The CEO Buys In
Page 109
“This is where you made that bet.” Chloe sat back.
“Yes, and I brought you here to prove that I won.”
“Luke and Gavin already know me,” Chloe said, not moving from her seat. Although she now considered the two men friends, she hadn’t quite forgiven them for the part they’d played in the four most miserable days of her life.
“They need to see the ring,” Nathan said.
Chloe wiggled the fingers of her left hand to make the sapphire and its surrounding diamonds flash in the light. She still felt like a bit of a show-off wearing it. “It doesn’t seem real yet.”
He lifted his hand to take her chin and turn her face toward his. “Darling, there’s nothing more real than what we have between us.” The playful gleam was absent from his eyes as he said it.
He kissed her and pushed the car door open, taking her hand to help her out of the car. “Now let’s go rub it in.”
A staff member met them by a marble-topped table decorated with a giant bouquet of flowers, taking Chloe’s cape and Nathan’s overcoat. “Ms. Hogan is waiting for you in her office.”
“Ms. Hogan?” Chloe threw a questioning glance at Nathan as he led her down a wide hallway carpeted with jewel-colored Oriental rugs.
“Frankie Hogan is the keeper of the betting paperwork. She’s also the owner of the club.” He ushered her into a cozy room furnished with plush green wing chairs and a warmly glowing fireplace.
The inner door was open, and a slender woman stood framed in it, her white pageboy catching gold glints from the fire. She wore a pantsuit so dark Chloe couldn’t tell exactly what color it was. “I’m Frankie Hogan. Welcome to the Bellwether Club,” the woman said, the rasp of her voice reminding Chloe of smoky Irish bars. “You must be Chloe Russell.”
“I am.” Chloe shook Frankie’s tiny hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“I told them all they had to bring in the women who had the misfortune to fall in love with them,” Frankie said, but a twinkle in her eye took the sting out of her words. She scanned Chloe’s face for a long moment. “Come in.”
Chloe followed her through the door into a large office that looked nothing like the rest of the club. It was brightly lit and held clean-lined modern furniture designed for function as well as form. Steel-framed French doors gave onto a garden featuring a sensuous abstract sculpture, now dusted with snow.
Frankie stopped in front of what appeared to be a cupboard door before she turned to Chloe. “Let’s see the ring.”
Chloe held up her hand, the bright light glittering off the facets of the gems.
“Nice,” Frankie said, throwing an approving glance at Nathan. “Substantial but not ostentatious.”
Nathan laughed. “I had to balance my desire to let everyone know she belonged to me against Chloe’s accusations that I don’t live in the real world.”
“Ha!” Frankie barked as she typed in a combination that opened the door. Behind it was a massive utilitarian safe with a dial and a slot. Frankie put her body between the dial and her two guests as she twirled it. Then she pulled a strangely shaped key from her pocket and fed it into the slot.
“No biometrics?” Nathan asked. Chloe loved that his inventor’s mind was always working.
“I’m not having someone cut off my thumb to open a damned safe,” Frankie said, swinging the foot-thick door open.
“Wise,” Nathan said.
The older woman pulled out a leather portfolio, shuffled through the papers in it, and removed a thick cream-colored envelope. “I understand you’ve decided I should mark the still-sealed envelope with ‘wager satisfied’ and my initials. You wish me to retain it until the end of the one-year time frame of the bet.”
“That’s correct,” Nathan confirmed.
Frankie carried the envelope to her desk, where she picked up a black fountain pen, scrawled the two words and her initials on the vellum, and blotted it.
“Why not just shred it since you’ve won?” Chloe asked, a little miffed that the bet would linger on.
“We want to destroy them—or reveal them—all at the same time.” He took Chloe’s hands in his and faced her. “We were gambling with the most important of our possessions: our hearts. A wager like that deserves the respect of ritual.”
“And gamblers are superstitious,” Frankie said, putting the envelope back in the portfolio and closing the safe. “Nathan here doesn’t want to jinx his chances of marrying you.”
“Seriously?” Chloe said, giving him a skeptical look.
“Better safe than sorry,” he said, lifting her hands to kiss first one and then the other, his lips firm on her skin. “It’s not easy to find a woman brave enough to love me for myself.”
Chloe could feel his touch along all the nerve endings in her body.
“We have rooms upstairs,” Frankie said, her tone dry. “But first your friends are waiting for you in the bar where this sentimental bet began.” The club owner held out her hand to Chloe again. “I expect a wedding invitation.”
“You’re at the top of the guest list,” Nathan said.
As they left Frankie’s office, Chloe said, “Let’s make a deal.”
Nathan groaned. “You always come out on top in these negotiations.”
“I thought you liked me in that position,” Chloe said, enjoying the quick intake of Nathan’s breath. “Anyway, this one’s easy. You tell me what you wrote on that piece of paper in Frankie’s safe, and I’ll have a drink with Luke and Gavin.”
“Yes, and I brought you here to prove that I won.”
“Luke and Gavin already know me,” Chloe said, not moving from her seat. Although she now considered the two men friends, she hadn’t quite forgiven them for the part they’d played in the four most miserable days of her life.
“They need to see the ring,” Nathan said.
Chloe wiggled the fingers of her left hand to make the sapphire and its surrounding diamonds flash in the light. She still felt like a bit of a show-off wearing it. “It doesn’t seem real yet.”
He lifted his hand to take her chin and turn her face toward his. “Darling, there’s nothing more real than what we have between us.” The playful gleam was absent from his eyes as he said it.
He kissed her and pushed the car door open, taking her hand to help her out of the car. “Now let’s go rub it in.”
A staff member met them by a marble-topped table decorated with a giant bouquet of flowers, taking Chloe’s cape and Nathan’s overcoat. “Ms. Hogan is waiting for you in her office.”
“Ms. Hogan?” Chloe threw a questioning glance at Nathan as he led her down a wide hallway carpeted with jewel-colored Oriental rugs.
“Frankie Hogan is the keeper of the betting paperwork. She’s also the owner of the club.” He ushered her into a cozy room furnished with plush green wing chairs and a warmly glowing fireplace.
The inner door was open, and a slender woman stood framed in it, her white pageboy catching gold glints from the fire. She wore a pantsuit so dark Chloe couldn’t tell exactly what color it was. “I’m Frankie Hogan. Welcome to the Bellwether Club,” the woman said, the rasp of her voice reminding Chloe of smoky Irish bars. “You must be Chloe Russell.”
“I am.” Chloe shook Frankie’s tiny hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“I told them all they had to bring in the women who had the misfortune to fall in love with them,” Frankie said, but a twinkle in her eye took the sting out of her words. She scanned Chloe’s face for a long moment. “Come in.”
Chloe followed her through the door into a large office that looked nothing like the rest of the club. It was brightly lit and held clean-lined modern furniture designed for function as well as form. Steel-framed French doors gave onto a garden featuring a sensuous abstract sculpture, now dusted with snow.
Frankie stopped in front of what appeared to be a cupboard door before she turned to Chloe. “Let’s see the ring.”
Chloe held up her hand, the bright light glittering off the facets of the gems.
“Nice,” Frankie said, throwing an approving glance at Nathan. “Substantial but not ostentatious.”
Nathan laughed. “I had to balance my desire to let everyone know she belonged to me against Chloe’s accusations that I don’t live in the real world.”
“Ha!” Frankie barked as she typed in a combination that opened the door. Behind it was a massive utilitarian safe with a dial and a slot. Frankie put her body between the dial and her two guests as she twirled it. Then she pulled a strangely shaped key from her pocket and fed it into the slot.
“No biometrics?” Nathan asked. Chloe loved that his inventor’s mind was always working.
“I’m not having someone cut off my thumb to open a damned safe,” Frankie said, swinging the foot-thick door open.
“Wise,” Nathan said.
The older woman pulled out a leather portfolio, shuffled through the papers in it, and removed a thick cream-colored envelope. “I understand you’ve decided I should mark the still-sealed envelope with ‘wager satisfied’ and my initials. You wish me to retain it until the end of the one-year time frame of the bet.”
“That’s correct,” Nathan confirmed.
Frankie carried the envelope to her desk, where she picked up a black fountain pen, scrawled the two words and her initials on the vellum, and blotted it.
“Why not just shred it since you’ve won?” Chloe asked, a little miffed that the bet would linger on.
“We want to destroy them—or reveal them—all at the same time.” He took Chloe’s hands in his and faced her. “We were gambling with the most important of our possessions: our hearts. A wager like that deserves the respect of ritual.”
“And gamblers are superstitious,” Frankie said, putting the envelope back in the portfolio and closing the safe. “Nathan here doesn’t want to jinx his chances of marrying you.”
“Seriously?” Chloe said, giving him a skeptical look.
“Better safe than sorry,” he said, lifting her hands to kiss first one and then the other, his lips firm on her skin. “It’s not easy to find a woman brave enough to love me for myself.”
Chloe could feel his touch along all the nerve endings in her body.
“We have rooms upstairs,” Frankie said, her tone dry. “But first your friends are waiting for you in the bar where this sentimental bet began.” The club owner held out her hand to Chloe again. “I expect a wedding invitation.”
“You’re at the top of the guest list,” Nathan said.
As they left Frankie’s office, Chloe said, “Let’s make a deal.”
Nathan groaned. “You always come out on top in these negotiations.”
“I thought you liked me in that position,” Chloe said, enjoying the quick intake of Nathan’s breath. “Anyway, this one’s easy. You tell me what you wrote on that piece of paper in Frankie’s safe, and I’ll have a drink with Luke and Gavin.”
