Contract To Marry

‘That good, huh?’

‘Worse.’ Fleur sipped at the latte and savoured the caffeine rush, wishing she’d never quit her reliable, reasonably paid job to chase a dream. A dream that would shortly turn into a nightmare if she didn’t acquire some new business—and soon.

‘No takers for an accountant-cum-life coach destined to revamp businesses and take them into the twenty-first century, huh?’

Fleur shook her head. ‘Not one. Seems like the terms “emotional intelligence” and “compliant oriented teaming” are just too modern for the average CEO. Though one of the senior execs I met this morning did give me a card and encouraged me to call, though I doubt he was interested in anything to do with emotions or intelligence, the way he kept looking at my legs.’

‘Yeuk! Sexist pig.’

‘He wasn’t all that awful, actually…’

Liv’s eyes widened. ‘Now I know you’re in a bad way, letting a lech like that get away with it.’

Fleur sighed. ‘I’m just tired of doing the promotional bit and having nothing to show for it.’ She bit into her muffin, wondering if she’d literally bitten off more than she could chew with her latest proposal.

She’d approached countless companies, many through contacts she’d gained as an accountant, to pitch her idea to them. After completing a part-time degree in psychology, which she’d initially undertaken to break out of the conservative-accountant-stereotype mould, she’d come up with the brilliant concept to change the outlook of most companies, with the hope that improved job satisfaction would lead to increased profit margins. Some of her initial contacts had received the idea warmly; that was, until they actually had to commit money to the project and hire her.

Liv leaned forward. ‘Show me the promotional material you’ve been using. Maybe I can help.’

‘The way things are running at the moment, I need all the help I can get.’ Fleur unzipped her portfolio and grabbed a wad of paperwork. However, as she straightened, her head bumped an elbow and the person it belonged to stumbled against her, sending papers flying in all directions.

‘Dammit!’ a deep voice muttered somewhere in the vicinity of her ear as she bent to pick up the scattered material. ‘Here, let me do that.’

Fleur rubbed her head and straightened up, wishing the stranger had bumped her harder. That way, she could have lost consciousness and woken up hours later, when this all-round dreadful day would be over.

‘Leave it!’ she snapped, looking up at the clumsy oaf who had managed to worsen her mood, if that was possible.

‘Mmm…interesting.’ Surprisingly, the oaf wasn’t staring at her as she’d half expected. After all, she knew that many men found her attractive, though for the life of her she still hadn’t figured out why. Shoulder-length brown curly hair, brown eyes, passable figure, average height—all in all, it didn’t seem like much of a package to her but she worked it to her advantage most of the time.

Instead he stared at her brochures, flicking through each and every one with barely concealed amusement on his face.

‘If you’ve finished?’ She held out her hand, knowing she sounded petulant but not particularly caring. That was all she needed, some guy to patronise her about an idea that meant everything to her.

He looked up suddenly and fixed her with a probing stare. ‘Are you the Fleur Adams mentioned in these brochures?’

And suddenly, just like that, Fleur experienced that strange, fluttery feeling that Liv’s romance novels raved about, that once-in-a-lifetime gut-churning, toe-curling reaction that signalled the one. She gazed at the stranger, wondering at her bizarre reaction, for she wouldn’t call him drop-dead gorgeous or anything remotely as flattering. He had dark hair, blue eyes and a strong, clean-shaven jaw, with lips that were compressed in a thin, seemingly impatient line.

As she’d originally thought, nothing out of the ordinary, except for a strange aura that spelled ‘power’ and captured her attention in a way no man had in a long, long time.

‘Well?’ He quirked an eyebrow as if challenging an imbecile to answer.

Resisting the urge to shake her head and dispel the fog that seemed to have penetrated her brain, she nodded. ‘I’m Fleur Adams. And you are?’

‘Someone who is interested in what you have to offer.’

His glance flicked to the brochures briefly before returning to study her face. ‘Are you sure you’re experienced enough to be offering this kind of service?’

Oh, when it comes to you, handsome, I’ve got plenty to offer.

For a horrifying moment, Fleur thought she’d spoken aloud as his blue eyes blazed with something more than a passing interest in her business. However, it flickered and died before she could analyse it further and she quickly refocused her concentration before she blew this chance encounter completely.

Squaring her shoulders, she looked him straight in the eye. ‘I’m fully qualified, as the information you’ve just perused suggests. If you’re interested, I’d be more than happy to present my ideas to you on a more formal basis, Mr…?’

‘Darcy Howard.’ He thrust out his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you.’

Fleur had perfected a handshake for doing business, though she still felt a tad awkward when most men seemed to want to squeeze every last drop of strength out of her in order to prove some antiquated point that males were the dominant sex, in and out of the boardroom.

However, the minute she placed her hand in Darcy’s, her nerve endings did some weird short-circuiting thing that sent electrical impulses shooting up her arm. And to make matters worse, he seemed to sense it too, by the slight widening of his baby-blues.

Resisting the urge to pull back as quickly as possible, she managed a shaky smile and slid her hand out of his grasp. ‘If you give me your contact details, Mr Howard, I’ll call you to arrange a mutually convenient time to discuss your company’s needs.’

‘Call me Darcy.’ He smiled and for one, insane moment Fleur felt like jumping into the air and doing a Charlie Chaplin-like sidekick.

‘Here. You can reach me on any of those numbers.’ He handed her a business card and she resisted her first impulse to scan it and memorise every single detail about the man.

Instead, she casually placed it into her handbag as if she had enough business lined up for months. ‘Thanks, I’ll be in touch.’

He nodded before heading towards the door, leaving her gaping after the tall figure clad in a black trench coat.

‘Way to go, girl.’ Liv’s applause penetrated Fleur’s brain and she quickly sat down, trying to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, when, in fact, the encounter with Darcy Howard had shaken her more than she cared to admit.

‘About time I had a change in luck. Let’s hope he’s interested in what I have to offer.’

Liv picked up her novel and fanned her face. ‘Phew! Baby, is he interested!’

‘What are you talking about?’ Fleur feigned ignorance and hoped she didn’t blush.

‘In case you hadn’t noticed, that guy is gorgeous. And he seemed very interested in you.’

Fleur’s heart gave a little flip-flop of hope—maybe she hadn’t imagined the gleam in his eye? However, she inwardly groaned and resisted the urge to slap herself—what was she thinking? She should be concentrating on presenting a professional image to the man she’d just met, not entertaining ludicrous hopes about mixing business with pleasure.

She shrugged. ‘Gorgeous? You’ve been reading too many of those books again. He seemed ancient to me.’

Liv grinned, a self-satisfied smirk that told Fleur her friend knew exactly how she’d reacted to the man. ‘I thought you were into older men.’

Fleur took a long sip from her glass and tried to hide her answering smile. ‘Yeah, but I’m not into collecting antiques!’

‘Wow, he must’ve really grabbed your attention. So, when are you going to call him?’

Suddenly the implications of her predicament came flooding back and Fleur knew that, as much as her reaction to Darcy Howard disturbed her, she needed his business. Like yesterday.

‘I’ll do it first thing tomorrow.’

Liv nodded in approval. ‘Sounds like a plan. Though I wouldn’t leave it too long. Opportunities like Darcy Howard don’t come along too often.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Trust me, I should know.’

And just like that, an image of intense blue eyes boring into her flashed across Fleur’s mind, leaving her with a sudden hankering to grab hold of this opportunity and hang on for dear life.

Darcy stormed into the office and slammed the door shut behind him. Just his luck that the one day he’d managed to grab a bite to eat away from his desk in over a month, he returned to a mountain of problems.