Gorgeous Grooms: Her Stand-In Groom / Her Wish-List Bridegroom / Ordinary Girl, Society Groom

“It seems we have something in common, Catherine.”

He rolled the R in her name, making it sound almost exotic. She backed up another step as he advanced, not sure what he meant to do. When he stood directly in front of her he raised a hand, and she held her breath. But his touch was gentle when he pushed the hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear, his fingers sliding slowly down to the end of the strand before releasing it.

“What do we have in common?” she asked softly.

“Betrayal. Derek has betrayed us both.”

He cursed again, before turning away from her and stalking to the window.

“I don’t understand.”

“Derek and his mother managed to either doctor our grandfather’s will or conceal a key provision of it from me until today.” He turned and pointed to the papers scattered over the floor. “There’s a codicil that essentially gives them the controlling interest in Danbury’s if certain conditions aren’t met by my thirty-fifth birthday, which is Sunday.”

“Any chance you can meet the conditions?”

He expelled a breath, ran one hand through his hair. Fury ebbed. He seemed resigned when he replied. “It’s not likely.”

“Okay, but surely you could go to court and challenge the will?”

“Perhaps. I’d need a new lawyer, since they seem to have bought off the one who’s been doing our family’s business for decades. It would get ugly,” he said, as if thinking aloud. “And there’s no guarantee I’d win, since I have no proof that they concealed the codicil. It’s their word against mine. In the months or even years before the matter is finally settled the press would have a field day with the story, as would our competitors. I wonder what such a bitter battle would do to Danbury’s already battered bottom line in the end?”

“I’d say your best option, then, is to try to meet the will’s conditions.”

He snorted. “Easier said than done.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are the conditions?”

“I have to be married,” he announced. Glancing at his watch, he added, “And I have less than twenty-eight hours to do so.”

“That’s archaic—barbaric.”

“That’s my grandfather. Which is why I tend to think the codicil is authentic. Derek must have discovered it before Grandfather died and decided to make sure I didn’t know about it until it was too late. I still can’t figure out how he and his mother bought off Lyle. He’s always seemed so by the book.”

Something occurred to her then, a thought too hideous to even consider, and yet she had to know. “This condition, did it apply to Derek?”

He seemed to understand what she was asking. “I’m sorry, Catherine.”

She acknowledged his apology with a brisk nod, as hurt and fury battled for dominance. Derek’s words at the church came back to her. I don’t really need her anyway. Had everything been a lie?

She recalled her first encounter with Derek, nearly two years earlier—just a month after his grandfather’s death, she now realized. He’d bid an outrageous sum for a mediocre painting at a silent auction she’d organized to raise money for the shelter. She’d thanked him personally afterward, accepting his invitation to dinner the next day. She’d thought at last she’d found someone who shared her interests, respected her intellect and understood the importance of her work at the shelter and with other local charities that helped serve the city’s neediest residents. Had his romantic pursuit really just been a means to an end?

“What would have happened if Derek had married me?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“That’s not important.”

“Don’t try to spare my feelings, Stephen. I think I have a right to know. What would have happened?”

“He would have had it all.”

“All of Danbury’s?”

“Everything.” His gaze skimmed her features in a way that made her breath catch. “And then some.”

She thought about the prenuptial agreement she’d signed, ensuring a reasonable cash settlement but stipulating she would have no part of the family business. He would have had everything, all right.

“But without a wife he still wins, since you are unmarried as well?”

“Not as neatly. We’ll technically have an equal interest in Danbury’s. His mother’s five percent, however, will mean they get to call the shots. And they intend to sell.”

“So he would have married me just to get his hands on Danbury’s.” She shifted her gaze to Stephen. “Would you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Would you marry someone to keep the company?”

He snorted out a laugh. “I’m not even seeing anyone.”

“That didn’t stop Derek.”

“No, but he had time on his side. I’ve got just over a day. I’m not a believer in love at first sight.”

“You don’t have to love her,” she said, the cold truth settling in once and for all. “Derek didn’t love me.”

“He should have.”

His tone was so matter-of-fact that she didn’t doubt he believed it.

An idea began to take form, too outrageous to entertain, let alone voice, and yet she heard herself ask, “What kind of wife does the codicil state you need to have?”

He stared at her blankly for a moment, before shrugging. “The usual kind: female.”

“Are there any restrictions? Do you have to…stay married?”

“No, I guess not.” His brows pulled together. “But marriage should be permanent.”

His tone sounded almost wistful, and the words surprised her. Stephen Danbury seemed too much of a realist to be a romantic. But then her judgment of men was hardly reliable. After all, she’d believed the lies Derek had packaged up and delivered. But he’d never loved her. He’d never intended to honor or cherish her. He hadn’t even been capable of fidelity on their wedding day. And for his deceit he would have reaped huge rewards. Even having been caught he was still about to come out on top.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.

“You could marry me.” Catherine laid a hand over her jack-hammering heart after she said it.

Stephen gaped at her, clearly as surprised as she by the suggestion. “Marry you?”

Self-conscious laughter bubbled to the surface. “You needn’t look so horrified. It’s just an idea.”

Stephen came forward until he stood just in front of her. “I’m not horrified, just surprised. I know what I’d get out of a marriage between us,” he said carefully, “but what about you? What would you get out of it?”

“I’m not expecting anything financially. I do earn a salary at the shelter, and I have some money from a small inheritance my grandmother left me.”