Lucky

by

Aimee and IvanaBgood
(aimeed@earthlink.net) and (IvanaBgood@aol.com)

"CC, where are you going?"

Maxwell's voice froze her in her tracks. Guiltily CC glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and then swiveled around to face him like a puppy caught with her master's slipper. Niles and Fran stood at his side with their arms folded, glaring sternly at her.

"I, ah, I'm heading home," she said, blushing furiously. "I'm really not feeling well. I'm just going to kick back and rest a bit."

Fran glided forward and quickly undid the button on CC's cloak. The garment fell away to reveal a sparkling blue evening gown. "In a ten thousand dollar dress?" Fran asked in disbelief.

"And a Miracle Bra?" Niles added, sizing her up with an expert eye.

CC defensively folded her arms across her chest. "Too bad they don't make a jock strap with similar attributes!" she shot back.

Just as Niles was winding up with a zinger that would put her in her place for a good ten minutes, something resembling a leprechaun popped its head in the door. "CC, sweetie, are you ready to go?" it asked.

Tuxedo clad and in one-inch heeled shoes, he came just past her shoulder. His orangeish hair gave the impression of being severely restricted by styling products, but on the verge of throwing over the traces and becoming rather bushy, a' la Maxwell Sheffield but somewhat less flattering. His face was not displeasing, except for a generous dotting of freckles across his nose that would have worked adorably on a fourteen-year-old but not on someone who was obviously pushing his late thirties. His body was stocky and strong-looking, and his beaming smile screamed "people-pleaser."

Niles looked from him to Miss Babcock. "That red face really clashes with your dress," he told her.

"Nonsense," said the leprechaun with a smile. "I think she's adorable when she blushes like that. Come along, sweetheart, we'll miss aperitifs."

"That'll get her moving," Niles said dryly.

"CC, aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Max asked, his lips twitching.

Then the bomb dropped. "I'm not her friend; I'm her fiancé," he said cheerfully. "Tim O'Toole. Most people call me Lucky."

Niles, who'd been restraining the Lucky Charms jokes as long as he could, turned an alarming shade of red. "You're not in the cereal business by any chance?" he asked with studied indifference. This man was the enemy and would be eradicated like an insect.

"Web site design," Lucky replied. "I own a corporation."

CC cringed; she knew what was coming.

"Funny, I thought I saw you on the commercials trying to save your pot of gold," Niles shot back. His posture and expression were deadpan, but there was danger in his eyes.

Lucky flushed a shade of pink that clashed horribly with his hair and turned to his future bride. "You haven't told them about me?" he asked with a touch of hurt.

CC recovered her wits. "I wanted to wait until you were here," she said smoothly. "You know, so I could show you off a little?" She smiled a sunny smile and walked her fingertips up his chest to flick her fingertip against his lip.

Fran, Max, and Niles exchanged a disgusted look. Lucky merely looked slightly dizzy.

"Sweetie," cooed CC in the patented "sincerely insincere" voice that had parted many an investor from his hard-earned cash, "Could you wait in the car? I've got just a couple of itty-bitty details to work out, then," and her voice dropped to a husky purr, "we can be alone."

Lucky stumbled out the door, thoroughly drunk on one shot of CC.

CC shut the door behind him. "What a moron!" she moaned, leaning against the door. "Please God don't let him take more than thirty seconds -- boy, I never thought I'd hear myself say that!" she muttered. She heard snickering.

She opened her eyes to see the three amigos staring her down. "Okay," she sighed. "Take your best shot."

"In one word," Maxwell said slowly, "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Niles and Fran began counting on their fingers. "Shut up, I know that was more than one word!"

"I'm in love," CC announced with bravado. "So he's not Harrison Ford. I love him and I intend to marry him. And you," she said, poking Niles in the chest with a red-tipped finger, "Lay off him! This could be my last chance, and I will not have you ruining it! Now," she finished, sweeping her cloak around her and turning away. "My future husband is waiting in the limo." She swept out regally.

"Just remember not to steal his Lucky Charms," Niles called after her. "They hate that!"

"Oy, what do you think that was about, Niles?" Fran asked as Maxwell walked back to the office.

Niles’ eyes burned through the door window as the limo’s engine started up, "She must have had a Mimosa for breakfast, a Bloody Mary for lunch, and who knows what else in between."

"She didn’t look schnockered to me," Fran tsked as she picked up a box of candy and sat down on the couch.

"That’s the only reasonable explanation. You saw that man, what could she see in him?" His face pressed closer to the glass.

"I don’t know, he was kinda cute in a munchkin sort of way. Maybe she likes the way he handles his wizard," she smiled as her lips wrapped around the chocolate.

"Oh, it doesn’t matter to me anyway," he mumbled as he watched the limo pull away from the curb.

Fran laughed, "Yeah, I can see that!"

Niles’ eyebrows furrowed as he sat down and grabbed the box of candy from her lap. "What’s so funny?"

"Nothing. Just that all that breathing you were doing on the window reminded me of Ma and how she would take me shopping. We would stop at the drugstore, I would get a milkshake, she would get two. Then, just before going home, her nose would be pressed against the bakery window. Her hot breath steaming it up so that I couldn’t see in. Ahh…memories."

Niles smiled as he glanced at her, "Cute story. How old were you, 9?"

"Add 20 more years to that. It happened yesterday."

"Niles, where is my bowl of green clovers and blue diamonds?" Max blustered as he snapped open the morning paper.

"Fresh out of them, sir. Here, I heard this cereal was ‘Grrreat!’" Niles handed him the box with the smiling tiger before walking rapidly back to the kitchen.

"Hey Niles, how come this unopened box of cereal was in the trash can?" Fran asked as she shook the box with the smiling leprechaun at him.

"Because," he said as he took it out of her hand and slammed it back in the bin, "I read somewhere that it was toxic to one’s system."

"Well, maybe if you eat it topped with prunes – that may help."

"Speaking of dried-up, wrinkled things…" Niles panned as CC pushed the kitchen door open and strode to the island.

CC smirked as she placed her coffee cup down, "Oh Niles, are you having problems with your ‘little butler’ again?"

"Eh-hehhh!" Fran nasalled loudly. At Niles’ frown, "Sorry, but it was funny." She glanced quickly at the angry couple, her words running in together, "You know, IthinkIleft myblowdryeron." Her left hand cupped her ear, "Yep, it’s on alright." Tossing one more quick glance over her shoulder, Fran ran up the back stairs.

Niles grabbed a saucer and placed it into the dishwasher, "Have fun at Oompah Loompah land last night?"

"Whatever do you mean," CC sniffed as she poured herself some coffee.

"I’m sure Willy Wonka has a strict policy with his little workers being in at a certain time."

"What Lucky lacks in height, he makes up for somewhere else," CC answered back suggestively.

"With his looks, it probably resembles a rabbit’s foot," Niles replied dryly as he haphazardly tossed more saucers in. The expensive china clanked against one another.

Just as she was about to take another sip, she stared straight at Niles, "Yes, it’s definitely a foot…long."

Niles puffed his chest, ready with another cutting remark when CC’s cell phone interrupted.

"Talk to me." CC turned aside and walked towards the butler’s pantry.

"Niles!" Maxwell’s voice boomed through the walls.

Giving the blond one last glance, Niles strode through the kitchen door to see what his employer needed now.

"But Daddy, why him?" CC asked imploringly into the phone. "Yes, he treats me right. But he’s a jackass. Whatever I want he gets me. I can’t stand it."

Fran’s eyes widened as she eavesdropped on the landing.

"No, I don’t want to disappoint you. But…someone else?

No, there is no one else. Yes, father. Goodbye," CC sighed resignedly as she walked over to the island. Her fingers slowly traced Niles’ silver serving tray.

Fran held her breath as she heard the stair creak a little as she leaned to one side. She looked back up and watched as CC opened the back door and walked out.

"The milk was right there in front of him," complained Niles as he walked back into the kitchen. "But no, he didn’t want to let go of that damn paper. I knew weaning him from the bottle was a mistake!" He looked around and spotted Fran going down the stairs. "Where’s Miss Babcock?" He smiled as he walked closer to his friend. "Did you brain her with the candlestick in the conservatory?"

"Nope, I eavesdropped…on the stairs, with this baby," she showed him the Scooby-Doo glass.

Niles led her to the kitchen table, tossed the last muffin on a plate and placed it in front of her. "Okay, talk to me," he goaded as he scooted his chair in closer.

"It’s a curse," Fran replied, shaking her head. "Bionic ears on a Jewish female – lethal combination."

"And it doesn’t hurt that those earrings of yours probably act like some sort of short wave radio antennae," Niles teased as he eyed the gaudy silver jewelry dangling from her ears.

Fran laughed as she elbowed him.

"So come on, dish already, I can’t handle the suspense!" Niles grabbed the muffin and took a big bite.

"Ya know, add a big blond wig and a dress you could pass for Ma!" Fran took the muffin back with a grin.

"Will you spill already before I get called back out because he wants me to prepaste his Colgate for him?"

"Alright already. Come here," Fran stood up and led Niles to the back door by his elbow.

Niles gave her a curious stare and shrugged his shoulders, "What?"

"Look!" Fran gestured outside.

His look of puzzlement became even more so as he watched CC lean on the brick wall, her eyes closed. "What’s going on?"

"She has to marry Lucky, that’s what!" Fran nodded as she stared out the window with him.

"Has to, but why?"

"I don’t know. These ears are good, but they’re not that good. All I know is that she’s not too happy about the whole thing."

"Hmm," Niles replied as he watched CC rub her forehead in unmistakable grief.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" Niles glanced at Fran quickly before looking outside once more.

"Miss Babcock needs saving."

"And you think I should be doing it? Be serious. She’ll be the first to agree that I’m not Prince Charming."

"No…but you’re a charming butler and more handsome than a prince."

The two best friends exchanged tender looks when a movement outside caught their eyes. They quickly ran back to their seats, hands folded on the table, looking way too innocent for their own good.

CC's eyes were downcast as she entered, twisting an imaginary ring on her wedding finger. Through a wave of bright hair, they could see that her eyes were troubled and her mouth thin and tight. But when she caught sight of them, she froze. Instantly the crestfallen woman straightened, chin firm, gaze direct, posture perfect, the ideal aristocrat. She looked completely in control . . . but she couldn't succeed in looking happy.

The doorbell rang just as they were about to speak. All three headed for the front, where through the window they could see a telltale shock of red hair.

"She's off to see the wizard," sang Niles as CC rushed for the door.

Taking a deep breath, she threw it open. "Hi, darling," she sang out, pecking him on the cheek and scurrying out of his embrace.

"After last night in the limo, that's the best you can do?" teased Lucky. Niles and CC stiffened at the same moment as Lucky O'Toole grabbed CC and kissed her square on the mouth.

"I can only stop for a moment," he said cheerfully. "I've got a Board of Directors meeting in half an hour. I just wanted to bring you these."

Lucky handed her a white box. CC pulled off the red bow and extracted a dozen long-stemmed red roses. "How lovely," she said through gritted teeth. "How romantic of you, darling."

"Glad you like them. Until tonight?"

"Sure," she said desperately. "Unless Max needs me to work late."

"That will have to end when we marry," he warned her. "You'll be too busy in the evenings with me and our babies."

"B-babies?" she squeaked.

Lucky grinned at the thought. "How about if we set a wedding date tonight over dinner?" he suggested.

"Why rush things?" CC nervously ripped the petals from a rose.

Lucky leered at her. "Babies. I wanna get started making them." He grabbed her and kissed her deeply and intimately. CC froze in his arms, them forced herself to relent and permit the invasion. His hands on her face were soft, too soft, like a woman's, and his palms were slightly damp.

But the look he gave her was pure adoration as he turned away and left. It was obvious that whatever his faults, Lucky O'Toole loved and worshipped CC Babcock with his whole heart.

CC was revolted.

She cradled her flowers in her arms and stood shuddering for a moment as the door closed. From the side, Niles and Fran could see her worrying her lower lip with her small white teeth.

Fran moved forward to gently lay her hand on CC's arm. "Miss Babcock, what is it? If you're in some kind of trouble -- "

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied haughtily, turning and sweeping from the room.

Niles started after her. "Niles, where ya goin'?" asked Fran.

"I'm going to stop a wedding."

I will never let him touch her again, swore Niles. All the years of dusting and scrubbing and taking orders had only whetted his drive to find a purpose in life. Acting hadn't been it. Becoming a lawyer was not his passion. But perhaps saving CC Babcock was what he was meant to do.

No knight of the crusade was ever more determined than Niles as he stalked through the living room to the office to confront CC. But as he reached the closed door, he heard voices from within. It was locked, and CC had wisely dropped something over the keyhole, obscuring both noise and sight.

Niles circled around to the terrace and knelt there against the glass, easing it open an inch or so. He could see her pacing anxiously.

"I need to speak to her right away . . . well, I'm sorry to interrupt the great master, but this is a life or death emergency . . . I don't give a royal fart if the great spirit is bigger then my problems or smaller than an ant's balls! I want my mother!" CC's voice rose to a hysterical shriek. "Goddamn Tibetan monks. I can't believe she missed a regatta for this crap . . . Mother, thank god. I need to talk to you right away. Lucky wants to set a wedding date tonight.

"What do you mean, elope and we'll celebrate later? Mother, I called to tell you I can't marry him and to beg you to find some other way. Please, mother, Daddy's being completely unreasonable. Surely you can understand what it's like to be trapped in an unhappy marriage. Mother, please don't make me do this, I'll die if I have to. I can't bear it. No, wait, Mummy, please, I don't care if the Jedi Master is waiting, Mummy!" CC's voice rose and rose until she seemed on the verge of a hysterical breakdown, until she pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it in horror as her mother hung up on the other end. Then she slowly replaced it in its cradle. "Kiss Yoda's ass for me," she muttered mockingly.

Niles had never seen her look so miserable. Though her gaze was angry and her fists clenched all the fight seemed to have left her. Her last resistance fell away and her shoulders shook once, twice, then shuddered with the force of her sobs. As she ran to curl up on the sofa, Niles could see tears coursing down her perfect doll-like face, and she seemed like a child in a grown-up's body.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was beside her, and then she was in his arms crying out her grief and rage and fear against his shirt. And perhaps worst of all, she kept sobbing, "I can't, I can't, I can't," as if begging to be helped, but he was helpless.

"Tell me what's wrong," he urged. "CC, I can't help you if you don't!"

"Please just hold me," came the muffled reply.

He rubbed her back and murmured soothing nonsense into her ears, and she seemed to be comforted.

Finally the storm seemed to have passed. CC sat up. Most of her makeup was now on Niles' shirt and she looked very young but very strong as she regained control.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You can thank me by telling me what's wrong so I can help you," Niles replied. For once in his life, he didn't joke with her.

"Nothing can help me now," she replied morosely, if melodramatically.

Niles ignored her histrionics. "Now, you're being forced to marry this Lucky chap against your will, and your parents are responsible. Why?"

CC sighed and rose to her feet. Pacing, she explained, "The final part of my trust fund comes due in a year and a half. The problem is, it's not locked down. It can still be dismantled by my parents and the money taken from me. They can even take back what's in my current trust funds. It's not totally mine unless they die. That would still leave me with the money I've earned on my own, which is a few million, but I'd be out, in sum, nearly fifty million dollars and disowned by my family as well. My only other choice is to fulfill the one requirement of the trust, which is that I marry by the time it comes due."

Niles' jaw hit the floor. "So basically, you've got to marry the first man that will have you or risk losing nearly everything, including your family."

"Exactly. Lucky was handpicked by my mother. We met at a country club function and evidently he fell pretty hard for me. Two weeks ago he proposed, and I've been racking my brains to think of a way out."

Niles slowly contemplated the situation. "Is there any rule as to how long you need to stay married?"

"No. Once the trust fund is mine, they have no legal basis for claiming that I didn't fulfill the terms."

"What about limits on who you can marry?"

"None."

"So what are you planning to do?" Niles asked.

CC sighed. "There's nothing I can do but the obvious. Marry him, take pills so I don't get pregnant, and divorce him as soon as I can. I don't like it, he doesn't deserve that, but it's only a couple of years. I can survive, and I'll be the best wife I can be." CC gave a faint shudder as she thought of her wifely duties. "It will cost me a huge settlement to get out of the marriage, but not nearly as much as it will cost me to refuse."

"Babcock, you could still live like a queen on only a few million. What are you thinking?" Niles shook his head. He was no angel when it came to money, he liked the good life, but not enough to marry someone he loathed for it!

But CC shook her head. "I thought about that, but then I'd lose my brother and sister as well. If I were disowned and they tried to contact me, heaven knows what Mummy would do then."

"This is like some cheesy sitcom plot. Poor little rich girl!" Niles eyed her speculatively.

CC glared at him. "I should have known you'd make fun. You're no help at all. If I refuse, you'll tease me about being a black sheep and a single woman. If I accept, you'll be making Lucky Charms jokes forever. I can't win."

"Now calm down, oh histrionic one. I have a plan."

CC's face brightened with hope. "What is it?"

"You can marry anyone, right?"

"Right," she said slowly, beginning to have an inkling of his meaning.

"And divorce them after the trust comes due? On your fortieth birthday, I assume?" Niles smirked.

"Right," she said, blushing.

Niles got up and began to pace. They crossed paths, and when both turned to face each other again, he revealed his scheme. "Why not marry someone who'd do it for a smaller amount of money than it would cost you to marry Lucky, and who'd marry you knowing there would be a divorce? Prenups could be used for contracts to arrange payment, and the whole affair could be taken care of as discreetly and tidily as possible."

"Oh, come on, Niles," CC groaned. "Where am I gonna find a man like that?"

They paced past each other again, and turned. From across the room, Niles spread his arms wide. "Right here," he said cheerfully.

CC fainted.

"Honey? Honey? Not the reaction I was hoping for from my lovely bride!" A familiar, mocking voice called her up out of the welcoming darkness.

"No," she said, her eyes popping open. "Nonononononono. No way, no sodding way, I am marrying you so you can get your hooks into my money."

"Why not? It's perfect. It would probably cost you at least, what, ten million to get out of the marriage to Lucky? If not significantly more?" At her reluctant nod, he continued, "I'll do it for five million, and you can take my expenses during the marriage out of that." He paused for her reaction.

"Listening," she said grudgingly.

"I'd know the divorce was coming, so we'd write our terms into the prenup. In the case of a no-fault, uncontested divorce, I get the five million and you get your trust fund and freedom, and you won't lose your family." Again he paused. CC nodded faintly, acknowledging only that she was attending to him.

Then he dropped the real bomb on her. "Third and finally, I saw the way you shuddered when he touched you. I never want to think that I touched an unwilling woman, bride or not. So if you accept my offer of marriage under the above terms, you can choose the level of sexual involvement."

CC gasped aloud.

"If we decide to become lovers, fine. But if you'd rather have a celibate marriage, I won't pressure you to do otherwise."

While CC still stared at him, open-mouthed, the telephone rang. Niles picked it up. "Sheffield Babcock Productions. Yes, Mr. O'Toole, she's right here." Niles gave her a significant look and passed her the telephone.

"Hiya, sugarlips!" boomed the voice, right in her ear.

"I'll call you back later," CC said brusquely, and hung up the receiver.

She turned to Niles, meeting his stare straight on. "Five million, two years, and no sex unless I say so?"

"Right."

CC stuck out her hand. "It's a deal."

The terrace doors flew open suddenly as Maxwell and Fran fell on the floor in a heap. Fran peeked up through strands of hair at the couple who frowned down upon them. "Uhh…," she brushed imaginary specks of dust from her skirt as she got up, "it was his idea," she whispered to them as she strode out of the room.

Maxwell rose up slowly and avoided their glares. "It…I…she…carry on," he mumbled as he walked rapidly towards the open doorway.

Niles and CC stared at the backs of the retreating couple. Then as their eyes met, they began to smile. Their bodies shook with contained laughter.

"Looks like our secret is out," CC said as she offered Niles her hand again.

Niles looked at her bright blue eyes as they smiled at him. The dried tear paths still visible on her pale skin. "Looks like it," he replied softly as he took her hand in both of his and clasped it in a warm, firm way.

The couch springs creaked a little as she dropped her body heavily upon it. Half of her mind listened to Niles’ footsteps as he walked away, the other half remembered how Niles’ thumb caressed circles on her hand as he held it.

"Look what your mother sent over!" Fran exclaimed to CC as she swept into the office with a box, overflowing with engraved wedding invitations.

"You opened it?" CC asked rhetorically, her eyes angry.

"I got it mixed up with the mail that was sitting in the foyer. But if you want, you can open this," Fran hands CC an envelope addressed to ‘occupant’.

"Never mind just hand it over!" CC sat down, opening an embossed crème colored envelope.

Niles knocked lightly on the open office door. "Mrs. Babcock to see you CC."

"Ah, good, they’ve arrived," BB Babcock nodded at the invitations as she blew into the room, pulling off her white gloves and handing them to Niles. "And Niles, no need to be so formal. You may call me…um…"

"Mum?" Niles suggested.

BB grimaced and shook her head.

"Mother Babcock?" he ventured again.

Again her head shook in negation.

"Mrs. Babcock?" he offered.

She smiled and nodded. CC rolled her eyes.

"Now CC, come along we don’t want to be late for your dress fitting now, do we?"

CC sighed, "No mother, of course not."

"And Niles, you must come too," BB ordered.

"Me? Why me?"

"We’re going to a very exclusive boutique. It so happens that it is the same place where your tuxedo will be purchased."

"But I already have a tuxedo," Niles protested.

"With a tail and matching top hat?"

"No…"

"Well, then…" she nods for the return of her gloves and sweeps out of the room, confidently expecting her daughter and Niles to follow without question.

"I feel like an empty recycled 2 liter bottle of coke," Niles complained to CC as he looked around at his sumptuous surroundings.

"Why?"

"Because your mother just deposited us here and left."

"Are you kidding? I’m ecstatic. Now I don’t have to argue with her on what dress I want to wear."

"Well, I am out of here." Niles rose to walk out the door and came face to face with Stuart Babcock.

"Hello Niles!"

"Sir." Niles shook his future father-in-law’s hand.

"I just spoke to BB and since I was in the neighborhood I thought I would stop buy and help you two lovebirds with whatever you need." He clasped CC’s shoulder in fondness and raised his cell phone just as she was about to greet him. "Sorry kitten, I better answer this. I’m expecting a call from Rome."

"Miss Babcock," a petite silver-haired woman stepped out from the curtained back room and presented a gown. "Is this the one you are interested in trying on?"

A smile overtook the hurt expression in CC’s face as she watched her father walk away to the other side of the store, cell phone magnetized to his ear. "Yes, that’s the one. One moment." CC whispered to the pouting butler, his arms folded in a silent tantrum, "Niles you better stay and portray the happy groom or Daddy will suspect something."

"Very well," he sat down on a 19^th century carved side chair.

"But pretend you’re on one of your 15 minute dates, he just finished and you still have 5 minutes left to put your clothes back on. You’re use to dressing and undressing quickly aren’t you?"

"Can it," CC whispered viciously and looked up at her father who was watching them intently.

Noticing her glance, Niles replied before he turned and smiled at Stuart, "I’m sure you’ll look lovely in that, honey."

CC fake smiled at her father and followed the saleswoman to the changing room.

As Niles fidgeted in the uncomfortable antique chair for the fifth time, he looked up at the curtain’s movement. His jaw proceeded to go slack.

CC stepped out in an ivory silk chiffon floor length gown. The neckline was deep enough to show off her attributes, but tastefully done as the short sleeves began just below the top of her shoulders. The train flowed from her waist and long white gloves completed the effect as his eyes followed them to just past her elbows.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," Stuart called from the other side of the room as he pulled the phone away for a moment.

CC gave her father a serene smile before turning to look down at Niles. He was immobile, unblinking. "Niles. Niles, are you okay?"

His eyelids finally closed for a moment as he gave himself a small shake. "Yes, I’m fine. So is that what you’re going to get?"

"I think so. I think I look okay in it," she replied, hoping for a compliment.

Niles just nodded as the saleswoman hurriedly filled in the awkward silence. "It’s an Avine Perucchi and you look lovely in it, dear."

CC’s answered back, crestfallen at Niles’ lack of reaction. "I’ll take it."

"Splendid. It needs to be fitted a bit more and altered to your wonderful figure."

"Fine. Set up a date and time. I only want to do it once so make sure you get all the measuring down correctly right now."

The gown made a soft swishing sound as she stepped back into the changing room.

Niles’ legs felt limp. As he pulled himself up with much difficulty, he poured himself a glass of wine from the serving trolley and gulped it down quickly. He looked back at the empty space where CC had stood, looking like a goddess. If only she could know how supremely lovely he thought she looked as she stepped out.

The next few days were a blur. So many last minute things to do before the wedding. Niles’ family was expected to arrive the day of the wedding, and Maxwell, as best man, offered to give the wedding rehearsal dinner. Extra help was hired and extra leaves were added to the dining room table in order to accommodate everyone.

"CC, that dress you picked out is a bit too revealing for a woman your age don’t you think?" BB clucked her disapproval as she sat down on the wing back chair in the living room.

"No, I don’t mother," CC fumed back, her face reddened with anger.

"Now BB leave her alone. It doesn’t matter what you think anyway. As long as Niles is happy with it," Stuart admonished lightly.

CC bristled at her father’s chauvinistic remark.

Niles took CC’s hand in his, "I admire CC’s taste in fashion. And whatever she chooses for herself is perfect."

"Now you can’t mean that old man," DD’s husband Rolf retorted. "Women are like rose bushes. They need us men to guide them, shape them so that their true beauty will shine through."

Niles felt CC’s body shake with anger. Her ire unnoticed by Rolf. "Take DD for instance. I managed to clip her thorns early on and here she sits before you a prize among her class."

"That’s because you pile so much manure at her feet," CC snapped.

"CC, behave yourself!" BB interjected.

Instead of feeling insulted, Rolf laughed. "You have your work cut out for you Niles."

Niles’ fingers intertwined with CC’s as he watched her anger mount. The woman was as beautiful as a dream – the fine-featured face, the alabaster skin, and her rich golden hair swept up off a graceful neck. Her lips were curved downward just a little. But it was the eyes that drew Niles, as they always had. They were pale blue, the color of a beautiful morning right after a rainfall. Although, it wasn’t the color that pulled at him, but the expression in them. The look, the emotion that had been captured by his mind’s eye throughout their acquaintance.

Such quiet sadness. Such inner grief. It was almost too painful to look at, because to look too long was to feel. And Niles was determined to enter this marriage emotionless.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the reverend intoned. "You may now kiss the bride."

Niles gave CC a questioning look and at her nod, he stepped forward and brushed his lips upon hers. He wanted it to be short. Simple. But his hands pulled her closer. She was taut as a wire. He could feel her nerves sizzle and snap as he clamped her against him. He knew it was wrong, unfair, even despicable, but damn it, he needed to wipe out this fever that continued to burn in him throughout their short engagement. He watched her go through the motions of a ‘real’ wedding. Invitations. Dress fittings. Hiring an orchestra for the reception. Under the close scrutiny of her parents, they played a happily engaged couple to the hilt. And now he needed to convince himself that he wasn’t making a mistake.

CC shuddered as she fisted her hands against him. A soft, yielding sound followed. And her lips parted beneath his in irresistible and avid invitation. Swearing softly, he plunged.

Her mouth was a banquet and he was too racked with hunger to stem the greed. He could smell her hair, fresh as rainwater, her skin, seductively musky with heat and subtle sweetness. Each separate scent slammed into his system, pumping through his blood, roaring through his head to churn a need he’d hoped to dispel.

She couldn’t breathe or think. All of the weighty and worrisome cares she carried in her vanished. In their place, rioting sensations sprinted. The tensed ripple of muscle under her fingers, the hot and desperate taste of his mouth, the thunder of her heartbeat that raced with dizzying speed. She was wrapped around him now, her fingers digging in, her body straining, her mouth as urgent and impatient as his. Only the sound of Reverend Montessor as he cleared his throat penetrated their senses. They pulled apart immediately, trying to control their ragged breathing.

Her eyes had gone to cobalt and were wide with shock.

Small wonder, he thought in livid self-disgust. The woman had nearly been shoved to the ground and ravished in broad daylight in front of family and friends. And in a church no less.

"Niles, that was some kiss!" Fran exclaimed as they danced at the reception. "Tell me again, how this whole marriage is a sham."

"Shh…your voice carries and her father is right there."

"Sorry," she mouthed. "Are you sure you’re doing this just for the money?"

"I’m not sure of anything anymore," he sighed as he twirled her around.

"May I cut in?" Maxwell smiled as he tapped Niles’ shoulder.

Fran smiled happily as she stepped into Maxwell’s arms. Niles walked towards the open bar and ordered a Scotch on the rocks. His face grimaced as he swallowed it down quickly and his eyes searched the room for his bride.

The bride was in the ladies' lounge studiously avoiding the groom.

CC sat on a cushioned bench before the beveled mirror in the ladies' lounge of the Waldorf Astoria, staring at her own face, tight with shock. She knew she should return, do her duty to the guests. There was cake to be cut, dances to be danced, guests to thank and charm and attend to.

The problem was that other wedding custom. The one where during dinner, which was scheduled to start in half an hour, every so often a soft clinking would start as two hundred spoons tapped incessantly at two hundred crystal glasses, the traditional demand that the groom kiss the bride.

The problem was, she wanted to.

CC's cheeks warmed and went pink at the memory of the kiss in the church. First a hesitant, courteous brush of his lips across hers, hardly even a token gesture. Then that light brush again and the gentle warmth became heat, and courtesy became licentiousness. A simple ceremony before family and friends became a desire that ripped through her as her mouth was delightfully, skillfully taken and pressed open beneath his. She was practically making love to his mouth when a slight cough from the presiding official recalled her to her situation. In a church, before dozens and dozens of people, with the husband that didn't want her.

What he must think of her! They made an agreement based on mutual financial gain and she promptly threw herself at him as if he were her hired gigolo! After he'd been so understanding about her reluctance to engage in a sexual relationship simply to save her fortune.

But oh, how she wanted to.

"Oh, what am I getting so worked up about?" she muttered. "I've got a right to enjoy a kiss on my wedding day! And he must have known there would be some token gestures of physical affection. Just to keep up the pretense."

Speaking of which, she had a party to go to. And this was the party she'd been waiting all her life for.

At that thought, she brightened. It might be the only wedding day she ever had, and she was going to enjoy it to the hilt.

Niles was astonished at the change that came over her. Before she disappeared, she'd been remote, thoughtful, distant. He supposed she was angry with him for that outrageous kiss at the wedding. But suddenly she reappeared, martini in hand. With her train draping gracefully from her arm, she proceeded to eat, drink, and be merry, dragging him with her through endless hours of amusement.

"Come on, dance with me," she begged. "Just one more."

"My god, I've married the Energizer Bunny. Babcock, I just ate three helpings of prime rib. If I try to tango now, I'll probably revisit my dinner all over your gown." Niles glanced at his bride, sitting beside him at the high table, and shook his head in amusement. He toasted her with his Waterford champagne flute, and she lightly touched her glass to his.

The light clinking started a chain reaction, and everyone in the room tapped their spoons against their glasses. Niles laughed and tried to wave them away, but the noise persisted until CC ended it with a quick, anticlimactic peck on the lips after which she quickly left the table to circulate among the guests.

"Maybe someone will pay you for a lap dance," he whispered.

"As much as I'm paying you to marry me, you ought to do one," she retorted.

The hours flew by. On the dance floor, CC was whirled from partner to partner, laughing up into her father's face, and then Maxwell's, and then Noel's, and once even Nanny Fine's!

Fran had had a bit too much to drink. Breaking away from Maxwell, she claimed CC for a dance and said suggestively, "So, ya lookin' forward to finishin' that kiss ya started in the church, Mrs. Niles?" Fran asked.

CC started at the unfamiliar name. "You know as well as I do that isn't going to happen," she replied sharply. "It's a marriage of convenience, and celibacy was part of the deal."

"Not from what I hear." CC looked at Fran in surprise. "Wasn't the deal that Niles wouldn't push you for any sexual involvement you didn't want?"

"Of course, Nanny Fine, that's what I just said."

"No, it isn't. You said no sex at all, when in fact, the deal was no sex if you don't want to. I saw you glom onto him in the church, and I don't believe for a minute that you don't want to."

CC's eyes widened at the implication.

"Eh-heh!" Fran said knowledgeably.

"Oh, sod off, Nanny Fine!"

It was past two a.m. The DJ was packing up, and less than a handful of the guests remained. The older ones had retired, and the younger ones had gone clubbing. Only CC, Niles, her parents, their dates, Max, and Fran remained.

CC restlessly tapped her foot to the music from a transistor radio brought in by a waiter when the DJ stopped playing and the staff started cleaning. Max ambled up to her. "So who's the curvy redhead with your father?" he asked conversationally.

"His business partner," she replied with a look of dry amusement.

"Ah." Max lifted his eyebrows in comprehension. "And the young Latino gentleman escorting your mother?"

CC shrugged. "Flavor of the week. I can't even remember his name."

Niles and Fran came up behind them to claim their respective partners. "One last dance?" the butler suggested, nodding at the radio.

"Sounds good." Max wrapped his arm around Fran's waist and whirled her away.

CC's parents came up to her.

"Kiss kiss, darling," said BB. "Must be getting off -- I mean, going!" She cast a coy look at her escort and gave a giggle that should have come from a much younger woman.

Stuart grimaced in repulsion. "Us too, kitten. Congratulations. Niles, I'm not sure which of the conventional platitudes would work. Take good care of her? Have many long and happy years together?" Stuart shook his head as CC and Niles squirmed. "How about, 'Good luck, you're gonna need it?'" Stu grinned and shook his hand.

CC scowled as her father walked away with his arm around the redhead. Niles said nervously, "Your dad's not as dumb as he looks, is he?"

CC gave her father's back a glare as he walked away. "Nobody could be that dumb."

In the silence that followed, the strains of a moody, throbbing love song filled the air. Niles silently took her hand and led her into the steps of a mambo, just as she recognized the music -- it was "Hungry Eyes."

CC followed the steps easily but kept her eyes fixed on a point somewhere behind his head. A few times she thought of what a man and a woman usually did on their wedding night and began to tremble, but quickly got herself under control. There would be no wedding night. Nanny Fine's suspicious logic aside, they had a deal.

When she refused to meet his eyes, Niles made the mistake of looking down. Instantly he nearly went cross-eyed and moved their bodies a few inches farther apart. BB had been right, that dress was way too low-cut. Not because CC was old and couldn't show it off. Rather, because she showed it off way too well. Creamy white flesh swelled out above her neckline and plunged into a tempting, scented darkness. Shadows shifted when she breathed, and the scent of Chanel #5 rose warm and musky from her skin.

"Niles? Niles!" she said, shaking him hard.

"What?" he asked groggily.

"The music stopped, Niles."

They argued happily during the long limo ride across town to her apartment.

"I look like a bloody penguin in this tux your mother picked out!" Niles complained.

"No, you don't," she said soothingly. "You look like Mr. Potato Head in formalwear."

"Well, you look like Barbie Doll's older sister, Bitchy!" Niles retorted.

"And don't you forget it!" she replied.

As the limo pulled to a stop in front of her building, CC tipped the driver and dismissed him. Train hitched over her arm, she led Niles into the building.

A private express elevator only for residents of the penthouse apartments shot them to the twentieth floor in as many seconds.

Niles' belongings were already in her guestroom. If any visitors asked, they would simply claim that her closet was only big enough for her wardrobe.

Standing by the enormous window overlooking the Hudson River, Niles shrugged off his jacket and loosened his tie, waiting to see if she'd make a move despite their deal. After all, she must know from that kiss that he was more than eager.

Sure enough, he saw her move up behind him. He could see her reflection in the glass as she lifted her hand to touch his shoulder. His body tensed, more than ready for a traditional wedding night. He wanted to please her as no man ever had, keep her crying out his name until dawn. Just one signal from her and he would pick her up, carry her into the master bedroom, and rip that dress from her --

"Mi casa, su casa," she said lightly, handing him a set of keys. "Good night, Niles."

He shot her a look of utter frustration. CC glanced at him quizzically. "Something wrong?"

"No," he sighed. "Good night, CC."

"'Night, Niles," she said. "Help yourself to anything you want. I'll give you the full tour tomorrow." With that, she hurried away behind the heavy double doors that guarded her inner sanctum.

Niles found a decanter and a couple of glasses on a sideboard in the dining room. He slammed back a couple of whiskies and headed for bed.

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