To Catch a Man (In 30 Days or Less) (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (13 page)

Stone laughed but the sound was
bitter, even to his own ears.  “Acting is definitely one of your strongest
talents.  Over there, acting so innocent.  You deliberately seduced me, Indie,
wormed your way into my heart, ‘got’ me to propose to you.  Well, here's a
little birthday present from me.”  He chuckled, warming to the idea of hurting
her as much as she’d hurt him.  “The wedding is off.  I will not marry a woman
who’s only after my money.  Damn.”  He slapped his palm against the door jamb. 
“And to think I saw you as the one woman I could trust.  Jesus.”

He shook his head and turned
abruptly, intent on getting as far away from Indiana Lane as he could.

“Stone.  Wait!  That wasn’t what I
meant.”  He heard a rustle behind him like she was scrambling off the bed but
he didn’t stop to find out.  She wasn’t going to get another chance to practice
her acting skills on him.

“Stone, please!”  she cried and
then she was at his side, and she was grabbing his arm, and she was clinging to
him.  “Let me explain.”

He shrugged her off and kept on
walking, his only acknowledgement of her a growl over his shoulder.  “I want
you out of here by sundown.  I’ll tell the driver to be ready with the truck.”

******

Indie ran to the cottage door but
Stone was already yards away, striding purposefully in the opposite direction. 
He did not slow his pace and he did not look back and all she could do was
stare at him in horror.

What could she say to him to make
him stop?  Her heart rose and lodged in her throat.  She couldn’t even call out
to him.

Feeling like someone had just
pulled her heart from her chest, she whirled away from the door and ran back to
the bedroom where Tessa sat frozen on the bed.

“He’s gone, Tessa.  I couldn’t stop
him.”  She put a trembling hand to her forehead.  “How could he think those
things about me?  How could he think I would do something like that?”

“Easy,” Tessa said.  She got up and
walked toward Indie and put a hand on her shoulder.  “He just heard something
that sounded really bad.  You and I know what you were talking about but he
doesn’t.”

“But what he heard…it was out of
context.”

“Exactly.  And that’s why you have
to go to him and explain what you really meant.”

Indie pulled away from her and
walked over to the window.  She’d been surprised to see Stone at the door then
shocked to witness his rage but now she was angry.  “Me?  I don’t think so.  If
he could think something like that about me then maybe I don’t want him to
marry me.” She was so angry she wanted to punch something.  She walked over and
punched the pillow.

“Calm down, Indie,” Tessa walked
over and caught her friend's arm then pulled her to sit down on the bed.  “I
know you’re upset but what you said about not wanting Stone to marry you, you
don’t mean that.  That’s just the shock and anger talking.”

Indie’s shoulders slumped.  She
drew in a shaky breath then let it out but still she said nothing.  She
couldn’t.  The lump in her throat had grown huge and if she tried to speak she
was going to break down in tears.  And Indie didn’t do tears, not for Stone
Hudson, not for anybody.

“You have to go to him, Indie.”  Tessa
reached out and put an arm around her shoulder.  “Don’t allow pride to make you
lose out on this.  You love Stone and I know he loves you, too.”

Indie looked at her friend
askance.  What did she know?  For someone who loved her he’d been pretty quick
to walk away.

“I know he does, Indie,” Tessa
continued.  “From the first time I saw the two of you together I could tell. 
He couldn’t take his eyes off you.  That man adores you.”  

Indie bit her lip.  Maybe Tessa had
a point.  She didn’t want to lose Stone, not like this.  She had to give it a
shot.

She looked over at her friend. 
“You’re right.  I have to talk to him about this.”  Then she gave a sad smile. 
“But after all that he still might not want me.  We’d better have a plan B.”

She got up off the bed and walked
to the door.  Then she turned and looked at Tessa.  “I’ll go find him.  But
just in case he still wants me out of here, start packing until I get back.”

******

The words swirled around in Stone’s
mind.  Every swear word in the book.  How could he have been so stupid?  He’d
actually thought he’d fallen in love when all he’d been was seduced by a green-eyed
witch who turned his insides to mush.

Love? He would never believe in
that crap again. 

He threw open the closet and began
to rip his clothes down from the hangers.  He dragged a duffel bag from behind
the shirts and threw it onto the bed.  There was no way he was going to stay
here tonight.  He’d told Indie he’d arrange for a ride for her but he would
book a driver for himself, too.  Even after she was gone this place would
remind him too much of her.

Then he paused and stared ahead
with glazed eyes.  Now he’d have to do the dirty work.  He had his parents to
call, his brother and sister, his friends.  Flights would have to be cancelled,
caterers told not to come, the minister to explain things to.  Jesus, what a
mess!

He was muttering to himself as he
turned back toward the bed with his clothes strewn all over it when he looked
up and there in the doorway stood Indie.

Stone straightened and stared at
her.  “What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice cold.

She took a step forward then
stopped.  “Can we talk?”

He almost laughed at that.  “We
have nothing to talk about.”

“You need to hear what I have to
say.”

“Why?  I owe you nothing.”  He
glared at her then shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away.  He
couldn’t bear looking at her.  She’d trampled his heart into the dust even
though she knew he loved her.  And, God help him, he still did. 

“You hurt me, Indie,” he said, his
voice a low rasp.  “Real bad.  How can I ever trust you again?”

“Just hear me out, Stone.  Please.”

When he looked over at her she was
staring at him with huge eyes, sad eyes.  Despite his resolve his heart reached
out to her.  But still, he said nothing.

She drew in a breath then
continued.  “What you heard was totally out of context.  I can’t blame you for
what you thought.  I can’t even blame you for being angry.  But it’s not what
you think.”

“Oh?”  This was going to be good. 
What story was she going to cook up now?

“No, it’s not.”

Her voice was bolder now.  She was
probably thinking she could use her acting skills on him, worm her way back
into his good graces.  Well, it wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m going to tell you the whole
story and if you want to be angry afterward, then fine.  But you deserve to
know the truth.”

“I appreciate that,” he said, and
he did not hold the sarcasm from his voice.

“The money I was talking about
wasn’t yours.  It was left to me by my uncle.”

He frowned.  “Come again?”

She sighed.  “I think I’d better
start at the beginning.”  She glanced over at the armchair in the corner.  “Do
you mind?”

He shrugged.  “Be my guest.  I’m
looking forward to hearing your story.”  He placed deliberate emphasis on the
last word.

She walked over to the chair and
sank into it with a sigh.  Then she spoke.  “On September twenty-three, exactly
a month before my birthday, I was told by my late uncle’s attorney that he’d
left me fourteen million dollars.   That’s the money I was talking about.”

“Fourteen mil-”  Stone glared at
her.  “What do you take me for?  A fool?”

“No, it’s true.  I can give you Mr.
Marshall’s number and you can call him yourself.”  She sat stiffly in the chair
as she stared up at him.

“So what does that have to do with
me marrying you?”  Stone demanded, still not believing a word of what she was
saying.  “You said something about me proposing to you in a month.”

Indie sighed.  “That’s the part…I’m
not so proud of.”  She looked down at her hands then she looked back at him,
her face resolute.  “There was a condition to my getting the fourteen million
dollars.  I had to get married by my thirtieth birthday in order to get the
money.”

Stone almost laughed.  “That’s
crazy.”

“I know, but that’s what the will
says.  My uncle wanted to make sure I didn’t carry through on my threat never
to get married or have kids.  He wanted to maintain the bloodline and I’m the
only hope.”

“So you seduced me into marriage.”

“No,” she said quickly then, “well,
yes.  Sort of.  It started out that way, where I was trying to get you to like
me because…I already liked you.”

Stone frowned.  “You didn’t even
know me.”

“I know,” she said, confusion
reflected on her face, “but that’s the weirdest thing.  From the first day we
met I felt this…pull…and I knew if I were to ever get married you were the one
I’d want to be with.”  She must have seen the disbelief on his face because she
continued, “I could have married anyone, Stone.  I could have picked a man from
the street and married him.  But…I wanted to fall in love.  And I wanted the
man I married…to love me, too.”

“Love?” he scoffed.  “You did this
all for love?  What about the money?”

“I wanted the money, too-”

“I thought so.”

“I admit it.  I did.  But I wasn’t
planning on spending any of it on me.”

“Yeah, right.”

“No, really.  Ask Mr. Marshall.  In
my file are the plans I submitted to him on how the money should be disbursed. 
All of it will go toward helping children in the countries where I’ve worked. 
I’d love…” she hesitated then gave him a shy look, “I’d love to be able to set
up a children’s home like the one you have here.”

For a long while Stone stared down
at her then he shook his head.  “Your story, it’s so crazy.  Is any of it
true?”

“All of it,” she said, her voice
firm.  “The lawyer can verify everything.”

He shook his head again.  “Then,
Indiana Lane, you are one heck of a woman.”  He walked over to where she sat in
the chair.  “Only you could have pulled it all off.”

She stared up at him then she shook
her head.  “I haven’t pulled off anything.  I’m not married yet.”

“No, but you will be.  Tomorrow
evening, if you’ll still have me.”  He leaned down and pulled her up off the
chair and into his arms.  “I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Indie.  Will you still
marry me?”

She slid her arms around his waist
and rested her head on his chest.  “I don’t know,” she said.  “I’m sure I could
find an available man somewhere around here.”

He chuckled and pulled her close. 
“I don’t mind,” he whispered then kissed the top of her head.  “As long as it’s
me.”

******

Next evening, as the setting sun threw
red, orange and yellow streamers across the sky, in the company of family,
friends, co-workers and children, Stone Hudson and Indiana Lane exchanged
wedding vows.

And as they danced together on the
carpet of green grass to the sound of African drums, Indie went on tiptoe and
tilted her mouth to whisper in her husband’s ear, “I still want my birthday
presents tomorrow.”

And Stone’s laughter, rich and deep
and strong, echoed across the open plain.

EPILOGUE

“Congratulations, little Mommy. 
You have a beautiful baby girl.”

Indie’s eyes filled with tears as
the nurse laid the baby on her breast.  A baby of her very own.  Who would have
thought?  And a loving husband by her side. Could anything be better than
this?  She smiled down at the little pink-cheeked baby on her breast then she
looked across at Stone who was busy videotaping everything.

“Now take it easy,” the nurse was
saying.  “Remember, you just had a C-section.  Slow movements for today, okay?”

“Okay,” she said obediently then
turned to look up at the camera.  “Put that camera down and come meet your
daughter.”

He did.  Stone kissed Indie on the
forehead then took the swaddled baby into his arms and this time he was more
confident as he held the infant, more sure.  Maybe it was because he was now a
daddy.  A real one.

“Now, in addition to your boys, you
have a little girl of your own,” she whispered to him.  “When we leave Canada
to go back to visit they're going to spoil her.  You know that, right?”

“I know,” he said, not taking his
eyes from his daughter’s face, “and I don’t mind at all.  My little Zuri Sky
Hudson.  She’ll be able to handle them.  She’ll be tough just like her mommy. 
My little warrior princess.”

Indie sank back into the pillows
and smiled.  She was already thinking of her next major project: how to keep
Stone from spoiling their brand new daughter.  That was going to be a tough
one.

THE
END

Thank you for reading ‘To Catch a
Man (In 30 Days or Less)’.  I sincerely appreciate your support.  If you liked
this story please click on the link below to visit the Amazon page where you
can click on the ‘Like’ button at the top of the page.  Positive reviews are
also very welcome!  That’s the best support any author could ask for.

Click
here: 
TO
CATCH A MAN (IN 30 DAYS OR LESS)

Thanks,
again, for reading!

The BAD BOY
BILLIONAIRES Series by Judy Angelo

Volume 1 -
Tamed
by the Billionaire

Volume 2 -
Maid
in the USA

Volume 3 -
Billionaire's
Island Bride

Volume 4 -
Dangerous
Deception

Volume 5 -
To
Tame a Tycoon

Volume 6 -
Sweet
Seduction

Volume 7 -
Daddy
by December

Volume 8 -
To
Catch a Man (In 30 Days or Less)

BAD
BOY BILLIONAIRES, Mega-Collection - Vols. 1 - 8