The Unknown Billionaire (Captured by Love Book 6) (4 page)

“Don’t you know Marilyn’s phobic of those things?” Jarryd asked, scowling as he noticed Simon’s arms around Marilyn.

Rick’s face fell. “I didn’t know. Sorry, Marilyn. It’s only a toy.”

“Hey, it’s only a toy,” Simon repeated against Marilyn’s hair, rubbing her back soothingly.

Jarryd hated what he was seeing, but he was worried enough about Marilyn not to look away. She seemed to be calming down, her breathing no longer fast and shallow.

He knew just how much mice and rats frightened her. Once, he’d taken her to an old terrace his company was refurbishing, and she’d screamed in terror when two big rodents had run across them in the empty building. It had taken her a while to calm back down.

He totally understood her phobia. In one of her first overseas travels for her charitable works in third-world countries, she’d witnessed several rats gnawing at a dying man’s sore-covered feet. She and the medical team who’d made the trip to the man’s shack had been too late. She’d told him the poor guy had died in front of them a few minutes later.

The event had traumatised her, bringing on her loathing for the vermin, and heightening her passion for charity fundraising.

“I’m okay,” Marilyn said shakily, getting out of Simon’s lap and moving back to her seat. She was flushed, and Jarryd was sure it was both from being scared and from being embarrassed.

He reached out to touch her arm.

Marilyn smiled at him—a sweet, grateful smile that lifted his hopes.

Their eye contact was broken by the other guests rushing to them.

“What happened?” Lexie asked.

Rick told them.

Lexie gasped, giving her husband’s bicep a slap. “She hates mice with a passion.”

“I didn’t know,” Rick said, his tone full of apology.

“No worries, Rick. I’m fine,” Marilyn said with a weak laugh. “Nothing to see here, guys.”

Simon offered Marilyn a glass of water and placed a loose arm around her shoulders.

Jarryd’s jealousy returned with force. There was no way he’d let Marilyn take up Simon’s offer of casual sex. If he had his way, she wouldn’t even be considering it.

He hid a sigh of relief when Simon finally took his arm from around Marilyn. Not about to let an opportunity pass him by, he leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Hey, I was wondering if we can continue the conversation we were having at the patio earlier? There’s more that I wanted to tell you.”

“Oh? I thought we were finished.”

“I wasn’t,” he said softly, pleading to her with his eyes.

“Oka-ay,” Marilyn said slowly. “Shall we go over there, then?” She pointed to the quiet spot where she and Simon had had their earlier chat.

“Actually, I was thinking it might be better if we do it after the party. How about we go to dinner so we can have a proper talk? I can pick you up from your place if you want to go home first, or we can go straight from here.”

Marilyn stared at him and he held his breath. Had he pushed it too far with the dinner thing?

“Okay,” she finally said. “I’d like to go home and get changed first. Pick me up at seven?”

“Yes, perfect.”

He sat back on his chair with a smile. Marilyn wouldn’t be going home with Simon tonight.

And he was having a date with her.

*****

J
arryd rang Marilyn’s doorbell, his heart seeming to race a thousand beats a minute. He was more nervous now than he’d been on their very first date.

He glanced down at the bunch of flowers he was holding, hoping Marilyn wouldn’t find him too presumptuous. But he wanted to be clear that he intended for this to be a romantic date, that he wanted to pick up where they’d left off—if she’d allow it.

The door opened and Marilyn’s mouth hung open as she took in the beautiful bouquet made up of roses, lilies and mini-carnations.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.” She opened the door wider to let him in.

“These are, of course, for you.” He handed her the bunch as he leaned down to kiss her cheek.

“Thank you. Um, unfortunately, we can’t leave yet,” she said in a low voice. “My mum turned up unannounced five minutes ago to talk to me about something. But I told her I’m going out to dinner, so she won’t be staying long.”

Jarryd’s breathing shallowed as he heard footsteps coming from further inside. Last thing he expected was to meet Alice Grant tonight. “How about I come back later? You can call me when you’re ready to go.”

“Oh, no need for that,” a beautiful older woman said, appearing with a friendly smile directed at him. Her gaze flickered to the flowers Marilyn was holding, then back to him. “I’m Alice, Marilyn’s mother,” she said, gesturing for a handshake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Grant,” he said, quick to take the proffered hand of the woman who was a carbon copy of Marilyn, but a few years older. “I’m Jarryd Westbourne.”

“Happy to meet you, Jarryd. I should have called Marilyn before I turned up. I just assumed she wouldn’t be going out tonight after just having been to a pool party. Four of her friends celebrated their pregnancies, and apparently one couple also got engaged today.”

“Jarryd knows, Mum,” Marilyn said with a laugh. “He was at the same party. He’s the newest member of our gang.”

“Oh, I see.” Alice looked pleased. “Well, I won’t stay long. You don’t mind if I finish my drink, do you?”

“Of course not, Mrs. Grant,” he answered, with Marilyn echoing him.

He followed the two women to the back of the house, with Alice commenting on how pretty the flowers were. No doubt Alice was thinking he was wooing Marilyn, if not that he was her boyfriend already.

And Marilyn hadn’t said anything to correct whatever wrong assumption her mother might be making. That was a good sign. A very good sign that excited him. This evening had started off well, especially since Alice seemed to be the friendly, welcoming type.

“Can I get you a drink, Jarryd?” Marilyn asked.

“Are you having anything?”

“I’m having iced tea with Mum.”

“I’ll have the same, thanks.”

Marilyn walked to the inviting kitchen, which was in the same room as the open-plan informal living area they were in.

“So, Jarryd,” Alice said, settling down on a leather chair and motioning for him to take a seat on the couch. “You’re part of that group of friends that include Rick and Lexie?”

“Yes. Lucas was the one who introduced me to the gang. Our friendship developed after I became a client of Bilton Machineries.”

“Oh, what do you do?”

“I run a construction company.”

“Which one?”

“It’s called Westbourne Constructions. It’s still relatively small, so you probably haven’t heard of it.”

Alice nodded her head. “How did you get into that business? And is it what you’ve always wanted to do?”

“I enjoy it enough. I started out as an apprentice carpenter when I was in my teens. Over time, I became a project manager for the company I used to work for. When my boss retired and sold the company, I decided to open my own business. I was lucky to have some of our regular clients follow me.”

Alice asked him a few more questions, including where he lived and how his parents were. He answered them honestly, careful to give only the details that wouldn’t lead to revealing his relationship with Margaret O’Neill and his conflict with Patrick.

“Done with your interrogation, Mum?” Marilyn asked dryly as she rejoined them, handing him a glass of iced tea and sitting beside him.

Alice chuckled. “I just wanted to get to know Jarryd at little bit. But, okay, I’ll take the hint and leave you kids alone so you can go on your date. I’ll have that talk with you some other time, Marilyn. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Sure, Mum.”

Jarryd stood up when Alice got out of her chair.

“I’m so glad to have met you, Jarryd,” Alice said, giving him a kiss goodbye on both cheeks. “I hope to see you again soon. Come with Marilyn to our house sometime.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Mrs. Grant. And, thank you for the invitation. I appreciate it.”

While Marilyn walked her mother to the door, Jarryd stayed behind in the lounge room, feeling quite pleased with himself. He seemed to have gotten Alice Grant’s tick of approval as her daughter’s date, even though the woman had been mistaken about the status of his relationship with Marilyn.

Of course, it wasn’t her mother he was trying to impress. It was Marilyn herself. And he was pleasantly surprised that she still hadn’t tried to correct Alice’s evident assumption that they were going out. Was Marilyn open to getting back together with him too? His heart swelled at the thought.

If only he didn’t need to hide certain things from her, then he’d feel more confident of tonight’s outcome. Hopefully, it would only be a matter of weeks rather than months before the Tramwells accepted Greeves Minerals’ offer for Well of Brilliance. Then he’d be free to talk about Margaret and the unexpected developments in his life.

He filled his lungs with air. Surely, Marilyn would understand why he had to keep things from her?

“
He seems like a nice guy.”

Marilyn sighed, mentally berating herself for not clarifying the situation earlier. “He’s just a friend, Mum, and we’re just going out to dinner.”

Her mother would want nothing more than to find her in a serious relationship. In fact, Alice had tried to set her up with eligible men more times than any other person in the last three years. Marilyn had had to put her foot down and tell her mother to stop or she’d never again take a guy home to meet her parents.

“Just a friend?” Alice said with scepticism as she opened the front door. “Bringing you flowers and not setting me straight when I assumed you’re going out on a date?”

“He was probably just too polite to correct you.”

“I didn’t hear you try to correct me either.”

She blushed. “Anyway, Mum, I can have dinner with you and Dad tomorrow. Then we can talk about what you wanted to talk about.”

Alice grinned. “I see that you like this one a lot. Don’t worry. I won’t be all over him.”

“You’ve already invited him to your house,” Marilyn said with an eye-roll, although she was secretly pleased that her mother approved of Jarryd. That was one less thing she had to worry about
if
she and Jarryd ended up back together.

“Well, I know your friends. If he’s accepted in that circle then I’m sure he’s a good guy. Anyway, your dad and I are not free for dinner tomorrow. How about next Saturday?”

“Okay, then.”

“And why don’t you bring Jarryd along?”

“No,” she said, horrified at the thought. Jarryd would run for the hills. Hadn’t he broken up with her because he wasn’t ready for a relationship? While she’d already guessed that Jarryd meant something romantic with the beautiful bouquet, she wasn’t taking it as a given. For all she knew, Simon’s joking invitation earlier for no-strings sex had encouraged Jarryd to consider the same thing, and that might be all he wanted from her.

“Fine,” Alice said with disappointment. “Next time, maybe.”

“I thought you wanted to talk about business and not socialise with my friends,” Marilyn said dryly.

“Yes,” Alice said in a low voice. “I might as well tell you now so you can start thinking about it. Your dad and I want to make a bid for Well of Brilliance. We only just found out that Lorna and Ben Tramwell are happy to sell. We think this is the right time to diversify further, and Well of Brilliance is the right company. But we want you to be on board.”

“What do you mean?”

“If we’re successful in our bid, then we’re thinking it would be good if you could head Well of Brilliance. We think you’d love it.”

Marilyn stared at her mother.

“We need to make a move soon,” Alice said. “We believe they’re close to considering Greeves Minerals’ offer.”

“Greeves Minerals? Is that why you declined to go on
Biz Q&A
? Doesn’t Patrick now own part of that company?”

“Well, we assume he’s inherited Margaret O’Neill’s shares. But no, we didn’t decline because of that. We just don’t have the time to be on the show. But if you do decide to go on
Biz Q&A
, I agree that you should tell Patrick about Grant Ace bidding for Well of Brilliance. I’m sure Patrick won’t have a problem with it, though. We’re all professionals. Mind you, if we succeed in buying Well of Brilliance, appearing on
Biz Q&A
to announce our new venture would be a great idea.”

“I’ll have to think about it, Mum. I mean, I run my own business—”

“I know, darling,” Alice interrupted with a hand on her arm. “You’re doing very well with it and you have no idea how proud your dad and I are of you. But it’s not as if business brokering is your passion, is it? You only went on your own because you wanted to prove to yourself and to everyone else that you’re just not a pretty face who happens to have us as your parents, right?”

Marilyn’s lips curved in acknowledgement. There had been a time when she had hated working for Grant Ace. She’d felt that their employees, especially the upper-level managers, had never believed her suitable for a management position.

Well, she herself had questioned if she was any good. She knew she’d leapfrogged her way up only because she was the bosses’ daughter. Sure, she was entitled to it. After all, she expected to inherit the company eventually. But she’d constantly wondered if she could go far on her own. So she’d set out to find the answers by distancing herself from her parents, business-wise.

“You’re an asset to any business, Marilyn. Your dad and I would be fools not to try to encourage you to rejoin our management team.”

“Let me think about it, Mum,” she said, even as her heart expanded from her mother’s words.

“Of course. We’ll see you next Saturday for dinner.”

She gave Alice a kiss. “Drive safely and give my love to Dad.”

Alice nodded, waving goodbye, and Marilyn shut the door.

Now she could go back to Jarryd.

She took a deep breath, putting aside her business conversation with her mother to concentrate on the man waiting for her in her living room. She found him sipping on his iced tea, reading a business magazine that she’d left on the coffee table.