Page 39 of Mr. Wrong
If his brother reallydidhire me to take his dead wife’s place. If he lured me here with the intention of turning me into some sort of weird surrogate mother for his orphaned daughter.
Admittedly, for most women, luring wouldn’t even be necessary. This is Landon Trask we’re talking about—the man could literally have any woman he wanted. All it would take would be a flash of his movie star smile and a glimpse at the lavish lifestyle he has to offer and he’d have them lined up around the block to fill his wife’s shoes.
And let’s be honest—aside from a blank check to buy unlimited classroom supplies, Landon hasn’t exactly gone out of his way to dazzle me. He’s barely been civil. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he doesn’t want me here any more than his brother does. As a matter of fact, I’d say if he brought me here to replace anyone, it’s—
“Ms. Pierce?”
I look up from the study I’ve made of my tennis shoes to find the devil himself standing over me, wearing the same dark wash jeans and dark, light-knit sweater he was wearing when he left this morning.
“Is there something wrong?” he says, turning to flick a quick look at the pool house behind him. “Did my broth—”
“No,” I say, drawing his attention back in my direction. “All things considered, your brother has been very accommodating.”
Sure, if you call spanking you and making you comeaccommodating.
“That’s good to know.” His tone pulls me away from my thoughts and I find him looking at me like he can read them. When I don’t immediately offer an explanation for why I’m camped out on his back porch, he sighs. “I have an early flight in the morning, so if you need something, Killian will be more than—”
“I’m sorry, but this isn’t something Killian can help me with.” I push myself to my feet to stand on the bottom step of the porch stairs, bringing us face to face. “I need to speak withyou.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have the time.” He takes a step back and shakes his head at me before glancing at his watch. “I’ll try to call tomorrow evening. We can discuss whatever it is—”
“Did you hire me because I’m a woman?”
“Excuse me?” He’s not any more used to being interrupted now than he was when I did it earlier today.
“Is that why I’m here?” I keep pushing, ignoring the way his face folds into a deep scowl at my tone. “Because I’m a woman. To be some sort of surrogate mother to Cassie?”
“Is that what my brother told you?” He folds his arms over his chest, his expression caught between anger and amusement. “That I lured you here with money and my dreamboat smile so you can take my dead wife’s place?”
Because it’s almostexactlywhat I thought, I feel the blood rush from my face at his words. I have the feeling he’s making fun of himself as much as he’s making fun of me. “Please answer the question.”
“Yes.” He says it easily, like there’s nothing in the world wrong with what he just said. “Yes, I hired you because you’re a woman. Because you’re a young, intelligent woman and my daughter needs to learn things that I can’t teach her. Things my brother can’t teach her.”
“And you expect me to impart all my womanly knowledge to your daughter in the space of a few months?”
“Actually, I’d hoped that after the summer was over that we’d be able to renegotiate the terms of your employment into a full-time position.” He gives me a sheepish grin that takes his resemblance to his brother from passing to striking. “Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting anything unseemly, Ms. Pierce. You’d be Cassie’s full-time caregiver—that’s it. I’d be prepared to offeryou living accommodations—I own the houses on either side of this place, as well as the properties behind…”
I tune him out while he rattles on about a six-figure salary and expense accounts.
Holy shit.
Lex was right.
Maybe not about Landon’s intentions toward me, but he was right on the money where Cassie is concerned.
I cast a look over his shoulder, catching sight of the pool house in the distance. “I can’t.” I say, shifting my gaze to meet his. “I can’t accept your offer, I’m sorry.”
“And why is that?” He gives me the same flat, exasperated smile he gave me this morning when I confronted him about not telling me about Lex. I can see why he’s won so many academy awards. He’s an excellent actor.
“Because your daughter doesn’t just need an education, Mr. Trask. She doesn’t just need a woman in her life. She needs to be around other children. She needs alife.A real life.” Now it’s his turn to look like someone just hit him in the face. “She needs to develop and grow and she can’t do that if you never let her out into the world.”
He makes a sound in the back of his throat, his eyes, nearly as blue as his brother’s, narrow on my face. “Is that right?”
I nod. “I know it’s scary. I know how you feel about the paparazzi, that you think it’s dangerous for her outside these walls but it doesn’t have to be.” I sigh and show him my hands, trying to appeal to him. “Let me do what I was hired to do. Nobody needs to be replaced. It doesn’t have to be him or me. No one has to lose. Lex and I can work together. Cassie is too young for such a long school day. We can work out a schedule. Give them time to—”
“That would be a possibility worth considering if not for one, simple fact—he doesn’t want to work with you, Ms. Pierce—hewants yougone.” He shakes his head at me like I’m slow and stupid. “He called me this afternoon. Gave me an ultimatum. Told me it was either youorhim. That if I didn’t fire you, he’d leave for good.”
He told me he was going to. That he was going to do everything in his power to get me fired. So why does it hurt so much? Why do I feel so betrayed? Regardless of how it makes me feel, I take a deep breath and make myself say it. “And?” I give him a small helpless shrug because I know what’s coming and I suddenly want to get it over with. I just want to take my cat and go back to Dani’s. Crawl under a rock and cry for a week.
