The Man's Outrageous Demands Page 0,57

to marry me?” she asked.

Stacy smiled in a motherly way. “Who cares?” she laughed. “He’s gorgeous, charming, tall, handsome, funny… and did I mention gorgeous?” she giggled. “Not to mention he has the hots for you.”

Marabeth nodded, sure of all those things. “But deep down, what’s the point?”

Stacy wasn’t sure what to say. “I don’t know,” she said. “I do know that your mother phoned to see if you had an appointment with the designer and when I said no, she told me to schedule one for you and make sure you went. I wasn’t aware that you were having second thoughts about this.”

Marabeth nodded sadly. “Second, third and fourth thoughts about it.”

Stacy was confused. “I don’t know why. If a man like Sam Montrose wanted to marry me, I’d be all over him like green on a leaf. That man couldn’t run fast enough to get away if he ever proposed.”

Marabeth laughed at Stacy’s analogy. “I guess I’m making too much out of this, aren’t I?”

Stacy shook her head. “No. If something inside you is telling you that something is wrong, then there is,” she said emphatically. “And you shouldn’t listen to silly old women like me who are telling you to ignore that.”

Stacy stood up and started walking out of Marabeth’s office. “Talk to him and find out what is wrong. He’s a smart man and he can help you get through this, I’m pretty sure.”

Stacy closed the door softly behind her, leaving Marabeth with her own thoughts. Stacy’s advice was exactly what her mother had advised her to do several weeks ago. The problem was, each time she tried to talk to Sam, the sex got in the way. Did he do that on purpose? She wondered? It was possible, but she doubted it. The chemistry was too intense to ignore on her part and she liked thinking it was the same with him. She needed to think that. She didn’t like the idea that it was one sided. It gave him too much power and he already had too much as it was.

Marabeth was pushing herself to get through the correspondence that had been piling up lately. She was reading a story about a boy and his dog when Sam stormed into her office unannounced.

She looked up, then glanced at her watch. “Sam? What are you doing here? I didn’t order lunch to be ready for anther hour.”

She looked at him warily as he locked the door behind him. “You haven’t been to see the designer about your wedding dress,” he said. It wasn’t a question. Somehow, Sam knew that she’d been avoiding it.

Marabeth laid the letter down on her desk. “You’re right.”

“I want to know why, princess,” he said, leaning over her desk, his palms planted firmly in the middle as he looked into her eyes, daring her to lie to him.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “This is what I wanted to discuss with you over lunch.”

“Well, I’m here now. Let’s discuss it,” he said but didn’t move. “Explain to me why the one thing that you’re responsible for doing for our wedding has not taken place. You’re not getting out of it, Marabeth,” he said. His voice wasn’t loud but she could tell he was furious.

“Sam, you’re not going to boss me around anymore,” she said. She didn’t want to be, but she was beginning to be intimidated by his anger.

“I’ve never bossed you around, princess.”

“And stop calling me princess as if I’m some sort of fake!” She stood up and leaned across her desk, glaring right back at him. “The reason I haven’t ordered my gown is because I’m tired of you thinking you can order me around. I’m not a doll or one of your employees or soldiers, dammit! I’m your fiancée!”

“Damn right you are! So what’s this nonsense about not ordering your gown?”

Marabeth walked away from her desk, taking some files from the top to place in the bin Stacy would pick up to file away. “I haven’t decided to marry you, Sam.”

“Like hell!” he said and grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him. “You can’t walk away from what we have?”

“Yes I can!” she snapped back angrily. She pulled herself out of his arms and took a step away. “In point of fact, you’ve never even asked me. So there wasn’t a question for me to answer. But since you’ve gone about assuming my agreement, I