His marriage demand, p.2
His Marriage Demand, page 2
“It’s good to be back,” Gage said. And it was. It had been well over a decade since he’d lived in Texas. After finishing college at the University of Texas at Austin, he’d gone on to New York and then overseas to make his fortune. Now that he was a successful man in his own right, he’d come back to his hometown to settle down and take care of his mother. Though he doubted Grace Campbell felt she needed taking care of. Although she’d retired a few years ago, his mother was active and traveled the world with her circle of friends. She deserved it after all the hard work she’d endured to ensure he’d had a future.
“What’re your plans now that you’re here?” Theo inquired.
Gage sat back in his seat and regarded his friend. “Settle in, find a nice home and a good woman and have some babies.”
“Oh, really?” Theo raised an eyebrow. “Since when? I thought you were a die-hard bachelor.”
“I was. Hell, I still am,” Gage replied. “I’m still indulging until I find Mrs. Campbell.”
“Look out, women of Austin!” Theo laughed and drank his brandy.
“There’s only one woman who should ever fear me,” Gage said, a serious tone to his voice.
“Let me guess. Fallon Stewart? I would think after all this time and your success, you would have forgotten the mistakes made by a young, naïve girl.”
“She wasn’t so naïve if she had the audacity to show up to my house half naked,” Gage responded. He’d never forgotten how stunned he’d been after having a few beers at the bar only to come home to find Fallon in his bed.
“She was sixteen with a crush on you,” Theo said. “She was feeling herself, but then her parents caught her. She got scared and lied about what happened.”
“Her lies cost my mother her job. And without references from the Stewarts, Mama couldn’t find work. It took her months to recover, especially since the Stewarts were paying her minimum wage to work day and night.”
“Well, she recovered and so have you. I mean look at you.” Theo motioned to him. “You’re the wizard of Wall Street. I’d say you’ve done well.”
“No thanks to the Stewarts.”
Theo sighed. “Then you’ll probably be glad to hear this. The rumor is that Stewart Technologies is leveraged to the max. No bank will loan them money and they’ve run out of options.”
“Serves Henry right,” Gage responded. “Though I have to wonder what happened. I thought he had a good head on his shoulders. I even looked up to him once upon a time, admired him when he took me under his wing.”
“Henry Stewart isn’t running the show.”
A knot formed in Gage’s stomach. He didn’t need Theo to say his next words; he already knew. “Fallon’s in charge.”
“She’s been looking for a handout from anyone she can and has come up empty.”
“Is that so?” Gage rubbed his jaw. Fallon Stewart had been taken down a peg and was essentially on the street begging for scraps. Now, if that wasn’t karma, he didn’t know what was.
“Could be a good time to go in with a consortium and pick up the pieces,” Theo stated. “Think about it.”
The two men parted right after lunch, but Gage didn’t return home to his penthouse at the Austonian in downtown Austin until late evening. It was a temporary oasis with all the modern conveniences a bachelor required. There was a large television with a surround-sound system, an enormous master suite with a king-size bed and a luxurious master bath with room for more than one occupant in the hot tub and massive steam shower.
He went to the wet bar, opened the snifter of brandy and poured himself a glass. He swirled the alcohol around and took a generous, satisfying sip. Sliding the pocket door to his balcony aside, he opened the living room to the oversize terrace with its panoramic views. Austin’s city lights twinkled in the distance, but Gage didn’t see them. All he saw was a beautiful teenager, wearing the sexiest teddy he’d ever laid eyes on, in his bed. Gage gritted his teeth and forced himself to remember that night. He hadn’t just been angry when he’d found Fallon in his bed. He’d been intrigued.
Fallon had been everything he wasn’t. Spoiled. Rich. Entitled. She’d had more money than she’d known what to do with, ponies and cars, while he’d worked two jobs. He hadn’t wanted to want her, but he had. He’d seen the coy looks Fallon had given him when she’d thought he wasn’t looking, but she’d been sixteen. Jailbait. Gage had been determined to steer clear, but she’d poked the bear and Gage had hauled her against him and kissed her.
If her parents had found them any later, the result might have been him being led off in handcuffs. Instead he and his mother had been shown the door. But now things had changed. He held all the cards and Fallon was on the bottom. He was no longer at the mercy of the Stewarts and whatever scraps they doled out to him. Gage relished how the tables had turned.
* * *
Fallon arrived at the Stewart Technologies’ offices the next morning feeling out of sorts. She hadn’t slept well the night before. She’d been thinking about her lack of a love life. It had been ages since she’d been on a proper date, let alone had a steady boyfriend.
She tried to focus on the day ahead. There were several meetings scheduled, including a negotiation to sell off one of the company’s long-held nanotech patents. Fallon didn’t want to do it—it was one of her father’s significant achievements—but she was running out of options. The cash influx would stave off the bank and ensure thousands of employees kept their jobs.
The morning flew by quickly with Fallon only stopping long enough to eat a quick salad her assistant, Chelsea, had fetched from the deli downstairs.
Fallon was poring over financials when a knock sounded on the door. “Not now, Chelsea, I’m in the middle of something,” she said without looking up.
“You don’t have time for an old friend?”
Fallon’s heart slowed at first and she closed her eyes, leaning back in her leather executive chair. Surely, it couldn’t be. Perhaps she was imagining things, conjuring up the past. Because she hadn’t heard that deep masculine voice in over sixteen years. Inhaling deeply, she snuck a glance at the man standing in the doorway of her office and was bowled over.
It was none other than Gage Campbell.
How? Why was he here at her office? A morass of feelings engulfed her and she tingled from head to toe. The last time she’d seen Gage there had been nothing but hatred in his eyes, not the amused expression he now wore. Fallon reminded herself to breathe in then breathe out.
Calm yourself. Don’t let him see he’s affected you.
So instead she took the offensive. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Two
“Hello to you, too, Fallon.” Gage closed the door behind him and strode toward her desk.
Fallon regarded him from where she sat. Her blood pumped faster as she took in the sight of him. Time had been very good to Gage Campbell. Immaculate and imposingly masculine, he was utterly breathtaking. With his neatly cropped hair, warm caramel-toned skin, thick, juicy lips, bushy eyebrows and those brandy-colored eyes framed by black lashes that always drew her to them, he was impossible to ignore.
He was even sexier than the last time she’d seen him especially with those broodingly intense eyes. He reeked of money and looked as if he was born to wear the bespoke three-piece designer suit, cream shirt with striped tie and polished designer shoes. Fallon knew he hadn’t always been this way. The Gage of yesteryear was happier in faded jeans and a wife-beater mucking out stables. The man in front of her was far removed from those days. He stood confident and self-assured.
“I hope I pass the mustard,” Gage said after her long perusal.
Fallon blushed at having been caught openly staring and glanced up to find Gage’s eyes trained on her. She blinked to refocus. “My apologies. I’m just surprised to see you after all this time.”
“I’m sure,” Gage responded as he unbuttoned several buttons on his jacket before sitting across from her. Fallon remembered how impossible it had always been to resist those dangerous gleaming eyes of his and today was no different. He looked intriguing, like a total enigma. “It’s been what—sixteen years since we last saw each other? You’re all grown up.” He dropped his gaze and used the opportunity to give her a searing once-over.
Fallon was in her usual work mode. Her naturally wavy hair had been tamed with a flat iron until it lay in straight layers down her back while her makeup was simple: coal eyeliner, mascara, blush and lipstick. Having been blessed with her mother’s smooth café-au-lait skin, she required little makeup. And although she was no clothesmonger like Nora, Fallon always managed to be fashionable. She was sporting linen trousers with a sleeveless silk top. She’d abandoned the matching jacket earlier in the day. She wondered what Gage thought of her.
“Oh, yes, you’ve definitely matured since I last saw you.”
Fallon noticed his eyes creased at the corners when he spoke. The sly devil was actually staring right at her breasts and she felt her nipples pucker to attention in her blouse. Immediately she rose. “What can I do for you, Gage? I’m sure you didn’t come here for a walk down memory lane.”
His eyes narrowed and she could see she’d touched a nerve. “Now that wouldn’t be pleasant for either of us, would it?”
Fallon flushed. She’d never forgiven herself for the horrible action she’d taken that had caused his mother to lose her job. She wanted—no, she needed to apologize. “Gage, I’m—”
He interrupted her. “I’m here because Stewart Technologies is in financial trouble and I thought I could help.”
Her brow furrowed. “And why would you want to do that?”
Gage laughed without humor. “Is that any way to treat a potential investor? Or don’t you need an influx of capital to save your father’s company?”
“My company now.”
“I stand corrected.” He inclined his head. “I thought perhaps we could discuss the matter over dinner. My afternoon is rather full and I barely managed to squeeze in this reunion.”
“Dinner?” she choked out as she looked at him in bewilderment. Why would he want to break bread with her after their checkered past?
He tilted his head to one side and watched her, waiting for her to speak. “It’s the meal commonly eaten after lunch. Or do you have a problem being seen with the former maid’s son?”
Fallon looked him directly in his eyes and replied coolly, “Of course not. I’m not a snob.”
“Really?”
“You sound surprised.”
“If I recall, back in the day you wouldn’t be caught dead with me except in the stables or when we were alone.”
“That’s not true.” She felt the flush rise to her cheeks at the memory. “I didn’t want us to be disturbed. If my mother found out, she would have forbidden it because...”
“Because I wasn’t good enough for you.” Gage finished the sentence.
Fallon lowered her head. He was right. It’s what Nora had thought. But never Fallon. She’d been too much in love with Gage to see his class or station in life. Agreeing to dinner would show him he was wrong about her and that they were equals. It would also enlighten her as to his true motives.
Several seconds passed and she glanced up to find he’d leaned closer toward her. “Shall I pick you up?”
Fallon shook her head. “No, that’s not necessary. I can meet you wherever you like.”
“Still not wanting to be seen with me, eh?” Gage uncoiled his tall length, stood and rebuttoned his jacket. A deep chuckle escaped his lips as he made his way to the door. “I’ll meet you at the Driskill Grill at seven.”
And then he was gone, leaving Fallon to stare at the door. What was his real agenda?
* * *
Irritation fueled Gage as he headed for the elevator. He was offering Fallon a lifeline and she refused to even allow him to pick her up for dinner! Her arrogance irked him, but so did her beauty. He’d hoped to find a spoiled, selfish shell of a woman, but instead he’d found a stunning and fierce ice princess. Fallon Stewart wasn’t the young teenager he remembered. She was a woman. And it angered him that he still found her so...so damned attractive.
When he’d walked through the door and seen her, blood had stirred in his veins and his belly had clenched instantly. He’d wanted to touch her. To refamiliarize himself with her exquisitely soft skin. To crush those sinfully pink-tinted lips underneath his and lose himself. But Fallon had cast her eyes down and acted as if she was unaffected by him.
But the willful sexy teenager who’d come to his bed in the middle of the night wearing nothing but a teddy was still there. Gage was certain he’d seen a spark flare when her eyes traveled the length of him. Now they were both grown and consenting adults, and it was time they finished what they’d started sixteen years ago.
Resolve formed deep in the pit of his stomach. A twist of circumstances had turned the tables and the Stewarts were no longer on top and in a position of power. Gage was. Fallon was exposed, vulnerable and his for the taking. Last night he’d come up with a plan for revenge to finally get back at Fallon and the Stewarts for their treatment of him and his mother.
Stewart Technologies needed cash and Gage was the money man. He not only had loads of it himself, he knew how and where to acquire more. He would convince Fallon bygones were bygones and help the company with an influx of cash. Meanwhile he’d secretly purchase stocks until eventually he owned the lion’s share and could take it away from them. The best part in this entire scenario was the chance to bed Fallon, the overindulged princess.
Today when he’d seen her, something indefinable had happened. It was as if the years had melted away. Gage had been hit in the gut with the incredible need to possess her. He didn’t want any other man to have her, at least not until he’d had his fill.
When he exited the building and slid into the Bugatti waiting for him at the curb, a new idea began to form in Gage’s mind.
What if he married Fallon! For his help in saving the company, he would become a member of the acclaimed Stewart family and finally not only have Fallon in his bed, but have the prestige he’d always wanted. Because, try as he might, no matter how much money he made, there was a certain echelon of society that still saw him as the maid’s son. Wouldn’t it get their goat to have him rubbing elbows with the lot of them? To show them he wasn’t just the underprivileged kid-made-good? It was a brilliant strategy.
Fallon had no idea what was in store for her tonight.
As he started the engine, Gage’s cellphone rang. The display read Mom. “Hey, Mama. How are you?”
“I’d be doing a lot better if you came to see me. You’ve been back for a while and I’ve yet to see you.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been a little busy, and you were away on one of your trips. But I’ll visit this weekend.”
“Good. It’s good to have you back in Austin. It’s been much too long.”
“Yes, it has.” He hadn’t been home since he’d finished college and they both knew why. The Stewarts. Gage hadn’t thought he’d get a fair break in a town where Henry Stewart had so much power. But the tide had changed, providing Gage the opportunity to put a plan in place to give the Stewarts the comeuppance they so richly deserved.
* * *
Fallon didn’t have time to go home and change if she was going to be on time for dinner with Gage. A departmental meeting ended later than she’d anticipated, leaving her precious little time to shower in the private bathroom in her office and change into one of several dresses she kept on hand for such occasions. She chose a beaded champagne cocktail dress that accentuated her curves. Refreshing her makeup, she added a touch of blush to her cheekbones to go along with the mascara, eyeliner and pale pink lipstick.
Glancing at herself in the mirror, Fallon felt armed and ready for a night in Gage’s company. And she felt like she needed every bit of armor for this unexpected invitation.
Throughout the remainder of the afternoon, Fallon had wondered why Gage wanted to help her family. She’d come up with only one reason: comeuppance. After the way he’d been treated by the Stewarts, he wanted to be the one to come in on the white horse and save the day. Him, the man her father had thrown out of the house because he’d dared to touch his daughter. Gage wanted them to owe him.
Fallon didn’t much blame him.
Gage had every right to be angry over how he and his mother had been treated. But now the shoe was on the other foot. The Stewarts were the laughingstock of the business community, turned down by every bank in town because of her father’s poor decisions and financial mismanagement. Fallon hoped seeing how far they’d fallen from grace would be enough to salve Gage’s wounds.
She made it to the restaurant at seven o’clock on the nose.
The hostess led her to a secluded corner booth where Gage was already seated, wearing a fine, tailored suit. Had he booked this? Did he intend for it to be as romantic as it looked? A dark, quiet corner with a table for two?
He stood when she approached. “Fallon, you’re looking lovely this evening.” She was stunned when he kissed her on the cheek before she slid into the booth.
“Uh, thank you,” she returned, her pulse thumping erratically from the contact of his lips.
“I took the liberty of ordering wine,” Gage said, pinning her with his razor-sharp gaze. “A Montoya Cabernet. I hope that’s all right?”
She nodded, somewhat amazed at how at ease he was in a restaurant of such wealth and sophistication. He poured her a glass. She accepted and tipped her glass to his when he held it up for a toast.
“And what are we toasting?” she asked.
