Kelly arrived at Jack’s office as she and Jennie had planned, a few minutes before three o’clock. She had run home to print up the marriage license application from the New Haven Office of Vital Statistics website. She showered and dressed in black wool slacks and a fitted ivory cashmere sweater from T.J.Maxx.
When Jennie saw Kelly step off the elevator her jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you’re going through with this. By the time I got back to the office, I was sure you’d chicken out.”Kelly squared her shoulders and stood up to her full height. “I’ve decided I’m not going to second-guess myself on this. I want to go to Yale and I’m going to, damn it. I think if I keep moving without stopping too long to think about it, I can go through with it, so get me in there.”Jennie raised an eyebrow and Kelly knew she’d owe her friend big time. And this scene about to play out would essentially put her job on the line. By getting Kelly in there she’d be revealing she had spied on Jack. She had a week left in the placement. With this move, she would most likely lose not only this placement but any chance of getting a new placement through the temp agency as well.“Well, you may be off your rocker, but at least you look good. Jack’s Aunt Mabry and his cousin Chad are already in the office. They’ve only been in there for a minute, though,” said Jennie.“Here goes nothing.” Kelly took a deep breath and waited for Jennie to announce her.With a huge grin on her face, Jennie pushed the intercom button on her phone and calmly spoke into the speaker. “Sir, your fiancé has arrived. Shall I show her in?” *Jack sat in his office with his aunt and cousin and wondered how the hell to start to explain that there was no fiancé. Andrew had sent a text at two o’clock saying he hadn’t found out anything more and Chad still wasn’t in the office. Andrew said he was working on something. He just didn’t say what he was working on so Jack had no idea if he should stall.Jack had actually been desperate enough to start calling some of the womenhe’d dated in the last year or so. He wasn’t exactly a ruthless player, although the tabloids tried to make it look like he was. Sure, he got around, had a few dates a month and slept with some of them but those women all seemed shallow and fake to Jack.Two of them didn’t answer the phone, one was gushing about her new husband and the third had moved to London when she was offered a modeling deal with a London agency. That was as far as he got in his little black book before his aunt arrived – twenty minutes early. It seemed Chad had been with Mabry this morning because they arrived together and now they both sat, mother and son, looking expectantly at him.“We’re here to meet Jack’s fiancé,” a smug-looking Mabry announced to Chad. Jack watched a bemused expression come over his cousin’s face.Chad had to be wondering what the hell was going on. He and Jack were close. They were more like brothers than cousins, so if Jack were getting married, Chad should have been the first to know.Oh, great. I’m never gonna’ hear the end of this from him.So there they sat, waiting for an introduction to a fiancé that Jack had never mentioned to Chad, a fiancé Chad had never set eyes on.Jack leaned forward in his chair, took a deep breath and prepared to come clean. Just then his secretary’s voice cut in and he could swear he heard her say that his fiancé was here.His head whipped around and he stared at the phone, unable to process what was going on. Jack’s experience in business had taught him to school his expressions and hide his thoughts from those around him and though he was shocked, he did just that. He quickly hid all emotion from his face as he listened to his secretary.“Sir, did you hear me? Mr. Sutton? Your fiancé has arrived. Shall I show her in?” Jennie spoke again.Andrew. Andrew must have sent him a fiancé. How in the hell had Andrew found him a fiancé? I mean, how does one go about that, Jack thought. Oh God, what if Andrew sent him a prostitute?“Uh, yes, send her in, please.” Jack forced the words out as his mind raced through the possible scenarios.Jennie opened the door to his office and stepped aside. Kelly swept into the room as if she owned the place. She glided over to Jack’s desk, brushed a light kiss on his cheek, and casually handed him a stack of papers.“Hello, sweetheart,” Kelly said to Jack before turning to his aunt and Chad. “You must be Jack’s Aunt Mabry and his cousin. He’s told me so much about you. I’m Kelly Bradley.” Kelly took the hand of a very stunned Aunt Mabry andpumped it before she turned to Chad, whose amusement had turned to confused surprise. Kelly shook his hand as well.“It’s nice to meet you, Kelly,” Chad said, but it came out more as a question than a statement. “I don’t know where Jack has been hiding you but I can see why he wanted you all to himself,” Chad said with a huge grin on his face.Jack was too busy trying to figure out who had just walked into his office… and what she was doing, to respond to Chad’s dig. This Kelly person had walked in as though she belonged there. As though she and Jack had the kind of intimate, close relationship that lets a woman waltz into a private family meeting and announce herself rather than wait to be invited and introduced.Jack couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Whoever she was, she was beautiful. Her hair was a deep chestnut color and it fell down her back in loose waves over the soft ivory cashmere of her sweater. She had incredible, bright blue eyes and a lightly freckled complexion. Her snug sweater showed off a soft, curvy figure that begged to be held. Wherever Andrew had found her, he had done well. She was exquisite.Jack tore his eyes off her and skimmed the papers in his hand while she stood chit chatting with his aunt and cousin as if nothing were out of the ordinary. The papers appeared to be an application for a marriage license for the State of Connecticut. There was a yellow sticky note on the top page that said: One year of marriage for $154,000. He quickly tucked the note in his pocket as his mind flew over possibilities.Andrew had found him a wife for $154,000. What the hell?Had Andrew hired some call girl service? Asked some girl off the street? As he did in all of his deals, Jack quickly scanned all potential scenarios in his head. He assessed and evaluated the merits or drawbacks of each possibility. Obviously, if she was a call girl, the drawbacks were significant. In this case, Jack realized, he was woefully uninformed, and that wasn’t a position he was used to being in.What the hell should he do? He had no idea who this woman was, but he didn’t have a choice if he wanted to continue to head up the company his father had built. The company Jack had expanded and come to love. Jack stood stiffly in his office as his head reeled from the sudden proposition in front of him… But reason kicked in; he had to trust that Andrew wouldn’t have sent a hooker or someone Andrew didn’t know. Could Andrew have found a willing friend of his? Or maybe an ex-girlfriend?How weird would that be if this was one of Andrew’s exes? Wait, I know all of Andrew’s exes, don’t I?Jack hadn’t felt so off balance in his life. He suddenly realized that his supposed fiancé was talking to him.“Jack? Jack, honey, I need to know if you can make it to the courthouse to apply for the marriage license tomorrow? We both have to be there to get it. Does that work for you?” Kelly asked, indicating the papers in his hand.“Uh, yes. Yeah, that works for me.” Jack spit the words out through the haze in his head and turned to smile at his aunt and cousin. No matter what Chad’s relationship with Bryan Barton was, it looked like Jack had just committed himself to a year of marriage with a stranger.Hope you are enjoying the story. Please remember to vote with Gems. Thanks
Kelly swallowed hard as she heard Jack’s answer to her ‘proposal.’ She was relieved he was going along with it, but a tight ball of nerves had been growing in her stomach since she walked in the room and she felt that ball taking over her entire being.Chad excused himself to return to his office with a look on his face that promised Jack would be grilled for details later. Kelly watched Jack out of the corner of her eye as she continued to talk to his aunt. She had seen Jack Sutton on occasion coming in and out of the building when she’d met Jennie for lunch and Jennie had told her he was handsome. But, handsome didn’t even begin to describe the man.Jack was tall, about six foot three inches. He had dark brown hair that curled up at the edge of his collar. His eyes were a rich, deep brown, almost mahogany, and his face had chiseled features with a strong jaw. There wasn’t a damn thing about the man that didn’t sizzle.He wore a suit, but even in that Kelly could see his body was har
Poker face or not, Jack needed to put some space between them when Kelly asked who Andrew was. He stood up and took a few steps back and schooled his expression once again. He forced himself to stay calm despite her revelation that Andrew hadn’t set this up. If she didn’t know who Andrew was, how did she come to be here, and who had he agreed to marry? All the calm that had come back to him in the last few moments fled and he felt himself floundering again. What was happening to his ordered world?“If Andrew didn’t send you, then who the hell are you?” Jack demanded. This day was getting worse and worse. Hell, it had to be a nightmare. There was no way he had just agreed to marry some complete stranger in front of his aunt and cousin. A complete stranger who happened to materialize out of thin air right when he needed a wife?Jack rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He hadn’t slept much the night before after he had lied to his aunt about having a fiancé and he had been wo
Jack faced Kelly again. He was now fully back in his element. He took control of the negotiations now that he had made the decision to run with this. He didn’t really have any other option and she didn’t appear to be a lunatic. In fact, as he watched her quietly come to grips with what she had done and get her confidence back, he marveled at her. It had really taken guts to walk into the room and pull off what she had. And she’d done it with such grace and confidence. She owned his office as if it were hers and there weren’t many people who could pull that off. He found himself a little in awe of the gorgeous creature who now sat quietly on his couch.“Okay. One year of marriage. You’ll sign a prenuptial agreement. You get your law school tuition and you’ll have a credit card for expenses while we’re married. You’ll have to attend occasional dinner parties and fundraising events, that sort of thing, so you’ll need appropriate clothes. Some of them will be black tie. Put anything you n
When Mabry Thompson left Jack and Kelly she walked down the hall to her son’s office. She entered without knocking and immediately dove into a tirade.“Married, my ass. That engagement is as fake as my highlights. I don’t know how he did it or who she is, but we need to expose this marriage as a fraud.” Mabry tossed her purse down on one of the two chairs in front of Chad’s desk and lowered herself into the other.“Hello again, Mom. Long time no see,” Chad deadpanned as he turned away from his computer to face his mother. Chad didn’t know quite what was going on with Jack’s sudden marriage announcement and he agreed something didn’t smell right. But, Chad couldn’t care less if Jack had cooked up this wedding to save his position as CEO. If it meant keeping his mother out of his hair about taking over control of Sutton Capital, he was fine with whatever arrangement Jack made.His mother ignored his reply and continued her tirade. “They’re apparently going to be married by the end of the
Jack and Kelly drove to Hamden for her parents’ weekly Sunday dinner. They were in Jack’s Jaguar and she couldn’t help but appreciate the buttery softness of the leather as she melted down into the seat.“Are you close to your family, Kelly?” Jack asked as he turned off of the highway at the sign for Hamden.“Uh huh. I don’t make it for dinner every Sunday but I try to get there two or three times a month. My mom is a great cook so it’s not a hardship,” she said, with a small smile at Jack.Jack made a left turn onto a tree-lined residential street. “Tell me again how many of you there are?” Kelly had told Jack about her brothers and sisters before and she suspected that in his line of work, he remembered names and details with very little effort. Kelly had a feeling that he wanted to keep her talking to calm her nerves and she was thankful to him.“There are four of us. My sister Jessica who’s two years older than I am, and our older brothers Liam and David. My sister and my mom and
Kelly was sitting next to Jack at the dinner table but he couldn’t read her face as they all passed around bowls and platters, filling plates with her mom’s homemade chicken, macaroni and cheese, salad, and green beans. It was comfort food at its finest and Jack wouldn’t mind coming to more Sunday dinners if her mom’s cooking tasted as good as it looked.“So, Kelly, Jack tells us you met at his office?” Kelly’s father’s question sent Kelly’s iced tea down the wrong pipe so that she coughed and sputtered. Jack laughed and patted her on the back while she tried to catch her breath.“Um, yes, Dad. We met at Jack’s office,” she finally managed to spit out. “Oh, what do you do, Jack?” asked Kelly’s mother.“I’m in venture capital,” Jack answered. “My company identifies companies at various stages of development that we think are good risks to invest in. Sometimes they need seed money, sometimes growth or expansion. We invest and we get a share of the company if they’re a success.”When Kel
Kelly had finished her registration for Yale and Jack sent the tuition in as promised so she was all set to start school in September. Over the next week, Jack, Kelly, and Mrs. Poole fell into a comfortable routine around the house. Jack left for work before Kelly got up in the morning so they didn’t see each other before work, but Jack started coming home for dinner in the evenings. He was surprised to find he liked the time with Kelly at night, liked talking to her and having someone at home waiting for him at the end of the day.Mrs. Poole often sat down and ate with them, instead of leaving a plate warming in the oven for him like she had before Kelly arrived. Then, Mrs. Poole headed back to her room and Jack and Kelly went into the den to watch a movie or T.V. together. After a movie, Jack would go into his office to work and Kelly would read a book before heading up to her room.After a week of falling comfortably into their newfound life together, Kelly happened to get up earlie
Kelly stood with Mrs. Poole and Aunt Mabry in the kitchen when Jack came in from work that evening. Kelly had poured a glass of wine for herself and Aunt Mabry and turned to ask Mrs. Poole if she wanted one. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aunt Mabry’s eyebrows shoot up but chose to ignore the look. Apparently, in Aunt Mabry’s world, Mrs. Poole was paid help, and one didn’t ask the help if they want a glass of wine. Wait until she sees Mrs. Poole sit down to dinner with us. Kelly smiled.Jack walked into the room and said ‘hello’ to Mrs. Poole and planted a peck on Aunt Mabry’s cheek before turning to take Kelly into his arms. “Hello, beautiful,” he said before he ducked his head to kiss her. It was a warm, gentle kiss but Kelly could feel the arousal bubbling just under the surface and knew that if either one of them moved to deepen the kiss, the passion would rise to the surface quickly. Damn, I’m going to make a fool of myself if he keeps kissing me like this!As Mrs. Poole s