JAMES
“Well, that’s done.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Arthur left after two hours of trying to convince him I knew what I was doing. We gave him our notes on our expectations, and he promised to have a draft ready by Monday latest.
Destiny had a pensive look on her face, she chewed on her lower lip, staring into space. She’d better not be having second thoughts about this.
“Penny for your thoughts, Ms. Johnson?” It scared me how much I sounded like my father just now.
“Your lawyer friend doesn’t like me much.” She looked up at me with those big olive-green eyes. Actually pretty, I thought.
“Does it matter? We need to do some serious shopping. I can’t have my future wife looking like a homeless person, now, can I?” Her sense of style sucked seriously.
“Excuse me?” she huffed, “What’s wrong with me?” she sounded miffed.
“Where do I start…?” I pulled her up from the couch and twirled her around. I liked the tight jeans. She had a nice ass, and I could tell her boobs were just the size I liked, no more than a handful. But the clothes were faded and about a decade out of style.
“I know a great boutique, a friend of mine owns it. She has wonderful taste.” I tapped my chin thoughtfully, I liked the pink hair and the nose ring too, but it had to go. A pity though, but to convince the two James’s I would have to bring home a girl who doesn’t resemble a hooker. “We’ll have to take you to Giovanni’s to style your hair. What is your actual hair color?” I asked.
“Are you kidding me?” She poked me on the chest. “Is there something about me you don’t want to change?” She was angry. Her nostrils flared a little and a muscle ticked in her jaw.
“Destiny, calm down. I’m not trying to belittle you. I just want us to create a good impression with my folks.” I tried defusing the situation. Women can be so emotionally charged. “They have to take me seriously and if I show up with you as you are – not that there’s anything wrong with you. You’re actually very pretty. We just need to polish you up a bit. Think of it as a part in a play or a movie, if you will.” I took her hands in mine, they were so small.
“Strawberry blonde.”
“Say what now?”
“My hair. Strawberry blonde.” She said, “Fine. But my nose ring and my belly ring stay.”
I smirked, I would love to see the belly ring, but I kept my mouth shut. “We have a deal. Let me make a few phone calls, then we can hit the road.”
***
Felicia greeted us personally at her boutique. I warned her about Destiny, so she wouldn’t get a shock. Of course, I never said anything about our arrangement.
“Darling, you’ve come to the right place,” she said giving me a wink, “when I’m done, not even your mother would recognize you.”
Felicia and I go way back. We were at private school together. She knew my family and their high standards. I warned her not to say anything to Destiny about my family though. She would run for the hills that’s for sure.
“My mother is dead.” Destiny just had to say that. Jeez. I cringed.
Felica gave an embarrassed titter. “You have a nice body. Let’s start with proper underwear, yeah?” she gave me a look over Destiny’s head that spoke more than words.
Time for this James to get the hell out. “I’ll be going for some coffee. Call me when you ladies are done.” I hightailed it out of there.
I went to an Italian styled coffee shop around the corner from the boutique, praying no one would recognize me. I’ve had it with the damn paparazzi following me everywhere. Relieved, I made it to the back of the cozy ristorante.
The sexy little waitress took my order for a large skinny cappuccino and when she brought my order, she had her phone number scribbled on the paper napkin. Classy. Under normal circumstances I would have kept it. But, on second thought, maybe I will.
“Well, if it isn’t James Barrington the third!” A loud voice rang out making me spill my coffee. I took the napkin with the written number to wipe the mess. For fuck’s sake!
“Do you have to advertise the fact, you moron.” I scowled at my friend, Ronan Walsh.
The idiot sat down at my table uninvited. He laughed in my face. “Fancy seeing you here. I thought you were in the pen.” He was one of the loudest mouthed fuckers I’ve ever known and one of my best friends.
“I was. Arthur got me out.” I smirked at him. “Got the bloke to drop the charges too.” Having billions of dosh to one’s disposal came in handy sometimes.
“Saw the papers. You must have gotten an earful from the James’s.” Ronan’s father was an associate of my father’s.
“You have no idea. James the first threatened to disinherit me.” I scoffed. “I have to get married.”
Ronan belly laughed. Heads turned in our direction.
“You joke! You – get married…” he wiped tears from his eyes. Ronan was a large man, not only tall in height but broad in stature, without being overweight. He stopped laughing. “You’re fucking serious.”
“Yes, I’m doing it.” I told him sipping the rest of my coffee. The spilt liquid made a brown stain on the red and white checkered tablecloth.
“Do I know her?” he asked. I saw his mind working furiously trying to list off names I would want to marry.
I chuckled. “No.”
“C’mon James…” He twirled a saltshaker in his long fingers. “Are you going to tell me, or do I have to force it out of you? You haven’t been dating since…”
“Ronan, you’ll know soon enough.” I shut him up quickly. I knew what he was going to say, and I didn’t want to hear it. “I want to keep it as private as possible for as long as I can. She’s shy.”
Ronan lifted his dark eyebrows. “I don’t believe you, mate.”
My cell phone rang. It was Felicia.
“Yeah?”
“Your friend is ready for you, Sweetie.” Felica’s honeyed voice sounded in my ear.
“I’ll be right there.” I pulled a tenner out of my wallet and got up to leave.
“Where you off to, James?” Ronan asked. Damn his curiosity.
“Things to do, people to see. I’ll call you.” I rushed off leaving him glaring at my back. I didn’t want him to meet Destiny now.
***
“Wow!” I did a double take. Felicia certainly knew her stuff. Except for the hair I wouldn’t have recognized Destiny. She was certainly going to turn heads. Felicia was right, she had a killer body and the soft floral dress she wore accentuated all the right places. Top it off with some high heels that added some height to her shapely legs – she looked stunning.
Destiny pinked up at my reaction.
“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Felicia gushed, pleased with herself.
“Indeed. Cheers, so much Felicia. We need to dash. I’m taking Destiny to Giovanni’s.” I grabbed the large shopping bags in one hand and Destiny’s in the other.
“Ooh! Lucky girl.” I saw a thousand questions in Felicia’s eyes, none of them I wanted to answer right now.
I walked out of there fast, hoping Ronan didn’t follow me.
“Hey, not so fast, James. I’m not used to walking in heels.” Destiny squeaked at my side.
“Well, you’d better get used to it, babe. You’re going to be doing that a heck of a lot, even running.” I dragged her along. Fortunately my Bentley was parked near the exit.
“What? Running? From whom? Are you a gangster?” she panted.
I rolled my eyes. Where did she get that? From a rockstar to a pimp, now I’m a gangster.
“Yeah, my grandfather is the Godfather.” I couldn’t help but yank her chain. I opened the car door for her.
“You’re joking!”
I laughed at her big eyes going wide. She was too gullible.
***
Giovanni kissed me on both cheeks like he usually did whenever he saw me.
“And who do we have here? Ciao Bella.” He greeted Destiny, kissing her hand. The astonished look on her face was priceless.
“Giovanni, this is Destiny. I want you to transform her.” I smirked at her, she looked so out of place, but I knew Giovanni would win her over.
“Of course, leave it to me, James. I can only improve on her beauty.” He winked at me. He took her hand and led her away.
She glanced at me over her shoulder, looking like a lamb led to the slaughter. I grinned back at her. While Giovanni worked his magic on Destiny, I made a few calls to get my bike to the workshop for repairs.
The transformation was astonishing. Giovanni colored and styled Destiny’s hair in a feathered look that flattered the shape of her face and made her neck look long and elegant. He also applied some light makeup to enhance her features and I was pleasantly surprised how beautiful she was.
“Giovanni, you are a master.” I said and meant it. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“Si, it was easy. She is Bellissima, no?” he beamed at me.
“Indeed.” I couldn’t agree more. The James’s would approve, I was sure.
DESTINYThe way James and Giovanni stared at me made me feel self-conscious. I hardly recognized myself in the mirror. I don’t think I’ve ever looked this good. I used to hate the color of my hair until today. Giovanni really knew his stuff.“Thank you, Giovanni, James.” I blushed like a teenager.“My pleasure, Bella!” Giovanni kissed me on both cheeks like he greeted James. It felt strange to me, I wasn’t used to affection from strange people.James held out his hand for me to take. He looked pleased with himself, a smug grin on his face, like he’d won the Lotto or something.“Let’s go, gorgeous.” he said.Wow! I wasn’t expecting that. I took his hand, and we strolled out of the salon.“Mr. Barrington! Mr. Barrington!” Someone called out and James stopped in his tracks, swearing under his breath.Barrington? Was that his surname? Why did it sound so familiar?James looked over at me, “Can you run, Destiny?” He grasped my hand firmly. “Come!” We ran to the car. He opened the door and
JAMESShe really had no idea what she was doing to me. Damn, what have I gotten myself into? I can’t remember when last I had a girl as innocent as Destiny. I think when I was thirteen. No, scrap that. That girl took my innocence, and she was three years older than me. She was no innocent little virgin that’s for sure, I remembered and grinned. What was her name again?“James?” Destiny broke me out of my thoughts.“Yeah? Sorry, I spaced out for a moment.” Watching me with those big olive-green eyes of hers while sucking on her milkshake… Oh, my God, James! Stop it! This girl drove me nuts! I wanted her, that thought sobered me enough to choke on my beer.I spluttered and coughed, tears stinging my eyes.“Gosh! Are you alright, James?” She got up to pat my back, her cleavage almost in my face. God, she smelled amazing. I wanted to press my face against those pretty mounds.“I’m fine…just fine.”She handed me a napkin to wipe my face, trying to hide her smile. She had no idea how gorgeo
DESTINY“Good afternoon to you too, Grandfather. Let me introduce you to Destiny Johnson, the girl I am intending to marry.” James said just like that, beaming a smile at me.The two men stared at me as if I came from another planet. I was dumbstruck, hanging onto James’s arm like he was a lifeline. “Good afternoon.” My voice managed to slice through the heavy silence that seemed to press down on us.James’s father was the first to react. He stood up and reached out well-manicured hands towards me. His grip was firm enfolding my hand in both of his.“I must say, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Destiny.” He was an older version of James, but more polished. It was clear that James got his handsome looks from his father.“Yes,” the grandfather drawled, wrinkling his nose as if he were smelling something unpleasant. “More like surprised to see you actually exist.” He placed his newspaper down on the table next to his chair.James pressed my hand reassuringly. He did warn me his grandfather
“Oh, my God that was exhausting.” I told James when we were on our way home.“You did well, Sugar.” James chuckled, “Sorry about that South Africa thing, I don’t know what came over me. It just slipped out.”“Your grandfather is scary. And your father knows we’re lying. I’m sure of it.” I wasn’t being paranoid.James laughed it off. “Don’t worry about it. Even if he does, he can’t stop us.” James turned a corner so fast I was thrown towards him. My hand landed on his thigh to steady myself.I pulled it away so fast like he was hot metal. “Sorry, sorry.”James glimpsed at me a cheeky smile on his lips. “You have nothing to apologize for. If you want to touch my leg it’s fine by me.”“Oh, get over yourself, will you.” I stared out the window and he chuckled.“By the way, I got a text from Arthur saying he’ll see us tomorrow with the draft of our agreement.”“Really? Wow, that’s fast.”I was sure that Arthur didn’t like me at all. He must think that I was after James’s money.“Have you t
Driving to town he had the car radio on full blast playing alternative rock, his fingers drumming to the beat on the steering wheel. He seemed to be in a good mood. He winked at me when he caught me staring.“First were going to fill our tummies and then I’m going to find you the biggest, shiniest rock I can.” He said waggling his eyebrows at me.“You really don’t have to.” I grumbled.He laughed, “You can choose whatever you want, Sugar. Don’t pout unless you want me to kiss you. You have such an irresistible little mouth.”“Ugh! Stop it!” I slapped him on his thigh, and he grabbed my hand and held it there, the heat of his skin warming my palm. When I resisted he just chuckled.“Practice, Sugar. If we’re going to convince people, we need to feel comfortable touching each other.”“When you say it like that it sounds dirty.” I snapped at him. Why is he doing this? He is playing with me, must have some idea how I’m crushing on him.He looked hurt. “No, nothing like that. Jeez!”My chee
JAMESOf course, I should have known Arthur would go to my father. The backstabbing rat. But this leaves me no choice to sign the contract because I had run out of time.“Your father thought it was unfair to Miss Johnson that you be allowed to carry on with your (he cleared his throat) … wild ways and she had to stay faithful to you.” Arthur said, carefully studying his glasses.“We could change it to an open marriage.” I tried.Arthur shook his head. “Not an option. Your father stipulated that any changes made be run by him before they could be implemented.”Of course he would. Sneaky bastard. I looked at Destiny who so obviously enjoyed my predicament.“I don’t believe you James. Wanting me to remain at home like the good little wife while you go on as usual?” She looked at Arthur. “I should actually thank Mr. Barrington personally.”“No need, Ms. Johnson.” Arthur said.“Don’t be angry, I did it to save your reputation, Destiny.” I said. “Let’s just sign the damn thing and get it ov
DESTINYThere was someone in the house. James had left for work so I was sure it couldn’t be him. I clutched my phone to my chest uncertain if I should call the police. Where I grew up the police never got there on time anyway, so I decided not to. I mean, I wasn’t a coward, and I could defend myself if I had to.Armed with a heavy statue – a bust of some woman – I snuck down the stairs. For a moment I stood halfway, listening. I heard a commotion in the kitchen. Tiptoeing and raising the statue above my head I was ready to deck the intruder when…“Ahh! God preserve us!” a woman screamed.I dropped the statue and it fell at my feet narrowly missing my toes and it rolled away.“Shame on you Lass! Scaring an old woman like that.” she held her hand to her bosom. “Didn’t know young master Jimmy had guests.” she had a lilting Scottish brogue which I liked.“Sorry, so sorry. I though we were being burgled.” I hastily retrieved the fallen bust, noticing her nose had broken off in the fall.
From the outside the hotel looked like an apartment building, all glass and chrome and very modern. James ushered me through the revolving doors and into the lobby. We went up with the glass lift to the top floor to the spa. I felt like a little girl lost standing there in the reception area while James did all the talking. Not that the girl behind the desk seemed to mind. She only had eyes for James. I couldn’t blame her; he was easy on the eyes. But she was really getting on my nerves, flirting with him and he didn’t hold back either. I wasn’t jealous.“Okay, so call me when you’re done, and I’ll come pick you up Destiny. I have to get back to work.” James said.“Right. Work.” I said pursing my mouth.“Why do you say it like that? Something you want to tell me?” James took my arm and led me away from the swooning receptionist.“C’mon James. I’m young but I’m not stupid. You had lipstick on your shirt collar. You were late because you were snogging someone.” I lowered my voice, “You’