The Mating Game: Big Bad Wolf(40)

“Why weren’t you in the mood?”

Jasmine’s reply was an angry shrug.

“Hey, Ryker’s company is getting tons of compliments on your jacket design,” Daisy said, jogging to keep up with Jasmine. “You should be in art school. There’s a private art school in North Cedar Park. Maybe Ryker’s company could write you a recommendation and—”

“Art school costs money,” Jasmine snapped. “We don’t have money. We’re not even going to have a home soon. My grandmother got fired from her job at the nursing agency yesterday. For falling asleep on the job. After they made her work for twenty-four hours straight. And you’re going to be late for class,” she added, glancing back at the school.

Daisy groaned. She didn’t want to leave things like that with Jasmine, but she was about to miss the first bell. “Email me at Ryker’s company,” she said quickly. “We’ll figure out something.” And she turned and raced back into school as the first bell rang.

* * * * *

“So what are you going to do after the investor’s meeting?” Walter asked Ryker. “How are you going to ask Daisy to leave?”

Walter, who was sitting in his living room, heard a sharp, angry intake of breath on the other end of the line.

“Who says I’m going to ask her to leave?” Ryker demanded.

“You mean you want her to stay? But the whole relationship is just a fraud to fool the investors,” Walt reminded him. “You don’t actually like her. You said she’s a spoiled princess and a snob.”

“And then I found out she wasn’t. She’s not spoiled – she’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met. She gave up her inheritance and left everything behind rather than be forced into an unhappy marriage. She works at a school in the worst neighborhood in the city, with kids who are dirt poor, and they love her.”

“But you two have nothing in common.”

“We have plenty in common,” Ryker said indignantly.

“Like what? She doesn’t like sports.”

“She likes horses, and cooking, and skinny-dipping in the lake. And the most important thing that we have in common is –each other. I’ve never felt more relaxed with any other woman than I do with her,” Ryker said. “I can just sit there and be myself, and that’s enough for her.”

“She’s not your usual type,” Walt mused.

“I never had a usual type before,” Ryker said. “I just never bothered dodging any of the groupies who threw themselves at me.”

“And who knows how she’d fit in with your family, coming from such a different background,” Walt continued, as if he hadn’t even heard a word Ryker had said.

“My mother loved her before she even met her.” Ryker’s voice held a hint of snarl. “Why are you so down on her all of a sudden? Have the investors said something?”

“What if they had?” Walter dodged the question.

“I’d tell them to kiss my furry tail. I’m sick of letting them run our lives,” Ryker growled.

“They’re on the fence about her at this point,” Walt said.

“Well, I’m not. I know Daisy hasn’t been here for long, but already I can’t imagine my life without her. In fact, I’m going to tell her that tonight. And if the investors don’t like it, we’ll find new investors, or we’ll pull together as a pack and find a solution. Thanks, Walt. You didn’t mean to, but you’ve helped me see that Daisy is meant to be my mate.”

Actually, that was exactly what Walt had meant to do – not that he’d had any choice in the matter. What the Harrison women wanted, the Harrison women got.

Walt heard a click, then a dial tone.

He turned to Harriet, Marge and Carlotta, who were whooping with joy and dancing around. He looked at the expansive livingroom with furnishings imported from Italy and cut-crystal vases of fresh flowers. He was living beyond his means. One wrong move with the investors…

“Okay, it worked. I hope you women are happy,” he grumbled. “Daisy’s a risk as far as the investors are concerned. She’s got a great pedigree and she’s currently popular with the public, but then she’s rebelled against her family, and she speaks her mind a lot more than they’d like.”

“La la la, I can’t hear you, I’ve got to get ready for tonight, need to make sure he doesn’t blow it when he asks her to be his mate,” Harriet said, hurrying to the door with Marge following.

After they left, Walt glanced anxiously at his wife. She looked up at him with shining blue eyes, and her silky blond hair rippled like a golden waterfall. “You do understand what it will mean if we don’t get this investment? We won’t be wealthy anymore. We’ll be…” He gulped. “Poor.”