Binder Full of Women (4 page)

Ann turned to Trent and said, “Maybe it’s worth love after all.” Then she climbed over the back of the boat to the swimmer’s step and jumped in the water and swam to the other boat. The man helped her in the boat and gave her a powerful embrace. It was surely love reunited.

“Sorry man,” the guy in the other boat said and then took off with Ann.

There went his future wife and the solution to the problem in another man’s boat. Away drove his dreams.

Rachel crossed the boat to comfort him, squeezing his shoulder.

“Easy come, easy go,” Trent said full of mixed emotion.

“Back to the drawing board. Let’s go back to my place and get the binder,” Brett said.

“You still have that thing? I should have taken it home to burn,” Rachel asked with a look of horror on her face.

Trent was more irritated at the situation than anything else. It just didn’t feel right.

Chapter 5

After drying off and changing back in their normal clothes at Brett’s house the three sat at a table on the poolside deck once again looking at the binder.

As they flipped through the pages Trent was frustrated. On the surface none of the women looked like what he could be compatible with. Maybe he was finally starting to agree with Rachel that this wife hunting method was not the best way.

Trent shoved the book to the side. “No more. I just don’t know about this.”

“How else are you going to get a wife now that there are only three weeks until your meeting?” Rachel asked before taking a sip of her sweaty glass of lemonade. She then took her finger and circled it around the rim looking at Trent with her questioning green eyes.

“I know,” Brett said enthusiastically like he had just solved the mystery of the world.

“Do tell,” Trent said leaning closer to Brett in interest.

“You need someone to just pretend to be your wife.”

“I don’t know,” Trent said. He wanted to keep things honest, yet he had already lied. Xeron was just sticking to the values of their culture. Perhaps they needed to consider moving past the 1900 thought process. He was committed to any partnership he made. That was what they were truly looking for and he wouldn’t let them down there.

Rachel looked off deep in thought with her hand on her cheek. When she turned her attention back to them she said, “It’s a great idea. That way you won’t be throwing your life away with a phony relationship. You will still have a chance to discover someone that you can love and have a real marriage.”

“That’s not happening and you know that,” Trent snapped. After regaining his composure he said, “A pretend wife…where would I find one of those? I suppose I could hire an actress.” Yes, the answer was there. This was much better than the binder.

“No, not an actress. It wouldn’t come off right,” Brett said.

“Then how?” Rachel asked.

“You,” Brett replied.

“Rachel,” Trent asked shocked. Rachel had been many things to him, all involving being a friend, but no she couldn’t be his wife. Not even his pretend wife. Whenever he thought of Rachel as a wife he knew that she deserved to be with the perfect man who hadn’t led a broken life. It had to be someone that had grown up in a normal family with normal values. She was going for the forever thing and he couldn’t even pretend with her.

“It’s perfect. You two know each other well enough that you could pull it off. How else is an actress possibly going to know enough? How could you trust an actress?” Brett asked.

Trent studied Rachel. She pensively twirled a strand of her brown hair around her finger. There was concern on her face. He couldn’t do this to her. He just couldn’t.

“It can’t be Rachel. She is absolutely out of the question.”

Rachel’s cheeks turned a rose petal pink. Interesting, he didn’t recall seeing her blush before. With her darker complexion it was harder to see, but it was definitely a blush.

“Why not?” she asked in an offended tone. Her pace picked up as she said, “I know I am not in the trophy wife category. I don’t have gorgeous model looks that one would expect of your wife, but Brett has a point. We are friends and I do know enough about you that we wouldn’t seem unnatural at dinners.”

“Hold on Rachel,” Trent said lifting his hand to her arm. He hadn’t meant to offend her and he had. She always spoke fast when she was mad.

He had been all about protecting her. Hearing her talk down about her beauty made him mad. She didn’t look like Marilyn Monroe, but had her own brand of beauty. Rachel was a natural beauty with everything earthy that was just right to complement her style. There was her shiny hair, her beautiful smile, he could go on and on.

When his friends in college would see her picture on his bulletin board they all asked who she was. They had all wanted to be introduced to her. Of course he had to protect her and keep most of his friends away. Eventually he got smart and took the picture down. They were looking for one night stands and not the lifetime of love that he knew Rachel was after.

“You don’t look like Ann, but you are beautiful. Any man would be proud to have you by his side,” he said moving his thumb in a circle pattern on her arm.

“Then I will do it,” she said in an authoritative tone.

Trent ran his hand through his hair in frustration. How could he let her do this and protect her at the same time? He didn’t want her name to be damaged somehow with any future husband that she really would have. What were the implications of her being involved in this?

“Not so fast,” Trent said.

“You insisted that I help you in this whole shenanigan. This is how I am going to do it. I insist.”

How could he complicate her in this so deep? It was one thing have a business arrangement with someone who was also getting something out of the situation. It was completely different pulling Rachel into this.

“What about your clients? You can’t just take a week off to go to Cozumel with me,” Trent said trying to come up with an argument that would appeal to her and not offend her.

“Sally, my new designer is up to speed. She can handle my load for a week. It will be fun. We can even go snorkeling at least a few times.”

“Can we have a minute alone?” Trent asked Brett. Brett nodded and went into the house.

“Look Rach. This is important to me. It’s important to me that Gramps’ legacy goes on. It’s more important that you don’t get hurt though.”

“How could I possibly get hurt?”

Trent started wondering if he was protecting himself in addition to Rachel.

“Just think Rachel. You want a marriage full of love. Think what this will do to your reputation. What if someone finds out about this? What will they say about that? Think of your future.”

“If someone is ridiculous enough to be upset that I helped a friend he is not worth it. That’s not true love. Look, I’ve already had what I thought was true love and look what happened. I need someone to stand by me no matter what and choose me for real reasons.” Rachel said determined.

How else could he convince her?

“You win. You can be my wife.” The sound of those words coming out of his mouth scared him to death. He needed to leave now and go somewhere he could breathe. The details would be worked out later.

How did he go from operation binder full of women to operation Rachel?

~*~*~*~*~

Over the next weeks Trent and Rachel spent time working on the back story of their courtship, engagement and wedding. The night before their departure there was just one more detail to take care of.

Trent knew he needed a ring and he had the perfect one in mind. He carefully took his mother’s out of his safe and squeezed it in his hand. It was a beautiful princess cut, one carat ring. Not as big as many of his counterparts’ wives would wear, but size didn’t matter. It was the meaning behind the ring.

As he took a closer look at it, he thought of the one memory he had of his mother. They had been at their summer house in South Haven on the shore. He had fallen and skinned his knee on some driftwood on the beach. She ran over and comforted him, wrapping him in her arms and gently kissing his knee. He could still see the sparkle of the very ring he was now holding on her hand.

That evening his parents had taken his grandmother out to visit a friend in the hospital while gramps babysat him. While driving home they were hit head on by a drunk driver and all instantly killed. Just like that the safe, secure world full of love had ended at the age of three. Gramps took him into his home and provided Trent with all of the love he had.

At the age of twelve Trent decided that he was never going to risk losing a family again. The pain of the loss of his parents was too much and still lingered within him. That kind of love was not meant to be a forever thing and if he couldn’t have it forever he wasn’t going to have it at all. From that day forward he dedicated his life to trying his hardest to just concentrate on making the business what gramps wanted it to be.

That is when he started going into the office with him on Saturdays learning the ropes. When he was a teenager he was given a part-time position at Pearson on the manufacturing floor and had worked in pretty much every department since until he took over as president.

Gramps mentored him his whole life until he had died five years ago. Gramps did everything for him and left everything to him.

Trent invited Rachel over to his house to give her the ring. She had been acting strange lately. She was all for working on their back story one minute and running off abruptly the next. Sometimes he felt like he was walking on needles around her.

When she arrived that night she looked gorgeous in white shorts and a black top with ruffles around the v-neckline. The scent of rose petals trailed her. Inhaling deeply, Trent took a moment to appreciate the feeling of warmth that ran through him.

She always had felt home at Trent’s place. He had lived there for years and she had helped him select the furnishings when he first bought the place. His taste tended to be a little more modern than hers, but she had managed to soften it up with a few pillows and accessories that blended well with his other pieces.

“Rachel, I pulled something out for you. It’s the last step to making our fake marriage official,” Trent said pulling the ring out his pocket.

“Here’s your ring,” he said handing it to her to put on.

There was delight in her face. Was that a tear in her eye about to make its way to her cheek? She slid it on her ring finger and held her hand out for him to admire.

“It’s beautiful. Where did you get it?”

“It was my mom’s.”

Rachel raised her hand to her chest then took her other hand and removed the ring. “I can’t wear that Trent,” she said holding it back out for him to take.

“Sure you can,” he commanded.

“It’s not right. I know what that means to you. You have so little of your family left. I can’t take the risk.”

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Of course you can. She would want you to. She would want to see Pearson Chemicals carry on.”

This was all wearing on Rachel. These up and down feelings around Trent were not her norm. It was like she was beginning to develop feelings other than friendship for him. First there was the jealousy and then the reacting to his touch with such a wonderfully violent response.

This ring was just too much. It seemed too real. Trent never had been hers and never would be. He didn’t want the same things that she wanted and she was not willing to sacrifice that.

“Would you rather I go down to Tiffany’s and buy you a new one?” After a long pause he quietly took her hand in his and said, “I would really like it if you wore this one Rachel. It fit you perfect. My mom would want to see our success. I am sure of it.”

He gently separated her fingers and this time slowly slipped it down her finger. The feeling of Trent’s hand and the coolness of the metal ring sent tingles from her head down to her toe. This was beginning to feel a little too real.

When he walked her to her car he said, “Next stop Cozumel.”

Chapter 6

The next day they flew in a private jet to Cozumel to meet Mitchell, Xeron’s CEO at his house on the island. He was on the south west side of the island where the current wasn’t as strong and there was good snorkeling just off the shore. Cozumel was one of Rachel’s favorite places to visit because of the island atmosphere, delicious tropical fruit and easy access to fabulous snorkeling. Normally she stayed at the Haven all inclusive mostly due to its excellent on-site snorkeling. Staying at a private house on the island would be a first for her.

A car met them at the airport and drove them to the Spanish style beach house. Mitchell met them at the door with a friendly but firm look. He was in his early sixties with grey hair and seemed to be all business.

After exchanging greetings Trent introduced Rachel as his wife. The first time she heard him say my wife he squeezed her hand when he said it. She looked up and smiled at him.

“Newlyweds I see,” Mitchell added with a chuckle and introduced them to his wife Loretta who was petite and had short salt and pepper hair.

They very gracefully welcomed them into the home giving them a quick tour before leading them to the guest house where Trent and Rachel were to stay. The remainder of the day was all about getting to know each other’s spouses. There was no business discussion and Mitchell looked more relaxed.

At dinner some fresh mahi mahi was prepared and served by the staff. They shared more than one bottle of wine. Trent saw to it that there was a white wine available for Rachel.

Trent could see that Rachel was getting a little tipsy. Her face was flush, she was full of smiles and she was talking way more than normal. Past experience told him that all of those were her signs that she had overdone it.

After dinner they all went for a stroll on the beach as the sun was setting. Mitchell was holding his wife’s hand and Trent grasped Rachel’s as well. It was soft and smooth and felt just right in his hand. He played with the ring he had placed on her finger. The ring that stamped her as his. His to have and to hold.