Paper Marriage Proposition

Eight

S core one point for the avengers.
    And zero for the pig.
    Lisa was humming the next morning, she was so pleased about last night.
    She hummed during her shower, she hummed as she brushed her hair, she hummed as she selected the shoes she would wear—a pair of classic Mary Janes—and mentally planned all the test recipes she would be posting on Kate’s new website.
    Kate had mentioned wanting to expand her catering business, create a blog, menus, an online site. Last night Lisa had asked Frederic to borrow one of his computers and had delved into the task with the sight of being able to do something from home, when she regained custody of Leo.
    So Lisa had stayed up late last night, inspired and invigorated, because things were changing.
    More than just her residence had changed.
    Lisa was different. She was taking charge of her life—she was getting Leo back.
    And this time, she was going to keep him forever.
    Frederic, however, was not humming when she spotted him downstairs. He was on the phone, his tone crisp.
    “In an hour. At the office. Right. I want him on the job starting today.”
    He hung up. Lisa said, “Good morning.”
    She went to the coffeemaker on the buffet table, scooping grounds into a basket. Then assessed him from the corner of her eye as she waited for the coffee to start trickling.
    He looked so sharp. In a black suit and tie, clean-shaven, his dark hair still damp from a recent shower and slicked back to reveal his hard-boned face. Lord, he was striking. But this morning…brooding somehow.
    His hands were thrust inside his pockets, but Lisa wasn’t fooled by the casualness of that pose. Upon further inspection, she realized his expression was positively morose.
    Puzzled, she took a seat at a small round game table, and Frederic surveyed her with slitted eyes. What was up with him today?
    “Did I miss something?” she asked, frowning.
    He made a noncommittal sound, as though whatever he’d been about to say couldn’t quite be said, and shook his head like the situation was dire.
    His expression made Lisa’s unease increase tenfold. “What?”
    “Who told Jungkook of the engagement party? You?”
    Her hands began to shake so hard, she set down her coffee mug before she spilled it all over herself. Something tumultuous charged the air. Frederic looked…enraged. “I called Leo, remember? You said I could invite him.”
    “And who did you speak to? Jungkook?”
    She frowned in consternation and her stomach churned uncomfortably. “Anna, the housekeeper. She’s become a nanny to him, I think. Why? Why do you have that look on your face?”
    He reached for the sofa, then flung a newspaper for her to see. “The picture today in every newspaper except the Daily is not ours. It’s of Jungkook.”
    Lisa gasped as she spotted Jungkook’s loathed face staring back at her from the black and white picture. “No!”
    The headline was even more disgusting than Jungkook.
    Arnault and Manoban engaged in illicit affair long before wedding date…
    “Yeah,” he said, tightly, and slammed his fist into the table. “Hell, yeah.”
    Panic bubbled up inside her. “God! You’re the owner of a newspaper, can’t you do something?”
    “Lisa, it wasn’t just the Daily covering the party, it was the Houston Chronicle , the Dallas Morning News , even the Enquirer , for God’s sake.”
    “And that is my fault, how?” Lisa pushed her chair back, the outrage that swept her so intense her voice trembled. “I’m sorry it didn’t go as we planned but that certainly wasn’t me. And you full well know we’re not—you and I are not having…having sex.”
    His pointed stare and the way it slowly raked up and down her body made her nipples bead so wickedly under her buttoned shirt she wanted to hide. “No, Lisa, you and I are not having sex yet.”
    Her blood bubbled in her veins. What did he mean by yet? “Frederic, it was a mistake to call Leo. I see that now. But he’s just a little boy. All I wanted was to see him.”
    But Frederic rammed a finger to his temple and made a twisting motion. “Emotions make us sloppy, Lisa. You need a cool head.”
    “How can I when my son is with that monster!”
    Crossing the distance between them, he seized her shoulders and leveled their gazes, as if that alone could make her see the problem through his glimmering silver eyes. “Precisely why you can’t risk our position.” God, his stunning features were so much more amazing up close, she could barely decipher his words. “You can’t attempt to see Leo anymore, not until I say so—I can’t have you saying or doing the wrong thing around Jungkook. It could compromise everything. Understand me?”
    “I understand.”
    He released her. “All right,” he relented, dropping his arms. “So not a word to Jungkook unless our lawyer is present—agreed, Lalisa?”
    “Why on earth are you snapping at me, I’m on your side!”
    “Just stay away from Jungkooka from now on.” He grabbed the newspapers scattered throughout and rammed them into his briefcase before locking it shut. “I’ve got to go.”
    “You forgot this one.” She glowered down at the paper as though she could destroy it with one glare. God, it was so not what they’d planned, she wanted to hit someone. “What are we supposed to do now?” she asked him as he took the paper from her. Their fingers brushed and sent a disquieting little tingle through her arm.
    The kiss. Oh God, she’d almost mated with him right there in front of everybody, and for nothing. For more lies, more and more lies from Hector.
    Frederic started for the foyer, all angry power and dark predatory steps. “We do what we planned to do. We’re getting married.”
    The front door slammed shut.