Bought To Wear The Billionaire's Ring

* * *

Leo sighed. Maybe he should have forewarned her but what would have been the point? She would still have been utterly bewildered. Much better that he was sitting in front of her so that he could explain the situation face-to-face.

If she couldn’t believe that this was happening then they were roughly on the same page.

Beyond the fact that the words will you marry me had never featured in any scenario he had ever envisaged for his future, he certainly would never have chosen Samantha Wilson as the recipient of his proposal.

He had met the woman over the years in countless different situations and he had been left with the impression of someone so background as to be practically invisible. She’d never been rude to him. She had always answered his questions politely, barely meeting his eyes before scuttling away as soon as she could. Aside from one conversation years ago. A conversation lodged at the back of his brain... But, after that, he had met her again—had tried to engage her attention—and nothing. He had no idea whether she had a boyfriend or not, whether she had a social life or not, whether she had hobbies or not.

In his world, where women strutted around like flamboyant peacocks, she was the equivalent of a sparrow. Perfect, of course, for the job at hand but hardly the sort of woman he would ever have looked at twice in that way.

‘I suppose you know about Sean and his wife,’ Leo began.

She nodded slowly. ‘I’m sorry. You have my condolences. It was a horrible end for both of them. What on earth would have persuaded Sean to take flying lessons, of all things? And to have flown solo in bad weather with Louise, without his instructor... It beggars belief. But I’m so sorry.’

‘No need for the sorrow or the condolences—’ he waved aside ‘—I wasn’t close to Sean so I can’t say his absence is going to leave a big hole in my life.’

‘That’s very honest of you.’

She was looking at him with those huge, surprisingly riveting blue, blue eyes and, while her voice was perfectly serious, Leo couldn’t help but suspect a thread of sarcasm underlying her remark. She’d never struck him as the sarcastic type.

‘I suppose you’re also aware that my father has been extremely upset that Sean’s daughter, whom he considers his granddaughter, remains in Australia as a ward of her maternal grandmother.’

‘It’s a shame, but I’m sure she’ll be allowed over to visit your dad in time, once she’s a bit older. Look, Leo, I still don’t see what this has to do with me or—’ her eyes flicked down to the box burning a hole on the table in front of her ‘—or that engagement ring.’

‘When Sean and Louise died, it was presumed that the child would be sent over here to live with me. Louise was an only child from a difficult background, without any extended family who could take Adele under their wing and Louise’s mother also had a somewhat...colourful history.’

‘I know there have been rumours...’

‘My father receives monthly requests from her for handouts and that is in addition to the money he continued to send to Sean over the years, well after his divorce from Sean’s mother was finalised.’

‘Your dad has a soft heart,’ Sammy said warmly.

‘A soft heart is only a small step away from being a soft touch,’ Leo muttered and she frowned disapprovingly at him.

‘I’m sure the money he sent over was really useful...’

‘I’m sure it was,’ Leo responded drily. ‘The question is, useful to whom? But no matter. That’s history. What we’re dealing with is the present, which brings me to the subject of the engagement ring...’ Admittedly, he had sprung this on her and had expected nothing but shock. Horror, however, hadn’t entered the equation because, whether the engagement was fake or not, he couldn’t think of a single woman who wouldn’t have been thrilled to see a diamond like that and to know that it was destined for her finger.

Right now, the woman sitting in front of him was glancing down at the box with a moue of distaste, as though looking at something that could prove infectious in a nasty way.

‘My father has recently received an unpleasant email suggesting that Adele, against all common sense and certainly not in her best interests, may end up remaining in Australia with Sean’s mother-in-law. The woman has clearly decided that it makes sense financially for her to hang on to Adele because, as long as she has the child in her custody, she will continue to receive money from my father, which, incidentally, is actually money from me. You may or may not know that his writing has been off the boil for a long time. The family company is doing well but I would rather not be financially embroiled with this woman forever.’

‘I’m just wondering what all of this has to do with me,’ Sammy confessed.

This had to be the longest conversation in recent years that she had ever had with the man and she was mortified because the cool composure she was at pains to display was at vibrant odds with what she was feeling. She certainly wasn’t cool and composed inside. In fact, she was all over the place.

Her senses were on full alert and she didn’t fully understand why.

Surely she was mature enough not to turn into a dithering wreck simply because she happened to be in the company of a man who was too attractive for his own good? She was a working woman, a teacher, with heaps of responsibility, someone with enough life experience behind her to recognise Leo for the man he really was as opposed to the one-dimensional, gorgeous cardboard cut-out who had once turned her silly teenage head...

Except...

Maybe her life experience was sorely lacking in a certain vital area. Maybe that was why just looking at him was making her skin tingle.

She had plenty of experience in caring for her mother, as she had been doing for the past year and a half. She knew all about communicating with doctors and hospitals and nurses and making her voice heard because her mother, although she had been a nurse herself, had been swallowed up with fear and confusion. She had needed someone strong to lean on and that person had been her, Sammy. And she had plenty of experience under her belt of taking charge, of controlling unruly primary school children until they were as meek as little lambs.

She had argued with bank managers and spent hours trying to balance the books and had exhausted herself with pep talks to her mother, convincing her that the cottage was safe even though the mortgage payments had fallen behind.

And, through it all, she had done her best to hang on to her sense of humour and her sense of perspective.

But there was that whole other area where she had no experience at all.

A vast, blurry, opaque space where she was a stranger because, despite having had two serious boyfriends, she had yet to test the sexual waters.

They had both been attractive and she’d liked them very much. In fact, they’d ticked all the boxes in her head in terms of suitability and yet...she just hadn’t fancied them enough to go the whole way.

She and Pete had broken up over a year and a half ago, and since then she had resigned herself to the fact that there was probably something wrong with her. Some faulty gene in her make-up. Maybe it was because there had been no father figure in her life since she had been a kid, yet, even to her, that argument made no sense.

So she’d long stopped analysing the whys and maybes.

She hadn’t taken into account that her lack of experience in that small, stupid area, insignificant in the big scheme of things, might have left her vulnerable to a man like Leo, with his sexy, spectacular good looks and that lazy, assessing charm that oozed from every pore.

‘Sean had the foresight, strangely, to leave something of a will,’ he was saying now, ‘a scrap of paper signed by a friend. In it, he indicated that, should anything happen to him, I should take guardianship of the child. I’m sure,’ Leo elaborated with scrupulous honesty, ‘that that particular light bulb idea had something to do with my financial worth.’

‘That’s very cynical of you.’ Sammy was still smarting from the realisation that while two perfectly good boyfriends hadn’t been able to get to her, this utterly inappropriate man seemingly could. At least if the crazy somersaulting in her stomach was anything to go by.

‘So I’m cynical.’ He shrugged and stared at her. ‘It’s a trait that’s always stood me in good stead.’

‘If Sean meant for you to have Adele, then what’s the problem?’

‘The problem is the harridan of a grandmother who’s decided to hire a lawyer to argue the case that I’m unfit to be the child’s guardian. A scrap of paper, she maintains, counts for nothing, especially considering my former stepbrother lived with a stash of alcohol and drugs within easy reach.’

Sammy didn’t say anything and Leo frowned because he could read what she was thinking as clearly as if her thoughts had been transcribed in neon lettering across her forehead.

‘The woman isn’t equipped to raise Adele,’ he grated. ‘Even if she had been an angel in human form, it would still be a big ask for her to take over the role of looking after an energetic five-year-old child. Had I felt that she might conceivably be mentally fit for the job then I’d back off, but she isn’t. At any rate, my father is distraught at this turn of events.’

‘He’s always mourned the fact that he never got to see her. He talked about that a lot to me and Mum.’

‘Yes, well...’ Somehow that simple statement of fact, which came as no shock at all to Leo, indicated a familiarity that was a little unsettling. ‘Here’s where we’re nearing the crux of the matter. I’ve been accused of having too many women and spending too much time out of the country.’ He raked his fingers through his hair and gestured in a manner that was redolent with frustration and impatience.

Sammy remained silent because, from all accounts, those were some pretty accurate accusations.

‘Well...’ she finally said. ‘I suppose there might be some truth in that. From everything I’ve heard, I mean, that’s to say...’

‘Please—’ Leo scowled darkly ‘—don’t let good manners stand in the way of saying what’s on your mind. I take it the rumours about me have come from my father?’

‘No!’