For Better or For Worse (Wedding Vows) Page 3

  It had scared Jason when he was a little boy. But not now. Nothing could scare him now.

  Who was he kidding? He was terrified of losing his support. Truth be told, he hadn’t done enough investing and building up his own portfolio. He was still dependent on his dad. That had to end. Old Mr. Skeleton-head didn’t need to have so much power over him.

  So even if he couldn’t get Diane to marry him, he was going to take all his support for the next few months and put it into things that would bring him income. Though how long it would take to become independent, while not losing his current lavish lifestyle, was yet to be determined.

  Perhaps he would need to cut back for a few months.

  That gave him another round of chills. Diane was right. Change was difficult.

  So, how to get his dad to agree to give them more time? Then, an idea came to him. “I got her to agree to consider it,” Jason said. “That’s more than what you got from her.”

  “Don’t you get sassy with me, young man,” his dad snapped, voice turning shrill. “I’ve given you everything, and you need to be grateful for that.”

  Jason’s stomach clenched. That had blown up in his face. And worse, Dad was right. Jason could have been born a pauper, lived his life from hand to mouth, worn shoes with holes in them. “Dad, I’m sorry. I’m doing the best I can. I just need more time to work with her.”

  His dad’s frown deepened, and the old man walked to the window, connected his fingertips to the glass, then drew his hands downwards with an annoying screech. “All right. You have a month.” His voice was soft, as though he didn’t want to admit he had been wrong.

  “A month?”

  “No more.”

  Careful. He didn’t want to make his dad angry and lose what little he’d gained, but this was impossible. He had to make his dad understand what a daunting task he faced. “How are we going to get to know each other in so short a time?”

  “You think you’re so smart,” the old man said, “you figure it out.”

  CHAPTER 4

  “Highland Park?” Diane bit her lip. That was no place for a student struggling to make ends meet on loans and a part-time, low wage job. You couldn’t find a house in Highland Park for less than a million.

  “I found a great place,” Jason said as he got into the driver’s side of the car. “It’s been for sale for a while now, and so the price is reduced.”

  “Oh. That sounds promising. How much?”

  “Twelve million.”

  Diane choked. “Seriously?”

  Jason pulled the car onto the street and maneuvered through traffic. “You’ll love it.”

  “Sounds like a waste of money.”

  “Worth every penny.”

  She turned to watch the houses flit by, carefully manicured lawns and large old trees. This area, just off Lover’s Lane, had always been way out of her budget. And now, they were entering a neighborhood even more expensive.

  So, did that mean Jason was still a spend-thrift, that he still wanted to live the high life, that money was the most important thing to him? That didn’t bode well for his declaration that he was going to change.

  He was still trying to keep the support he got from his father.

  And so far, she hadn’t been impressed with his attempts at getting to know her. At the restaurant in New York, for heaven’s sake, the most intimate thing he’d asked her was where she lived. And he hadn’t gotten much better since he’d arrived.

  His relationship skills were as shallow as the water level in a dry creek bed.

  No, she chided herself, she couldn’t allow herself to judge him so quickly, with so little evidence. She needed to dig deeper, learn lots more about him.

  “How old was your father when you were born?”

  “Forty.” He shrugged, as if the statement didn’t mean anything. “He’d been so busy making money, he’d never had time for relationships.”

  “And then he met the right one?”

  Jason shrugged. “Who knows? He tells me she was beautiful, but I never heard much else about her.”

  Sounded like his father’s marriage had as little depth as the one he wanted Jason to get into. “Was that hard on you? Having parents who were so much older?”

  He shrugged.

  Of course. How would he know what was hard? To him, his childhood was normal. It would have been the only thing he knew.

  The next question was going to be trickier. From what she had gathered, Carl didn’t have a wife now. “So what happened to your parents? Did they get divorced?”

  “She died.”

  “Oh.” That could explain why Jason seemed only able to have surface relationships with women. He’d never had one with his mother.

  It also probably explained the old man’s bitterness, the deep frown that seemed to remain even when he tried to smile. “That was hard on him?”

  Jason turned a corner, hands relaxed on the steering wheel, expression like he hadn’t a care in the world. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Then he must love you a lot,” she said. “You’re all he has of his dead wife.”

  Another shrug. “Yeah. He’s a very loving father.”

  Diane squinted at him. Something wasn’t adding up here. Jason’s expression was too casual, too unemotional. And his tone contradicted his words. There was a lot more here, but she wasn’t going to learn about it by just asking.

  And the old man’s words came back to her then. “You disgust me.” Not loving, in her book.

  So she asked him a lot of other questions, these less personal, like his educational background (a master’s in business), his religious preferences (none), and his closest friends. That last answer came after a moment of thought, as if he couldn’t remember who they were. Probably he had a lot of people who hung around him because of his money, but relationships? Not so much.

  And she didn’t even want to ask how many women he’d slept with. He probably lost count a long time ago.

  Maybe she should try to dig deeper now. “What kinds of goals do you have?”

  “Goals?” He made a face, like that was a subject he didn’t care for. “Um, you mean besides get you to marry me?”

  “Yes. Besides that.”

  He sat in silence, his brows drawn together in concentration. Damn, what kind of life had he been living, not having any objectives or direction? How dull and ungrounded.

  Perhaps that was why he spent so much effort on all his hedonistic activities. It was all to make up for his lack of purpose.

  “Well, I do expect to inherit a large amount, so what is there left to shoot for?”

  She turned away, now staring at the road. They had nothing in common. She was trying to contribute something to the world, make it a better place. She had goals and dreams and ideas for her future.

  He was only interested in pleasure.

  They arrived at the house. Well, house didn’t accurately describe it. It was more like a sprawling mansion, two stories, stucco exterior with tile roof and as big as a small apartment complex.

  “Jason, this is too much.”

  “Come on,” he said as he jumped out of the car. In a moment he was opening her door and reaching in to take her hand. “We don’t want to be rude to the nice real estate agent who’s come to show us the place.”

  “Right.” She didn’t believe for a second that he was concerned with manners. She put her hand in his, then a tingle of excitement jolted her, the same thing she’d experienced on that yacht so many months ago. It was the first time, since they’d met in his father’s office, that she had allowed him to make physical contact. And it was a mistake.

  After all he’d done, how could her treacherous body want more?

  No, that was a silly question. After all he’d done in bed with her, how could she not want more?

  She was walking in dangerous territory. She needed to be careful, or he was going to suck her in like he’d done the first time.

  Once she was on her feet, she pulle
d her hand away from him. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” There was that easy grin again, that sparkle in his eyes, that evident delight in life. It was so charming.

  Stop it. Stop liking him. This relationship is going nowhere.

  There isn’t even a relationship.

  The real estate agent introduced himself, and shook their hands, while Jason presented her as his wife. She wouldn’t make a big deal about it. She didn’t need to embarrass him. Let him indulge in his wishful thinking. It wouldn’t change anything.

  They followed the agent up the wide walk that spread out like a patio, right in front of the house. Double doors opened into a two-story entryway almost as big as her entire apartment, with tile floors, a gently curving staircase, and a grand piano.

  Hell. It was ostentatiousness incarnate.

  “We can start with the formal dining room,” the agent said. “This way.”

  “How many bedrooms?” Diane asked as she followed the man.

  “Seven.”

  She gulped. “Jason, we don’t need that many…”

  “You do plan to have guests sometimes, don’t you?”

  “Well, I… seven?”

  “And then there’s your bedroom, and the child’s, and mine.”

  She stopped walking. “Excuse me? You plan to move in with me?”

  By now, the agent was in another room, and he stopped, gesturing for them to follow. Best to keep her voice down.

  Jason pressed his lips against her ear. “What better way for us to get to know each other?”

  “Well, I’ve already learned something very important.”

  “Yeah?” He pulled away, grinning.

  “Yes. You seem to think you can make unilateral decisions, without even consulting me.”

  His grin remained for a half a second, then it wilted. “Um, well… this is… I’m consulting you now.”

  “Sure didn’t sound like it.”

  He closed his eyes, smashed his eyelids together, then took a stuttering breath. “I’m sorry. I’m not very good at this. But I can take coaching.”

  “Let’s just see the rest of the house.”

  Relief washed over his face. “Okay. Good.”

  ✽✽✽

  Jason wasn’t used to this. He had never failed to charm the women he was after, never failed to delight them with his quick smile and his concentrated attention. He had always prided himself in being the guy who listened, who didn’t want to spend all day talking about himself, who showed real interest in his quarry.

  Damn it. That was not the way he should be thinking about women. Especially not Diane. She saw through everything. She would know if he was just on the hunt. Not to mention that he really liked her. There was something so genuine about her… he couldn’t exactly put his finger on it, but she was different from the other women he had gone out with. That had to be what had attracted him to her in the first place.

  He had to figure out a way to impress her, and fast. But it seemed he had already exhausted everything in his bag of tricks. What did she want? What did he need to become to win her over?

  And he wanted to win her heart. She was an interesting person, a challenge to be sure, but someone who was going to make a good mother, and an even better lifetime companion. At least that was how it looked at this stage. He’d seen no deal-breakers.

  Except that she didn’t seem to be at all excited about the prospect.

  He had a lot of work to do.

  “The master bedroom,” the agent said, motioning for Diane to step into the room.

  Hell, he had to keep his thoughts under control, or she was going to see what had just occurred to him and run in the other direction. He smiled wanly as he stepped past the agent.

  “It’s huge,” Diane said. “As big as my whole apartment.”

  It was like a fancier version of her apartment, with a large sitting area outfitted with couch and tables and lamps, and a fireplace. And the king-sized bed had another couch tucked up to the foot of the bed. Nice touch. “The only thing missing is a kitchen,” he said with a grin.

  “Jason, we need to look at a smaller place.”

  He walked up behind her and put his hands on her tense shoulders, fingers massaging gently. Her muscles tensed, but then she relaxed under his administrations. “I know you’re not used to this, honey, but it’s no big deal.”

  “Newlyweds?” The agent asked.

  “Very recently,” Jason said, before Diane could get in a word to contradict him. Still, she gave him a quick stink-eye.

  “There are two large closets,” the agent continued, walking toward the bathroom, itself probably as large as Diane’s current bedroom.

  “Are you doing okay?” Jason asked her. “We can stop if you’re not feeling up to it.”

  “No,” she said, but her voice sounded weary. “As long as we’re here, let’s see the rest of it.”

  They continued through the house, and Jason worked to be as considerate as he could. The mansion wasn’t impressing her positively, but maybe his kindness to her would. Maybe he could get her to finally say, “I do.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Diane clutched the hem of her blouse as Jason closed the car door. From where she sat in the low-slung vehicle, she was eye level with his hips as he strode around the front and to his seat. And oh, those were some gorgeous hips.

  Damn it.

  She had to stop thinking like this. She had to resist. Because if she didn’t… well, how bad would it be? He was fantastic in bed their first time. She could have that again, and ironically, without the risk of getting pregnant.

  Don’t be stupid. All kinds of awful things could go wrong. He could turn out to be unfaithful, he could bring home some horrible sexually transmitted disease, or he could decide he was tired of her once he had gotten himself financially able to manage without his father’s payments. She needed to be cautious.

  Her hand automatically went to her belly, to caress the little life that was growing there, that tiny piece of Jason and her, that child conceived in passion and love.

  Oh, God. Love. Was that what she’d just thought? She couldn’t admit that to herself.

  He started the car, then grinned at her. “So, did you like it?”

  Hell. Had he seen her thoughts? Did he realize that she adored the place? “It’s okay.”

  “Okay? Wasn’t that swimming pool amazing?”

  “Some place for a child to drown,” she said. “We’d have to be careful.”

  He stared at her for a moment, his expression befuddled. “So, that’s it? Nothing about it you liked?”

  “I guess the outdoor living room was nice.” She had fallen madly in love with that place, a large open space on the second floor, with a roof overhead and glass walls that would retract into pockets in the neighboring parts of the building. Beautifully furnished, comfortable, ceiling fans whirling to keep the air fresh and cool.

  “Man, you are one hard-to-please woman.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Would you like to look at another house?”

  She stared back at him as he took the dog-leg turn onto Hillcrest avenue toward Mockingbird lane. She didn’t want to see anything else. Nothing could compare. “Well, the closets in the master were pretty nice.”

  He gave her a satisfied smile. “You liked it.”

  “His and hers.” One looked like it was made for a princess, white antiquing and a chandelier, one of dark red wood for a manly dude. “That would make it awkward.”

  He laughed. “Nah. The ‘his’ side would be empty. At least until you deemed otherwise.”

  She tossed him another glance, then moderated her tone, careful not to let him realize how smitten she was. “I assume you’re fond of it.”

  “Quite.”

  “Then go ahead and buy it. But just know, if this thing doesn’t work out, the house is yours. My name doesn’t go on it.”

  “But…” He shook his head. “But I’m getting it for you.”

>   “And if I got saddled with it, not only could I not keep the whole thing clean, but the taxes would bankrupt me.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  Funny how such concerns didn’t even occur to him. How many other things would he be clueless about? They were too different, and they would never be able to make their lives blend together.

  “You aren’t expecting me to keep the whole thing clean, are you?” Hell, the place was so big it was going to need an army of maids and cleaners.

  “First thing we need to hire is a butler,” Jason said.

  “Butler? Jason, I need someone taking care of the home, not answering the door.”

  This time he laughed so hard he threw his head back. “The butler oversees all the other servants. He’ll have a budget, and all the requirements.”

  “Oh.”

  “You won’t have to worry about anything.”

  “Right.” This sounded scarier than everything else. Some other person running her household?

  As if he’d heard her concerns, he said, “That way, you’ll have more time to study.”

  “That would be good.”

  “Now I need to see if I can close on the house soon. Maybe I’ll ask my dad to send us a lump sum so I can pay cash for the place.”

  She swallowed. Cash for a twelve-million-dollar house? And Jason was talking about it like it was pocket change. How much money did this old man have?

  In a few more minutes, they arrived at her apartment, a far cry from the neighborhood they had just left. In fact, it was the pits.

  “Are you going to come in?” she asked as he let her out of the car, then quickly regretted the invitation.

  “I’ll walk you to the door. But I have a lot of work to do to get all this stuff arranged, so I won’t be back until dinnertime.”

  Relief washed over her, followed by gratitude. He’d taken her out to eat for almost every meal since he’d come to town, and she had to admit she didn’t miss all the cooking and clean-up. “Okay, then. Six thirty?”

  “On the dot.” He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, and then he was gone.