A Bought Bride Read online

  Now here she was, on her way to some crazy interview at a downtown hotel for a job she had no idea about. At least the caller told her the interview was to take place in one of the small conference rooms off the main lobby. Had it been in one of the bedrooms, she knew she would’ve hung up on the man and forgotten the whole thing.

  As she drove through town, she pondered the same questions she’d been asking since her divorce. Why didn’t she listen to Fran when advised to get her own lawyer when Roman told her they’d use the same one because it would cost less? Why did she trust Roman to do the right thing by her? Fran had warned that just because she’d been married to him all those years it didn’t mean Roman felt any obligation toward her. But she didn’t think anyone knew him as well as she did.

  It didn’t take her long to see how wrong she was. Not only was he not fair in the settlement, he was downright mean and greedy. He made her shoulder half the bills of his now defunct real estate investment firm. She didn’t fight it because she felt sorry Roman was losing his business. This prompted her to let him talk her into settling for an alimony check that would barely pay her rent, much less give her money to live on. Only after the decree was signed and recorded did she learn he used the dying company as a tax write off and was making more money than ever from his thriving psychological counseling practice. A year ago she decided to see if she could sue him and at least get enough money to live decently. She called an attorney about it, but he told her it was best to drop the idea since she’d signed the papers and it had been a done deal for over a year.

  Jillian shook her head to get rid of thoughts of Roman. She tried to concentrate on how she should act at this strange interview.

  Dressed in white slacks, an olive green cashmere summer sweater, and wearing gold jewelry accents, she hoped she looked appropriate. Most of the women sitting in the lobby of the hotel were younger than her and dressed in business suits or dresses. Only one other woman had on slacks. Well, it’s too late to do anything about it now, went through her mind as she approached the table set up outside the conference room door.

  She presented her number and the young man said, “Thank you, Ms. Lockland. If you’ll have a seat, we’ll get to you shortly.” She felt the man’s eyes follow her to a chair against the wall.

  Jillian studied the crowd. She couldn’t help wondering why there were no men here for interviews. She knew companies weren’t allowed to discriminate.

  A pretty blonde, probably in her thirties and probably wearing a size four dress, came out the door and handed a paper to the man at the table. He smiled and nodded to her.

  The man then called a name and the only other applicant as old as Jillian, but somewhat skinnier, went to the door. She was probably a size eight, compared to Jillian’s size twelve, but Jillian didn’t have time to contemplate sizes with the woman because she came out in less than ten minutes.

  The next person called was a raven-haired beauty in a short black skirt and a thin floral blouse. Jillian was almost sure she didn’t stay behind the closed doors as long as the older woman did. She hadn’t looked at her watch because she expected the woman to be in there a long time.

  “Jillian Lockland,” the man at the table said and she got up. “They’re ready to interview you now.”

  She smiled and nodded at him as she turned to enter the interview room. Two men were seated behind a table with a chair sitting in front of it. They both stood as she entered. One was taller than the other, and to her way of thinking, much better looking. Oh, my lord. Did I look at his crotch? I hope he didn’t notice. She swallowed, but couldn’t control the blush.

  I guess I’ve blown it already. She forced a smile and tried to concentrate on what to do to overcome her blunder and make a good impression. She knew the first thing was to rein in her thoughts about how the tall one was affecting her. She hadn’t felt her underwear get damp in a long time, but she knew this had nothing to do with a job interview, and forced it out of her mind. If she was lucky she could be out of here in a few minutes.

  “Please have a seat, Ms. Lockland,” the shorter man said.

  She sat in the chair facing them and put her purse on the floor beside her. She wanted to cross her legs, but she’d heard somewhere that one should only cross their ankles in a situation like this. She crossed her ankles and gave them a hesitant smile.

  “I see there was a long stretch from your job as a teacher many years ago and your employment now in a dress shop,” the tall man said as he half-smiled at her.

  “I only taught for a year after collage and then married. My husband didn’t want me to work. He insisted I take care of the home. I liked being a housewife, so I resigned my teaching position and didn’t go back to work until my divorce two years ago.”

  “I see you put down your employer, Fran Palmer, as the person to contact in case of an emergency. Do you not have any closer relatives? Children, maybe?” the shorter man asked.

  “No. My only living relative is an aunt. She’s in a rest home and I was never fortunate enough to have children.” She didn’t add that having a child had been one of the goals in life she was never able to accomplish. Neither did she add that it was her fault or that her ex-husband never failed to remind her of the fact she could never give him sons. A fact his new fifteen-years-younger wife accomplished in less than a year. He was now the father of two children. A girl and a boy.

  The tall one spoke again. “I’m sorry we didn’t introduce ourselves right away, Ms. Lockland, but I’m Quinton Kincade and this is John Von Cannon.” Before she could answer, he went on. “I’d like to tell you right off that this job is a top secret one and only Mr. Von Cannon and I are aware of what it entails. The gentleman out front is a temp we hired to show the applicants in and is in no way connected with this job.”

  She wondered at this, but didn’t have time to ask, because Mr. Von Cannon took over the explanation. “We’re looking for a person who has certain specific qualifications and though we’ve done a thorough background check on you, we may have to ask you some rather personal questions.”

  “To this point,” the tall one added, “we find you’re one of the top contenders for this position.”

  “Something for the government?” She eyed them. They must have connections to do a background check since she only sent the resume two days ago.

  He smiled at her and she noticed his even white teeth. “At this point we can’t go into detail, but rest assured, if we choose you for the job, you’ll be given all the information you need to understand it thoroughly before you’re asked to take it.”

  “Thank you.” She returned his smile.

  The interview went on for almost forty-five minutes during which time she saw the men scribble on a legal pad and pass notes to each other. It might not have been obvious to anyone else, but a school teacher is trained to notice when people pass information.

  Finally, John glanced at Quinton. “Do you have any more questions for Ms. Lockland, Mr. Kincade?”

  “Not at this time.” He stood and held his hand toward her. “As I said earlier, you’re highly qualified for this job, Ms. Lockland. If we call you, I hope you’ll consent to a second interview.”

  His large hand felt good around hers. She hoped the shiver that went through her was invisible to everyone. She mumbled that she would be interested in coming back, pulled her hand from his and thanked them both.

  “If we want to talk again, we’ll call you to set it up. We’ll probably know by tomorrow,” Quinton said.

  John Von Cannon scribbled something on a note pad, folded it and handed it to her. “Please give this to the man outside. We’ll be in touch to let you know, one way or the other.”

  * * * *

  As soon as the door closed, Quinton said, “Though she’s a little larger than the women I usually go for, I think she’s the one, John.”

  “Didn’t you say that about the two you picked out earlier today?”

  “No. If you recall, I said I thought
they could be the one. I think this one has them both beat.” He chuckled. “Ms. Lockland even looked at my crotch when she came in, then got flustered about it. I liked that.”

  “Damn, man. How do you know she looked at your jewels?”

  “I watched her closely to see if she showed any interest in me. It was a good sign that she did.”

  “Did she look at my crotch?”

  “Sorry, old fellow. Not a glance.”

  “Well even if she wasn’t interested in my package, I have to admit, for her age, she looks the best of the three.” John chuckled. “As I said in the note she had a nice pair of boobs on her and I know that’s important to you.”

  “From your note, I know you were impressed by them. Of course I don’t know any man who wouldn’t be impressed by hers, my friend.” Quinton gave him a sly grin.

  “I guess you’re right there.” He grinned back. “Seriously, I have to admit she has all the qualifications your father demanded in your future wife, and if she’s showing a slight interest in you, that’ll give you a running start.”

  “Damn, that word ‘wife’ scares the hell out of me, but you’re right she does seem to have it all.” Quinton looked down at the notes on the legal pad and laughed when he read again where John had written: Nice knockers. Wouldn’t mind getting my hands on them myself.

  Under it Quinton had written: If I choose her, I’ll let you know if they’re real.

  John had added under that: When you dump her, send her my way and I’ll see for myself.

  Quinton tore off the sheet with the notes, moved across the room to the paper shredder and slipped the page inside. “John, why in hell did you let my father write this stupid will?”

  “I told you Les Conaway wrote it. You know he’s retired now, but he and your dad were always good friends. I have no idea when your old man told him the only way he was turning over the company to you was if you were married and settled within four months of his death. And married to a woman who fit the qualifications he laid down.”

  “If he’d only left it that I had to be married, I could have found a woman of my choosing.”

  “I know. I guess he couldn’t stand the thoughts of somebody like Eloise or your new toy, Maddie, taking over as the woman of the house, or should I say mansion?”

  “That was never a question. You know Maddie isn’t the kind of woman a man marries.” Quinton sat back in his chair. “You’re right about one thing. It looks like Jillian Lockland has everything he demanded for my wife. She’s forty years old, attractive enough even with the few extra pounds, and she has a spotless reputation.”

  John added, “Her divorce wasn’t her fault and her husband really screwed her over. I don’t think a woman should get everything a man has worked for, but he should be fair.”

  Quinton nodded. “And other than her boobs, the most interesting thing about Mrs. Lockland is that she taught Sunday school when she quit teaching in the public school system. Can you believe I could end up with a Sunday school teacher?”

  John laughed. “Yeah, it’s kind of hard seeing you with a woman like that. When was the last time you were in church before your father died?”

  “I guess it was when my daughter, Pamela, got married last year. Before that, it’d been years. Probably when my mother died.”

  “Well, what about volunteering in the soup kitchen? Do you think her doing that occasionally qualifies for the fact that your dad said the woman had to be involved with a charity?”

  “I don’t see why not, and if she wants to continue to volunteer, I don’t have a problem with it. I’ll have some free time to visit my female friends.”

  “You cad.”

  “If you feel that way, I’ll send her charity a check. Maybe that’ll ease your conscious.”

  “Looks like you’ve made up your mind, Quinton. Now all you have to do is convince this woman to marry you.”

  “I’m not worried about that. I can be charming, but on the off chance that I’m wrong, I’ll go ahead and meet with the other two in the morning.”

  “So you want to send the rest of those waiting outside away?”

  “No. We’ll give them the courtesy of speaking with them. Who knows, there might be a fourth one with a bra size that you approve of. If not, tomorrow I plan to have a meal with each of the three I’ve selected. You can get the feel of a woman and her demeanor over a meal. I think I’ll have dinner with Ms. Lockland. Maybe she’ll wear a cocktail dress with a neckline that’ll give me a better idea of what those boobs will look like in my bed.”

  John laughed. “I believe you’re beginning to look forward to this.”

  Quinton shrugged. “Never hurts to play your options.”

  “What are you going to do if you fall madly in love with the woman?”

  “Fat chance of that. Remember, I’ve got Maddie waiting for me any time I want her.”

  “You didn’t tell Maddie why you couldn’t marry her, did you?”

  “I told her I’d never marry her.”

  John laughed. “I bet she took that well.”

  “She did later, but it cost me a diamond bracelet.”

  “Do you think when Ms. Lockland becomes your wife, she’ll put up with you having a mistress?”

  He shrugged again. “Who says she has to know? I’m sure I can get out of the house at least a couple of times a week. I’ll let the wife serve at the soup kitchen those nights.”

  “Man, you’ve got balls.”

  “That’s what Maddie tells me.” He chuckled. “Let’s get on with this. Talking about all these body parts is getting me stirred up.”

  “Me, too. Let’s bring some more of the ladies in and check out their bust lines.” John walked to the door to let the man outside know they were through with the break he’d requested on the note he sent by Jillian and were ready to do the next interview.

  “You keep talking like that I might have to find somebody in this town to keep me company tonight.”

  “I think I can handle that for you, if you need me to.”

  “Thanks, John. No wonder I keep you as my lawyer.”

  Chapter 3

  After she caught Quinton looking at her cleavage the third time, Jillian wanted to call Fran and tell her wearing this sexy red number for a business dinner wasn’t such a good idea. She cut into her almond encrusted salmon and asked, “This job ad said I’d be required to move away from Greensboro. Where is the business located?”

  “You’ll be living on an estate outside Ashville. Do you like the mountains, Jillian?”

  They had settled on first names.

  “Of course. North Carolina has some of the most beautiful mountains in the world.”

  “And the Smokies are like the queen jewels.”

  She frowned at him. “Did you say I’d be living on an estate?”

  “Yes. Do you mind?”

  “Who in their right mind would object to living on an estate? That is unless you expect me to be a maid or something. I’m not crazy about housework.”

  “You wouldn’t be a maid, Jillian. In fact you’ll have the highest position of any female on the place.”

  “I like the sound of that.” She put down her fork and picked up her wine glass. “When are you going to tell me what this position is, Quinton?”

  He smiled. “When the time is right.”

  “I see.” She allowed her gaze to bore into his dark steel-colored eyes as she sipped her wine. She knew he was still watching her as she sat the glass down. “You’ve offered the job to someone else and this dinner is to let me down easy.”

  “You couldn’t be more wrong. Breakfast and lunch were in preparation of letting the other two women, I thought were qualified, down as easy as I could. As soon as you say yes, I’ll tell them the position has been filled.”

  “Are you telling me I’ve got the job?”

  “If you’ll take it.”

  “I’m not promising. There’s a lot I don’t know about it yet. For one thing, I don’t even
know what it pays. I’ve got to be sure it’ll be worth moving away from my hometown and my wonderful part time minimum wage job.”

  “I don’t think you’ll have any objections there. Your signing on bonus will pay off all your back bills and leave enough to have your aunt taken care of for a long time.”

  Her eyes got big. “How do you know about my financial woes?”

  “I told you we did a detailed investigation.”

  “In two days?”

  “When you know the right people, it doesn’t take long. Now back to the money, when you sign on, there’ll be an endless supply of money for you.”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “No, Jillian. I’m not kidding. How does a quarter of a million dollars to start sound to you?”

  She stared at him. “Are you into drug trafficking or prostitution or something?”

  “No, I’m not into drugs. No trafficking or taking anything stronger than a Tylenol and I certainly wouldn’t want to try to keep track of a bunch of women. One at a time is all I can handle.” It was a lie, but she didn’t need to know that.

  “Well, what then? Is it a government thing?”

  “No government is involved.”

  “What in thunder is it, Quinton?” She glared at him. “I can’t believe all this stuff you’re throwing at me.”

  “Before I tell you, let me ask you a couple of questions.”

  She sat back in her chair. “Go ahead. You seem to know everything there is to know about me. I bet you even know what kind of underwear I like.”

  “Sure. A quick check of your wardrobe while you were at work told us that you like for it to match what you’re wearing.” He grinned. “I bet you’re wearing a red lace bra and bikini style panties tonight.”

  “You’ve got no right knowing that,” she muttered and turned pink.

  “Why? I don’t care if you know I wear briefs. I think I put on beige tonight, but I’m not quite sure.”

  “Well, you should know better. Beige doesn’t go with the dark gray suit you’re wearing.” She turned pinker. “I can’t believe I’m talking about this with a stranger. Please change the subject.”