Ruth and Lucas Read online

  He watched her take a sip of coffee, immediately grimacing when she realized that it was the same foul-tasting beverage she'd tasted earlier on.

  “Look, we can iron out the kinks, alright? Just think of it as a business deal, one where we both get something positive out of this marriage. We can sort out the dos and don'ts of the marriage, making sure that we're both happy with the arrangement. Come on, what do you say?”

  The more he spoke about it, the more he was convinced that it was the best solution to his problem. And she'll benefit as well, she needs to understand that. Many women would give their two front teeth to marry me, although I would rather have them keep their teeth. She still didn't look convinced at all, her forehead heavy with a frown.

  “Lucas, let's be realistic about this, okay? We don't know each other from a bar of soap, and to be honest, I've never seen you date a black girl. How would your family and friends react to you suddenly marrying one?”

  He shrugged. "Maybe I just haven't found the right black girl to date, but that's beside the point. Black, white, Puerto Rican—who cares? I'm not one to pick and choose just based on race. Do you have a problem with white guys? I don't think that you've ever dated a white guy."

  She pointed at herself. “Me? Are you nuts or something? Of course I don't have a problem with white guys, alright? But I'm just stating the obvious here, Lucas, and that is that we don't match, not in the slightest.”

  “Opposites attract.”

  "That's not true, that's just some lie that romance authors cooked up to give their stories some spice. In reality, it doesn't work at all, you have to share things in common for the relationship to work."

  "But we don't have a real relationship, only a business deal, so what's the problem?"

  “What if your parents become suspicious and find out that you only got married to get what you want from them? Then what? They'll easily see that we don't match and eventually put two and two together.”

  That was true, but it was a risk that he was willing to take. Who else could he find who wouldn't try to trap him into marriage? This way, he would have the pretense of being married without all the usual marital stuff. There would be no physical aspect to the agreement besides a peck on the lips or cheek to keep up appearances. Veronica wouldn't be uncomfortable with that, would she? She seemed like a level-headed woman, she would understand that she was just playing a role.

  “If we're convincing enough, then it shouldn't be a problem.”

  “What do you mean by 'convincing'?”

  "The odd kiss here and there, that's all, but only when there are people around and it's called for. Other than that, we'll keep our distance. Do you think that you could handle that?"

  She looked away, her hands going to her forehead. What is she thinking? She's got to agree to this! I don't exactly have many options here. Finally, she looked at him.

  “Lucas, I'm sorry, but this doesn't sound like a good idea.”

  All hope of getting the family business went up in smoke. My cousin is sure to get it now, and there's nothing that I can do about it. There was no way that he was going to get married to anyone else, he was just looking for a business deal. It didn't matter how much he loved running the business, he valued his freedom more. Besides, if Mom and Dad want their hard work to go down the drain, then they should go ahead and do as they please. It would be hard to watch the company fall, but he wasn't financially dependent on it, he had his own money. But this is ridiculous! What kind of ultimatum is that? How can they be so foolish and blind? And how could he just give up? He couldn't throw in the towel just yet, he needed to come at her from a different angle.

  "Veronica, just think of what people will say once we get married? You won't get anymore pitying looks, you'll probably get more clients, and you'll be the most envied person around. I mean, I am the most eligible bachelor around! Just think, your business will skyrocket, and you'll be one popular lady."

  “Lucas, my business doesn't need the boost, neither am I concerned about becoming popular. However, I do like the idea of getting back to my professional image and having people stop looking at me with pitying eyes.”

  “Yes, yes! You see? You also get something out of the arrangement. So, what do you say, Veronica?”

  Lucas held out his hand, hoping that she would take it. He watched her sigh gravely before taking his hand.

  “I guess you've got yourself a deal.”

  Chapter 3

  If she had to stop what she was doing one more time to answer her phone, she was going to have a mini-breakdown. Just how many details did she have to finalize in one day? Didn't they realize that she actually had a job to do? She wasn't some socialite who went about shopping and sipping margaritas all day long! Ruth decided to switch her phone off—she would just have to face Lucas' family later. She picked up her swatches again, holding them up against the canary yellow wall.

  "Not a color I would have chosen, but the woman is insistent on having it for the nursery."

  All the furniture would need to be white to offset the amount of yellow. Maybe she could convince the mother-to-be to add in stripes of a lighter yellow to balance out the offensive brightness of the room.

  “I like yellow, I really do, but not this much.”

  She could have gone with one wall in this yellow and the rest in white, or perhaps a pale shade of yellow.

  “The woman is insisting on a list of other colors—what's the point of calling in an interior designer if a person insists on having things their way? Aren't I the professional here?”

  Ruth knew that no matter how much she might complain, she would get the job done and do it well. She was used to working with difficult and unreasonable clients, it was all part of the job.

  “If only I could adopt the same attitude with my soon to be mother-in-law and sister-in-law, I'd be less stressed.”

  The women were driving her crazy! All I wanted was a simple wedding, but they've taken it out of my hands and are making it into some extravagant spectacle! And Lucas was no help either. He had foisted the task of dealing with the wedding arrangements on her without first discussing it, expecting her to have everything ready for the ceremony that was due to take place in just a month.

  “It would've been easy if I had my way, but his family just had to get themselves involved and I couldn't exactly say no, could I? They're my in-laws at the end of the day, I can't exactly say 'hey, this is my wedding, and I don't want your input'!"

  Ruth took a deep breath. She needed to calm down, or she wouldn't be able to complete the tasks she'd set out to do today.

  “Starting with this wall.”

  While her wedding was set to be the social event of the year, her client expected her to be the interior designer of the year and complete the project well. Ruth had a catalog of furniture from her favorite store, Massey & Massey. She'd used them for years and could always expect perfect service and delivery from them. Recently, they had introduced a new section in their store specifically for nurseries, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Charity had changed her mind several times already, and the store had understood enough to allow last-minute changes to her order.

  "Hopefully the white furniture will be the last order. If need be, I can convince Charity to get the furniture and then if she changes her mind again, we can use chalk paint to change up the color."

  Luckily, nursery furniture was pretty standard in that a bed was needed, a changing table, a chest of draws, a rocking chair, and a side table or two. Ruth turned to the door when she heard a pair of heels clicking on the wooden floor.

  “Veronica, what do you think of the wall? I took the liberty of having it painted before you arrived.”

  Charity was near her due date, and yet she was still able to wear a pair of heels. I only wear mine when dealing with clients, I couldn't wear them all the time, and certainly not when I'm pregnant. Ruth felt a pang of pain at the thought of never having a child of her own. It was what she'd wanted wi
th George, but he'd taken that hope away and had got another woman pregnant. From what she'd heard, the woman would be expecting their son in a matter of weeks. Ruth had steadily refused to find out anything about the woman, not even wanting to see her picture. However, people had the habit of telling her things about her ex-fiancé as though she wanted to hear about him.

  Charity looked at her with expectation, her perfect smile white and sparkling. What do I tell her about the wall? I can't exactly lie about it.

  “Well, it's quite yellow, that's for sure. Can I make a suggestion?”

  The woman's face fell. “You don't like it, do you?”

  “It's a bright color, and there's lots of it. It's not bad at all, but it does need to be toned down a bit. Look at this color, we can use it to break the canary yellow.”

  Ruth showed her the pale yellow, hoping that the woman would agree with her. If she says yes, it'll make my job so much easier.

  “Well, it's not really what I wanted, but I kind of like this. But how would you use it?”

  “We can do pale yellow stripes throughout the room, and even bring it into the linen.”

  Ruth continued to give a breakdown of the plans for the nursery, but she could see that the woman wasn't listening to her.

  “Charity? What do you think?”

  “About what? Oh, you mean the nursery? It's good, it's all good- I trust you to do a great job, Veronica.”

  "Alright, then. So, I'll come again on Thursday when all the materials are here and get started on the room. In the meantime, please do not make any more changes to the room. I've reserved unique pieces at the furniture store for this room, if we change the plans again I'll lose the furniture."

  “I promise not to do a thing until you get here.”

  "Good. Thank you, Charity, I'll see you on Thursday."

  “Oh, Veronica, just a minute—I'd like to ask you something.”

  Please don't let it be another change, she just said that she wouldn't make any more of those.

  “Yes?”

  “Well, I heard that you're getting married to Lucas Ross, is this true?”

  The woman had probably read about it in some gossip magazine and just wanted to verify it for herself. She's probably wondering what a woman like me is doing with a man like that. I don't blame them for thinking in that way, but she better not be rude about it.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Lucky fish! So, what's he like? Is he every bit the charmer?”

  Ruth was not about to discuss her personal life with anyone, least of all a client. That was probably why she wasn't paying attention, she must have been waiting for an opportunity to question me about Lucas.

  “Lucas is a good man, that's all that I can say about it.” She looked at her watch. “Oh, would you look at the time! I have another appointment to get to, so I'll see you on Thursday.”

  She all but ran out of the room, heading for her car. She wasn't lying about needing to be somewhere else; Ruth was due to meet with Lucas' mother and sister at the country club, and she couldn't afford to be late. Getting behind the wheel of her car, she pulled on the safety belt, pausing when a familiar car pulled into the driveway. Ruth had parked some feet away from Charity's house, giving her a clear view of the person parking their car in the garage.

  “That better not be who I think it is.”

  Ruth watched in disbelief as George climbed out of the car, stretching back inside to grab his briefcase.

  “You have got to be kidding me! This isn't happening, it can't be happening.”

  Charity chose that moment to come running out of the house, heading straight for him. The woman leapt into George's arms, her squeal loud as he twirled her around before setting her down and giving her a kiss. Ruth closed her eyes for a moment, feeling an overwhelming wave of pain hit her. That was supposed to be us, but you betrayed me. Why? Why did he have to do that? How did she end up doing the nursery of the woman who had taken her place in George's life? Ruth's eyes flew open, focusing on the couple who were displaying their soppy love for all to see.

  "The tramp told me her name was Charity Brooks—she lied to me!"

  Was this something that had been cooked up to further humiliate her? Did George want to rub their breakup in her face by showing her just how much happier he now was with his younger wife? Why else would the woman have personally contacted her?

  “I should have looked at her picture when I had the chance to, I would have at least saved myself all of this pain.”

  Charity Brooks was none other than Tally Zietsman, the new Mrs. Chazelle. She was going to confront them, that's what she was going to do. Ruth climbed out of her car, latching onto the anger that lay simmering under the surface.

  “He's going to regret that he ever hurt me like this!”

  She took a step into the road, not minding the oncoming cars. All she cared about at that moment was reaching the couple ahead of her and giving them a piece of her mind. She hadn't had the chance to do so when she'd received the text message from George telling her that their relationship wasn't working out and that he'd found someone else. The message had been cold and cruel, a kick in the gut. Ruth remembered how she'd called him like a crazy woman after that, but he'd repeatedly ignored her calls. It had taken over two weeks before he had answered her call and given her the final blow. His voice had been harsh as he'd warned her to stop calling him, telling her that she was disturbing his pregnant wife.

  “And now they've tried to make a fool of me by hiring me to do their nursery?”

  No, she couldn't let this go, not at all. A honking car startled her, making her jump back in shock. It drove past her, the driver sticking his head out of his window to curse her. Ruth's hand went to her chest, feeling her rapidly beating heart. I could have been run over, what am I doing? What had she been thinking? She looked towards George's house, not seeing the couple anymore.

  “They've gone inside, should I follow them?”

  What would he say once he saw her? Ugh, what is there to say? The man dropped me like a sack of potatoes the minute someone better came along, and he obviously didn't care enough to break up with me in a less jarring way. Had George ever loved her?

  “No, he couldn't have loved me if he could walk away so easily.”

  Why had he dragged their engagement then? Why not break it off before he decided to betray her?

  “He didn't care what would happen to me once he left me, he only thought of himself.”

  And confronting him now wasn't going to do her any good. If anything, it would make her life far more confused and complicated.

  “Besides, I'm about to get married to Lucas, I shouldn't be worried about a donkey when I have an Arabian horse waiting for me.”

  Ruth took one more look at the house, narrowing her eyes. I really want to kick his butt, but that'll just make me look like some ghetto woman, and I haven't worked so hard for years to create Veronica Beaumont only to have her disappear in one careless moment. Thank goodness that she never did reveal her true identity to him! Ruth had planned on doing it once they'd set their wedding date, needing that commitment from George before revealing such a vulnerable part of herself.

  “Imagine if I had? He would have ruined me!”

  Ruth slapped her head as she remembered one vital detail about the wedding. She wouldn't be able to get married as Veronica Beaumont, that was just her professional name.

  "When exactly do I tell Lucas that he'll be marrying Ruth Matthews?"

  As soon as possible was best, but what would his family say? What about her clients? Some of them were bound to be at the wedding—would this affect her image?

  “Gosh, I didn't think of that! What if this marriage ends up doing more damage than good?”

  What was the time, anyway? Ruth dug in her bag, fishing out her phone. Her watch had stopped working the other day, an irritating inconvenience when she was so used to looking at her wrist for the time. Her hand connected with her phone, pulling it quickly o
ut of the bag to check the time.

  “Yikes! I'm going to be late!”

  She had twenty minutes to get to the country club to meet her in-laws, although she would rather go home and eat a pint of cookie dough ice cream than sit through an hour of wedding talk. That's quite ironic seeing as how eager and excited I was to plan my wedding with George.

  “Just put that behind you now, Ruth, it's no use revisiting the past when you've got a future to plan for.”

  Ruth got into her car, driving off at a quick speed. The country club was about half an hour away, but if she pressed on the gas, she might just make it.

  “And get a couple traffic tickets in the process as well.”

  As she made her way to lunch, Ruth considered ending the project with Tally. How could she continue to work for them when she knew who they were?

  “But if I leave the project halfway, I'll lose my credibility.”

  Ruth knew without a doubt that the woman would waste no time in letting everyone know that Veronica Beaumont was unprofessional and unreliable.

  “No way can I let that happen. I'll just bite down on my pride and complete the project without giving away the fact that I know exactly who she is.”

  Easier said than done. The urge to throttle the woman would be strong, but Ruth would have to remember that Tally was pregnant and therefore off-limits.

  “I'll be Mrs. Ross soon, that'll be something to rub in her face when I see her.”

  Maybe she'd get some sort of satisfaction in seeing George knowing that he wanted to desperately move in affluent circles but couldn't quite make it. And here I'll be marrying into one of the wealthiest families in America, that's got to be a kick in the face. Never mind that it wasn't a love match.

  "Lucas, this marriage had better improve my life, or you're going to have one irate wife on your hands.”