A Very Exclusive Engagement(15)

Her dark brown eyes focused on him for a moment, then strayed off to his shoulder. Her expression of worry softened then, her jaw dropping with surprise.

Confused, Liam turned to look at his shoulder. Perched there on the navy fabric was a lone ladybug. He’d opened the window of his office this morning when he was suffocating from the pressure and needed some fresh air. The tiny insect must’ve been a stowaway.

Francesca untangled her hands from his and reached out to scoop the ladybug from his shoulder. She got up from her seat and walked over to the window. Opening it wide, she held her palm out to the sun and watched the bug fly out into the garden outside the network offices.

She stood looking out the window for several minutes. Liam was still on his knees, wondering what the hell had just happened, when he heard her speak.

“Yes, I will be your temporary fiancée.”

He leaped to his feet and closed the gap between them in three long strides. “Really?”

She turned to him, her face calm and resolute. She looked really beautiful in that moment. Serene. The dark green of her suit looked almost jewel-like against the tan of her skin. It made him want to reach out and remove the pins from her hair until it fell loose around her shoulders. He liked it better that way.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s the right answer for everyone.”

Liam was elated by her response yet confused about what had changed. There had been a moment when he had been absolutely certain she was going to tell him no. He’d already been mentally putting together a contingency plan. He was going to offer her obscene amounts of cash. And if that didn’t work, he was going to find out if Jessica, his secretary, was married. “What helped you decide?”

“The ladybug. They’re an omen of good luck. Having one land on you means you are a blessed soul. It was a sign that I should accept your proposal.”

Liam knew better than to question her superstitions as long as they ruled in his favor. “Well, remind me to thank the next ladybug I come across.”

Francesca chuckled. “I think you owe the entomology department at Georgetown a nice check.”

“And I will get right on that. After I take my fiancée to lunch and let her pick out her engagement ring.”

Her head snapped up to look at him. “So soon?”

“Yes,” he insisted. “The sooner my aunt hears about this, the better. That means ring shopping, an announcement in the paper here and in New York and public sightings of the happy new couple. I intend to update my relationship status on Facebook before the day is out.”

Her eyes widened with every item on his list. She wasn’t sold on this arrangement, ladybug or no. “Before it hits the papers, I need to make a few calls. I don’t want my family to find out from someone else. This is going to come out of the blue.”

Liam nodded. That was understandable. He had a few calls of his own to make. First, to his mother and younger sister, both living in Manhattan.

His family was miserable at keeping in touch, but this was big enough news to reach out to them. They had always been like ships passing in the night, waving to one another as they went along their merry way. His parents were very outgoing and traveled quite a bit his whole life. But that changed after his father died three years ago when his car hit black ice on the highway coming home from a late business meeting. Since then, his mother had kept to her place in Manhattan, nearly becoming a recluse. He just assumed she was bad about calling until she stopped altogether—then he knew something was really wrong. His sister had moved in with her to keep an eye on the situation, but it hadn’t helped much.

When he spoke with them, it was because he was the one to reach out. Maybe the news of the engagement would be exciting for her. He felt bad lying to his mother about something like that, but if it got her up and out of the apartment, he didn’t care.

Liam had often wondered, even more so in the past week, how things would be different if his father hadn’t been in that accident. Where would everyone be now? Perhaps Aunt Beatrice would’ve wanted to hand the family to him instead, and Liam wouldn’t be in this mess.

That was a pointless fantasy, but it reminded him of his next call. Once he was done with his mother, he had to inform Aunt Beatrice of the “happy” news. He didn’t have many people to tell, but he could see by the expression on Francesca’s face that she had the opposite problem. She must have a large, close family. An out-of-the-blue engagement would send up a hue and cry of mass proportions.