A/N-Okay so I take a break and what happens? A few new ideas pop into my head. I hope you all enjoy this story. I hope to update my other two stories I have going on as well very soon.
Robin Locksley wished he could marry his admin. It would make his life so much simpler.
Unfortunately, she was already married and nearly twice his age. Plus, women didn't stick around once they figured out he worked a hundred hours a week on a consistent basis. Loneliness was the price of catapulting Locksley Capital Management into the big leagues of the venture capital game.
"You're a life saver, Mrs. Lucas," Robin shot her a grateful smile and leaned back in his chair.
His laptop was refusing to speak to the printer and a critical document had gotten caught in the middle of the dispute. The signed hard copy now in his hand was due to Garrett Engineering on the other side of Dallas in less than an hour.
"I'm hardly call printing a proposal saving your life," Mrs. Lucas glanced at her watch in a deliberate gesture designed to point out the time. "It's late and it's Friday. Take Jenna to that new restaurant in Victory Park and let me handle the proposal. Relax for once. It'll be good for you."
Robin grimaced as a ping of remorse bloomed and faded. "Jenna and I split up. She's already seeing someone else."
Hopefully, the new relationship would make her happy. She deserved a man who could shower her with attention and affection. He regretted not being able to give her what she wanted, but it would be patently unfair to let Jenna keep hoping he'd ever become a man capable of focusing on a relationship. As a result, he'd lost a comfortable companion.
"Of course she is. It's not like she ever saw you." Mrs. Lucas crossed her arms and looked down her nose at Robin with a tsk. "Now who are you going to take to the museum dedication?"
Robin groaned. He'd conveniently forgotten about that, but it wasn't as if he could skip the dedication. The new children's museum in the Dallas Arts District bore his name, after all, since he'd donated money to build it. "You're free next Saturday, aren't you?"
Mrs. Lucas cackled as though Robin had been joking. "One of these days, I'm going to say yes when you ask me out and really mess with you. If Jenna's not in the picture, find another woman. They seem to be pretty thick on the ground."
Yeah, he tripped over women on a regular basis who would like to go out with him. Or at least they thought they did, right up until they realized they wouldn't be satisfied with what little time and attention he could give. It never took long to reach that point.
A vague hollow feeling invaded his gut, one he'd experienced more and more lately. He'd written it off an increased urgency to hit that elusive, un-achieved mark of success. But now that it had happened during a discussion about his personal life, he wasn't so convinced.
"I hate dating," And small talk. That getting to know you period took time and energy he didn't care to expend. Locksley Capital Management came first. Always.
"That's because you don't do it often enough."
Here they went, off on her favorite subject. She never got tired of scolding him about the lack of a permanent female in his life.
"Have you been talking with my mother again?"
"We went to lunch Tuesday, as a matter of fact. She says hi," Mrs. Lucas raised her eyebrows and planted guilt simultaneously, as Robin was sure she intended. He got it. He should call his mother. And date eligible women.
Problem was, he not only hated dating, he also hated constantly standing up dates and disappointing women who deserved better. But he liked companionship and, well, he was a guy- sex was nice, too. Why couldn't the perfect woman fall in his lap so he could focus on work?
"It is late," Robin was in what was no doubt a transparent attempt to change the subject. "Why don't you go home and I'll take the proposal to Garrett?"
He had until five to get it to Garrett Engineering, formally expressing his interest in doing business with them.
What Steve Jobs was to cell phones, Tommy Garrett was to internal combustion engines. Or would be, as soon as funding was in place. Garrett had invented a revolutionary modification to increase the gas mileage of a standard car engine and Robin intended to be Garrett's venture capital firm of choice. The partnership would net a sizable, long term profit for both men, and Robin could do what he did best, pull strings behind the scenes.
If Robin won the deal.
No, not if. When.
Robin would not rest until his company hit that sweet spot of security, where longevity was a given, not a question mark. His first million hadn't done it. Neither had the first eight figures, because his profits went straight back into leveraged investments that wouldn't pay off until some point in the future. So he didn't rest.
"Since you've scared another female off with your dogged determination to work yourself into an early grave, be my guest," Mrs. Lucas waved her approval for Robin to deliver the proposal.
"By the way," Robin threw in as Mrs. Lucas pulled her handbag from a desk drawer. "I was thinking of having a gathering at my house to wine and dine Tommy Garrett. If I ask nicely, would you plan it?"
"It' snot my job to be your stand in wife," Mrs. Lucas firmed her mouth, which meant she had a lot more to say but didn't know how to do so tactfully. In the eight years she'd been keeping him sane, he's seen that look a lot.
With a half laugh, Robin said. "Of course not. That's not part of your job description."
Except it had a ring of truth. When his hair grew too long, Mrs. Lucas scheduled a haircut. His mother's birthday-Mrs. Lucas picked out a gift. The wind and dine request had been a bit of a blurred line, but based on the set of Mrs. Lucas's mouth, he'd pretty well turned the line into a trapezoid.
Mrs. Lucas shut down her computer for the night. "Well, it should be part of someone's job description."
"What, like a party planner?" Maybe he should hire a professional in some capacity, which wouldn't cover all his social obligations. But it was better than nothing.
"Like a girlfriend. Or someone who might actually stick around in six weeks. Hire a wife," she said with a nod. "You need a good woman to take care of you outside of the office. She can schmooze Garrett and make sure your life is running smoothly. Keep you warm at night. Might even get that sour look off your face, and put something else there."
Her eyebrows waggled but Robin barely noticed.
Hire a wife.
Could you even do such a thing? It seemed too perfect a solution.
He had no time or the desire to sift through women until he found one he liked but who wouldn't expect him to be available. Locksley Capital Management did not manage itself. His employees and partners depended on him.
A wife couldn't leave him with no notice. It was the ultimate security.
Robin would have a permanent companion to help fill that occasional hollow feeling,one with no hidden agenda involving his assets and connections. They'd both know from the get go what to expect, stability. There'd be no hard feelings when she realized he hadn't been kidding about giving 100 percent to his company, leaving nothing left over for her.
All or nothing. Commitment was Robin's kryptonite. Once he latched on to something, he gave it everything and then some. Early on, he'd realized that trait was inherited and tried not to make same mistakes as his father.
If he had an understanding wife, work and his personal life would remain completely separate. And best of all, Robin would never have to engage in small talk with a new woman or experience that sharp pang of guilt over canceling on one ever again.
Robin tugged on his suit jacket and hand delivered the proposal to Garrett's people in their tiny downtown office. It wouldn't be tiny for long. Investors far and wide were clamoring to get in on the ground floor with Garrett's technology. Once the company went public, its worth would shoot to legendary status.
Robin had to land with Tommy Garrett, and the wine and dine thing would be a fantastic opportunity to solidify his chances. A wife could handle the logistics, leaving Robin to engage in uninterrupted dialogue with Garrett about what Locksley Capital could do for him that no one else could. His offer to Garrett didn't expire for several weeks. He had plenty of time to get a wife in place.
When Robin returned to his darkened office, he sat at his laptop. Within minutes, Google provided a potential answer to the question on how to hire a wife. He'd had to wade through all the cleaning services and concierge services, then a few distasteful escort services, to find the definitive solution.
A matchmaking service.
He stared at the website, it looked professional and tasteful, with earth tones and a classic font. Most importantly, this particular matchmaker catered to exclusive clients, promising discretion and a money back guarantee. Guarantees warmed Robin's heart.
The tagline said it all. Let us help find you "the one."
They would do the screening, the interviewing, the background checks, and ultimately filter out candidates who were looking for some mystical connection. Love didn't pay the bills, and Robin would never allow the power to be turned off on his family, the way his own father had.
It was brillant. The matchmaker would do everything required to find Robin a wife. One he could never disappoint. All he had to do was make a phone call.
Then, with that settled, he could get back to work.
Regina Mills had dreamed of her wedding since the first time she'd created crayon invitations to a ceremony starring Mr. Fourpaws as the tattered velveteen groom and herself as the fairy tale bride wrapped in dingy sheets. Someday she'd wear a beautiful dress of delicate lace and silver heels. The guests would receive heavy stock invitations with a vellum overlay and eat a three tiered French vanilla cake with fondant flowers.
Best of all, a handsome husband to be would wait for her at the end of a church aisle, wearing a tender smile. Later that night, the love of her life would sweep her away to a romantic honeymoon somewhere exotic and breathtaking. Theirs would be a marriage of grand passion and enduring love.
When her wedding day finally arrived, Regina could never have envisioned it would involve a groom she'd never met in person. Or that in a few minutes, she'd be marrying Robin Locksley in the living room of a matchmaker's house in North Dallas, with only a handful of guests in attendance.
"What do you think, Mom?" Regina beamed at her mother in the cheval mirror and straightened a three quarter length sleeve. A dress of any sort usually appealed to Regina, but this was unadorned ecru one would be her wedding dress and she wanted to love it. She didn't. But she'd make the best of it, like always.
The matchmaker had matched her with businessman Robin Locksley and he expected a wife with a certain refinement, one who dressed the part, acted the part, lived the part. Regina had spent the past month under the matchmaker's intensive tutelage to become exactly right for the part.
Regina's mother coughed profusely, hand to her chest as if she'd clear the scar tissue from her lungs through sheer will alone. "You're beautiful, darling," she said when she'd recovered. "Every bit a proper wife. I'm so proud of what you've accomplished."
Two sharp raps at the door shoved Regina's heart into her throat. Rose Tinker, her best friend popped in. "Oh, Regina. You look lovely."
Regina smiled demurely. She needed a lot of practice at being demure.
"Thanks to you."
"I didn't pick out that dress," Rose nodded once. "You did. It's perfect for your frame. I've never had anyone who glommed on to cut and style with such natural talent."
"You're flawless. Robin's socks will be knocked off," Rose said.
And there went her pulse again.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Would Robin be happy with how she looked? The erect posture? The scared to death woman in the ecru dress? What if he didn't like brunettes?
She was being silly. He'd seen her picture, of course, as she'd seen his. They'd spoken on the phone twice. Their conversations had been pleasant and they'd worked through several important marital issues, they'd allow the intimate side of their relationship to evolve over time, a clarification that had clinched it since he didn't believe he was buying an "exchange of services," and he was open to them eventually having children together.
Neither of them had any illusions about the purpose of this marriage, a permanent means to an end.
Why was she so nervous about what was essentially an arranged marriage?
Her mother smoothed a hand over Regina's hair. "Soon you'll be Mrs. Robin Locksley and all your dreams will come true. For the rest of your life, you'll have the security and companionship I never had." Racking coughs punctuated the sentiment and the ticking clock in Regina's mind sped up. Pulmonary fibrosis was killing her mother.
Regina was marrying Robin to save her.
And she'd never forget what she owed him. What she owed her mother.
Her mom was right. Regina had always dreamed of being a wife and mother and now she was getting that chance. Marriage based on compatibility would provide security for her and her mom. She had no business being sad and that security couldn't be based on love.
Maybe love could grow over time, along with intimacy. She'd hang on to that hope.
"Robin's waiting for you," Rose opened the door wider. "Here's your bouquet. Simple and tasteful, with orchids and roses, like you requested."
The clutch of flowers nearly wrenched the tears loose from Regina's eyes. "It's beautiful. Everything is beautiful."
She kept thinking how her mother needed expensive long term care, which neither of them could afford, so Regina gladly did whatever her mother needed, doctor's appointments, cooking, cleaning. Her father had died before she'd been born, so it was the two of them against the world since the beginning.
Unfortunately, employers rarely forgave the amount of time Regina required. After being fired from the third job in a row, her situation felt pretty dire. She'd searched in vain for a work from home job or one with a flexible schedule. After hours at the library's computer, she'd been about to give up when the ad from the matchmaker caught her eye.
Regina's stomach lurched. She wanted to life him. To enjoy being married. Would she be attracted to him? What if she wasn't? Would the intimate side of their marriage never happen? Maybe she should have insisted they meet first in spite of their mutual arrangement not to.
Robin had gobs of money. She'd have been happy with half a gob. That level of wealth intimidated her, but the matchmaker insisted she could handle it. After all, Regina would have a valued place in his life and she might eventually be the mother of his children.
Fairy tales were stories about magical solutions to problems and full of people who fell in love, but whose relationships couldn't possibly stand the test of time. In real life, women had to make sacrifices and Regina was making hers.
Without and further melancholy and ridiculousness, she marched out the door of the room she'd stayed in during her transformation and went to meet her fate on a prayer that she and Robin would at least grow to care for each other. If there was more, great. She'd consider it a bonus.
Regina paused at the top of the sweeping staircase and took in the scene below.
A photographer stood at the back of the room, poised to snap memories at a moment's notice, and the gray haired minister waited in front of the fireplace.
To his right was Robin Locksley. her husband to be.
He looked up and met her gaze.
A shock of...something zapped across her shoulders. He looked exactly like his picture, but in person-hello! He wore and expensive well designed suit encased in a masculine body Robin clearly kept in great shape. Classic, smooth features formed a face handsome enough to sell out an entire print run of GQ magazine. More Rhett than Ashely, which was appropriate since she'd banished her inner Scarlett O'Hara to a place where the sun didn't shine.
Robin also looked kind, as though he wouldn't hesitate to carry an elderly lady's groceries to the car. Regina almost snorted. If Robin Locksley had been seen the inside of a grocery store, she'd eat her bouquet. He was a busy man and it was a good thing for her that he was, or he wouldn't need a wife.
Not for the first time, she wondered why he'd resorted to a matchmaker. He was good looking, rich and well spoken. By all rights, the eligible woman line should be wrapped around the block.
Eyes on Robin, she descended the stairs with practiced ease, she'd done it in four inch heels dozens of times and she didn't falter today despite the severity of the occasion. In far too few steps, she reached Robin. In her bone colored pumps she and Robin were nearly the same height.
She searched his expression as he did the same to her. What did you say to a man you were about to marry but who you were seeing for the first time in the flesh? Hey, fancy meeting you here.
A hysterical giggle nearly slipped out. Not auspicious start.
"Hello," Well, that should be reasonably safe.
"Hello," Robin returned and smiled, setting off a nice, warm flutter in her chest.
Up close, he was solid and powerful, capable of carrying a baby in one arm and taking a carjacker with the other. The flutter that thought set off was a little warmer and little more south than the first one. In theory, she'd known Robin equated to safety. But reality was far more...real. And affecting.
They faced front. Nerves locked Regina's knees and she tried to loosen them without drawing attention.
"Let's begin," The minister raised a Bible in his wrinkled hands and began reciting the vows Robin had insisted.
The words flowed from the minister's mouth, sounding completely different aloud than she would have imagined. For better of worse, richer or poorer. None of that really applied, not in the way it did for most couples. Those vow were a call to remember the reasons you fell in love in the first place when marriage got tough.
"Do you take Robin as your lawfully wedded husband?" the minister intoned.
Regina cleared her throat. "I do."
With a trembling hand, she slipped a plain platinum band on Robin's finger. Or tried to. She couldn't get it over the knuckle and when he covered her hand with his to assist, she glanced up to meet his blue eyes.
That same shock she'd experienced on the stairs rocked her shoulders. It wasn't awareness, but deeper, as if she'd just seen someone she knew but couldn't place.
She shook it off. Nerves. That's all.
Robin repeated, "I do," his voice even and strong. Because he wasn't nervous. Why would he be, with all that masculine confidence?
The platinum band he slid on her finger matched his and winked in the living room's overhead lighting. She stared at it, transfixed by the sheer weight such a simple band added to her hand.
Divorce wasn't an option.
Robin represented security, not free money. And in exchange for that security, she'd be the wife he needed. This marriage was a permanent solution to their problems, not a love match. Which was fine by her.
The minister signaled the end of the short ceremony with the traditional, "You may kiss the bride."
Oh, why had she asked for that part? It was going to be so weird. But it was her wedding. Shouldn't she get a kiss from her husband? A kiss to seal their bargain.
Robin turned to her, his expression unreadable. As his lips descended, she closed her eyes. Their mouths touched.
And held for a shimmering moment, launching a typhoon of flutters in her abdomen. Maybe the possibility of having a whole lot more than just affection between them wasn't as remote as she thought. Just then Robin pulled back from her suddenly.
Their first kiss. How...disappointingly brief, with a hint of possible sparks she'd had no time to enjoy. Hadn't he felt it? Obviously not.
Her mother and Rose clapped, gathering around her and Robin to gush with congratulations.
Regina swallowed. What had she expected-Robin would magically transform from a venture capitalist into Prince Charming? Or even Robin Hood? She should be happy they'd have a fulfilling partnership.
She should not be thinking about how Robin might kiss her if they'd met under different circumstances. If they were getting married because they'd fallen in love, and during the ceremony he'd slid her a sizzling glance that said he couldn't wait for the honeymoon.
She shouldn't be dwelling on it, but the thought wouldn't fade, what would his calm blue eyes look like when they were hot with passion?