Mail-Order Cinderella (Fortune's Children: The Grooms Book 2) Read online

“It’s not a very interesting story,” she said apologetically.

  “Let me be the judge.” He gave her an encouraging wink that seemed to put her more at ease.

  “Well, I was born in Houston, never lived more than two miles from the neighborhood where I grew up and I’ve traveled only as far as New Mexico in one direction, Arkansas in the other. I graduated from the University of Houston, then took a job at the southwestern branch of the public library. I’ve always loved books; they’ve been my friends since childhood. It seemed natural to want to become a librarian.”

  He nodded. “So you spend every day surrounded by tomes and silence?”

  “I’m never bored, if that’s what you’re implying,” she said with unexpected energy. “But sometimes I do wish I could travel. After the bills are paid, there isn’t much left for zipping off to Europe.” She laughed to herself and shook her head wistfully, as if this was a fantasy normal people didn’t take seriously.

  Tyler had been to England and the Continent fifteen times since he graduated from college. “I expect not,” he murmured diplomatically.

  “Well,” she said on a long, deep sigh that suddenly made him aware of her breasts, “it’s a nice dream anyway. The important things, though, are spending time with one’s children, saving for their education, making sure they’re properly clothed and sheltered.” She looked at him. “Don’t you agree?”

  He sensed she was testing him. “Of course, children should always come first.” Had he really said that? He’d never voiced that opinion before, but he felt he really meant it at that moment.

  Tyler took a quick swallow of the chilled pink wine and studied her expression, focused so intently on his. He knew she was fighting her innate shyness to hold her gaze steady. Maybe she had more backbone than he’d at first realized.

  Their meals arrived, breaking their eye lock. After they’d both refused an offer of freshly ground pepper, he cut a large bite from his thick prime rib and tried to clear his head as he chewed. If he was seriously considering marrying this woman, there must be other questions he should ask.

  “Did you get your thrifty nature from your parents?” He watched with alarm as the glow drained from her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I hit a nerve?”

  Julie pursed her lips and pushed her fork gently into a fat sea scallop. “I don’t remember my mother. She left my father and me before I was a year old. Dad didn’t have much of a head for budgets. He drove trucks all of his life, never made much money. As soon as I was old enough to shop for us, I made sure there was food to last through the end of every month.”

  Tyler frowned. “I see.”

  “It wasn’t a bad life, but I spent a lot of time alone. My father passed away four years ago. I’ve lived on my own since. My aunts, uncles and cousins all live on the East Coast. I rarely get to see them.”

  Tyler imagined her as a child. A waif with stringy brown hair and no responsible adult to look after her. He could imagine her balled up in a chair in a corner of the children’s reading room, lost in a fairy tale. It suited her.

  He felt a pang of guilt for all he’d had and taken for granted. Sure, Devlin had worked most of the time. Tyler had desperately yearned for his father’s attention, but never had it crossed his mind that his next meal might not appear when he was hungry.

  He looked into Julie’s eyes and saw an eternity of loneliness. He didn’t need to ask why she wanted a family now. But there was one thing he didn’t understand. “Your profile said you are twenty-seven years old.”

  “Yes.” She tipped her head to one side, waiting, her fork poised over her meal.

  “If you’ve always wanted to start a family, why haven’t you married before now?”

  With a little huff, she deliberately laid her fork across her plate and looked up at him as if he’d just slapped her. “Are you trying to make fun of me, Tyler?”

  He gasped. “No, of course not, I—”

  “Look at me,” she demanded.

  He looked. What he saw was a charming burst of fire in her eyes. But he didn’t know if he was meant to see that or something else, so he kept quiet.

  “I’m no catch. I fade into walls, don’t have much of a figure, wear clothes because they’re comfortable, not fashionable. I get nervous on dates and make lousy small talk. I freeze up when a man tries to kiss me. I—”

  “You cook,” he interrupted. “And you reupholster furniture and love books.”

  “Yes,” she agreed on a long outward breath, eyeing him suspiciously.

  “And you’re not nearly as ordinary as you seem to think. You have lovely eyes, Julie. When you laugh or get angry, like now, they light up to put an acetylene torch to shame.”

  “Is that construction humor?” she asked dryly.

  “No, it’s the truth. Which you should recognize because you seem to be an honest person yourself.” He reached out and laid his hands over hers on the white linen tablecloth, then held them there when she made a weak effort to pull away. “Although you’re quiet, you speak up when something is important to you. You’re intelligent, which can be very sexy to any man with half a brain. And you won’t drive a man into bankruptcy by expecting lavish gifts. That seems to me the sort of woman a lot of men would be wise to consider as a wife.”

  Julie stared at Tyler Fortune. Did she dare believe he was serious? A man as stunningly sexy and self-possessed as he, telling her she was…what? Desirable? No, maybe not that, because he hadn’t even hinted that she aroused him. No, it was more as if he recognized her few strong qualities and acknowledged he might look favorably upon them in choosing a partner. But that was far more than any other man had ever given her.

  “Thank you,” she murmured. “It means a lot that you’d say something so kind to me.”

  “You deserve at least that.” Before she could react, he lifted her right hand and brought it toward him across the table. His lips brushed her fingertips so lightly she barely felt their touch. He sandwiched her quivering hand between his two rough, warm palms. “Listen, I understand why you want to marry. Families are important. Actually, if you decide to go through with this matchmaking thing, I have a rather large clan to share with you.”

  Her heart leapt into her throat and an irrational joy filled her. He sounded serious. Until this moment, she hadn’t believed, not deep down in her soul, that he’d want her.

  “Your family,” she said, forgetting all about her dinner, “what are they like?”

  He looked a little unsure of himself. “I’ll be more than happy to describe them to you. But first, in all fairness, I should clear up a few misconceptions you might have about me.”

  Her rainbow of hope faded. “Misconceptions?”

  “You see,” he began, “when I told you I was in construction, I think you sort of read into the term and—”

  “That’s all right,” she interrupted. “The job doesn’t make the man. Even if you dig ditches for a living, as long as you’re honest and work hard for your money, we’ll make do.”

  “No.” He smiled boyishly at her. “I’m at the other end on the economic ladder.”

  “You mean,” she said slowly, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “You mean, you’re a crew boss…or a foreman? How wonderful, Tyler, I’m so proud of you!” She bounced on her chair in spontaneous delight but stopped herself when the couple at the nearest table turned to smile in her direction.

  “I own the company. And it’s a big one.”

  She stared blankly at him. “You what?”

  Turning her hand palm up, as if to read her future, he explained casually, “Actually I share ownership with my parents, brother and cousins. I guess you’ve never heard of Fortune Construction. Most people don’t pay attention to the names of builders, even on big projects. I’ll bet there aren’t ten people in all of Houston who could tell you who built the Astrodome.”

  Her free hand flew to her mouth. “No.”

  “No, what?” His gray eyes darkened with uncertainty.

&nbs
p; “You’re one of those Fortunes? Last week I read in the newspaper about a wealthy Native American family that was building a children’s hospital somewhere in Arizona.”

  “That’s us.” Tyler grinned, looking smug.

  Her heart sank. This was terrible. Not only was the man handsome, sexy and intelligent, he was rich. There was only one possible explanation for his having anything to do with her. He must be mentally unhinged.

  Julie felt like running out of the elegant dining room, straight to her car—if she could find it—and driving as fast as she could away from Tyler Fortune. She closed her eyes, fighting down the panic. But his deep voice called her back, and she focused again on his words.

  “It isn’t just the family,” Tyler was saying. “A lot of donations have gone into the building fund. People who care all over the country are helping out.”

  She frowned. “This doesn’t make sense. You must have money to burn. You could marry any woman you want.”

  “I don’t want just any woman for a wife,” he stated, but no warmth was directed at her.

  “Then someone special. Like that woman over there.” Julie turned and gestured with the tip of her chin toward a woman sitting at a nearby table. “She’s stunning. Just look at her—perfectly styled blond hair, beautiful jewelry…and that dress.” She sighed and leaned across the table to whisper. “Do you realize, Tyler, she’s been staring at you since we came into this room? I’ll bet women are always looking at you like that.”

  He shrugged as if he was too accustomed to attention from the opposite sex to be surprised. “Look at the problem of marriage from my point of view. What if that woman there or some other agrees to become my wife because she’s physically attracted to me? How will she feel about me five years from now? Or, if money is the object of her affection, will she be calculating even before our wedding day how much alimony she can grab?”

  “But surely, there are attractive women who might genuinely—”

  “Fall in love with me? Be willing to take me on for better or worse in the traditional sense?” There was a heavy touch of bitterness in his laugh. “Haven’t stumbled across any yet, lady.”

  “I see.” She sighed.

  “Why are you trying to talk me out of marrying you?”

  She dared a quick glimpse of his smoky eyes. She could lose herself in them, if she stayed there too long. He definitely wasn’t a lounge lizard; he was clever, charming and far more dangerous. She retrieved her hand from between his. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I feel this is too good to be true. I can’t believe you’d choose me over a woman like…like that.”

  Tyler followed her glance back to the stunning blonde. “Most of what she has to offer can be bought, inserted, painted on or surgically augmented.”

  Julie stifled a giggle in spite of her anxiety. “You’re wicked.”

  “You’ve found me out.”

  He had her laughing now, and it was so delightful he was determined to make her continue. But first he had to lay his cards on the table. “Listen, I won’t lie to you. I have an ulterior motive for wanting to marry right away.” Her eyes went from twinkling to enormous and apprehensive. “It has to do with Fortune Construction and keeping my share of my grandfather Ben’s company. My parents have told me that if I’m not married by my birthday, I don’t inherit.”

  “But—” Julie shook her head in disbelief “—but that’s not fair!”

  “Fair or not, they’ve decided their youngest son needs a settled family life to be happy and ensure the continuation of the company in the family.”

  “Let me guess…they’ve come up with their own list of suitable mates for you?”

  He nodded. “Plenty of local gals. But I don’t want anyone choosing a wife for me. And no one I’ve dated is the kind of woman I could live with for the rest of my life.”

  “But I am?” she asked incredulously.

  He let his eyes drift over her soft features. “I think you might be. Your needs are simple, and as long as we understand one another from the start, we should be able to come to some sort of agreement that’s beneficial to both of us. If it helps, consider this purely a business relationship.”

  She nodded slowly. “It sounds terribly cold, but I think I could do that. I had already come to terms with fairy tales when I contacted Soulmate Search.”

  “Fairy tales?” he asked.

  “You know…finding my true love, if such a thing exists. I’m a realist, Tyler.”

  She looked him dead in the eyes and he felt an unexpected jolt down low in his gut. Something akin to arousal. She isn’t my type, he reminded himself. Not my type at all.

  “About the sex,” she whispered.

  “What?” Had he heard her right? He looked around but no one at the nearby tables seemed to have heard.

  “You know—intercourse.” She blushed at her own breathy words.

  He stopped himself from smiling at her embarrassment and tried to look serious. “Yes?”

  “You’ll need to sleep with me if I’m to conceive.”

  “I expect so.”

  “Well, since we’re being up front about everything…I just want you to know that you don’t have to…that is, you don’t have to do it any more often than is necessary.”

  “I see.” Did she think he’d be relieved to hear this? Her words had the opposite effect on him. He suddenly wanted to know how she’d look stripped of her pert sweater set and tidy wool skirt. He felt himself move and shifted in his chair to compensate for the tightness across his lap.

  Time to change topics.

  “We’ll deal with that when the time comes,” he said quickly. “Meanwhile, I want you to meet my family and see Pueblo, my hometown, before you make a decision.”

  “You should be sure of me, too,” she insisted.

  “I will be soon enough. I don’t take long to make up my mind about things.”

  She took a last bite of her seafood and pushed away her plate, even though it was still half full of shrimp, scallops and delicate lumps of white crabmeat swimming in its buttery sauce. “I’m free this weekend.” She looked up at him guilelessly. “That is, if you want me to come to Pueblo then.”

  “Perfect.”

  “What will you tell your parents about me? Do they know about Soulmate?”

  “Hell, no.” He chuckled at the thought. “And they don’t need to know. They’ll be shocked as it is if we go through with this.” He thought for a moment. “I’ll have to tell them we’ve known each other for a while, if you don’t mind.”

  “I’m not a very good liar,” she warned.

  “You don’t have to lie. I’ll cover for us with some simple excuse. You just be yourself.”

  She drew a deep breath that brought his gaze to her sweater again, stretched tightly where she pressed forward against the edge of the table. She had very nice breasts.

  “Are you sure this arrangement of ours will be fair to them?”

  “Huh?” He quickly looked up to connect with her concerned hazel eyes. “Why shouldn’t it be?”

  “I’m probably not what they’re expecting.”

  “You’re right, you’re not.” He leaned across the table, somehow avoiding plates and crystal. Before she had a chance to pull away, he’d kissed her on the mouth. “You’re a damn sight better, Miss Julie Parker.”

  Julie thought about Tyler’s kiss as she drove away from Van Gogh’s that evening, and all of the next day at work. She figured it for a kind of good-luck kiss. Not much more than a friendly peck, a handshake, a deal-sealer.

  Yet the warmth of his lips lingered on hers, making her think of a longer, deeper, more satisfying kiss that might be waiting for her. Some day.

  But even such a pleasant thing as a kiss worried her. Tyler Fortune was a man whose entire life had been determined by his family from the day of his birth. This she had learned on her lunch hour.

  She’d found several revealing newspaper articles. Tyler’s grandfather, Ben, had moved to Arizona
while separated from his wife, Kate. He must have believed their marriage was over, for he’d lived with a Native American woman for several years and they’d had twin boys together—Devlin and Hunter. Devlin was Tyler’s father, Hunter was his uncle. It wasn’t until Natasha Lightfoot, Ben’s mistress, died that Kate recognized Devlin and Hunter as Ben’s children and agreed to give control of Ben’s construction company to them when they turned twenty-five. Ben died soon thereafter.

  Julie found photos of the family in the society pages of the Arizona newspapers. Articles in the business section traced the Fortunes’ climb to power, year after year. Their most recent project was the multi-million Fortune Memorial Children’s Hospital, situated between the Papago Indian Reservation and the smaller San Xavier Reservation. Julie gradually built for herself an image of a modern dynasty-in-the-making that took her breath away.

  This man had so much to give her—a proud heritage, wealth, the babies she longed for. But what did she have to offer him?

  That was the question that haunted her. Why me? She’d asked him that question, but he hadn’t really given her a satisfactory answer. Everyone had a reason for the things they did. What was Tyler’s?

  Yet, as the day wore on and her question remained unanswered, she found she didn’t want to dwell on it. Dining with Tyler at the trendiest restaurant in the city had been the most exciting evening of her life. As a child, the only restaurants she’d set foot in were fast-food joints. In high school she’d kept pretty much to herself. In college she’d dated a few young men who had sprung for a meal at a steak house.

  But oh…how she’d loved sitting across a table from Tyler. When she’d left Van Gogh’s her head had been reeling with the richness of the place. She’d felt such a pale daisy beside the rose-and-poppy opulence of the people sitting at the other tables in the intimate dining room.

  And Tyler was the most amazing of them all. He had a rough-and-tumble physique that had let her easily assume he drove a forklift for a living until he’d told her otherwise. His face was tanned and sun-leathered, but strong and full of laughter when she said something that amused him. She liked amusing him. She bathed in the glow of his smiles.