Hold Me Closer (Sea Island Brides Book 1) Page 3

  “Hudson called here?”

  “Of course,” he said. “He tells me you and that kid Mark showed up at his family estate this weekend claiming to be doing some piece on his family. Is that true?”

  She nodded, hardly able to find her voice. She was going to kill Mark when she found him.

  “I told Mr. Montgomery that if you were doing a piece on his family, you were doing it in your own spare time, maybe trying to get ahead here, because honestly, that’s the only reason I could think of for why you would have gone down there in the first place,” Barry said. His face was a bright shade of red, angry and puffy. “This picture is spreading like wildfire all over the Internet and the various tabloids. It seems these vultures have been dying to get something on the Montgomery brothers for the past year since their father died.”

  “All over the Internet?” Annabelle's heart raced in her chest. Not only was she going to lose her job, she was also half-naked all over the Internet. How had everything managed to go so horribly wrong in just a few days? She felt sick.

  “The good news right now is that no one seems to know who you are, much less that you work for Southern Style.” Barry sat up in his chair and pulled an envelope from the top drawer of his desk. “I'm sorry to have to do this Annabelle, but I have to let you go. Here's your final paycheck. I'll expect you to have your desk cleared out before lunchtime. For what it's worth, I really enjoyed having you on staff here, but this is something I can't overlook.”

  The envelope sat on the desk, and Annabelle reached out to take it. At least he was nice enough to give her the money today instead of making her wait a week to get it through the mail. She needed all the money she could get her hands on now that she was unemployed. With tears rolling down her cheeks, Annabelle left Barry’s office and cleared out her desk.

  She kept her head down the whole time, trying her best to ignore all the giggles and whispers around her.

  How could Mark have betrayed her like this?

  And to top it all off, now she had nothing to use as blackmail.

  Those pictures were never supposed to be seen by the press. She’d thought her plan was foolproof. She was going to approach Hudson with the photos, hoping that as soon as he saw the scandal she could create, he would have to listen to her about her cousin's pregnancy. All she wanted was to find out where his brother Harlan had run off to and make him submit to a paternity test.

  Once they saw that the baby was Harlan’s, her cousin Julia would never have to worry about things like medical care and insurance again. More importantly, her baby would grow up with a chance to know her father. Something both Julia and Annabelle had missed out on in their childhood.

  But now it had all gone to hell. Without those photos, she’d have no leverage against Hudson. If she tried to talk to him about her cousin’s situation now, he’d probably do exactly what he had done to Julia a few weeks ago—try to cut her a check so she’d keep her mouth shut and never come back.

  Tiny sprinkles of rain fell as Annabelle walked the ten blocks to her apartment.

  How come every time she tried to do something good for her family it ended up getting her into trouble? Julia would probably never forgive her once she found out about the stunt she'd tried to pull.

  Luckily, Julia was out of town, staying with a friend of hers for the next few days. That at least gave Annabelle some time to sort through the mess she'd made and try to figure out a new plan of action. Unless, of course, Julia saw one of those tabloids. Ugh. There were probably already a dozen messages on her cell phone. She dreaded turning it on to see.

  By the time she got home, the rain was falling in sheets.

  All she wanted to do was make a pot of coffee and sink into a warm bath for the rest of the day.

  But getting up to her apartment proved to be a much bigger ordeal than she’d anticipated.

  A huge crowd of reporters was camped out in front of her apartment building, and the second one of them spotted her, the entire group shifted to cluster around her. Rain-drenched and tear-stained, Annabelle was horrified. She ducked her head and lifted her box of belongings from the office higher to cover her face as cameras flashed and voice recorders were shoved in her face.

  “No comment,” she said. It sounded stupid coming from her, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. She definitely couldn’t tell them the truth.

  She just kept her head down and pushed her way through the crowd, feeling more alone than she’d ever felt in her life. And entirely foolish. She’d gotten in way over her head here, and she had no idea how she was going to get out of it.

  How would she get another job with all this media following her around?

  The four flights of stairs to her apartment felt like twenty. When the door to her apartment finally closed behind her, she dropped her soggy cardboard box to the floor and sighed. She slipped out of her boots, throwing them to the side of the door. Her pants legs were soaked all the way up to the knee, and she unbuttoned them, letting them slide to the floor in a heap. She gathered them up and threw them into the laundry room, the whole time trying not to cry.

  Yesterday's paper was on the kitchen table and she snatched it up. The employment section was smaller than the last time she'd been job hunting. Finding something fast was going to mean settling for a lot less money than what she really needed right now, but she could make it work.

  She had to make it work.

  After getting the coffee started in the kitchen, Annabelle grabbed the pink blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around her body. She'd gotten through worse times before, and she would get through this as well.

  Or at least that’s what she kept repeating to herself over and over.

  Just when she was starting to feel better, there was a knock on the door. Annabelle groaned. More reporters. If she didn't make a sound, maybe they would go away. She sat as still as she could and waited.

  Whoever was at the door knocked again, and Annabelle closed her eyes. She wasn't ready to face all these media sharks wanting to know about her alleged affair with a billionaire. What was she going to say to them?

  What if she couldn’t leave her apartment for days? Weeks?

  Her stomach began to knot up again.

  “Annabelle? It's Hudson Montgomery.”

  Her heart stopped. No. It couldn't be.

  Pulling the pink blanket tighter around her body, Annabelle shuffled her way to the door's tiny peep hole.

  She recognized the man in the hallway instantly, with his dark blonde hair and stunning blue-green eyes. When he caught her by the pool, she had almost gotten lost in those eyes, and the memory of being pressed against his muscular chest sent a shiver of desire through her from head to toe.

  What is he doing here?

  She pressed her back against the wall and felt a little bit light headed. How did he find her so quickly? The tabloid only hit the stands a few hours ago, and Sea Island was a good five hour drive from the city.

  Was he here to yell at her? Hit her with some terrible lawsuit?

  He knocked again. “Annabelle, I know you're home. I saw you come into the building. We need to talk, and I’m not going away, so you might as well open the door.”

  She left the chain on and opened the door just a crack.

  “I'm sorry, Mr. Montgomery, but if you're here to reprimand me about that photo, all I can tell you is that I had nothing to do with it,” she lied. “Besides, I've already lost my own job over it, so there's no reason to rake me over the coals.”

  Part of her was hoping he would just walk away, but there was another part that wanted to let him in and see if she could find a way back into those strong arms of his.

  She quickly pushed those thoughts from her head. He may be the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen, but he was still a domineering, self-centered rat.

  Just like Harrison Peavy. All billionaires were the same. They used you until they didn’t need you anymore, and then you were nothing to them.
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br />   Her heart squeezed in her chest as she thought of how the magazine's wealthy married client cornered her a few weeks ago when she went to his apartment to deliver some flowers for a photo shoot. The photographer sent her into the kitchen to place the flowers into an antique vase, but just when she turned around to fill the vase with water, she felt his hands slip around her waist and his groin press against her backside suggestively. There was no telling how far he would have tried to take things if she hadn't shattered his expensive vase into a million pieces.

  Men were always trying to take advantage of her like that. They took one look at her long blond hair and her curvy figure and they assumed they could treat her like an object instead of a person. Admittedly, Annabelle had gone to Hudson’s house to use those exact features to manipulate him, but she felt terrible about it and wished she’d never gone down there in the first place.

  Unlike Harrison, Hudson Montgomery was single and gorgeous, but they were made from the same mold. Old money. Power. Fame. Men like that didn't need excuses to take advantage of the people around them. They deserved what was coming to them.

  “I'm not here to reprimand you,” Hudson said, flashing a charming smile at her. Even though her mind protested, her stomach did a double flip. “Actually, I need to ask a huge favor of you.”

  “You need my help?” What could he possibly want from her that he couldn't get on his own? He certainly had her interest now.

  “Can we talk about this inside? We could certainly use some privacy after the events of the day, don't you think?”

  Reluctantly, Annabelle slid the chain from her door.

  Hudson walked past her with long, confident strides. As she closed the door, she suddenly felt the strength of his presence increase now that it was just the two of them in the small apartment. His large frame seemed to take up more room than she expected.

  “It seems that your little poolside fall has become the story of the moment,” he said calmly, not bothering to sit down.

  “That was an accident.”

  “Yes, I know.” He turned to look at her, but paused when he saw her attire. She thought she detected a smile forming in the corner of his lips as he stared at her in nothing but a pink fuzzy blanket. Next to his tailored suit, she felt completely childish and ridiculous. “I was there.”

  “Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Montgomery?” She pulled the blanket tighter around herself and lifted her chin.

  “I'm sorry, but did I interrupt something?” He laughed, and Annabelle felt the rush of warmth on her cheeks.

  “I walked home in the rain,” she explained, her confidence beginning to falter. “It’s already been a very long day, so please tell me why you came.”

  “There is something very important I need you to do for me,” he said, not taking his eyes off of her for even an instant. “Annabelle, will you marry me?”

  Chapter Three

  “Marry you?” Annabelle nearly dropped her blanket. “This has to be the weirdest day of my life.”

  Hudson slipped his hands into the pockets of his grey trousers and smiled. “Not exactly the response a man hopes for when he proposes.”

  “We both know this isn't a real marriage proposal.” Annabelle paced the room and tried to ignore the sparks that flashed inside her when he moved closer. “There's no way I'm going to marry you, and I can’t even imagine why you’re asking.”

  “You can’t?” The look on his face told her that he was not going to give up easily. In fact, it looked as though her refusal amused him. “The other day by the pool you seemed eager to, uh, get to know me better, if I remember correctly.”

  “And if I remember correctly, you turned me down.”

  Mischief glimmering in his blue-green eyes, Hudson took a few steps toward her until she was pressed against the flat wall of her small apartment. She looked up at him defiantly, refusing to let him bully her with his charm.

  “Things have changed,” he said, so close now that she could smell the heady scent of his cologne. “I need you.”

  Hearing those words made her feel dizzy. She bit her lower lip and tried to steady her breathing. “You need me?”

  She was reminded of how it felt to have his muscular chest pressed against her that day by the pool. He was making it very difficult for her to concentrate. What kind of game was he trying to play?

  “I have a business proposition for you, Ms. Day. And after losing your job, I think you should hear me out. Or has the attraction you claimed to have for me a few days ago already waned?”

  “Judging from the rate of my heartbeat, I think it's safe to say it's still intact,” she said with a pitiful attempt at making a joke. “I just don't understand why you need my help.”

  “I'll make this short,” he said, his face inches from her own. “My family is in the middle of a very important merger. We can't afford the sort of one-night-stand scandal the tabloids are trying to make this into. If we make public appearances together, say we've been dating in secret for some time and are in love and getting married, we take all the air out of their tires.”

  “What's in it for me?” With his body pressed this close to hers, she could only think of one thing she wanted from him.

  “Money, of course. Isn't that what most women want these days?” The arrogance dripping from his tone suddenly broke the spell she was under in his presence. The rich man's cure for everything. Money. Men like Hudson seemed to think that if you threw money at it, any problem would just disappear.

  Which is why he offered Julia a check for fifty grand to get lost and keep her mouth shut.

  Going underneath his outstretched arm, she escaped to the other side of the room. She needed to put some distance between them so she could think clearly.

  “On second thought, I probably should change clothes,” she said, wanting to take a few minutes to process what was happening in her living room. “Please excuse me for just a moment.”

  Annabelle practically ran to her tiny bedroom and slammed the door. In her closet, she located a clean pair of jeans and a pink tank top. Not wanting to give him too much time to snoop around in her unguarded living room, she knew she needed to come up with a plan. Fast.

  Sliding into the tight, just-washed jeans, Annabelle took stock of what she knew so far. Number one—she no longer had a job and was behind on her bills. Number two—any chance she had of blackmailing him to help her cousin was gone for good. Number three—the gorgeous billionaire, Hudson Montgomery, was asking her for a huge favor.

  What choice did she really have but to agree? It was her only chance to get close to the family now. He obviously had no idea she was the mastermind behind the photographs, so she was safe there. Instead, it would look like she was merely a victim of the evil tabloids and was doing him a favor by helping his family complete their business merger. In turn, they would owe her a favor as well. At the very least, she could get Harlan’s contact information so that Julia could get in touch with him and tell him about the baby.

  On the other hand, if Hudson ever found out she was behind the photos, it could ruin Julia's chances of ever getting close to the Montgomery’s. Not that she had much chance now anyway.

  When Julia approached Hudson a few weeks ago about her situation, he had belittled her and basically called her a liar, saying there was no way his brother would have had a one-night stand with a woman he met in a bar. After the way he’d treated her, Julia had been ready to write off the entire Montgomery family and raise her baby without a father. But Annabelle knew better.

  Once the baby came, Julia would need help. She deserved help. And after growing up without parents of her own, she knew that Julia would regret it if she didn't at least talk to Harlan about the baby. All she had to do was find him.

  And movie-star Harlan Montgomery was not an easy man to find.

  But his brother was standing in her living room right now asking her to be his fake fiancee. How could she say no?

  Still, keeping up with her li
e and having to be close to him for the next few months would be too hard. It was better to just put an end to the whole thing here and be glad she hadn’t been caught.

  Hudson was sitting on her couch reading the paper when she strolled into the living room, this time fully dressed. He looked up and smiled. “You’ll do it?”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Montgomery, but I don’t think I can agree to becoming your girlfriend or fiancee or whatever it is you want me to be,” she said. “I apologize for showing up at your house in a bikini, and I’m sorry this has turned into such a media circus for you, but I think this is where we part ways. For good.”

  He frowned, and Annabelle got the impression Hudson Montgomery wasn’t used to being turned down.

  He stood up from the couch and smoothed the paper he’d been reading, setting it back down on the couch.

  “I understand,” he said. “Still, I'd like you to go to dinner with me tonight. I'll pick you up around seven.”

  He walked toward the door as if there was nothing more to talk about. Had he not even listened to a word she’d just said?

  “Wait,” she said, following him to the door. “I said I didn’t want to see you again.”

  “I don’t accept that,” he said simply. “I’ll see you tonight. I have reservations at Ray’s.”

  Annabelle recognized the name of one of Atlanta's premiere restaurants. It was the type of place she’d never dared set foot in, because even the appetizers would have scared her bank account.

  “My treat, of course,” he said, as if he’d been reading her mind. “I'll call my family’s personal shopper here in the city and have her send a dress over this afternoon. Expect her call in a few minutes so she can get your size and preferences. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going. I'll see you this evening.”

  Unable to move, Annabelle stood in the middle of her living room as Hudson closed the door behind him. Personal shoppers? Dinner at Ray’s? Fear seized her heart as she realized Hudson Montgomery wasn’t going to take no for an answer.