The Tycoon's Marriage Deal

Tillie often brought Truffles in to see Mr Pendleton, but not unless she’d exhausted the dog with a long walk and some ball play first. A bull in a china shop would look like a butterfly compared to that crazy mutt.

Mr Pendleton’s gaze went to Tillie’s hands where they were holding his and spied the diamond ring glittering brighter than a lighthouse beacon. His faded blue eyes suddenly narrowed. ‘Don’t tell me what’s his name—Scott? Shaun?—has come crawling back?’ he said.

Tillie’s heart was giving a rather credible impression of having a serious medical event. She glanced at the resuscitation gear above Mr Pendleton’s bed for reassurance. Why hadn’t she thought to put on a pair of gloves? Although, given it was summer it might have looked a little odd. No more odd than wearing an engagement ring that looked as though it cost more than it would to feed a small nation. ‘Erm... Simon? No. Someone...else gave it to me.’

Mr Pendleton’s frown deepened and he leaned forward like a detective staring down a prevaricating suspect. ‘Who?’

‘Erm...’

‘Speak up, girl,’ he said. ‘You know I’m a little hard of hearing. Who gave you that ring? It looks like a good one.’

Tillie swallowed. ‘B-Blake McClelland.’

Mr Pendleton’s bushy eyebrows shot up like caterpillars zapped with an electrode. Then he started laughing. Not chuckling laughing, but the sort of laughing you heard at an Irish comedy festival. He rocked back and forth against his banked-up pillows, eyes squinted, and guffawed for so long she began to worry he would do himself an injury, like rupture his voice box or something. ‘Now that’s just what I needed to lift my spirits out of the doldrums,’ he said. ‘Did the doctor put you up to it? They always say laughter’s the best medicine. You’ve done me a power of good, Tillie. You, engaged to Blake McClelland? Funniest thing I’ve heard in years.’

Tillie shifted her lips from side to side, annoyed that he found it so amusing and unlikely someone like Blake would ever propose to her. Why didn’t he think she was good enough for Blake? Was it because she wasn’t exciting enough? Not attractive enough? She might not be classically beautiful, but so far no travelling circus had ever asked her to sit in a tent and charged an entry fee for people to gawp at her.

‘No, this has nothing to do with the doctor. It’s not a joke. It’s true. Blake did give it to me. He asked me to—’

‘You’re a bit late for April Fool’s day.’ Mr Pendleton was still laughing. ‘I might be a bit muddled in my head but I know it’s June.’

The stubborn streak Tillie had worked for years to suppress while she was with Simon came back with a vengeance. Gone was the submissive anything-you-say-dear girl. In her place was Tenacious Tillie. She would make Mr Pendleton believe she was engaged to Blake. She would make everyone believe it. No one would think her not up to the task of hooking a hot man after she was done.

‘We met a couple of weeks ago when he came into the shop. It was love at first sight. On both sides. It was instant, just like in the movies. He’s the love of my life. I know it as sure as I’m sitting here telling you. He asked me to marry him and I said yes.’

Mr Pendleton stopped laughing and began to frown instead. ‘Look, I might be nearly ninety but I’m no old fool in his dotage. You’re not the sort of girl who falls for men like him. You’re too conservative to have your head turned by such a handsome devil. And he’s not the sort to fall for someone like you.’

Pride made Tillie sit stiffly in her chair while her ego slunk away to hide weeping in the corner. Too conservative? She had only been conservative for all these years because Simon had insisted on it. Sure, she might not be going to rush off to steal cars or snatch purses off old ladies any time soon, but neither was she planning to sit at home every night in front of a PG movie with forty-seven cats for company. ‘What do you mean Blake wouldn’t fall for someone like me? He’s in love with me and wants to marry me.’ What’s wrong with me?

‘Tillie...’ Mr Pendleton gave her hand a little pat. ‘You’re a good girl. You always colour between the lines. Blake McClelland on the other hand is too much for an old-fashioned girl like you to handle. You’d never be able to tame him. And you’re too sensible to even try.’

Old-fashioned. Sensible. She would show everyone just how ‘old-fashioned and sensible’ she was—including Blake McClelland. ‘Maybe I have already tamed him,’ Tillie said, pulling her hand away. ‘Maybe he’s sick of being a playboy and wants to settle down and have babies. That’s why he wants to buy McClelland Park because—’

‘He wants to buy McClelland Park because he’s filthy rich and thinks he can open his wallet and get anything he likes,’ Mr Pendleton said. ‘It’s time that man learned a lesson. And you, my dear, are not the one to teach him. Stay away from him. You’ve already had your heart broken once.’

‘But I love him,’ Tillie said, mentally crossing her fingers for all the lies spouting out of her mouth. ‘I really do. He’s so much more exciting and interesting than Simon. I can’t believe I ever fancied myself in love with Simon now. Blake is romantic and attentive in a way Simon never was nor ever could be. He makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. I—’

‘Have you slept with him?’ The old man’s gaze was as direct as a laser pointer at a scientific meeting.

Tillie opened and closed her mouth, her cheeks feeling so hot she was sure they were going to scald the skin right off her face. ‘That’s a rather personal question to—’

‘Has he moved in with you?’

‘Erm...would that be okay if he did?’

Yikes! What are you doing?

Mr Pendleton was still looking at her as a cop did a sneaky suspect. ‘He’s not the marrying sort, you know, and good girls like you always want marriage. I’m not saying he isn’t charming. He is. Just about every nurse in this place goes into a swoon when he comes in here. He’s only put that ring on your finger to sleep with you. As soon as he’s done that he’ll be off in search of the next conquest, you mark my words.’

The nurse popped her head around the door. ‘Everything all right, Mr Pendleton?’

‘Tillie fancies herself in love with Blake McClelland,’ he said with a snort. ‘Says she’s engaged to him. And you think I’m the one who’s confused.’

The nurse glanced at Tillie with wide did-I-just-hear-that-correctly? eyes. ‘Blake McClelland and...you?’

Tillie’s ego had had just about enough bludgeoning for one day. ‘Yes. He asked me yesterday. He’s been coming into the shop every day for the last couple of weeks and we hit it off. I know it’s a bit of a whirlwind, but when you’ve met the right one you just know.’

‘Oh, Tillie, I’m so thrilled for you. Everyone will be when they hear the news,’ the nurse said. ‘When are you getting married?’

‘Erm...we haven’t set a date yet but—’

‘It’s fabulous you’ve found someone. Really fabulous. We’ve all been so worried about you.’

The nurse led Tillie out of the room and softly closed the door. ‘Don’t listen to Mr Pendleton. He’s still a little out of sorts from his fall. He’ll be delighted for you in a few days. Give me a look at that ring. Gosh, isn’t it gorgeous? Much nicer than he-whose-name-is-not-to-be-mentioned.’

‘Yes. I’m very happy.’

Who knew how easy it was to lie?

‘I have a theory about playboys,’ the nurse said. ‘They make the best husbands in the end. They get all that running around out of their system and then they settle down.’

Tillie was pretty sure Blake McClelland had no intention of settling down and certainly not with someone like her. What was she going to do now? Mr Pendleton might doubt her engagement but the nurse clearly didn’t. It would be all over the village within hours. Tillie was effectively engaged to Blake even though she’d adamantly told him no. She could almost see his sardonic I’ve-got-you-where-I-want-you smile.

She slipped out of the respite facility and back to her car. The ring was still stuck on her finger as if some mischievous supernatural forces had conspired against her.

How was she going to face Blake now?

* * *

Blake came back to the bed and breakfast after tidying his mother’s grave at the cemetery. He hadn’t stayed in a B&B since he was a kid on one of the rare holidays his father took him on. But the cottage had a nice vibe—an old-world charm about it that made his business mind spark with ideas.

However, he didn’t get a chance to discuss a business proposal when he entered the cottage’s rose-framed front door because Maude Rosethorne was standing there with a broad smile on her face.

‘Congratulations, Mr McClelland,’ she said. ‘We’re all so excited with the news of Tillie and you getting engaged. It’s the most romantic thing ever. It’s all over the village. We didn’t even know you two knew each other and now you’re getting married!’

Blake had counted on that ring changing Tillie’s mind. What girl could resist a rock like that? It was worth a minor fortune, but he wasn’t quibbling over the expense—no expense was too much in his quest to get back his family property. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘What’s that old saying? When you’ve met the right one you just know?’

‘She’s a wonderful girl—but you don’t need me to tell you that,’ Mrs Rosethorne said. ‘Everyone loves Tillie. We’ve all been so worried about her after Simon jilted her. I suppose she’s told you all about that? Terrible, just terrible to leave her to face all the guests like that. He sent a text message. A text message! Didn’t have the backbone to see her face to face. He’s no longer welcome around these parts, let me tell you. No one gets to break our Tillie’s heart without all of us in the village having something to say about it.’

Blake went to his room feeling relieved he’d offered Tillie the chance to end their relationship once his goal of securing McClelland Park was achieved. He didn’t want his father to feel unwelcome when he finally moved back home. Blake wasn’t interested in breaking any hearts. Tillie hadn’t bothered to disguise her instant dislike of him—a novel experience for him, as he usually had no trouble winning women over within seconds of meeting them.

Her reaction to him amused him. He liked nothing more than a challenge, and cute little Matilda Toppington was nothing if not an Olympic-standard challenge. She was feisty and quick-witted and sharp-tongued with a body as delectable as the cakes and slices in her shop cabinet. Not beautiful in the traditional sense, but with the sort of understated looks that held a compelling fascination for him. For years he’d been surrounded by stunning-looking women, so much so they were starting to look the same. Even their personalities seemed similar—or maybe that was his fault for only ever dating a certain type.

But when Tillie hitched her chin and glared down her uptilted nose at him with those flashing nutmeg-brown eyes, he couldn’t help thinking how unique she was, how refreshing and unaffected. Her mouth was on the fuller side with an adorable little Cupid’s bow. For the last couple of weeks he’d been fantasising about kissing those soft and pliable-looking lips. She might not like him but he knew raw physical attraction when he saw it. Such crackling chemistry would make their ‘engagement’ all the more entertaining. That was probably why she’d decided to run with the engagement in spite of telling him to take his offer and get out of Dodge before dawn. And why not? A fling between them wouldn’t be hurting anyone.

He allowed himself a congratulatory smile.

The ring had been the bait and she’d snapped it up just as he’d planned.

* * *

Tillie was walking Truffles around the lake in front of McClelland Park still wondering how on earth she was going to face Blake. Her phone had been running hot ever since she’d left the respite centre. When she went back to her shop, she’d explained to Joanne what had happened, but, instead of being upset on her behalf, Joanne had seemed inordinately thrilled, spouting such idiotic statements as ‘it’s meant to be’ and something about ‘fate’s meddling hand’. Joanne had even gone on to say how she thought Tillie was secretly in love with Blake but hadn’t yet admitted it to herself.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.