‘I don’t mind telling you. Last year Stoneware made six point four million dollars profit. I own seventy per cent of the company, so my share was four point four eight million. I expect this next year to be a much better year, however.’
Natalie swallowed her surprise and said, ‘How much better?’
‘A lot better,’ he replied drily. ‘We released a couple of new games which have really taken off.’
‘I see.’
‘I presume that improves my chances of finding a wife?’
His question—and his tone—had a decidedly cynical flavour, which ruffled Natalie’s feathers.
‘Money alone will not secure you a wife from amongst my girls,’ she told him crisply.
‘Are you sure about that?’
‘Quite sure.’
‘Pity.’
‘What does that mean?’
He stared hard at her, making her squirm on her chair.
‘You know, you’re not quite what I expected,’ was his next, rather cryptic comment, ‘but I can see you’re still a no-nonsense businesswoman. Like I said, I’m a truthful man. I don’t like to con people. I also don’t have the time to muck around. The thing is, Ms Fairlane,’ he continued as he sat forward on the sofa, his elbows coming to rest on his knees, ‘I need a wife before the first week in December.’
CHAPTER THREE
‘THE first week in December!’ Natalie exclaimed. ‘But December’s just over a month away!’
‘That’s right,’ Mike said, feeling perversely pleased that he’d got a real rise out of her.
He’d met females like Natalie Fairlane before. For some reason they were sour on life, and on men. That was why they tried to hide their femininity behind masculine-looking clothes. They lived in constant denial of their sex, and their sexuality.
Yet a man would have to be blind not to see that Natalie Fairlane was a looker. With the right makeup and the right outfit, she’d be a knock-’em-dead type. She had all the basic equipment. Gorgeous red hair. Striking blue eyes. A sultry mouth. And, if he was not mistaken, hiding behind that simply awful grey trouser suit was a darned good figure.
‘But that’s impossible!’ she informed him agitatedly. ‘It takes a month and a day to get a marriage licence, unless you have a special reason for a special licence. Do you?’ she demanded to know. ‘Oh, this is quite ridiculous. Why do you have to be married by then?’
Natalie watched as he sighed, then leant back again, stretching his arms along the back of the sofa, his leather jacket coming apart as he did so.
Natalie did her best not to stare. But, brother, did that man have a chest on him!
‘Do you want the long version or the short version?’ he said.
‘Any version will do,’ she told him. ‘Provided it makes sense.’
‘Fair enough. The thing is, Ms Fairlane, I’m in negotiations with an American company named Comproware who are very interested in a new firewall program I’ve written. Interested enough to offer me a partnership.’
‘And?’ Natalie prompted when he stopped talking for a second. Patience was not one of Natalie’s virtues. ‘Such a partnership would earn my company many millions over the coming years. Unfortunately, the owner of Comproware is a sanctimonious, self-righteous old buzzard named Chuck Helsinger who refuses to go into partnership with any man who isn’t married. Married with solid family values, I’ve been informed.’
‘Aah, I’m beginning to see. But why do you call Mr Helsinger self-righteous?’
‘He’s seventy years old. And his wife is in her forties. His third wife.’
‘At least he married her!’
‘Trading your wife in on a younger model every once in a while hardly demonstrates solid family values. Not that I feel all that sorry for any of his wives. No doubt they only married him in the first place for his money.’
‘Which is exactly what you’re planning to do,’ she pointed out tartly. ‘Marrying for Mr Helsinger’s money.’
‘Right in one, Ms Fairlane. Glad to see you’ve got the picture.’
‘Oh, I’ve got the picture all right, Mr Stone,’ she countered, a furious indignation simmering away inside her. ‘Now let me give you my picture. If you think I would insult any of my girls by matching a man like you up with any of them, then you can think again. They wouldn’t enter into the kind of loveless marriage you’re wanting, for all the money in the world. They want real marriages with real husbands and the possibilities of a real family, which I presume wouldn’t be on your agenda.’
Her tirade didn’t seem to have affected him in the slightest. He continued to lounge back in that nonchalantly relaxed pose, his expression as poker-faced as ever.
‘You’re quite right, Ms Fairlane. I certainly wasn’t planning on being a real husband. This would be a business arrangement only, with a discreet divorce in the foreseeable future.’
‘A business arrangement?’ she repeated a bit blankly. ‘You mean…no sex?’
‘Absolutely no sex.’
Somehow she found that hard to believe. Mike Stone oozed testosterone from every pore.
But then she realised what he meant. Just no sex with his bought bride. He’d probably still be having it off with other women.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said stiffly. ‘I would still not entertain the thought of putting such an outrageous proposition to any of my girls. It’s not what they came to Wives Wanted to get. They would be offended and none would accept.’
‘You’re quite sure of that?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘I will pay one million dollars up front. And a further one million if the partnership goes through.’
Natalie gaped before she could stop herself.
‘Naturally, I will also cover all expenses associated with the wedding,’ the object of her gaping went on before she could regather her composure. ‘The marriage will have to look real. Mr Helsinger could be having me investigated.’
‘I see,’ she said after her mouth finally snapped shut. ‘That’s a very…generous…offer.’
Generous and tempting.
‘It’s fair for the amount of work and inconvenience involved. Aside from the bother of going through with a wedding, and making it look the goods, my temporary wife will have to be available to spend a couple of days with me aboard Mr Helsinger’s yacht early in December. He’s coming here to Sydney to pick up this brand-new luxury boat and look me over at the same time.’
Natalie frowned. ‘Yachts don’t have huge bedrooms. If you’re supposed to be newly-weds, you’ll have to share a cabin.’
‘I can see the way your mind is working, Ms Fairlane, but I can promise you there won’t be any hanky-panky. I don’t want to create any problems afterwards. This marriage will not be consummated, so please don’t match me up with any female who might fancy herself a femme fatale, or who might imagine that I will fall in love with her. I won’t,’ he finished up with a flash of steel in his hard, dark eyes. ‘I don’t fall in love and I won’t be staying married.’
‘You don’t have to worry about some poor deluded creature from Wives Wanted trying to seduce you, Mr Stone,’ she said, thinking his name reflected his nature. He was made of stone. ‘I still have no intention of matching you with any of my female clients.’
Natalie