Calista dropped her jaw in shock. “Excuse me?”
“I said we’ll get married. I’d prefer just a living arrangement because of the legalities, but we can take care of that with a prenup.” He paused, studying her carefully. “Unless you’re adverse to a prenup.”
Her thoughts still spinning as she tried to take it all in, she shook her head. “No, but—”
“Were you planning on a large formal ceremony? I understand women spend their entire lives mentally planning their dream weddings,” he said as if the thought of it seemed insane to him.
“I suppose some do. I’d always thought I would want something small,” she said. Calista had left fairy-tale wedding land shortly after her father’s death. Her primary focus had been on survival, not having a huge society wedding.
“Good,” he said in approval. “Then it’s settled. I can have one of my assistants get together with you to make the arrangements. She knows the dates I’m available.”
She held up her hand. “Wait just a second. You’re moving at warp speed and I’m still trying to catch up. What made you think to get married?”
“I tried to put you out of my mind during the last two weeks. I found I didn’t want to,” he said.
Given the fact that they hadn’t known each other very long, she was surprised at how his words got under her skin. It was a far cry from hearts and flowers. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Yes,” he said.
She bit her lip and couldn’t swallow a chuckle. “You didn’t ask.”
“Will you marry me?” he asked without missing a beat, his dark gaze holding hers.
“This is crazy,” she whispered. Her heart lurched. After all her planning, could she really do this?
“Is that your answer?” he asked.
“No,” she said, her lungs squeezing so tight she couldn’t breathe. It was the best solution for Tina and Tami. His father owed her family for what he had taken from them. It was necessary. “Yes, yes.”
Leo sat on the deck of his lakefront home the night before his wedding and shared Scotch with George. Calista and her family would arrive tomorrow morning via his helicopter. All the arrangements had been made. The only thing Leo had to do was show up at the ceremony tomorrow at noon and make sure not to see Calista before then. She had insisted. Silly superstition, but he would play along for her ease. With each passing day, she had seemed to grow more nervous.George lifted his shot glass in salute. “I never thought I would see the day when you would marry a woman only a month after meeting her. Good luck to ya.”
Leo shot George a sideways glance and lifted his glass. “Thank you. You haven’t said much about my bride-to-be.”
“What’s to say?” George asked. “She’s beautiful.” He shrugged and tossed back the scotch, setting his glass down for a refill. “There’s just something about her.”
“What?” Leo asked, his antennae on alert. George was an excellent judge of character.
George frowned and squinted his eyes. “I can’t put my finger on it. She’s not evil,” he said. “But there’s something going on beneath the surface. The woman’s more complicated than she seems.”
Leo twirled the thought around in his head. “Most intelligent women are complicated.”
“True,” George said, nodding his head. “How’d the prenup go?”
“I insisted she have her attorney look at it. He put in a clause about her getting ten million after six months,” Leo said. “Mine cut it down to two million. Her attorney didn’t like it, but she signed.” He shrugged. “She’s so family-focused that I’m sure this wasn’t her idea. It had to have come from her attorney.”
“You’re sure she doesn’t know your guardian helped bring down her father?” George asked.
“How could she?” Leo asked, the familiar taste of bitterness filling his mouth at the mention of Clyde Hawkins. “It was ten years ago, and I’ve wiped out my association with him. Besides, that was one scheme I didn’t play. I may have been introduced as Clyde’s genius, gifted son, but I didn’t have to do anything but validate Clyde’s super success.”
“Why are you marrying her?” George asked bluntly.
Not many would have the nerve to question his decisions, but he trusted George more than he trusted anyone else. “Besides the fact that I want to have sex with her?”
George chuckled. “Yes.”
“I want the expanding Japanese and Indian markets, and I’m finding that the leaders of the companies I’m negotiating with aren’t comfortable with my single status. I’m competing with other companies for the business. It’s time to get a wife. Calista fits the bill. She’s well educated and beautiful. She’ll be an asset.”
“So this is a business decision?” George asked.
“Mostly,” Leo said. “The timing is good—no long engagement period.”
George clicked his shot glass against his again. “I wish you a happy home then, Leo. After all you’ve been through, you deserve something good. I hope Calista will be good for you.”
Calista practiced yoga breathing as the helicopter descended to Leo’s helipad at the lake. In a matter of hours, she would be married.“Omigod, this is amazing,” Tami said, lifting her cell phone toward the window and taking a picture. “I have to text my boyfriend a photo. Will there be a photographer at the ceremony?”
“Yes,” Calista said, taking another deep breath.
“Are you okay?” Tina asked. “You look whiter than usual.”
“It’s the helicopter,” Calista insisted and forced a smile. “Did you enjoy the ride?”
“It was sweet,” Tina said.
“What about you, Justin?” she asked her nephew.
“Cool,” he said, clearly trying to appear unimpressed but not quite succeeding. “I want one of these when I grow up.”
Sharon laughed. “Keep your grades up and go to college and you may have a shot at it.”
The helicopter landed and several members of Leo’s staff stood to greet them. A man helped her sisters, cousin, her cousin’s husband and son out of the helicopter. Calista found herself pausing before she accepted the assistance of a man to help her step onto the ground. Every passing second drew her closer to the time when she would become Leo Grant’s wife. Her heart raced in fear at the thought, then she looked at her sisters. So young, yet their childhoods had been stolen from them. The least she could do was to give them some security now and a solid start for their adult lives.
“Miss French,” the man said, having been schooled in her appearance. She wondered from where Leo or his assistant had pulled her photograph, then pushed the thought aside.
“Thank you very much,” she said and smiled.
“My name is Henry. I’m in charge of Mr. Grant’s lake home. I have a special suite for you to dress for the ceremony. Mr. Grant has ordered rooms and food for the rest of your family,” he said, guiding her down the walk. “I’m told that the second you are sequestered in your suite, I am to call Mr. Grant. He is in a room facing away from the lake.”
She smiled. So, he had stuck to the agreement not to see her before the wedding. She had to like him for that. Her stomach dipped again. She would need to exhibit far more than like in their wedding bed tonight. She was terrified her true feelings for Leo would show.
Following Henry toward the suite, she heard her sisters gasp in approval as they walked inside Leo’s home. “Sweet,” Tami said. “More pics.”
“I can’t remember being in a house this beautiful,” Tina said, looking around.
Calista felt a twist of regret that she hadn’t been able to provide more for her young sisters after her parents’ deaths.
Her cousin studied her and broke away from her husband to come to Calista’s side. “You need someone to help you get ready,” Sharon insisted.
“I’ll be fine. Just a little repair work on my hair and face, pull up my dress and I’m done,” Calista said, the strange sensation of panic and numbness filling her again.
Sharon frowned. “I’ll hang around anyway. A bride shouldn’t be alone on her wedding day.”
Perhaps her cousin was right. Calista was feeling the unmistakable surge of fight-or-flight syndrome, and at the moment flight seemed most possible.
“This way, ladies,” Henry said, guiding them up a curved stairway. “Jamal will take the rest of you to your rooms. Refreshments will be waiting.”
“Thank goodness, I’m starving,” Justin muttered.
“See you soon, bridie,” Tami said with a broad smile.
“See you soon,” Calista replied with much less enthusiasm.
Sharon helped Calista get dressed and encouraged her to eat. Calista couldn’t swallow a bite. Even though this was the best possible result from her plan, she couldn’t believe it was happening so fast.
“You look dazed and pale, sweetheart. Are you okay?” Sharon asked, her face full of worry.
“Just wedding-day jitters,” Calista said with a smile.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Sharon asked. “You haven’t known Leo very long at all.”
Calista recited her rehearsed response, “When it’s right, it’s right.”
“But still,” Sharon said, frowning.
A knock sounded on the door. “Oh, could you please get that?” she asked, thankful for the interruption. The photographer appeared. “Ready for me to take a few shots?”
“Of course,” she said, smoothing her dress with her hands. “Sharon, come stand here with me.”
Sharon shook her head shyly. “Oh, no. It’s your time to shine. You look beautiful.”
“But I want my close family members with me,” Calista said. “Please get my sisters and bring them here.”