Temporary Groom: Left At The Altar Read online

  “She’s willing to handle it, Lia. Let her,” Zeke insisted.

  I bit my lip for a moment before I told Ruby, “Apparently, Stuart and his mother are taking care of the reception, returning the gifts, and all the rest of the stuff that has to be done.”

  Ruby snorted. “It’s the least he can do.”

  I felt a painful twinge of guilt about the fact that Ruby had no idea that I wasn’t completely a jilted bride. Had I talked to Stuart, I would have canceled the wedding myself. I just would have done it in a much nicer way than my now ex-fiancé had dumped me.

  “Let’s go,” I said to Zeke.

  I really needed to escape to get my head together.

  Zeke grasped my hand and pulled me into the changing area so I could gather up my things.

  We were outside the church and settling into his sleek, black Range Rover moments later.

  “Where to?” he rumbled as he started the engine.

  “It doesn’t matter.” I wanted to be anywhere but at the church.

  “My place,” he decided. “Nosy people will be a lot less likely to find you there.”

  It was doubtful that many people would really care, but Zeke was a wealthy man, and the security he had in his building was a lot better than mine.

  “Okay,” I agreed. His judgment was probably more sound than mine at the moment.

  My brain was still trying to process the fact that the wedding I’d stressed over for the last year wasn’t going to happen.

  I never cared where I was with Zeke as long as we were together. It had always been that way.

  I watched him rummage through the pockets of the suit jacket he’d taken off before he’d entered the vehicle, and I smiled when he finally found what he was looking for. He tossed the package into my lap.

  “Thanks,” I said gratefully as I picked up the small bag of Peanut M&M’s and ripped them open.

  I crunched on the candy as he drove, despite the fact that it wasn’t helping me clear my mind. Maybe I wasn’t as delighted as I usually was when Zeke tossed me my favorite indulgence, but it didn’t hurt.

  For me, chocolate was good for any occasion.

  Our silence wasn’t uncomfortable, and Zeke made a couple of quick stops on the way to his penthouse condo.

  The two of us had been through a lot together, and sometimes silence was just fine.

  I’d mourned and cried with him when he’d lost his father unexpectedly after he’d finished law school.

  After that, he’d stayed with me during the paralyzing grief I’d gone through when my grandmother, who had been like a mother to me, had passed away.

  For some strange reason, Zeke and I had always sensed what the other one needed. So I knew he was giving me my space, but physically being nearby if I needed him.

  “I’m okay,” I said with a sigh as we got close to his home.

  “You just got dumped on your wedding day, Lia. I doubt very much that you’re fine with that,” Zeke answered in a hoarse voice.

  Okay, maybe I felt like an idiot because I didn’t call off the wedding sooner, but I certainly wasn’t devastated. “He didn’t love me. I made a lucky escape,” I told him.

  “I’m sure as hell not going to argue with you about that,” he answered. “But he was a prick, Lia. You’re definitely better off. But I know damn well that you’re hurt. The bastard was obviously cheating on you.”

  I never lied to Zeke, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I was actually relieved, and that I’d been going to find my fiancé to break things off when I’d discovered that Stuart had wised up first.

  Yeah, it grossed me out a little that Stuart had obviously slept with one or more females while we’d been in a committed relationship. But he always used a condom, and our sex life hadn’t exactly been something I’d mourn. If I wanted to be totally honest, sleeping with him had been something I’d dreaded. However, I knew I’d be running to the clinic where I got my birth control to be tested for STDs come Monday morning.

  The sadness I was feeling was more about being thrown away for a female who was better than me in the eyes of a man I was going to marry.

  And when it came to disappointments, I was used to it. That was why I tried never to get too close to anybody.

  Every time I loved somebody, they inevitably disappeared from my life.

  The only person who had ever really reached past my defenses and stayed was Zeke.

  My heart ached as I finally replied, “It doesn’t matter, Zeke. I’ll get over it.”

  It wouldn’t be the first time a guy had found another woman who was far more responsive than I was in bed. I wasn’t a female who really valued sex in her relationship all that much. In fact, one of my boyfriends had compared me to sleeping with a mannequin. And there was probably a little bit of truth to that, even though it had hurt at the time.

  “Bullshit!” Zeke exploded. “Don’t even try to tell me you’re unaffected by this, Lia. I don’t buy it. It’s me you’re talking to, and I know you. You can try to put on a brave face all you want, but you and I both know that deep inside, it hurts.”

  Yeah, my heart ached, and he could sense it. But it wasn’t what he thought.

  “Really, it doesn’t,” I confessed. “He didn’t love me, Zeke, and I’m just starting to realize that I probably didn’t love him. Maybe I wanted the fantasy that every woman I know has found by now. Maybe I wanted to believe it would work for me this time. I’ll be twenty-eight years old in a matter of days, and I guess I wanted the same kind of relationship most woman have had by my age. Stuart just wasn’t the right one. Honestly, I’m not sure I let him get close enough to hurt me all that badly. He didn’t demand anything beyond a façade, so that’s probably why I thought it would be a good relationship. Neither one of us had to give much of ourselves.”

  Zeke pulled into his space at the parking garage, and slammed the vehicle into park before he turned to me. His eyes were the darker shade of blue that always appeared when he was really pissed off.

  “You have a lot to offer any guy,” he said gruffly. “You’re beautiful, you’re ambitious, you’re wicked smart, and you’re strong, Lia. Probably the toughest woman I’ve ever met. You should never settle for less than you deserve.”

  I swallowed the huge lump in my throat as I told Zeke something I’d never mentioned before. “I can’t really get close to anybody. I’ve tried with every guy I’ve dated. But there’s a wall inside me that just won’t fall down. I’m too damn afraid to let it happen.”

  His face softened. “You’re guarded. I know that. But it’s not always a bad thing. You’ve been through way too much to let just anybody in.”

  I gathered up the ridiculous skirt of my gown and opened the passenger door as I replied, “I didn’t let Stuart in. I couldn’t. He wanted to change me. Make me into the woman he wanted to be married to, and I let him.”

  “I know,” Zeke replied.

  As I exited the SUV, I realized just how true my words were. I’d been so damn blinded by the fact that I wanted to share my life with someone that I’d allowed Stuart to take my power. I’d let him change me, make me into a woman I didn’t even know anymore.

  Zeke and I didn’t speak as we rode the elevator up to his penthouse, but my mind was still racing.

  Yeah, I was grateful that the wedding hadn’t taken place. But I wondered how I was ever going to find myself again.

  CHAPTER 3

  Lia

  One of Zeke’s detours on the way home had been to pick up food from our favorite Chinese place. We were both foodies, but we hadn’t shared a meal from our favorite spots in a long time.

  I’d changed out of my dress and into a pair of jeans and a loose shirt, clothes that I’d left over at Zeke’s place over time.

  We both left some of the necessities at each other’s homes, a habit we’d fallen into a long time ago for convenience.

  The TV was on low in the background, but I was pretty sure neither one of us was paying attention
to the news as we relaxed in Zeke’s living room.

  I finally dropped my fork on my plate and reached for the glass of white wine he’d poured me before he’d seated himself on the couch. I took a long sip before I said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do about my grandma’s will. If I’m not married by my birthday, I’m screwed.”

  I’d loved the grandparent who had raised me like her own after my parents had died in a car accident when I was twelve. Esther Harper, my father’s mother, hadn’t hesitated to move me from Michigan to Seattle to live with her, and we’d been close until she’d passed away two years earlier. But I still didn’t get why she’d put the condition in her will that I couldn’t inherit unless I was married by my twenty-eighth birthday. If I didn’t, everything went to distant relatives we’d never even met, and charities she supported.

  Not that Grandma Esther owed me anything. She’d raised me when nobody else would have taken me in. But it stung more than a little that she’d been trying to change me, too.

  “I’ve looked at the documents,” Zeke answered. “The estate attorney is right. If challenged, you could very well lose. It was written so well that it could be upheld by a judge.”

  Zeke’s expression was grim, but I didn’t doubt his opinion since my best friend was a high-powered defense attorney from a very powerful firm that he’d taken over when his father had died.

  Even though he wasn’t an expert at wills and trusts, Zeke was a Harvard Law graduate, and probably the smartest guy I knew.

  So, that meant I had five days to get married or most likely forfeit my inheritance. While the funds weren’t everything to me, I had borrowed six figures from Zeke to start my first coffee shop. Indulgent Brews had been so successful that I desperately wanted to start another one, and had planned on doing just that once the terms of the will were met.

  “I’ll have to up my installment payments to you,” I said, feeling like a failure because I couldn’t pay off the money I owed to him. “I don’t know how else to get you paid back. And the second Indulgent Brews will have to wait.”

  “I don’t need the money,” Zeke answered grumpily. “And I’m your silent partner.”

  The argument was a familiar one. We’d had it nearly every time we talked. “You didn’t want to be a partner,” I reminded him. “You did it to help me.”

  He was right. He didn’t need the money. Zeke Conner came from a wealthy family, and at the age of thirty-two, was the head of one of the most successful law firms in Seattle.

  “Knowing you don’t need it doesn’t make me feel that much better about the fact that I can’t pay you back. You’re my friend, Zeke,” I said remorsefully.

  “If you feel that bad, you could just marry me,” he answered matter-of-factly.

  I started to laugh, but then halted abruptly as I looked at him on the couch from my place in a recliner.

  He was staring at me with a look I knew. An expression that had none of his usual humor or teasing.

  Holy shit! He’s serious.

  I set my empty wine glass on the side table and folded my arms in front of me. “I’m pretty sure Angelique wouldn’t be happy,” I said in an easy tone.

  He shrugged his massive shoulders. “We broke up, not that we were ever really a couple in the first place. But I haven’t seen her in months. Where have you been?”

  Where have I been?

  I’d been so busy trying to hire a new manager for my shop, and preparing for my wedding, that I’d obviously failed to notice that Zeke didn’t have the gorgeous brunette on his arm anymore.

  “I’m sorry,” I answered, feeling like a shit because I hadn’t known that Zeke was flying solo.

  “Don’t be. It was never serious.”

  I sighed as I leaned back into the comfortable chair. “Who broke it off?” I asked curiously.

  “Mutual agreement,” he replied.

  God, I hated the fact that no woman had ever really looked past Zeke’s eligibility and his money. Sure, women found him attractive. Who wouldn’t?

  It had never escaped my notice that Zeke was hot. It still didn’t. I’d just tried to ignore it for the good of our friendship after I’d spilled my guts to him on my twenty-first birthday and had gotten rejected.

  I stared at him blatantly, taking in his powerful, ripped body, the sandy-colored blondish-brown hair, and his beautiful blue eyes with lashes that I’d always envied before I said, “Your relationships are never serious. Don’t you want to get married eventually?”

  Strangely, I felt more than one twinge of uneasiness at the thought of Zeke pledging his life to a woman. I’d never really contemplated that before, maybe because he’d never seemed to get serious with any woman in particular. But just the thought of losing him to a woman who wouldn’t tolerate him being friends with a female was unnerving.

  Stuart had tried to bully me into giving up my friendship with Zeke, but it was one thing I’d stood strong on. Zeke was my friend and always would be as far as I was concerned. However, I had no idea what would happen in the future with him.

  He looked up and pinned my gaze with his. “I think I just offered to marry you. Does that mean you’re refusing?”

  The timbre of his voice sent an electric zing down my spine. I wasn’t immune to the dangerous, wickedly low tone of his voice. I just wanted to think it didn’t make every female hormone in my body stand up and take notice. “You weren’t serious.”

  “I was completely serious, Lia. You need to get married. I’m available.”

  Oh, sweet Jesus, I knew that intense expression. I just hadn’t seen it in a very long time. “You can’t just marry me,” I protested. “I adore you for offering, but that’s just crazy.”

  Problem was, I knew Ezekiel Conner was far from insane.

  He was funny.

  He could be sweet when he wanted to be.

  He oozed a masculine sex appeal that most women couldn’t ignore.

  He was incredibly wealthy.

  He was smart, successful, and every woman’s dream.

  But he was my friend.

  Women like me did not marry men like Zeke Conner.

  He was way too…perfect.

  “Think about it, Lia. You deserve to open another store, and to get out from under the expenses you acquired from the first one. You don’t want to accept the money I gave you as a gift, so that means you feel like you have to pay it back before you can keep moving forward. If you marry me, you don’t have to commit to forever. There’s nothing in the will that requires you to stay married. You meet the terms, collect your inheritance, and then get a divorce if that’s what you want.”

  I gaped at him. “I don’t get it. What do you get from this?” I chewed on a fingernail nervously as my eyes stayed fixed on his.

  “Do you really want to know?” he asked huskily.

  I nodded slowly.

  “I get you in my bed for as long as it takes to get your inheritance,” he answered with what sounded like a bluntly honest tone.

  “Why would you want that?” I squeaked.

  I’d offered myself up to him once, and I’d regretted it ever since.

  Zeke had been my friend for fourteen years, and there had never been a single mention of anything more than friendship between the two of us except for my drunken confession on my twenty-first birthday.

  “Did you really think that I haven’t noticed that you grew into a beautiful woman?”

  “You’ve never wanted to screw me,” I challenged.

  “Sure I did,” he said with a smirk. “What red-blooded man wouldn’t?”

  “Tons of them,” I said nervously.

  All of my ex-boyfriends, at least.

  “I do want to fuck you,” he said as he folded his muscular arms across his chest. “I’ve just never mentioned it. You were engaged, and unlike your asshole ex-fiancé, I knew you’d never cheat on a man.”

  His expression was stoic, and for the first time in our long friendship, I had absolutely no idea what he was
thinking.

  This man wasn’t the Zeke I knew, but he was still familiar. I felt like I was in some kind of weird dream, and seeing a side of him that I’d never noticed before.

  But he’s still my Zeke.

  I did start thinking about his offer because he’d asked me to do it. Maybe his hadn’t been the most romantic proposal in the world, but the fact that he’d sacrifice his freedom, even temporarily, for me made my eyes well up with tears.

  Not that I was buying the crap about him lusting after my body. It was his way of pretending he’d get something out of the deal if I said yes.

  But I wanted to pay him back for everything he’d done since I’d opened my successful coffee shop. And the only way I was going to be able to do that was to get my inheritance.

  He’d trusted me, and I wanted to be worthy of the faith he’d always had in me.

  Not only had Zeke given me the money generously, but he’d been there for me every step of the way. He called himself a silent partner, but he’d been around when shit hit the fan, too. Zeke even worked the store during rush hours when I was overwhelmed.

  This man had always been there to help me. Now, I wanted to show him that I was able to thrive because he’d had faith in me.

  “Okay,” I said, my decision made.

  He lifted a brow. “Okay…what?”

  “I’ll marry you. But don’t think for a single second that I believe that you want my body. But I’ll make sure your sacrifice is worth it to you somehow.”

  “But you agree to the terms?” he asked.

  I snorted. “Yeah. Okay. I agree.”

  I was okay with keeping up the pretense that he was lusting after me if he wanted to. But I knew he was doing me a favor—again.

  He grinned at me, a mischievous smile I hadn’t seen from him in a long time. “Then I’ll make damn sure it’s worth it to you, too.”

  My heart tripped, his sexy baritone affecting me in a way it never had before.

  This is all temporary. Don’t start thinking it’s anything more than a friend helping a friend in a pretty profound way.