Take the Money and Come

Chapter 2: Returning the Favor

Chapter 2: Returning the Favor

“I'm sorry to bother you at work, Mr. Black, but I was hoping I could have just a moment of your time,” Maya apologized awkwardly as Michael came to stand in front of her in the waiting room of Black Enterprise. She'd relaxed over the weekend about her upcoming visit to the building, but now, looking up at the man who stood at least a head taller than her, Maya was beginning to think it would have been better to send the money back to him in the mail. She didn't feel like this king's queen at the moment, like she'd been in her dreams. Right now, she felt more like a lowly peasant, and the king didn't exactly look pleased over this interruption.

Michael was instantly suspicious. His gut had told him the young waitress was genuine and hard-working but her presence at his office was making him question whether his intuitive judgment was waning. Not that he minded seeing her again; the woman was gorgeous; a sexy siren and yet somehow innocent-looking at the same time. The enigma was mesmerizing. He nodded to her and motioned toward his office at the end of the hall then turned to follow behind her. Once there, he closed the door behind them and she turned to face him. He could tell by the discomfited look on her beautiful face that she was struggling for words, but he had no intention of making whatever con she had planned easy on her.

Maya was definitely questioning her decision to show up at Mr. Black's office. “Yup, should've sent the money by mail, or dropped the envelope on his secretary's desk and made a run for it,” she thought too late. She was completely out of her element here. It didn't help that he was even more attractive than she remembered, those vivid and clear blue eyes staring at her now with a combination of desire and suspicion. Up close in the light of day, he wasn't a knight or king, or anything so fantastical. He was one hundred percent virile man, and somehow that was even more intimidating at the moment. But she'd come with a purpose and she wasn't the kind of woman to cower away from a task.

Finally, her lips parted and she forced the words out in a rush. “I want to thank you for your generous gesture the other night. It was very kind of you, and I don't want you to think I don't appreciate it. It's just that...it's really just too much. And so, I would feel more comfortable if you took it back.” Maya reached into her purse as she spoke, pulling out the envelope he'd left at the table last night and held it out to the man in front of her.

“Take it back???” He wondered incredulously. He hadn't been expecting that and it left him momentarily speechless. He had been waiting to hear some phony sob story or the latest and greatest entrepreneurial scheme. If this was a scam, he would have to hand it to her; it was most certainly a brand new angle.

“I'm afraid I don't understand,” he replied. Michael was well aware of what she had said, but he wanted to draw a little more information out of her. If there was something suspicious going on, he had no doubt he'd find it quickly.

“It's just too much, that's all,” she answered easily, revealing nothing new.

He waited quietly, hoping she'd say more. It was a trick he'd honed in the boardroom, learning that people detest uncomfortable silence, and are far more likely to fill it with information that could prove useful to him than if he hounded them for it. He watched the gorgeous, young woman squirm in the silence for a moment before her lips parted once again. “Damn, I almost thought she'd been telling the truth,” he thought, more disappointed than he would have expected.

“I've worked very hard to provide for myself, Mr. Black, and to be honest, I don't like taking handouts. Something about this doesn't feel right. It's just one of those things that weighs on your conscience, you know?”

Oh. If she was conning him, she was good—perhaps the best he'd ever seen—because Michael couldn't detect the slightest deceitful nuance in her words or her body language—something else he had become very good at reading in the boardroom. Could it really be this young waitress was passing up a five-thousand-dollar tip because it didn't sit right with her conscience? If that were true, it meant his gut had been right last night, but it also meant she had to be the craziest young woman in the country because something also told him she wasn't living in the lap of luxury and waitressing in her spare time. And it was precisely in that moment an idea began to take shape in his mind. Beautiful...a little crazy. Sure, he'd have to get around her conscience, but it could work.

“I understand you don't take handouts—though I do believe you earned that money last night Miss Cullen with your infinite patience. But what if I had a proposition for you? One that will serve both our interests? Would you feel more comfortable then?”

“An envelope full of cash...what kind of proposition did he have in mind?” Maya wondered, not sure if she should take offense or hear him out. Though in truth, if he was trying to proposition her for s*x, he didn't need an envelope full of cash to entice her into bed. His hard body and chiseled features; her panties would leap off on their own for a ride on that. “Maya!!!” she chastised herself silently, all the while images of Michael Black naked beneath her flitted unbidden through her mind. He smiled briefly, as if he could read her thoughts.

“I find myself in a rather odd predicament,” he began when Maya didn't answer. “My family is, in some ways, extremely old fashioned, thinking it unfitting for their eldest son and CEO of the family business to be running around single while his younger brothers have all settled down—the most recent you had the misfortune of meeting the other night. It is my father's greatest wish to see me ensconced in matrimony before he passes and he has threatened to establish my brothers' on the board should I not rectify the situation to his satisfaction. While I would remain CEO and a member of the board of directors, my younger brothers have little business sense, and are likely to run the company into the ground if they are given a say in it. And so, I find myself in need of a fiancée.”

Maya's head shot up. A fiancée? OK, she hadn't been expecting that. What exactly was he asking of her? To put on a show at family functions? To be there in case they show up at his house? “Why am I even thinking about this?!?” she wondered incredulously.

Michael couldn't help but smile at the stunned look on her face; her eyes wide, her lips parted slightly in surprise. “It would require a hefty commitment on your part, but I can ensure that you are compensated more than adequately for your trouble.”

The ease with which he spoke made his proposition seem like it should be nothing out of the ordinary; a business proposal like those he would likely make any other day of the week. But this was most definitely not an everyday occurrence for Maya. How could she possible consider such an absurd idea?

“Let's say ten thousand dollars for every week we must maintain the charade,” Mr. Black continued. “I can't imagine having to draw this out longer than a few months—six, perhaps—at which point we can arrange an emotional, tragic end to the relationship. My father will back off, leaving me to continue on here unhampered, and you, Miss Cullen, will be a quarter of a million dollars wealthier—and not a penny of it an undeserved handout.”

Whoa. Maya had come here to return five thousand dollars, and now the man was tossing around hundreds of thousands? This couldn't be for real. And even if it was, she wasn't an actress. How exactly was she supposed to pretend to be this man's fiancée for the next six months? The whole idea of it was just too absurd. She'd come here to return the money; she'd done that and now it was time for her to leave before the man made any more crazy propositions.

“Thank you very much for the offer, Mr. Black, but I really don't think I'm the right person for what you have in mind. I think I should be going now,” she told him. Though, as much as part of her wanted to run from the office, another part of her wanted to stay there, standing across from Mr Black, watching as the muscles in his broad chest and sinewy arms flexed and relaxed beneath the fabric of his button-down shirt with his every movement, the way his lips moved as he spoke, conjuring images of so many other things he could do with those lips.

“Why don't you take some time to consider it, Miss Cullen, and get back to me if you change your mind,” Michael broke into her silent reverie. He wasn't sure why he persisted; he wasn't the kind of guy to leave an offer on the table. If she were any other woman he wouldn't have thought twice about it. But for some reason, he wanted an excuse to see Maya again. It wasn't just her soft, feminine features, her long, lithe form, or her curves in all the right places. It was the way her beauty was fused with something else...innocence? Sincerity? Integrity? He couldn't exactly put a finger on it just yet. All he knew was that whatever it was, it wasn't something he saw very often. And he most definitely wanted to see more of it.

“Sure, I'll do that,” Maya replied non-committally before Michael moved toward the door, opening it for her and seeing her back to the front office. Reaching out to shake her hand, he could see desire flare in her eyes the moment his fingers made contact with her skin. He was no less affected, wanting nothing more than to pull her closer, to feel her soft body against him, to watch as arousal set her emerald green eyes ablaze. But he released her instead, turning back toward his office, listening to Maya's footsteps grow fainter, disappearing altogether as the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside.