A Gentleman’s Offer (13 page)

Nate thought it best not to reply.

“I pay very well.”

“I’m happy where I am.”

She moved closer. “You could always be happier.”

“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

She touched his face, then his leg. “Yes, do.”

“There you are,” Cathleen said. “Yvette needs you.”

“Excuse me.” Nate rushed over to her, relieved. “Where is she?”

Cathleen motioned to a small enclosure. “I don’t know. I just thought you needed a little help.” She nodded toward Ellen. “I see you’re still getting into trouble.”

He shoved his hands in his pocket, thankful for the rescue. “It’s not my fault.”

“Yes, women can’t help but find you irresistible. But you care for only one.”

“Don’t speak in code.”

“I don’t think I need to speak at all.”

“Good.” He began to walk away.

“Are you going to look for her?”

“No.” He was tired of looking for her. Of seeing her and having her out of reach. He couldn’t make the evening become something that it wasn’t meant to be, just like he couldn’t change fate. “I’m going for a walk.”

On the drive home, both Yvette and Nate let Lewis do all the talking. They said their goodbyes to him in the parking lot, then Lewis drove away and Nate and Yvette returned to the apartment. James eagerly greeted their return while King and Queen briefly brushed against them, then returned to their comfortable positions on the rug.

Nate watched Yvette sit on the couch ignoring James’s request to be petted. “It was a perfect evening and you were a tremendous success. Why are you so quiet?”

She stared out the window. “I guess the finality of all this is hitting me. Tomorrow we go our separate ways.”

Nate sat on the other end of the couch. “We knew this was only for a time,” he said in a quiet voice.

Yvette folded her arms. He was right. Unfortunately his words didn’t stop her heart from breaking. “Yes.”

“My life is back East.”

She gave a brief nod. “I know.”

“You’ve made great connections and have plenty of money left. You can still shop and travel—”

“It’s not enough,” she said in a flat tone.

“What do you mean it’s not enough? I’ve given you everything you’ve ever wanted. We had an agreement and I—”

Yvette jumped to her feet and shouted at him. “I know all that! I know about our damn agreement. I know I have the clothes and the connections and the money I’ve always wanted, but it doesn’t matter right now because I love you and I can’t stop you from leaving me.” She spun away, not wanting him to see her flow of tears.

“Yes, you can.”

She paused, but did not turn. “What?”

Yvette heard him get up from the couch and briefly closed her eyes as his footsteps grew near. Then she felt his hands on her shoulders. She kept her gaze to the floor when he turned her to face him. “Yvette,” he said softly like a caress.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to hear you say you can stay another week or another month because it won’t be enough.”

“I know.”

She gazed up at him startled. “You do?”

“Yes.” His words were barely a whisper. “Will you marry me?”

She backed away from him, certain she’d misunderstood. “Is this some sort of joke?”

“No. Please don’t look at me like that. I wouldn’t tease you this way.”

“But I don’t understand.”

He took a deep, steadying breath, but when he spoke the strength of his emotions made his voice shake. “You’ve captured my heart and I’ve never been happier in my life. I wasn’t sure what my future would be until I met you. Money didn’t change you. I was afraid that it would, but it didn’t. I’ve learned that not everyone can be corrupted by wealth, and that living in the moment is a gift. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. All that’s mine will be yours. You allowed me to take care of you for one month. Now I want to take care of you for the rest of my life. What do you say?”

Yvette clasped her hands together, but it didn’t stop her from trembling. It wasn’t his words that held her entranced; it was his face. She thought she had seen all the expressions that could cross his face, but she had never seen this one. She recognized the emotion that caused it—fear. He had never faced failure before and she had power over him. The power to say “no.” She knew he didn’t give his power away lightly. “You love me?”

He nodded.

She fell on the couch and burst into tears.

He stared at her helpless. “Yvette?”

“It’s too much to believe. I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

“But it’s real. Please don’t make me wait for an answer.”

She leaped to her feet and threw her arms around him. “The answer is yes.” She kissed him and he kissed her back and soon King and Queen had to make room for them on the rug. Yvette stopped before they went too far.

“We could break something,” she said, zipping up her dress.

He unzipped it again. “My sister will forgive me.”

She began to stand. “We can finish in the bedroom.”

He pulled her down. “I want to finish here.”

“No.”

“Is this how you’re going to treat me
after
we’re married?”

“After we’re married we’ll have our own place and I won’t care where we make love, but I don’t want to do it here.”

She tried to stand again, but he locked his arm around her waist. “There’s just one thing.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to tell anyone until after we’re married. We’ll have to do a quick, quiet ceremony.”

“Why? Are you ashamed to introduce me to your family?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not that. It would just be better for me this way. We can have a big ceremony later, but for now I just want us and a justice of the peace. We can have our honeymoon in Paris and travel to all the countries you’ve ever wanted to see.”

She hesitated.

“Trust me. Let me take care of everything. You trusted me before. We can get a license, then fly to Vegas and get married by next week. Please? I won’t ask you for anything more after this.”

“Okay,” she said with some reluctance. “If it means that much to you. But can I at least tell my two friends Lewis and Madlyn?”

He thought a moment. “Sure. What could go wrong?”

C
athleen stared at Lewis, stunned, as they sat in her favorite restaurant. “Get married?”

“Sure, why not?”

“But we’ve only known each other a few weeks.”

“But I feel like I’ve known you my whole life. Don’t you feel it, too?”

“Yes, but—”

“I know it seems a little crazy, but we wouldn’t be the only ones. Yvette and Nate are getting married.”

“What!”

“Yes, she just told me yesterday.” He put a finger to his lips. “But it’s supposed to be a secret so don’t tell anyone.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“So do you want to get married?”

She wrung her hands. “I…don’t know.”

“I thought you loved me.”

“I do love you, but—”

“And with me as your husband you won’t be pushed around by your mother anymore. Don’t you want to live in your own house and come and go as you want and do what you want?”

“Yes.”

“Then marry me.” He held both of her hands in his.

Cathleen looked down at his hands, her mind racing. He treated her so well and no other man had ever paid attention to her like he had. Well, one had, but not like this. “All right.”

Lewis would have jumped for joy if he could have, but instead he squeezed her hands tighter. “You won’t regret it. I think we should elope, that way no one can stand in our way.”

“Elope?”

“Yes. This weekend. Pack your things and meet me here.” He bent over and kissed her. “I love you so much and now we can be together forever.”

Lewis continued talking about his plans for them, but Cathleen wasn’t listening. Although she looked forward to a life filled with her own happiness all she could think about was Nate’s decision and why he’d kept it a secret from her. At home she called him, requesting they meet.

She selected a jazz club where no one could see them. When Nate saw her he smiled and took a seat. “This isn’t like you. Why did you want to see me so urgently?”

“I’m getting married.”

His expression changed. “To whom? Lewis? Isn’t that rather sudden?”

She raised her brows. “No more sudden than your marriage to Yvette.”

He swore.

“Lewis told me. My question is why didn’t you?”

“You know why. You’ll tell Aunt Penny, she’ll tell Dad, Dad will tell Kim and before you know it you will all try to talk me out of it.”

“We care about you. We want to see you happy.”

“I am happy.”

“Have you told Yvette—”

“No, but I’m going to. I promise.”

“This isn’t fair to her.”

“Look, she’ll understand when I explain it to her, but I want to explain it in my own way.”

“After you’re married?”

“Yes.”

Cathleen shook her head. “That’s not right.”

“She’s not like the rest of you. She’ll understand.” He stood.

“So you’ve made your decision.”

“Yes, and it’s final.”

Nate didn’t return home immediately. Instead he walked the night streets trying to get his thoughts in order. He knew that Cathleen didn’t understand, nobody did and he didn’t want to try to make them. This was what he wanted and he wouldn’t let anyone or anything stand in his way. He only had a few more days and then everything would be final. He and Yvette would be married, then off to Paris away from his family and anyone who would try to interfere.

When he finally reached home, he saw Yvette wiping James’s face with a towel. “Did he get into our dinner or something?”

“No, I’m just wiping his eyes. You have to do this often with this breed because they are prone to eye troubles. Where were you?”

He patted both King and Queen, who came up to greet him then went into the kitchen. “Cathleen told me she’s getting married.”

“What?” Yvette followed him into the kitchen with James close behind. “To Lewis?”

Nate poured himself a drink. “Yes, she said he got the idea from us.”

“Us?” Yvette thought for a moment then covered her eyes and groaned. “Oh, no.”

“That’s why I didn’t want you to tell anyone.”

“But Lewis never seemed like the marrying type.”

Nate swallowed his drink then set the glass in the sink. “The fact is he told her about us. She can keep it a secret for a while, but not for too long. We’ll leave for Vegas Friday instead of Saturday.”

Yvette shrugged. “Okay. Are you worried about her?”

He left the kitchen and sat on the arm of the couch. “No, she seems to know what she’s doing.”

“I wonder if Lewis does.”

“If they want to get married, we can’t stop them. We’re certainly not the ones to tell them not to. They’re two adults.”

Yvette dropped on the couch. “Yes.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“It’s just that Lewis has never thought or even talked about marriage before.”

Nate smiled. “Neither did I. If you had met me a few months ago you wouldn’t believe me right now.” He slid down beside her. “In a few days you’re going to be Mrs. Nate Blackwell and then we’ll be on our way to Paris.”

A couple days later as they sat on the balcony, Yvette could feel nothing but happiness. Yesterday she and Nate had gone to Belle Isle. They had spent the day playing with the dogs and he had sketched them and her; she had made him a cherry pie. The day before that they’d visited the lakeshore and enjoyed the miles of beach and now they sat together quiet in each other’s company knowing there would be more days, no, years, like this.

“Diana will be returning soon,” Nate said. “We can’t stay here.”

“You can slum it for a while at my place.”

“Maybe, or I’ll set us up in a hotel while we look for a place.”

“You’ll move to Michigan?”

“Sure. You want to stay, right?”

“Yes, but isn’t your business and everything back East?”

“It will survive without me. Don’t worry, the money won’t run out.”

She hated when he talked about money that way. “That’s not what I meant. I mean you have an entire life back there. You can’t just pick up and move. Won’t you miss it?”

“Not really. I can always visit. My life is here now, with you. You can still run Le Chic Hounds and get involved with other charities.”

“It just seems like you’re giving up a lot.”

“No. I came here to make a decision about whether I’d go back or not and I’ve made it. My life is here.”

“Okay,” she said, unsure.

“You just have to tell me where you want to live. I’d like something by the water.”

“Me, too.” He looked so excited she felt guilty for the niggling worry gnawing at her. She didn’t like how quickly he was cutting himself off from his past. Why didn’t he want anyone to know about them? Why did he want to get married so quickly? What was he running away from?

Two days later, Yvette continued to ponder these questions. She sat in Le Chic Hounds helping Madlyn with inventory when Estelle came in with Lucy.

“Hello, Estelle!” Madlyn said. She whispered to Yvette, “She comes in almost every week and spends.”

“Your favorite type of customer.”

“You better believe it.”

Estelle walked up to them. “Ooh, that looks interesting.”

“It’s a new line of bowls.” Madlyn went on to describe their special features while Yvette stacked them.

“It sounds just perfect for my Lucy. I would like one, please.”

Madlyn dashed over to the cash register. “I’ll ring you right up.”

Estelle stayed with Yvette. “You know you’re always welcome to attend our weekly meetings.”

“Thank you.”

“I know you don’t really need us. You have a full life. With your business and fabulous valet,” she said with a teasing grin. “I saw that you met Marshall Post. Did you get a new puppy?”

“What?”

“At the Care for Animals charity. I saw you with Marshall.”

“You must be mistaken. I didn’t get to meet him.”

“Yes, you did. You were sitting right next to him almost all evening.”

Fear twisted her heart. “Lewis?”

“I don’t know what name he used with you, but that was definitely him. I never forget a face. Especially one as handsome as his.”

Yvette couldn’t move. Lewis was the con artist? The puppy mill culprit?
He
was scamming rich women into buying non-breed dogs? It suddenly all made sense. The expensive clothes and watches he wore that he could never have afforded on a struggling photographer’s salary. She finally understood why he’d been so interested in her relationship with Nate and his sudden attention to Cathleen. She had to do something. She couldn’t let the marriage happen.

“Wow, Yvette, you’ve really done well for yourself,” Lewis said, glancing around the apartment.

She took his jacket. “This isn’t my place.”

He walked into the living room, ignoring James’s low growl. “But now you can afford one like it.” He sat on the couch. James followed and sat in front of him. Lewis turned away. “Where’s Nate?”

“He’s picking King and Queen up from Le Chic Hounds. Would you like anything to drink?”

“Do you have champagne? I feel like celebrating.”

“I’ll get you some apple juice.”

He shrugged. “I’ll get myself a bottle later.” He threw up his hands in triumph. “Look at us. We can afford a lot of things now. Nate seems like a good guy and Cathleen’s sweet. What the hell is wrong with your dog?”

“What is he doing?”

“He’s staring at me.”

“James, come here.”

The dog didn’t move. His gaze remained fixed on Lewis.

Lewis sniffed. “He’s not very bright if he doesn’t know his own name.”

Yvette frowned and handed Lewis his glass. “James is very smart. I don’t know why he’s acting this way.” She tugged on his collar. “Come on James, stop that. You’ve met Lewis before. He’s nothing like Arthur.” James made a sound of protest, but let Yvette lead him to her side. She sat on the couch and stroked his head. “Good boy. I want you to behave. Perhaps he thinks you’re Nate’s rival or something.”

Lewis laughed and leaned toward the dog. “You have nothing to worry about.”

James curled his lip, revealing his teeth.

Lewis jumped back. “Oh, well.”

Yvette tapped James’s nose. “Be good.”

Lewis took a gulp of his drink, set the glass down, then stretched his arms out across the length of the couch. “So what did you want to see me about?”

“Nate told me you and Cathleen are getting married.”

“Yes, isn’t that great?”

“Yes, and very lucky. You’re marrying a rich woman.”

He lifted a brow in challenge. “And you’re marrying a rich man.”

“Because I love him.”

Lewis rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t have given him the time of day if he didn’t have money.”

“That’s not true.”

“Look, if you asked me here to change my mind about Cathleen you’re wasting your time. You can’t talk her out of it, either, because she loves me. A lot. Tonight we’re meeting at her favorite restaurant and running off together.”

“No, you’re not.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know how you make your ‘extra’ money.”

He finished his drink, then stared at the glass. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about how you have been using our store to gain access to rich dog lovers to scam them into buying phony designer dogs. I saw the dog you sold Estelle Walters.”

He set his glass down. “So what? She looks happy, doesn’t she?”

“It’s illegal.”

“After I’ve married Cathleen I’ll stop. I won’t have to run it anymore.”

“You’re not going to marry Cathleen.”

He flashed a slow, cruel smile. “Yes, I am and no one is going to stop me.”

Yvette boldly glared back. “I will.”

He shook his head as though she were a foolish child. “Don’t stand in my way, Yvette. I’ve dreamed about a chance like this.”

“She deserves better.”

“Nobody even looked at her before me. I make her happy. There’s nothing wrong with getting paid for the privilege.”

“You scheming, conniving pig. You don’t even care about—”

“Who are you to tell me about caring? Who do you care about? And don’t give me that garbage about loving Nate. You saw him and saw how rich he was and then started flashing your legs in high-priced stockings and dressing up like a fine lady. Don’t tell me you went after him because he had a great mind.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“You’ve never looked at a man before. All you’ve ever cared about were animals. I know; I’ve been trying to get you to love me for years. But you’ve never seen me, never even considered how
I
felt or anyone. Men look at you and you take it for granted. I’m not going to be taken for granted anymore. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and I’m fighting to get my fair share so you’d better stand out of my way.” He headed for the door.

“If you go through with this, I’ll tell everyone the truth.”

He turned and shoved her against the wall, his hand around her throat. “Don’t play games with me, Yvette,” he warned in a low voice. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”

Yvette started to see stars and seized his wrist, but he suddenly released his hold and let out a scream. She glanced down and saw James biting his leg. Lewis tried to shake him off, then grabbed a vase and hit him. James crumpled.

Yvette dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face. “If you’ve killed him I swear I’ll get you.”

Lewis looked down at them in disgust. “Yes, I know how much you like animals. What do they call female dogs again?”

Yvette gently lifted James in her arm. “He’s still breathing. I have to take him to the vet.”

Lewis blocked her way. “First you have to promise me you won’t say anything.”

“No.”

He removed a strand of hair from her face with his finger. “It would be a shame if you suddenly disappeared. I could put you in a place where Nate’s money won’t be able to find you.”

“I’m not afraid of you. Now get out of my way.”

“You have such a pretty face. I wonder if Nate would want you anymore if something bad were to happen to it.” He slapped her.

She stumbled back in shock.

“Still not afraid of me?”

Yvette placed James down and grabbed a broom. “I want you to leave.”