minutes. That"s all.”
He nodded and slid his keycard through the electronic lock. The door opened to reveal a wondrous room filled with lavish fabrics, the intoxicating smell of fresh flowers and a huge bed. Sunlight poured in from the private balcony, kissing the room with its warmth. Laney walked in hesitantly. Nick let her close the door. It took a few minutes but eventually she did so.
She looked around the room in fascination. “I could fit my entire apartment into this suite. This is gorgeous.”
As promised, Nick walked across the room and stood with his arms crossed. “Ms. Parks, I"m in need of your help.” She looked at him but said nothing.
“That man you waved to is a very important business contact. Sinclair Corp has been after his account for years. His name is William Zelman--”
“That was William Zelman of Zelman Productions?”
He lifted his brow. “Yes, it was. I see you"re familiar.” She nodded.
“For years agencies have tried to lure him away from Proctor Marketing but to no avail. It has come to my attention that Zelman is upset with their recently failed soup campaign. This is the prime opportunity to steal him away from Proctor. The only trick is that he is extremely hard to get to and even harder to persuade.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
Nick smiled. “It would seem that Zelman has a soft spot for family-oriented men. I"ve met him several times, and he"s never cared to share a conversation with me until I told him I was married.”
“But you"re not married.” She stated the obvious.
“I know, but Zelman doesn"t know that. At any rate, I arranged to be on this cruise to soften him up a bit to Sinclair Corp services. The problem with my plan is that one of my competitors has the same idea in mind.”
“Let me guess. He"s not married either.”
“You are correct.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I need you to pose as my wife.”
“You can"t be serious.”
“Oh, I"m very serious.” He removed his sunglasses and tossed them on the bed. His blue eyes held her spellbound. Never had she been more captivated by a man"s eyes. She"d been too upset before to pay any attention, but now their intense blue hue stunned her.
“I need you, Ms. Parks. I am willing to compensate you for your services.” She shook her head. “This is absurd. I came here to relax and be alone, not play pretend for my boss.”
“I"ll compensate the price of your tickets and pay you $10,000 just for sticking to the script.”
“Script?”
“You"ll keep his wife busy while I work Zelman over.”
“Keep her busy?”
“Yeah, talk about woman stuff. Go shopping together. That kind of stuff.”
She frowned at him. What he was suggesting was absurd. “I"m sorry, Mr. Sinclair, but I can"t help you.”
“You"re Mary-Knight"s assistant, right? You can"t be making that much. Ten grand is more than you"d earn in two months. I think we can help each other.”
Two months? Try three months. He made a good point. That kind of money could actually pay off one of her credit cards or pay off her car. No!
What he was asking for was wrong. It was a shady way to do business and she was ashamed to know she worked for someone with such low ethics. He must have read her mind because he went for the jugular.
“Look, Ms. Parks, I realize this is going to be a bit difficult for both of us but if we do this right, the payoff will be considerable.” Nick dragged his hand through his hair. “I"ve never been married before so I can"t promise you I"ll know all the answers. All I"m asking--begging--you to do is help me and be damn convincing. William Zelman could quite possibly be my biggest client ever. Landing him as a client will catapult our reputation to a level we have worked years to achieve. I know we can make him happy but he is a hard customer to sell. Everyone has been after him and no one has succeeded. This is my chance, Ms. Parks. This is the single edge I have over my competitors, but I can"t do it without your help.”
“Let me get this straight.” She placed her fists firmly on her hips.
“You want me to charade as your wife just so you can land a business deal?”
“Yes.”
“I guess I shouldn"t wonder why you picked me.”
“If you"re hinting at the fact that you and Zelman"s wife are black, yes, that is why I"m asking you.”
“What did you plan on doing if we hadn"t met in line?”
He shrugged. “I honestly don"t know.”
“Exactly what would you expect me to do?”
“Everything.”
“What?”
“Not everything--so to speak. Only in public. I need you to be persuasive.”
“How persuasive?”
“Very.” His eyes narrowed in seriousness. “I can"t allow Zelman to have a shred of doubt that we"re not married.”
“Where would I sleep?”
“In my bed.”
“And you?”
“I"ll figure that out later. I"ll sleep on the couch if I must.”
“You don"t think this is just a bit too much? Can"t you just mail him a sales packet or something?”
“Look, Ms. Parks, nothing will stand in my way to get this account.”
His voice turned callously cold. “I"m offering you a hefty fee and a free cruise in exchange for your posing as my wife. If you can"t do it, then tell me now so I can get someone else.”
She huffed. “You know in the three years I have worked at Sinclair Corp you have never spoken to me. I bet if I hadn"t mentioned I worked for you today you wouldn"t even know I"m alive. And now you lay all your issues at my feet and expect me to accept your offer because you"re my boss?”
“Yes or no.”
“My opinion may not have been very high of you before but this falls off the scale.”
“Is that a no?”
“If I say no, is my job in jeopardy?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“If I can successfully land Zelman without your help.”
Sure, she could sue him to keep her job, but who would want to work with a woman everyone knew sued the boss? She would definitely not be a popular person among her peers. If Mr. Sinclair didn"t outright fire her, Mary-Knight would find a reason to gain points in her favor. Laney rubbed her temples. How did she manage to keep getting herself into these ridiculously insane situations? Karma was a bitch! She"d worked three grueling years under that horrid Mary-Knight Tyler and depending on the answer she gave Mr. Sinclair right now it could all go down the drain.
She looked at him. He wasn"t a bad looking man. Correction, he was handsome. Very handsome--lean in build, with broad shoulders and possessing those slender hips that all men envied. A swimmer"s body, only to be upstaged by a strong jaw, straight nose and amazing bright blue eyes.
His looks alone were reason to make her say no. Nothing good would come out of being stranded on a luxury boat playing “house” with her handsome boss.
“I"m waiting, Ms. Parks.”
She pulled her gaze away from his body long enough to think straight.
“I understand your predicament, but I need some sort of incentive.”
“I"m paying you ten grand. What more could you ask?”
“You and I both know that is pennies for you.”
“You want more?” His anger built. “If you"re trying to hustle me, then get it over with.”
“Let"s get one thing straight, Mr. Sinclair, you are the only hustler in this room.
You"re hustling me and the Zelmans.”
“Get to the point.”
“I want a promotion.”
“To what?”
“VP of Art Direction.”
“That"s Mary-Knight"s position.”
“I know.”
He thought for a second then nodded. “Fine.”
“Really?” Her request had been so outrageous she was convinced she had provoked him to fire her on the spot. “That"s it?” Surely he wouldn"t honor her demand.
“Yes, are we agreed?”
“You promise to give me the promotion?” she clarified.
“Only if I get Zelman"s account. That means you will have to be very convincing, Ms. Parks.”
She wasn"t quite sure she liked the tone of his voice, but she nodded her agreement.
“Then it"s done. We have some work to do. I"ll call housekeeping to bring your bags to my room.”
“So what do you need me to do?”
“You"re coming with me.”
“Where?”
“Shopping.”
“For what?”
“A ring.”
“Oh.”
“And first things first.”
“Yes?”
“Call me Nick.”
She nodded. “I"m Laney.”