The Playboy's Princess (5 page)

Jade was utterly confused. She couldn’t understand what his grandmother’s will, his trust fund, or a run-down house had to do with her. She couldn’t see how she could possibly help him with his situation.

“So, that’s where you come in, Ariel,” he said with a smile.

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

He laughed. “Well, not
you
specifically; any woman could help me. But I’m hoping it will be you who agrees to do it.”

“Go on,” she said, her curiosity piqued.

“If we were to…get married,” he said cautiously, looking at her with a guarded expression, “I would get my trust fund and be financially independent. I would, of course, offer you compensation.”

“You want me to marry you for money?” Jade asked, trying to make sure she understood.

“Well…yeah.” He gave her a sheepish grin.

“How much money are we talking about?” she asked.

“Eighteen million dollars.”

Unfortunately, Jade had taken a mouthful of coffee right at that moment, and she spat it all over him and the table. “I’m so sorry,” she said, mortified.

He mopped the coffee off his shirt while she dabbed the spots off the table.

“Don’t worry about it. My offer to you is a payment of half a million dollars when I receive the fund, which would be our wedding day, and another half million dollars as a settlement on the day our divorce is finalized. In total, you would receive one million dollars.”

She stared at him dumbfounded, and then she blinked her eyes a few times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“You want to give me a
million
dollars for being married to you?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She began to wonder if Clare had set her up on some new reality television show and her face was currently being broadcast to millions of people all over the nation…maybe even the world. Was that guy at the next table wearing a hidden camera in his glasses?

“For a year,” he added. “After that, we go our separate ways and never have to see each other again.”

Jade’s instinct was to stand up, throw her coffee in his face, and walk out, but the empty feeling in her stomach and the knowledge that she would be going home to another cold shower made her stay in her seat.

“We’d have to date for a little while so my family believes we really are a couple,” he continued when she didn’t say anything.

She continued to just stare at him, unsure what to say. There was a part of her that thought this whole idea was crazy, but there was another part, the hungry part, that thought it might be nice to have money to buy groceries and move into a nicer house. And she couldn’t deny how much she would enjoy seeing people’s faces when she said she was getting married.

“What are you thinking?” Drew asked nervously.

“I’m considering what you said.”

They both sat in silence as Jade spun the coffee cup slowly in her hands. After a while, Drew cleared his throat.

“Why don’t I give you some time to think about it? Here is my cell phone number. Give me a call once you’ve made up your mind. The offer is there if you want it.” He grabbed a napkin and wrote a string of numbers on it.

She folded it slowly and placed it in her pocket before standing up and giving him a weak smile.

“Thanks for meeting with me, Ariel,” he said.

“I’ll call you soon,” she replied, half in a daze, and walked back out onto the street.

Drew pressed the button in the keyless entry for his convertible, and the lights flashed once. He settled into the soft leather seats and pulled out into the Hollywood traffic. Jade had not been what he’d expected
at all
. He’d hoped she would be about his age and attractive, that would make the sell to his parents that the marriage was real, but he hadn’t expected to actually like her.

She was beautiful in a unique way. Most of the girls he spent time with wore stylish labels and full makeup. Jade had worn clothes she looked comfortable in, and her hair fell in loose waves down her back. He’d never dated a redhead, but he’d found himself mesmerized by her hair, the way it shone with gold and chocolate streaks, depending on how the light hit it. She’d smelled like raspberries, not French perfume.

He thought back over their conversation as he drove down Santa Monica Boulevard toward Beverly Hills, trying to gauge her reaction. She’d said she would call, but what would she say?

“She’ll say yes,” he said aloud to himself. “She has to. No one would turn down a million dollars.”

A year of her life wasn’t that much to give up, was it? She’d certainly be well compensated for the time. Although she didn’t appear to be someone who was motivated by money. Her clothes had been simple, and he’d never seen her out at the clubs. He knew he would have remembered her.

His cell phone rang just as he pulled up into the driveway.

“What do you want, Tully?” he answered, seeing the name flash on the screen.

“Drew! Come out with us tonight.” She already sounded drunk. Her voice slurred when she said his name.

“Where are you going?”

“Does it matter? I’ll be wearing a very short skirt, just for you.”

Drew groaned. There was nothing worse than when your hook-up wouldn’t take a hint.

“I think I have plans tonight,” he lied.

“What are you? Some old married guy? Man up and come out with us.”

Drew felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. He wasn’t a married man, but he might be soon. This might be one of his last opportunities to go and have fun before he started playing the role of husband, if everything went according to plan.

“All right.”

“Yes!” she hissed, dragging the word out. “We’re at SkyBar.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

He ran up the stairs, waving off his parents’ questions about where he was going in such a rush. After a quick shower and begging Caroline to iron his blue shirt before she went home, he was back in the car, driving to Sunset Boulevard.

Drew knew he looked good. He got his looks from his father and his knowledge of how to dress from his mother. He knew the shirt he wore made his eyes look intensely blue. He knew that rolling the sleeves halfway up his arms made his biceps look more defined under the material. He knew that slicking his hair back made him look more sophisticated. He used all the cards in his deck. Drew was going to have a wild night before it was time for him to settle down.

He knew Jade would say yes to his proposition. She had to.

Chapter Four

The Beginning of Deception

J
ADE
W
AS
S
O
C
ONSUMED
by her thoughts that she drove past her apartment block and had to double back. She didn’t know what she should do. The idea of getting a million dollars for not doing much was appealing, and she was seriously tempted. But there was a part of her that was holding back. Getting married for money just seemed so underhanded and deceitful, and she wasn’t sure if she could do it. Especially after the letter she’d written condemning Drew for his casual approach to finding a bride. It would make her a hypocrite.

As Jade climbed the stairs to her apartment, she tried to put her thoughts into some kind of logical order. She had a good job, and if she kept working hard, she’d be next in line for the promotion from Princess Ariel to Minnie Mouse. Everyone wanted to be the mouse. They were the most trusted character actors and always the most popular with the kids.

Her mind raced as she put in a load of laundry, washed her face, and got into her PJs. She would just convince herself she wasn’t going to accept Drew’s offer, and then her stomach would rumble, she’d remember she’d be having two-minute noodles for dinner again, and she’d reconsider. Then, just when she was satisfied that she could marry Drew and take the money with no regrets, her conscience would kick in, and she’d be back to square one.

She was surviving without that million dollars, and she would continue to be fine. Even if she had to move further out of the city to find a place with cheaper rent. The longer commute would give her time to think about and plan for her future. There was always a silver lining.

With her mind made up, she plopped down onto the couch with a sigh. The spring that’d been threatening to break for the past few weeks used that exact moment to burst out of the thin material lining. With a loud
boing
it flew out of the couch, cutting her thigh with a stinging slice as it went flying across the room.

Jade watched the spring slide across the floor toward the front door and sighed again. The pain from the new cut on her thigh throbbed, her stomach rumbled, and now her couch was broken too. Everything overwhelmed her, and before she could stop herself, she burst into tears. She didn’t know why her life had to be so hard. She worked, she paid her taxes, and all she wanted was a hot shower, a couch that wasn’t poking her with broken springs, and a decent dinner every night. She didn’t think that was too much to ask, but maybe it was.

Drew’s beautiful blue eyes and crooked smile danced before her own watery eyes, and she took a deep breath. She had an easy way out. Suddenly the choice didn’t seem so hard anymore; it was a matter of survival. The survival of her sanity.

She rifled through her bag until her hand clasped her cell phone and the napkin Drew had written his number on. Her fingers fumbled as she tried to dial too quickly, and she had to actually stop herself and take a deep breath before she was able to dial successfully.

The phone rang, and then rang again. After six rings, she was starting to think that he wasn’t going to answer. She was about to hang up when his voice came on the line.

“Hello?”

“Hi…Drew, this is Jade.” Her voice was nervous, but the decision was made.

“That was fast,” he said, sounding shocked.

“Yeah…I was just thinking about it and—” she started before he cut her off.

“Before you turn me down, if it’s a matter of the amount of money, I’m willing to negotiate a higher fee,” he stated.

“No, no…it’s not that. I was actually calling to accept.” She closed her eyes and cringed internally.

“Oh, well, I feel stupid now. You just called so quickly after we’d met, and I assumed that you weren’t interested. So…you accept?”

“I accept.”

“Tim, who’s that guy that fixed our refrigerator?” Pam asked across the dinner table.

“The fridge repairman,” Tim replied as he stuffed more mashed potatoes into his mouth.

“His
name
, jackass,” Pam said, rolling her eyes.

“How am I supposed to know? I looked him up in the phone book and called the number, that’s all,” Tim protested.

“You talked to him the whole time he was working and then had a beer with him afterward,” Pam said, exasperated.

“I don’t remember,” he replied, shaking his head. “I can’t even picture who you’re talking about.”

Clare, Stuart, and Jade all gave each other subtle smiles; they knew what would be coming next. Pam took a deep breath and put her fork down gently.