An Heir for the Millionaire (12 page)

S
HE
needed time to think about this, Casey decided. She needed to sit down and think rationally about all that Xander Fraser was offering her.

She no more wanted to marry again than he obviously did—had been just as soured by her unhappy marriage to Sam as he had by his ‘hellish' marriage to Chloe.

But that wasn't all that was at stake here, was it? She had Josh's welfare to consider. And, as his stepfather, Xander could give him all the advantages in life that she knew she would never be able to provide for him.

But before making any decision—was she actually
considering
his proposal?—despite his earlier comment, she really needed to know exactly what he would want from her in return.

She looked across at him warily, once again jolted by his sheer physical magnetism. He was an extremely handsome man, his dark good-looks more wild and rugged than the smoothly golden Adonis Sam had been. Yes, Xander was certainly much more vitally physical. That very ruggedness suggested an enjoyment of all the sensual pleasures…

‘You said your marriage proposal was a purely business proposition…?' she asked slowly.

He easily returned her gaze, dark brows rising even as a wicked little smile curved his lips. ‘Casey, why don't you just come right out and ask whether the marriage would include us sleeping together?'

Colour warmed her cheeks even as she glared at him. ‘Well, would it?'

Xander knew he could have continued to play with her. That he would have enjoyed teasing her a little. That he liked the way she blushed when she was embarrassed, resembling a soft, fluffy kitten when it felt itself cornered.

But the situation was too serious for him to prolong this particular conversation. Brad's threats were too painful. He was sure the older man would ultimately lose, but at what cost to Lauren's already delicately balanced emotions?

So instead he shrugged. ‘I'll go along with whatever you want.'

‘Whatever
I—
?' She broke off incredulously, her eyes wide with shock. ‘Are you saying that if I decided I wanted to—wanted to—?'

‘To go to bed with me,' Xander inserted helpfully.

She nodded. ‘That if I wanted that, you would be willing to—to—?'

‘Go to bed with you,' he finished softly. ‘Yes, I'd be willing to do that.'

She looked totally stunned now, and Xander realised just how young she was. Perhaps not in years—twenty-seven really wasn't that young—but most definitely in experience, if she didn't know that she could enjoy physical pleasure without being in love with the person she was making love with.

‘Why not, Casey?' he added. ‘After all, it would be perfectly legal.'

He had a feeling it would be something he would enjoy too. There could be depths to this woman's emotions that she hadn't even discovered fully for herself yet. Yes, he might enjoy administering that TLC he had thought her in need of earlier on…

‘It being legal has nothing to do with it!' Casey said indignantly. ‘I couldn't just—just go to bed with you because a piece of paper says I can!'

‘Why couldn't you?' He came across the room to stand only inches away from her, one of his hands rising to lightly cup the side of her face as his thumb moved caressingly across the fullness of her lower lip. ‘You're a very beautiful woman,' he murmured
huskily, his gaze roaming over her suddenly pale face. ‘Would you find it such a hardship to go to bed with me?' he asked.

Casey found herself mesmerised by those gorgeous firm lips only inches away from her own. What would it be like to feel them moving searchingly against hers? To have him kiss and caress—?

No!

‘You would,' Xander said regretfully as she flinched back from him. ‘Casey, thousands of people go to bed together every day for no other reason than that piece of paper.'

‘Not me!' she assured him firmly, very aware of the way she still trembled from his light caress, and wondering if she was being truthful—to Xander or herself…

She had been in love with Sam when they'd first married. Or at least she had thought she was. It hadn't been long before she had understood that, at only twenty years old, she had probably been too young to realise she was just dazzled by the fact that someone so good-looking and charming as Sam should have fallen in love with her. But by then it had been too late. They had already been married a year, Josh had been a baby only two months old, and her father had recently died.

But she had continued to be married to Sam for a further six years, hadn't she? And it had only been during the last six months of their marriage that the physical side of things had ended completely.

Yes, but that was different, she told herself firmly now. Sam had been her husband—

Only, if she accepted Xander Fraser's marriage proposal he would be her husband, too!

No, she couldn't go through with this! No matter what the financial inducement to make Josh's life more comfortable and her own life free of the continual financial stress…

‘I only said it was an option, Casey.' Xander spoke evenly as he saw the sudden panic in her easily readable expression.

Her open emotions were certainly a refreshing change after years of Chloe's deceit and machinations!

Chloe had been the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on when he met her seven and a half years ago—a beautiful ebony-haired blue-eyed butterfly who had dazzled and beguiled
every man she came into contact with. Including him. And Xander had pursued her relentlessly until he caught her.

But after only a few brief months of marriage he had realised that she truly
was
a butterfly—that her emotions, once given, lasted only fleetingly, before she moved on to the next conquest. And the next. And the next.

Only the fact that Chloe had found herself pregnant at the end of their six-week-long honeymoon—at least Xander had been sure that Lauren was his!—had kept the marriage from ending in divorce once he'd discovered Chloe had taken her first lover.

And that was all their marriage had been—a sham, a front for the dozens of men Chloe had enthralled into her bed. Men she would enjoy, but who couldn't demand too much from her when she had the protection of a powerful husband like Xander Fraser.

He should have divorced her years ago, of course, but the possibility of Chloe taking Lauren with her when she left—the daughter he adored—had prevented him from taking such action.

The fact that he was now being threatened in the same way by Chloe's father was totally unacceptable!

‘I would be quite happy with a marriage of convenience, Casey; I'm really not that desperate for a physical relationship with an unwilling wife!' he told her, suddenly harsh after recalling such unwelcome memories.

Where had that anger come from so suddenly? Casey wondered.

And who was to say she would be unwilling…?

Her reaction to his touch just now had told her that she wasn't indifferent to him. And she had already acknowledged to herself earlier that she found this man physically attractive—that he exuded a powerful vitality that would make it impossible ever to ignore him—so how much more disturbing was he going to be if he was her husband? If she was living with him on a permanent basis?

She couldn't be
seriously
thinking of accepting his proposal, could she?

But for Josh's sake, she couldn't
not
seriously think about it!

She had been aware for some weeks that she was fighting a losing battle when it came to paying her bills as well as the mortgage Sam had taken out on this house in order to raise extra
capital. She knew she might soon have to give up even trying to hold on to her family home, and find somewhere to rent instead. There would be a few thousand pounds to bank once the house was sold, but nowhere near enough to give Josh all the advantages Xander Fraser was offering if he became her son's stepfather.

So how could she
not
accept Xander's marriage proposal?

She moistened lips that had gone dry. ‘If I were to accept—I said
if,
Mr Fraser,' she emphasised, when she saw the look of triumph flare in those dark blue eyes.

‘I think you had better call me Xander, don't you?' he invited.

She gave him a scathing glance and deliberately didn't respond to his invitation. A childish gesture, perhaps, but she had a feeling that any advantage she might ever have over Xander Fraser was going to be a small one! ‘If I accept, exactly when were you thinking of this marriage taking place?'

Xander damped down his feeling of elation that she was even considering his offer—which was pretty strange for a man who, after Chloe's infidelities, had sworn he would never marry again!

But this was a marriage to be made out of necessity rather than choice, he excused himself. It was for his daughter's sake, not his own—exactly the reason he had settled on Casey Bridges—along with her son Josh, who Lauren adored—in the first place!

He shrugged. ‘As soon as we can get a licence, I would have thought. The sooner the better, in fact. Why wait, Casey?' he added persuasively as he once again saw that look of panic in her face. ‘The sooner it's done, the matter settled, the sooner we can all get on with our lives.'

He had always liked and respected Brad Henderson, and he knew it was the other man's grief at losing Chloe that was making him behave irrationally at the moment; unfortunately, Xander couldn't afford to give the other man time to come to his senses. He was all too aware of the damage that Brad could wreak in Lauren's life as well as his own before that happened.

The sooner he got Casey Bridges to agree to his marriage proposal the better. He found it distinctly unflattering that she viewed marriage to him in so poor a light—most women he knew would have jumped at the offer.

But then, the women who had been in his life the last year
were as hard and grasping as Chloe had been. He had chosen them deliberately. At least he knew where he stood with women like that. He would certainly never consider—for
any
reason!—offering marriage to one of them.

Casey wasn't like them—would never be like them—which meant he had to back off a little and give her some time to make her decision. Hopefully, she would realise there were far too many advantages for Josh to allow her scruples to stand in the way.

‘Why don't you take overnight to think about it, and I'll call you in the morning?' he suggested lightly.

‘Overnight?' Casey echoed with another surge of inward panic. Could she take just a few hours to make a decision that would affect the rest of her life?

And Josh's…

Josh. Her weak spot. A weakness Xander Fraser had already exploited to his advantage…

But apparently not her only weakness, Casey acknowledged thoughtfully as she remembered the way she had trembled, the warmth that had coursed through her body, when Xander Fraser had touched her.

Yes, she had to take into account her unmistakable response to all that leashed magnetism, too. She would be foolish not to do so.

She raised her chin and infused her voice with determination. ‘Why don't I take my time to think about it and call you when I reach a decision?'

His mouth tightened, his gaze narrowing speculatively as she deliberately turned his suggestion back on him. ‘Why don't you?' he finally growled, taking his wallet from the back pocket of his denims to remove a business card and place it on the coffee table. ‘But don't take too long, hmm?' he added.

Or what? Casey wondered with a frown as she watched him turn on his heel and leave.

The front door closed behind him seconds later.

Would she find the offer had been rescinded if she dithered too long in giving him an answer?

Would he decide she wasn't worth the trouble and find someone else—someone more receptive—to make his offer of marriage to…?

‘M
R
F
RASER
—'

‘
Xander,
Casey,' he insisted as he easily recognised her voice on the other end of the telephone line.

He should; at almost seven o'clock in the evening, he had been waiting all day for this call!

‘I've reached a decision,' she told him without preamble.

Xander wasn't in the least reassured by her businesslike tone. He had an uncomfortable feeling that Casey's scruples might have won out, after all.

‘Of a sort,' she added, less certainly.

Xander frowned. His patience was already tried to the limit because he'd had to wait all day for her phone call.

It didn't help that Brad's lawyers had already been in touch with his and suggested that they and their client have a meeting in order to ‘try and settle custody of Mr Henderson's granddaughter out of court'!

‘Yes?' he prompted, perhaps a shade too tersely.

Casey's mouth felt dry. Her hand was shaking slightly as she held the telephone receiver to her ear, having waited until after she had put Josh to bed before making this call.

She had spent a sleepless night thinking over everything Xander Fraser had said to her, and a distracted day doing exactly the same. And the fact that she knew he wasn't going to like what she had to say certainly wasn't helping her nervousness.

‘For God's sake, just say yes or no, Casey!' he bit out as his patience finally snapped.

‘I—maybe,' she answered unhelpfully, moistening dry lips. She could feel the tension in Xander's silence on the other end of the line. ‘I've thought over everything you said. I can see the benefit to Josh and myself in everything you offered. I just—' She drew in a ragged breath. ‘I would need to meet Brad Henderson, to assure myself that his threat is real, before I could possibly give you an answer!' The words came out in a rush as she hurried to get this unpleasantness over with.

It was the only conclusion Casey had come to during the last twenty hours of her thoughts going round and round in circles and always coming back to that one point: maybe Brad Henderson could be made to see how unreasonably he was behaving, that it was grief at his daughter's death that was governing his actions rather than a real belief on his part that Lauren would be better off with him? If the older man could be made to see that then Xander would have no need to think about marrying anyone—least of all Casey.

How was that for shooting herself in the foot?

‘Are you serious, Casey?' Xander exclaimed. ‘The mood Brad was in the last time we spoke, he would eat you for dinner!'

‘Dinner was exactly what I had in mind,' she replied, trying not to feel too concerned. ‘In fact, I've already asked for tomorrow evening off work in anticipation of the arrangement. Do you think, if you asked him, he would agree to come? Not here, of course,' she added hastily.

‘You're lacking a dining room table, for one thing,' Xander snarled. ‘Sorry,' he muttered at her reproving silence, then, ‘I can ask him,' he conceded. ‘But you had better be prepared for the worst if he agrees,' he warned.

‘I think I can cope,' Casey assured him dryly; after dealing with the shock of this man's proposal last night, she was sure she could cope with anything Brad Henderson had to throw at her. ‘I think it's the right thing to do—er—Xander.'

‘There—that wasn't so hard, now, was it?' he taunted, before adding with a sigh, ‘You're pretty insistent on doing what you think is right, aren't you, Casey?'

‘I would hate for you to find yourself married to me and then discover you needn't have bothered, after all!' she came back tartly.

He laughed appreciatively, with a husky softness that seemed to move teasingly across Casey's sensitised skin and sent a shiver of awareness down the length of her spine.

‘You may not find it so funny if that were to be the case!' she snapped, uncomfortable with the fact that she could be so aware of him just talking to him on the telephone.

This woman was something else, Xander acknowledged wryly. Not only was she hesitating about accepting a marriage proposal from a man who was rich enough to ensure that she never needed to worry about money ever again, but she was also concerned that he should never have cause to regret the marriage!

Incredible.

‘I think I would cope, Casey.' He mockingly echoed her earlier assurance to him. ‘I'll give Brad a call, and then give you a ring back—okay?' he added briskly, abruptly ending the call. He was not sure what to make of her at all.

It was fine for him to actually
like
the woman he was intending to marry—it would be hell for all of them if he didn't—and it was okay that he found Casey's delicate beauty desirable, too; after all, she might want to change the terms of their marriage some time in the future. But he certainly didn't need to feel anything else for her!

Not even the grudging admiration he now felt after that surprising telephone conversation…

 

‘He hasn't arrived yet, so you can stop looking so apprehensive,' Xander told her the following evening, after the butler had shown Casey into the sitting room.

How could she help but feel anxious when she wasn't even comfortable in Xander's company, let alone in that of his angry ex-father-in-law—who was arriving at any moment?

‘You look—wonderful,' Xander said with slow appreciation.

Casey quirked her brows mischievously. ‘I don't always look as if I've been dragged through a kitchen backwards!'

‘I didn't mean—You're teasing me,' he realised in surprise.

She nodded. ‘I thought we had already agreed that I have a sense of humour?' And she was probably going to need it, too!

But at least she knew she
did
look okay. She had spent a leisurely hour or so in the bathroom before getting ready to come out: blow-drying her hair into silky wisps, keeping her make-up light—a touch of lipstick and blusher, a little mascara emphasising the length of her lashes. The black knee-length sheath of a dress she wore was several years old, but of good quality nonetheless, and the fact that she knew it suited her slender curves gave an added boost to her confidence.

Hannah—suitably chastened after her behaviour the other evening—had readily agreed to babysit while Casey went out for the evening, and had arrived promptly at seven o'clock, assuring Casey that she had no need to hurry back, that she was quite happy to stay for as long as she wanted to be out.

The daughter of a neighbour three doors down, Hannah was probably bursting with curiosity about this unusual evening out for Casey. But it was a curiosity Casey hadn't felt in the least inclined to satisfy. Time enough, if Casey's marriage to Xander Fraser did go ahead after all, for her neighbours' speculation.

Xander had completely misread her emotion when she'd been shown into the sitting room of his beautiful home—she wasn't feeling apprehensive at all, but slightly in awe of the Fraser home. Electric gates had opened slowly at the end of a long driveway after she had given her name over the intercom, and long rolling lawns had edged that driveway as she drove the half-mile or so to the main house. It was a magnificent house of mellow stone, floodlit from the outside, with lights inside gleaming a welcome from crystal chandeliers.

A magnificent house that
she
might become mistress of…

It also didn't help that, having been shown into this gold and cream sitting room, with its genuine Regency furnishings and a fire burning in the huge Adam fireplace, she felt slightly overwhelmed by how wonderful Xander looked in his black evening suit, with a black bow tie knotted meticulously at the throat of his white silk shirt.

He crossed the room in easy strides to stand just in front of her, his gaze intent as he looked down at her. ‘You really do look very beautiful this evening,' he told her huskily.

As a widow with a young son, she was surely too old to blush, Casey told herself, even as she felt the warmth enter her cheeks as Xander repeated his compliment.

‘I like the fact that you do this,' Xander murmured, even as his hand moved and his fingers brushed lightly against that blush in her cheeks.

Casey stared up at him, her gaze caught and held by his, her lips slightly parted and her breathing becoming shallow.

The squareness of his jaw looked freshly shaved, his aftershave was alluringly musky, and those sculptured lips curved slightly into a smile as he looked down at her with those dark blue eyes. Eyes that seemed fathomless as Casey suddenly felt herself unable to look away…

‘Mr Henderson, sir,' the butler announced haughtily, before what Casey could only describe as a whirlwind swept into the room.

‘Xander!' a harsh American voice rasped. ‘Who the hell is
this?
' Brad Henderson demanded as he saw Casey standing at Xander's side. ‘You didn't tell me we would have company this evening!' he barked at the younger man accusingly.

‘That will be all, Hilton.' Xander calmly dismissed the manservant even as he snaked his hand out to firmly clasp Casey's arm before she would have stepped away from him.

Casey was too stunned at the older man's verbal attack to do anything other than remain in Xander's grasp as she continued to stare across the room at the aggressive American. Whatever she had been expecting—an elderly man bowed down by grief at his daughter's death, perhaps?—it certainly wasn't this tall, loose-limbed, energetically vital man in black evening clothes, his still attractive features defying his sixty-something years.

It was obvious, looking at Brad Henderson, where Chloe had got her looks from. His dark hair was showing signs of grey at the temples, but his blue eyes had the same narrowed shrewdness his daughter's had had.

Even on such brief acquaintance Casey knew Xander was right to fear this man's determination to claim his granddaughter!

It was what she had wanted to know, after all—just not quite so forcefully. Or quite so soon…

Well, she couldn't say Xander hadn't tried to warn her!

‘Good evening, Mr Henderson,' she greeted him smoothly, stepping forward to hold her hand out politely.

A hand the older man completely ignored as the hardness of his gaze remained fixed on Xander. ‘Who
is
she, Xander?' he demanded scathingly. ‘Some woman you've brought in for the evening in the hope of distracting my attention from the real reason I'm here? The
only
reason I'm here,' he added harshly.

Casey's breath caught in her throat at the double insult this man had just thrown out so casually. To imply that Xander would stoop to such behaviour was bad enough, but the slight he'd directed at her was incredibly insulting, considering they hadn't even been introduced to each other.

‘I can assure you, Mr Henderson, that—'

‘I wasn't talking to you, honey. Well, Xander? Are you going to say anything, or just stand there like a dummy all evening?' he challenged.

Xander could clearly feel Casey's tension as he maintained his grasp on her arm. A perfectly understandable tension, considering Brad was excelling himself with his rudeness this evening.

His father-in-law might believe him capable of many things—most of them Brad had already chosen to volubly share with Xander during their telephone conversation on Sunday evening—but being a procurer of women hadn't so far numbered amongst them!

‘Casey…?' Xander prompted, and he looked down at her, raising an eyebrow in enquiry, knowing that the next move was up to her—that he couldn't go any further with this conversation without knowing what her intentions were.

She gave him a startled look, her eyes widening as she understood exactly what he was asking of her.

But she had no choice, Xander acknowledged grimly. Whatever method of introduction he were to use, the mood Brad was in he was sure to misunderstand it. Casey had to be the one who decided what happened next.

She gave him a frown, before glancing across at Brad. Her
back straightened as that glance seemed to bring her to some sort of decision.

Xander found himself holding his breath as he waited to see what that decision was going to be.

Her chin rose challengingly. ‘I'm afraid you've completely misunderstood the situation, Mr Henderson,' she told him with quiet dignity. ‘Xander did invite you here this evening so that the two of us could meet, yes. But he intended to introduce me to you as his fiancée, and Lauren's future stepmother, rather than anything else you might have assumed!' There was a slight edge to her voice as she finished this pronouncement.

Xander wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss her more at that moment than he had when she had arrived earlier, looking so stunningly, desirably beautiful!

Her announcement had certainly had the desired effect on Brad. He looked momentarily nonplussed, but he recovered quickly, his blue eyes narrowing speculatively as he shot Xander a derisive glance. ‘What is this, Xander? A set-up? You're going to keep a so-called fiancée hanging around for a couple of months in the hope of distracting me from a custody suit?'

Xander's hand tightened on Casey's arm as he sensed her bristling indignation. ‘Let me introduce the two of you properly,' he drawled. ‘Casey—Brad Henderson. Brad, this is Casey Bridges.'

‘I don't give a damn—Bridges, did you say?' The older man's attention sharpened noticeably. ‘Are you telling me that she's Sam Bridges' widow?'

‘One and the same, Brad,' Xander confirmed softly, now able to feel Casey's slight trembling as the older man turned to give her a closer examination.

‘You're marrying
Sam Bridges' widow?
' Brad practically shouted incredulously.

‘Am I marrying the woman whose husband your daughter seduced from his marriage? The woman who was left alone and penniless after that bastard walked out on her and her son because he found himself a woman who had more money than sense? Yes, I'm marrying Casey, Brad.' He nodded abruptly, his gaze chal
lenging the other man now, knowing that Brad had disliked Sam Bridges almost as much as Xander had.