The Unlikely Fiance

Chapter 3

CLARISSA HATED the substitution. Madeline had never been sick before, why now? She bet it was just another excuse for her to go and get more Botox around her already Botox-bloated face. As it was, the woman could hardly make any other expression on her face than a surprised one all the time. She had been addicted to cosmetic surgery since her mother introduced it to her when she was sixteen.

Clarissa wrestled with the paint brushes and paint cans out of her car and started to make her way towards the school. She had an interesting project for the children to do and it was so abrupt so she decided to bring her own material from home. She still had about twenty minutes to put everything up before school started. Smartly dressed little boys and girls played in the garden of the school. She had to appreciate the privileges that these children had. Some of the things not even she knew about until she started working there. Indeed money was what made the world go around (at least for these children).

She was going down a slope across the parking lot when she noticed the silver two seater Porsche 918 Spyder that was parked there with a tall and elegant man standing outside, one hand casually in his pocket while the other was holding a small boy's hand. Clarissa took a sharp breath when she recognized the boy as Christian Renoir which meant that man could only be....but no, it wasn't his father.

Clarissa's mouth fell open and she found herself pulled away from her former direction towards Nicholas Renoir. He looked casual and different but still mouthwatering. At full-length he was a well built man and his height made Clarissa's legs feel rubbery with being impressed. Mr. Creepy Strange Man didn't have the creepy strange car today nor was it tinted. He didn't wear the undertaker-black beautiful suit but was in a khaki pair of pants that fitted sexily around his strong legs. He had a white crisp shirt that was visible under the V-neck pale blue cardigan that he wore. He wore his shades as usual and his black hair tousled in the wind calling her to caress the locks to see if they were as silky soft as they appeared to be. It must have been casual Tuesday at his work place, Clarissa mused.

The man oozed of s*x, arrogance and power. He was the kind of man that had a woman's thighs quiver in anticipation just by the mere sight of him. Clarissa found that she could not look anywhere else other than at him until Christian broke the spell.

"Good morning, Miss Langston!" He greeted her cheerfully. "Uncle Nicholas brought me to school on time today!"

"That's thoughtful of him." She murmured then felt the heel of her black pumps hit a loose rock and she staggered to the side sending the brushes and the paints flying across the parking lot. Luckily she didn't make acquaintance with the ground but still her face managed to turn beet-red. Nicholas' mouth twitched as it did yesterday. So, he found her almost-humiliation amusing? Ooh, now her hate for him was personal. "And without the creepy tinted car, that's progress."

His eyebrow arched up as he bent down and retrieved the scattered stuff. "I didn't want to scare the teachers into thinking I'm abducting my own nephew."

Now, that's a thought. What other intelligent thought was swimming in that beautiful head of his? She wondered as she helped him collect some brushes from the ground.

Awww, Creepy Strange Man was actually a gentleman. Clarissa mentally stuck a gold star in front of his name. Nine more stars on his name and he would move up from the hell-no-list to the maybe-list.

"I like this car better." Clarissa blurted then put her hand over her mouth.

That won her a grin that made her brain shutdown for a moment. She heard the little voices in her powerhouse try to revive it and during that time, she was hot and cold and very sensitive in areas that were hibernating, as Pam had put it.

"I like it too." Christian said proudly.

"Thank you." She stuttered as she tried to get back the paints and brushes but Nicholas brushed past her and led the way towards the school building with Christian close behind him. Clarissa's eyes widened as she ran after him. 

Oh! He was handy too. One more gold star for him. His strides were long and powerful like a tiger in the Jungles of Siberia.

He didn't talk much but Clarissa wished he did. The timbre of his voice traveled into all the awkward places of her body. It was very pleasant to listen to.

"I don't want to take up much of your time, Mr. Renoir. I know you are a busy man--" She bumped him on his back when he suddenly stopped abruptly.

"Your classroom, Miss." he turned to her.

"I'm can't make you give me back the stuff, can I?" She murmured in defeat.

"No." He shook his head. "Your classroom."

Clarissa sighed and led the way towards the last door. As they passed through the corridor every female teacher was taken by Nicholas and was thoroughly impressed by what they saw. Clarissa watched as they shamelessly turned around and looked at his butt. She saw the way their eyebrows arched up and approval glimmered in their eyes. Oh, what was pre-school turning into? Everyone appreciated his presence, even the male teachers who stepped aside and let him pass.

Finally, they arrived to her classroom and she held the door for him. He entered with Christian who put down his backpack and dashed out for the remaining several seconds before the bell rang. Clarissa cleared her throat and extended her hand to him. Nicholas placed the brushes and paints on her table and turned to her.

"Thank you, Mr. Renoir. You are not all that bad." Clarissa cringed her forehead. Her powerhouse must have been wrongly circuited because now she couldn't differentiate between speaking in her mind and speaking out loud.

The little bugger!

"Do you always say what you think, Miss Langston?" His eyes danced with amusement as he clasped his warm hand around her cool one. He had such soft hands for a man. This man didn't know manual labor. His hands put a baby's butt to shame.

He said her name. That caught her off guard and she almost choked on the saliva gathering in her mouth. "I'm sorry...I seem to have lost the brakes to my tongue this morning."

A soft rumble of his laughter made her body turn into putty right in front of him. This man was pure sin. He should not have been allowed to walk the streets, smile, talk or laugh. He made women think of the craziest things and all she could think of at that moment was how good his face looked when it lit up in a smile.

"Well, I hope you don't find them. I like your loose tongue." He still had her hand in his and Clarissa couldn't stop her body from squirming as it flexed against hers. They weren't talking about her blabbering any longer, that much she knew.

"Well, in that case. I hope you'll be on time collecting Christian in the afternoon. On time, Mr. Renoir and not in time." She used her teacher voice and regretted the moment the words came out because the light in Nicholas' eyes suddenly change into something as cunning as a wolf's glint.

"Of course, Miss Langston...looking forward to seeing you later."

Without warning, Nicholas raised her hand to his lips and instead of placing a kiss on it, his perfectly white and straight teeth teased the line of her knuckles.

That sent Clarissa's mind reeling out of control and again her powerhouse short-circuited. 

He bit her! 

Well...not biting as such but what do you call a man who grazed his teeth on your knuckles? Bad news, that's what!

"Holy Moses!" She exclaimed and pulled her hand away. She felt heat flood her face all the way up to her hair-roots.

"A la prochaine fois, Mademoiselle Langston." Nicholas gave her a short nod and walked out just as the bell sounded.

The tiny feet running through the corridor into the classroom brought her back down from cloud number nine to reality. Nicholas Renoir was not human. He was French! That was a different species altogether. The species of Romantics. She didn't want to see him again because he might as well be the next Julian. She got her heart broken the first time, she wasn't ready to get it ripped apart again.

She had no idea what he said to her but she knew it was a promise of some sort. It was written all over his cool dark eyes. Oh, Clarissa's heart was doing way above average she felt that if it didn't slow down she was sure to have a stroke.

His warmth still lingered in her palm and her face was still hot and flushed.

Argh! Why this? Why now? She thought as her shaky and sweaty palms straightened down the brown pencil skirt she wore that morning.

"Everyone settle down!" She croaked and cleared her throat then saw a figure at the doorway from the corner of her eye.

Pam stood with her arms across her chest and one elegant black eyebrow arched up. She had that you-better-start-talking-girl look and since she did have a bachelor in nagging, Clarissa knew she had no choice but to comply.

"Get your pencils out and...Christian, why don't you start handing the papers out?" She called to the boy she was slowly becoming fond of.

Christian grinned up at her and took the papers to his classmates.

Clarissa took Pam's arm and led her out to the corridor. She took a deep breath and looked up at her. "I think he's getting back at me for scolding him yesterday."

Pam's eyes widened with fear. "You scolded him? I told you to be nice to him, Clarie. He is our benefactor. Why did you scold him?"

"Oh, benefactor or not, how could he leave a child at school for almost an hour? I was angry and you know what happens when I get angry, all reason goes out the window and my mouth gets a motor of its own." Clarissa defended herself. She felt that she needed to even though he wasn't there.

Pam groaned and rolled her eyes. "You need to teach your mouth some manners, Clarie. I hope you haven't done any damage for Saturday night's fund-raising."

Clarissa bit her lower lip. "But he was curiously nice to me today...you know, like a strange and creepy kinda nice." she leaned forward and her voice dropped low. "And he spoke French to me! I have no idea what he said but it sounded like a promise of some sort. Maybe a promise of retaliation, I don't know. Ooh, Pam what am I going to do?"

Pam placed her hands on Clarissa's shoulders and squeezed lightly. "If you are sure that he's not part of the mob then you have nothing to worry about."

"But that's the thing." Clarissa whined softly.

"That's the thing what?" Pam eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Clarissa bit harder onto her lip. "I'm not sure if he's not in the mob."

Pam pursed her lips then sighed tiredly. "Maybe we are over-thinking here. Maybe he's just a businessman like all the other businessman we know. I have a free period this morning as the children have physical education. I'll go into the library and Google up the family and see what they are really about, okay?"

Clarissa nodded vigorously but her hands were still quivering and her lower lip was tightly locked in between her teeth. "I love you, Pam."

"Love me when I'm done saving your ass." Pam grumbled as her heels knocked against the Italian tiles in the corridor.

Clarissa composed herself and went back to her classroom.

PAM WALKED like she was being dragged forward by some unknown force at recess time as she made her way towards where Clarissa was sitting happily munching away her cucumber sandwich. Pam's eyes were dazed as if she had seen a ghost. She sat quietly next to Clarissa and clasped her hands on her lap.

"It's worse than I thought." She said monotonously.

Clarissa's eyebrows arched up. "How bad?"

"As in they-are-going-to-own-half-of-this-town-pretty-soon bad." She sighed in defeat. "I don't know why I didn't take time to link the Renoir name to the number of construction projects going around town. I should have done my homework. I'm a damn teacher for crying out loud!"

"So, what are you saying?" Clarissa's cucumber sandwich refused to followed the peristalsis process down her esophagus and clung stubbornly to her throat.

"Not only do they own a successful and world wide known construction company but they are also in international real estate. One reason for coming here is because their mother was born here and so they are trying to uplift Heartendale to celebrate her achievements and anniversary as the chairwoman of the companies in a few months." Pam explained.

Clarissa's mouth fell open and she was sure Pam saw the lump of cucumber sandwich stuck in her throat. What a present to give to their mother. For her mother's great achievement award for raising to perfect daughters (well one slut) they bought her a vase on a garage sale. They were told it was a genuine Victorian Vase and they paid a large sum for it only to discover the little label inside written; Made in China (2011)--but you get the idea. Clarissa and Sidney never thought of literary buying their mother a town.

"Louisa Alden has two sons Nicholas being the oldest and Simon. They have a French father but their parents were not married. After breaking up with Louisa and a bitter child custody that Louisa lost, Francois Renoir kept his sons and they grew up with him and their stepmother until their father died several years ago when they returned to the States to stay to their mother in Washington but now, they plan on establishing themselves in Heartendale. Simon is in charge of the Real Estate while Nicholas is in charge of the Construction company. He's the CEO, Clarie."

Clarissa blanched visibly. Nicholas was not only beautiful and handy but he was the CEO of a construction company. For all she knew, he could kill her and dump her body in one of his sites then cover it with concrete, who would know? "Oh, Pam, I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"You think?" She turned to her and swiped her hair from her eyes. "Maybe he'll take pity on you. After all you are a poor little thing with a salary a hundred times less than his. Clarie, you couldn't even kill a fly to save your life. Maybe those traits will make him reconsider grinding your ass with the rock crushers at his sites."

Clarissa blinked at Pam for a moment. "You are not helping."

Pam shrugged a shoulder. "Just saying..." She looked at her a moment then pulled her into her embrace. "You know I'm always there for you, girl, but this time, I don't want to get involved with such a powerful family—I'll miss you though." she got up and made her way back to the school-building.

So much for a friend in need, Clarissa thought as she she stuffed it back in the zip-lock plastic bag and went back to her classroom. She didn't have the stomach to finish off her sandwich with the news of the Renoir family she just received. 

SCHOOL WAS over and Clarissa's heart was in her throat as she took the children out to the parking lot. She scanned the parking lot for that conspicuous Porsche and when she didn't locate it, she released a breath of relief and took the children to the benches.

Suddenly a very impressive engine roared from a distance and the Porsche came in view racing down the driveway towards the parking lot. Nicholas must have been a good driver because he handled it with such ease, she was utterly envious. If she did that to her Golf, the friggin thing would need a change of engine and tires. She pushed her hands in the pockets of her skirt to stop everyone from seeing how shaky they were and waited.

Nicholas unfolded his perfectly molded body from behind the steering wheel and walked around it. Clarissa could see his muscle movement underneath the shirt and cardigan. His powerful legs ate up the distance until finally he stood right in front of her.

Punctuality! Another gold star for you, Mr. Renoir!

"Does this cover being on time, Miss Langston?" He removed his shades and regarded her intently.

"It's a start." She squeaked then cleared her throat and allowed Christian to leave. Clarissa was very much aware that everyone was watching them but she wasn't much of a multi-tasker and couldn't concentrate on Nicholas as well as what was being murmured behind the palms. "Are you really French, Mr Renoir?"

His eyebrows came down in a frown as he mimicked her stance and pushed his hands deep in his pockets.

Oh crap! Clarissa should really get her mouth a padlock! She upset him.

"That is too much information--"

"--for you and you should make an appointment with my lawyer." blah, blah, blah. Clarissa rolled her pale blue eyes and that wolfish glint entered Nicholas' eyes again. "I know the drill. Well, I wish you a good afternoon--"

"Clarie!" A woman called to her. Before Clarissa could comprehend what was happening she was pulled into a tight embrace and a wet kiss was placed on her cheek! "Oh, Clarie! You made me the happiest woman on earth. The portrait you painted for my husband on our anniversary—he loved it so much, he actually took me on a cruise down to Greece. My marriage is rekindled!"

What...rekindling a forty year old marriage was hard business!

"I'm glad you're happy, Mrs. Archibald."

That was when the older woman realized that she had just interrupted a conversation. "Oh!" her cheeks pinked as she turned to Nicholas. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll go now. Clarie." she turned once again to her. "I'll contact you if there are more of your works I need. I know my girlfriends will be green with envy and would want something similar--" she moved forward and whispered. "Don't make theirs as good as mine." Then winked at her and walked off.

"So, you are not just an art teacher, you are a painter." Amusement danced in Nicholas' eyes. "I have not had the privileged to see you work on display."

Not only a painter but a sculptor and a photographer all wrapped in one! She wanted to smack that sexy amusement off of his face! "That's too much information for you, Mr. Renoir. You should make an appointment with my supervisor. Have a good day." She turned on her heels and walked back to the benches missing the little smile on Nicholas' face.

As she sat among the few remaining children, the Porsche heated up and shot out of campus.

"That is Nicholas Renoir, CEO to the Renoir Construction Group and the richest bachelor in town at the moment...am I right?" a male voice sounded next to her.

Clarissa blew out air and rolled her eyes. "Tell me something I don't already know."

"He's changed." The man's voice was full of awe.

Clarissa was irritated as she turned to him and her eyes widened when she saw who he was. "Emmit! When did you get back from your leave?"

Emmit smiled at her, his green eyes sparkling. "Yesterday. I missed you."

Clarissa knew what was to follow and before she could move away, Emmit Spencer pulled her into an all-gropey embrace. Why did she attract the worst bunch? Emmit had always been in love with her. He was a nice guy but he wasn't what Clarissa was looking for.

So what was she looking for? The likes of Nicholas Renoir? She shook away the disturbing thought and concentrated on getting herself untangled from Emmit's embrace.

"Let. Her. Go." Pam placed her hands on her hips and tapped her shoe on the travertine paving under the benches. "Now!"

Emmit turned to Pam apologetically and released Clarissa. "I see you are still you, Pam."

"I'm worse now and if you don't want to see the new me, I suggest you take a hike!" She narrowed her eyes at him.

Emmit ran his fingers through his brown hair and got up then turned to Clarissa. "I'll see you tomorrow."

When he left, Pam sat next to Clarissa and grumbled. "Annoying little p*****t!"

Clarissa giggled. "He's not all that bad!"

"Then why were you squirming like someone put fire on your ass?" Pam asked her.

"Fine. Thanks for rescuing my barbecued ass, Pam." Clarissa smiled.

Pam gave her a short nod of satisfaction and said. "Well, let's get your training well underway."

Clarissa's head jerked up in alert. "Training? What sort of training? Are we going to the gym? Pam!" She called after her but Pam only chuckled cruelly and walked to her car.