Take the Money and Come

Chapter 4: Erotic Images-1

Chapter 4: Erotic Images

“Shall we?” Michael queried, offering Maya his arm. She swallowed hard as they started toward the restaurant's door, still not certain what to expect inside.

“I'm sorry for the short notice. It turns out my brother is hosting a dinner this evening and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you. But, I thought it might be better if we got to know each other a little before then.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” she replied. As tiny tremors of arousal coursed through her, originating from where his skin made contact with hers, she still felt a little irked. Couldn't their little get-together have waited until after class? It was lovely that this arrangement of theirs was going to pay for the rest of her college tuition, but if she flunked her classes in the meantime, the tuition p*****t wouldn't do her much good. However, she decided to keep her thoughts to herself at the moment figuring there was no way of undoing it for now.

They were seated immediately—of course nobody who knew Michael Black was going to make him wait. Scanning through the menu placed in front of her, Maya recognized almost none of the dishes listed there. As it stood in that moment, the only way she'd know what she was ordering was if she stuck to orange juice or water for lunch. Finally finding something she figured she could at least pronounce, she ended her search there and turned her attention to Michael. If she was going to have to play the loving fiancée that night, it was time to start absorbing every bit of information about the man that she could.

“So, what exactly is it that you do, Michael?” she queried.

He began with what she assumed was intended to be a simple explanation: “My company is involved in mergers, acquisitions, arbitrage...that sort of thing.” And Maya could follow him that far, though in truth, she only knew that meant his company was involved in big business. But, as he launched into a lengthier explanation of the projects he'd been involved in, she did her best to stop her eyes from glazing over. He laughed suddenly, a boyish grin momentarily softening his strong features. “It really does sound quite boring, doesn't it?” he asked good-naturedly.

“I'm sorry. I just haven't brushed up on my company takeover manuals in a while,” she teased

“And what about you, Maya? You don't strike me as the type who intended to be a waitress for the rest of her life.”

“Actually, I'm currently going to school to become a nurse. A bit late of a start, I suppose, but I don't have too much more to go.”

“Did something suddenly spark your interest in the field? Is that why you decided on a career change?” he asked, appearing genuinely interested in the motivations behind her decision.

“No, I've always wanted to be a nurse. It's the most rewarding job I can imagine. I had actually started out in college some years back, when I was eighteen. But, my parents passed away just a few months into my first semester. My brother was only fifteen at the time and he needed me. So, I left school and started working at the restaurant. He's finished college now, so I thought it was about time I got back to school.”

Michael was impressed, his respect for this young woman increasing tenfold in a matter of seconds. While tragedy had forced her to change her entire course in life, saddling her with the responsibility of a teenage boy and a full-time job so young, she didn't sound the least bit sorry for herself. She didn't regret the choices she'd had to make, regardless of the sacrifice to her own life—that took dedication and bravery, and it made her even more appealing to him. Though, if he didn't get her “appeal” out of his head, he'd be rock hard and more than a little tempted to take her right there on the table. She might be shocked at first, but he knew she wouldn't resist; within seconds, she'd want it just as bad as he did. He could feel her body's response when he touched her, he could see the desire radiating from her eyes. In this area too, his gut was never wrong.

Maya was instantly uncomfortable, not used to sharing such personal information with a virtual stranger. But that was the point of this little get-together, wasn't it? To get to know enough information about each other to pull off a charade of a relationship. And then another thought flitted back through her mind. She was silent for a moment, contemplating whether to ask—whether she wanted to know the answer. But finally, curiosity won out. “Can I ask you something, Michael?”

“Of course,” he replied.

“Why me? I mean, I'm sure any number of women would have been happy to fill the role. So, why choose some waitress you don't even know?”

“I'd toyed with the idea of a relationship—even a marriage—of convenience to satisfy my father. But it wasn't so simple; the women I've known, those who would be happy to jump to fill the role, they're devious, conniving. Marriage to any one of them would be intolerable at best. My gut told me you were different, and with this new ploy, marriage is completely unnecessary. This arrangement will have no lasting impact on our lives.”

Well, at least it was quite clear he'd thought this out. Though, the fact that she could be so easily dismissed and forgotten once this charade came to an end stung just a little. But it was exactly what had appealed to Maya as she'd sat contemplating his offer the evening before. No hurt feelings and no bitter end; just the expected conclusion to a business arrangement. With that thought fresh in her mind, she turned her attention back to the task at hand.

“OK, so if we're going to pull this off, what do I need to know about you, Michael?”

“Let's see. My parents are still married—together for thirty-six years now. I have three younger brothers—one of which you had the misfortune of meeting previously. I can assure you that he is generally far better behaved. I have MBAs in Entrepreneurship, Finance and International Business, and I took over for my father about two years ago,” he summed up easily.

“That's it?” Maya queried after a moment of stunned silence. “You're not exactly an expert at relationships are you?” she asked, wondering just how short his average relationship was if the deepest the conversation ever got was who's who in the family and what he studied in school. “What about, you know, personal stuff that a fiancée might know?”

“It's unlikely my little league team or my first kiss is going to come up at a family dinner,” he replied dryly.

But as he spoke, Maya's eyes moved instantly to his lips, wondering what they'd feel like kissing hers...moving slowly down her neck...leaving a heated trail down her body to her...“Maya Grace Cullen!” she chastised herself silently in response to the direction her thoughts had taken her. Jeez, pretty soon she'd be fantasizing that the guy is Dracula, overpowering her mind and body with his irresistible allure.

Forcing her mind away from her fanciful musings once again, “But what about your likes? Dislikes? Hobbies?” She tried to think of some examples rich people could relate to. “Do you take the yacht out for a spin on your days off? Jet off for wine tastings in Napa Valley?” she spoke as seriously as she could manage.

“What do you do in your spare time?” he queried without answering her questions, suddenly more than a little curious about what occupied Maya's time and thoughts.

“Oh, let's see. When I'm not at school, at work or nose-deep in textbooks, I'm...sleeping,” she laughed. “I guess spare time just isn't something I've had much of these days. But if I did ever have time to myself...I think I'd do absolutely nothing!” she exclaimed, relishing the idea of a whole day where she had absolutely nothing on her agenda. “Pretty boring, huh? Maybe a day of absolutely nothing other than laying on a beach somewhere.”

“Actually, it sounds wonderful,” he admitted honestly. Of course, it wasn't just the relaxation that had his interest piqued; the idea of spending an entire day lying in the warm sand next to Maya certainly held a substantial amount of appeal.

“So, this dinner tonight...” Maya quickly changed the subject, looking away from the heat radiating from Michael's eyes. “Isn't your family going to be suspicious? If we're supposedly engaged, why are you just introducing me to them now?”

“I wouldn't worry about that. My family isn't exactly the Brady Bunch. We don't get together all that often and it wouldn't surprise them in the least that I hadn't felt compelled to fill them in on my latest love affair.”

“Oh, I guess that's good then.” It seemed Michael had it all figured out. But given that he had no interest in sharing anything personal about himself with her, she'd run out of things to talk about. She was beginning to wonder why he'd felt the need to meet with her prior to his brother's dinner tonight. She knew about as much about him now as she did an hour ago.

The waiter arrived then, taking Michael's order before he offered to order for Maya as well. She accepted gratefully, and then waited quietly, feeling Michael's eyes on her all the while. The meal arrived and they ate in silence, Maya completely at a loss for a topic of conversation. She found it odd, too, that her lunch partner was so quiet. Finally, she looked up, meeting his gaze, and then wondering if he'd taken his eyes off her at all. Her expression turned quizzical and Michael smiled, sitting back in his chair.

“You're beautiful, Maya. Absolutely exquisite,” he told her easily, the same heat as before blazing in his eyes.

“Um, thank you,” she replied uncomfortably. Sure, it wasn't like she'd never been told she was attractive before, but somehow the words coming from Michael's lips sounded different. Far more intense.

“I think this arrangement might be more difficult than I had originally imagined,” he admitted.

She hadn't been expecting that either. “Oh. Are you trying to tell me you've changed your mind?” she asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. One minute the guy was extolling her beauty, the next, he's essentially telling her to go away? “Are all rich men this confusing?” she wondered silently.

“No, that's not what I'm saying at all,” he replied smoothly.

“Then, what are you saying?” she queried, more perplexed by the moment.

“I'm simply saying that I had intended for this to be an entirely professional, platonic arrangement, but you are an incredibly attractive, appealing woman, and you're making that incredibly difficult for me at the moment,” he spoke just as easily as if he'd been talking about any other ordinary business arrangement that had hit a snag.

“Oh.” As a blush crept across Maya's cheeks, she struggled for something to say, some response that didn't involve stuttering like an inexperienced school girl. But the combination of embarrassment and arousal over Michael's confession was doing wicked things to her mind, emptying it of everything but the most explicit, inappropriate thoughts possible. He smiled, and Maya was again quite certain he could read her thoughts.

Signaling for the check, Michael changed the subject like he'd been discussing nothing more intimate than the weather. “I'm afraid I have a meeting this afternoon, so I'll have to be getting you home,” he told her.

“I can take a cab home if it's inconvenient,” she offered, trying to make the leap in thought just as quickly as he had.

“It's not an inconvenience at all. To be honest, a person's home can say a lot about who they are, and so I confess I'm a little curious.”

Suddenly, Maya would have happily forked over money she couldn't afford to spend for cab fare to avoid Michael using her house to measure her character in some way. But what was she supposed to say? She couldn't come up with a polite excuse and so she remained silent, waiting for Michael to settle the bill and then following him out to his car. Yup, just like Sasha had said—a Mercedes.

Michael knew that Maya had been uncomfortable from the moment he'd told her he wanted her. He had no idea what had compelled him to be so upfront with her; he'd always made it a habit of never mixing business and pleasure, and so he'd presumed he would be able to keep a level head in this, too. But business had never involved pretending to be engaged to a beautiful woman before. He figured his attraction to her would only serve to add a little authenticity to his charade. He hadn't imagined it would cloud his judgment, or make him so hot he was tempted to skip dinner with his family tonight and have Maya on the dinner table instead. Damn, but this was precisely why he avoided relationships like the plague; just too damn complicated.