Bronwyn Jameson - Fortune's Mergers

“Well, well, well.”

Gina was so relaxed, so content, it took her a moment to realize that a third person had joined her and Case in her bedroom. When she did, she popped up like a jack-in-a-box to find Zoie standing at the foot of her bed. Mortified that she’d been caught naked in bed with Case, she grabbed the covers and clutched them to her chin.

Case didn’t seem to suffer the same embarrassment. He sat up, stretching like a cat.

“Good morning, Zoie.”

“Yes it is,” she agreed, then dropped her gaze to the point where the covers gathered loosely at his waist and smiled. “And it’s getting better by the minute.”

Pursing her lips in annoyance, Gina snatched the covers to hold up high on Case’s chest. “You might’ve knocked first,” she snapped irritably.

“I did,” Zoie replied, then shrugged. “Guess you couldn’t hear it over all the heavy breathing.”

Irritated that her friend seemed to be enjoying her discomfort, Gina narrowed an eye at her. “What do you want?”

“Just dropped by to see if it was true,” Zoie replied, then grinned. “But I can see that it is.”

“What’s true?” Gina asked impatiently.

Zoie tossed the newspaper she held onto the bed. “See for yourself,” she said, then turned for the door with a casual, “Call me later,” tossed over her shoulder.

Her modesty forgotten, Gina snatched up the paper and flipped it open to find the headline Merger Of Fortunes and beneath it read, Author of children’s books pens her own fairy-tale ending . A stock photo of Case from the newspaper’s files was pictured alongside a publicity photo of her. The publicity pic was one her publisher had requested, in which she held a stuffed Timothy Toad at arm length’s, her lips puckered, as if she was about to kiss him.

Sickened by the sensationalistic slant to the announcement of their engagement, she shifted her gaze back to the headline. How could Case do this to her? she asked in disbelief. Had he been so sure of her answer, himself, that he would release the news to the paper before he’d even proposed?

“Why?” she cried softly, then turned to him, tears blurring her vision. “How could you do this to me?”

“Do what?” he asked in confusion.

She shoved the paper at him and pushed from the bed. “How could you do such a thing?” she cried. “Is your ego so big you never doubted for a minute that I’d say yes? That no woman would ever say no to the mighty Case Fortune?”

Frowning, Case dragged the paper onto his lap. He swore under his breath as he read the headline, then slapped the back of his hand against the paper. “Do you really think I’m responsible for this?” he asked angrily.

“Well, it certainly wasn’t me who leaked the news to the paper! I had no idea you intended to propose last night.”

He glared at her a long moment, his jaw clenched, then he heaved a sigh and stretched out a hand. “Come here.”

She hesitated a moment, not sure she wanted to touch him. Not after he’d turned their engagement into a media circus.

“Gina,” he said firmly.

Though reluctant, she put her hand in his and allowed him to draw her back to bed.

He draped an arm around her and pressed his lips to her hair. “I’m sorry, darling. I know this isn’t the way you probably dreamed of having your engagement announced to the world. What woman would? But I didn’t leak the news to the paper. I swear, it wasn’t me.” Sighing wearily, he rested his forehead against her head. “We need to go and see your father. I’m sure he’s seen this by now and is probably furious with me for not coming to him first and asking for your hand.”

She jerked from his side, her eyes wide in alarm. “No. I don’t want to see him.”

“But, Gina—”

“No! I don’t need his permission to marry. Whatever rights he had in my life he sacrificed a long time ago.”

“Okay, okay,” he soothed, and drew her back to his side. “We don’t have to go and see him.”

Blinking back tears, she sat huddled at his side, wishing desperately that she could roll the clock back an hour. Before she’d seen the headlines in the paper, she had been deliriously happy, her heart brimming with her love for Case.

She started at the unexpected thought. Love? She slowly relaxed, realizing it was true. She had fallen in love with Case. She didn’t know the precise moment when her feelings for him had grown to that point, but she knew without a doubt that she loved him.

But did he love her?

“Case?” she asked hesitantly.

“Hmm?”

“Do you love me?”

He drew back to look at her in puzzlement. “Where did that come from?”

Though as frightened to hear his answer as she had been embarrassed to ask the question, she had to know. “You’ve never said it. I just wondered.”

He stared at her a long moment, then smiled and hugged her to his side again. “I’d never marry a woman I didn’t love.”

Case punched in the security code to his penthouse and strode inside.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in.”

He stopped short when he saw Creed stretched out on his sofa, then scowled. “What are you doing here?”

“Just checking on you, big brother. Since you didn’t return to the estate last night, I thought you might have stayed here.” He gave Case’s rumpled clothing a pointed look. “But seeing as how you’re wearing the same clothes you had on last night, I assume you spent the night with your new fianceé.”

His scowl deepening, Case peeled off his dinner jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair. “So what if I did?”

Creed folded his hands behind his head. “That was quite a bomb you dropped on us last night.”

“Yeah. I imagine it was.”

“I knew you were determined to close the deal with Reynolds, but I never dreamed you’d go so far as marry his daughter in order to gain control of Reynolds Refining.”

Snorting a laugh, Case stripped off his shirt. “Who said anything about marriage?”

“You did. I heard the proposal myself.”

Case dropped his shirt and headed for his bedroom and the bathroom beyond. “There’s a mighty big gap between engagement and marriage.”

“What?” Creed bolted from the sofa and hurried after him. “Are you saying you don’t intend to marry Gina?”

Case twisted on the faucet in the shower. “I won’t have to.”

Scowling, Creed braced a shoulder against the doorframe. “Maybe you better explain.”

“Once Reynolds hears of the engagement—which I assume he has by now, thanks to whoever leaked the story to the newspaper—he’ll go along with the merger.”

“Why would he do that? He’s already told you he’s changed his mind.”

“His only objection was his desire to leave his daughter a legacy. Since Gina and I are now engaged, there’s no reason for him to delay any longer. He gets the money and, by marrying me, his daughter gets the company and the legacy he wanted for her … or so Curtis will think.”

Creed held up a hand. “Wait a minute. In order for Reynolds’ daughter to obtain partial ownership, the two of you would have to marry.”

His smile smug, Case unzipped his fly. “Which is the beauty of my little plan. I don’t have to marry her. I just have to make Reynolds think that I am. Once the merger is complete, I’ll break the engagement. Dakota Fortunes will own Reynolds Refining and I’ll still be a single man.”

Creed wagged his head sadly. “Brother, that’s low. Even for you.”

“Really? I think it’s rather magnanimous.” Case let his slacks drop and stepped out of them and into the shower. “Gina doesn’t want the company. Never has.”

“But you proposed to her,” Creed reminded him. “I doubt she’ll thank you for breaking the engagement.”