Wanted: Wife for Hire (The Diamond Club Book 8)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Afterward, Deni collapsed against his chest and Sebastian had to remove his hands from her silk covered derriere for fear the whirlwind would start all over again. Damn, he liked the way she looked in silk!

  What the hell? He tangled his hands in her soft tresses, remembering the initial moment when he saw her in the negligee. And when he’d torn the material…! He couldn’t remember ever finding another sound more erotic than the sound of silk being torn off of Deni to reveal the treasures hidden beneath.

  Other women in his life had worn silk and he’d never reacted like that. What was it about seeing Deni in the silk that had made him crazy?

  He didn’t know and, at the moment, she just felt too good to try and figure everything out!

  Lifting his head up, he looked down at their intertwined bodies and realized something. “Deni…is there any chance that you are on the Pill?”

  He felt her stiffen. Over the past several weeks, he’d taken control of their contraception, not willing to trust someone else. A pregnancy would be…well, he’d thought it would be bad, which is why he used condoms religiously. Unfortunately, seeing her in the silk had…well, he hadn’t thought about anything. Touching her like that, feeling her body in the silk and tearing it off of her had been…explosive. He hadn’t thought about contraception and he was…stunned.

  But now…thinking of Deni pregnant with his child…the thought wasn’t as abhorrent as he might have thought a few weeks ago! Damn, what the hell was happening to him?! Did he really want another child?

  Yes. His sudden certainty stunned him. Especially since the idea of Deni growing big with his child popped into his mind. She’d be a wonderful mother, he thought.

  “No,” she whispered and he noticed the worried expression in her eyes.

  “How likely is it that you might be pregnant?” he asked, carefully extricating himself from the warmth of her body. He stood up, and lifted her gently into his arms, pushing the torn negligee out of the way. He couldn’t have her in silk, he decided. It was too much of a turn on for him.

  Deni nibbled her swollen lower lip and he groaned as he carried her over to the bed, placing her in the middle.

  “Um…I don’t know. My cycles…aren’t always predictable.”

  Sebastian stared down at her for a moment, the image of her pregnant flashing behind his eyes. His body hardened again and he sighed, running a hand over his face. His desire for this woman was getting out of hand, he thought.

  He started peeling off his clothes. “You’ll tell me if anything comes of tonight’s…” he glanced over at the shredded remains of her silk negligee.

  “Of course,” she replied without waiting for him to finish his sentence. “I doubt that anything will happen, but I’ll let you know.”

  He kicked off his pants. “Good.” Then he realized something else and walked into the bathroom. Wetting a washcloth with warm water, he cleaned himself up, and carried the washcloth back to her.

  “I can do that,” she told him, scooting back and extending her hand to take the cloth.

  “I created the problem,” he told her with increasing heat in his eyes. “I’ll fix it.” A moment later, he took her ankles and pulled her mercilessly towards the edge of the bed. With a gentle touch, he cleaned her, watching as her body shivered with reaction. And when he was all done, he couldn’t resist the beautiful pink folds, or her reaction to his touch. His mouth moved over her, tasting, teasing. Touching. Sucking. After two rounds, her body took a bit longer than the first time, which was good. Because Deni tasted like nectar and he loved making her body shiver.

  And when he entered her this time, he remembered protection, but as he thrust into her, he was still picturing her body big and beautiful with child. That was all it took him over the edge.

  Chapter 24

  There was a skip to her step as Deni entered her office the next day. She should be exhausted. Sebastian had taken her to the heights of pleasure several more times over the course of the night. By this morning, when dawn’s light started to filter in through the filmy curtains, he’d kissed her shoulder and whispered “Good morning!” before he left her room, fully clothed, to shower in his own bedroom.

  Things were good, she thought with a hop to her step. “Very good,” she whispered as she settled into her desk and started working.

  Around midday, a delivery person approached her desk. “Ms. Deni Hughes?”

  Deni’s fingers hesitated over her keyboard as she blinked up at the man holding a stack of boxes. Some thick boxes, but many thin ones.

  “Yes. I’m Deni.”

  “I have a delivery for you,” he announced, extending the clipboard to sign.

  “What is it?” she asked, signing the electronic clipboard. She hadn’t ordered anything in a long time.

  “I’m just the delivery guy,” the man shrugged, taking back the clipboard and handing over the tall stack of boxes. “Have a good day!”

  And then he was gone, leaving a confused Deni. She picked up the first one, a slender box with the name of a store she’d never heard of. As soon as she lifted the top of the box and pushed the tissue paper away, Deni knew exactly who had sent the delivery. Inside of the box lay the most beautiful silk negligee she’d ever seen. Last night’s silk piece had been destroyed by Sebastian. Today, he’d replaced it?

  Her body throbbed with awareness and…lust. Yeah, there it was, that desire that seemed to be ever present whenever she thought about Sebastian! But at the idea of him ripping the beautiful piece of silk…every part of her body throbbed with need! Good grief, she wanted to ride the elevator up to his office, strip off her clothes and pull this on, just to see if he had the same reaction as last night!

  Wow!

  Opening up the second box, she found another silk negligee, this one in black.

  Oh my!

  How in the world had he…! No, Deni decided that she didn’t want to know how he’d ordered these pieces. And no way would she open any more boxes here at the office. Her boss could walk in at any moment and there wasn’t any good way to explain a delivery of silk negligees during the middle of the work day.

  Shoving the silk back into the boxes, she covered them up and stuffed them under her desk. But all afternoon, she kept thinking about the end of the day when she could leave the office and hurry home to investigate what the other pieces might be!

  Chapter 25

  Sebastian whistled as he walked into his office several days later, feeling more powerful than he ever had. His eyes widened as he walked behind his desk, surveying the information laid out by his assistant. The woman was incredibly efficient and he appreciated her efforts. He made a mental note to contact the personnel office and tell them to give her a ten percent raise.

  He’d just picked up a file, ready to tackle his first meeting, when his door burst open and Ryker Thune came in.

  “Ryker? What are…?” he stopped, registering the man’s expression. It only got worse. Oz and Jayce Cole stepped in right behind Ryker.

  “Is Chloe okay?” he demanded immediately, thinking the only reason these three would be here was if something had happened to his daughter.

  Oz knew where Sebastian’s mind went and lifted his hand up to stop him. “Chloe is fine. Our team watches out for her and Jenny whenever they leave the house. They are safe.”

  Sebastian breathed a small sigh of relief. “Deni?” he demanded next, his voice hoarse.

  The three men looked at each other, then back to Sebastian. “Your wife?” they asked.

  Sebastian understood the look in their eyes.

  “It’s complicated,” was all he said. “Is she…?”

  “Deni is fine,” Oz reassured him. “She’s in her office, working diligently. We did another background check on her, by the way.”

  Sebastian leaned against his desk, closing his eyes for a moment as relief surged through him. “They’re both fine,” he muttered, mentally needing to hear the words out loud. “Thank you, God,” he whispered, s
incerely thanking his maker for keeping the people he loved safe.

  “But there is some bad news,” Ryker said, stepping forward.

  “What’s going on?”

  “We received information about your ex-wife,” Oz explained and laid a report down on his desk. “She’s been maneuvering in the background. It wasn’t much at first, but we’ve discovered that she might have some information that could sway the judge against your custody of Chloe.”

  Sebastian’s gut tightened with the news. “What is it?” he demanded, not hesitating. When it came to protecting his child, he didn’t delay.

  “Meredith has information that your marriage is fake. That you sleep in separate rooms,” Jayce explained.

  Oz snorted, shaking his head in disbelief.

  Sebastian stared at the men, not saying a word for a moment. “How could that influence custody?” he demanded.

  Jayce and Oz stared at Sebastian hard and hid their reactions. Ryker, the most subtle of the three men, didn’t react in any way.

  “We have word that the judge is contemplating punishing you for lying about having a real marriage.”

  “The marriage is real.” Although, by design, the marriage was supposed to be temporary.

  Oz hesitated, looking at Jayce, then Ryker before turning back to him. “Our sources tell us that he’s going to revoke custody, saying that Chloe’s interests aren’t being served.” He sighed, shaking his head. “We haven’t heard that Meredith has slept with this judge, but we’re still investigating.”

  Sebastian nodded, but from the look in their eyes, he knew that there was more. “What else?” he demanded.

  Ryker stepped forward. “Nothing substantiated. Let us get more information first.”

  Sebastian looked at Oz and Jayce, both of whom looked back at him with worried expressions.

  “Tell me,” he demanded, every muscle in his body tightening with dread. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good, that much was clear.

  “Tentatively, someone told us that the news about your fake marriage came from Ms. Stenson. That she told Meredith. At least, that’s what she’s telling the judge.”

  Oz stepped closer. “Before you do anything, Sebastian, let us confirm this information.”

  A cold sensation surrounded Sebastian as the news that Deni had leaked information to Meredith. Impossible! Deni wouldn’t do that! No way!

  But the look in his friends’ eyes warned him that it was possible, although not confirmed.

  “Sebastian, we’re tracking this down. We’ll figure out what happened.”

  For a long moment, Sebastian stood there, not moving as the cold seeped into his bones. He hadn’t felt this sensation since…since that afternoon he’d seen Deni dancing in the rain.

  He looked up, noticing that the three, big men were watching him with concern. He nodded sharply. “Thank you.”

  Ryker stepped closer. “Don’t do anything until we’ve confirmed the information,” he cautioned.

  Sebastian smiled, but it was a tight, sardonic smile. “Thank you for your warning. As soon as you have more details, let me know.” He looked around. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting in a moment.”

  The men nodded, but it was obvious that they didn’t want to leave him like this. But he picked up a file and walked out of the office.

  For the next hour, he tried to focus on work but he couldn’t stop the pain lashing at him. Why would she have done that? Why go to Meredith and give her the ammunition the vile woman needed to regain custody of Chloe?!

  Chloe had come alive over the past few months! She was vibrant and cheerful, talkative and eager for each new day. Dinners had become a happy event where Chloe and Deni shared stories of their days. Hell, even he’d started sharing!

  A thought occurred to him. Had Deni passed along information about the bank to his competitors? Every night, Sebastian discussed details of bank business, trusting her. Thinking she was interested in learning more about the industry.

  Had she actually been selling off that information?

  Abruptly, he stood up and walked out of the meeting, unaware that he’d cut someone off midsentence.

  Out in the hallway, he dialed Oz’s number. The man picked up immediately. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need you to dig into some other issues concerning Ms. Stenson. I’ve discussed bank business with her. See if she’s been passing that information along to my competitors and get back to me.”

  There was a long pause. “Will do.”

  Sebastian ended the call and walked back into the meeting, nodding sharply to the woman who had been speaking as he’d walked out. She began again, but Sebastian heard none of it.

  Heading back into his office, he picked up his phone. “Martha,” he said to his housekeeper, “I need you to pack up Deni’s things and have them by the front door before she walks into the house today,” he told his housekeeper.

  There was a pause, and he could picture the woman’s confused frown. But he didn’t relent, reminding himself that Chloe was his first priority. If the cold, aching sensation filling his body was any indication, he should have done this a long time ago. Marrying Deni had been a monumental mistake.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll get it done.”

  “Thank you.” He hung up the phone and walked over to the bar in one corner of his office. With precise movements, he poured himself a finger of scotch, and took the drink over to the windows in his office. But Sebastian didn’t see the beautiful Appalachian Mountains in the distance. He didn’t see the city of Louisville stretched out in front of him or the warm, summer sunshine sparkling over the horizon.

  He only saw Deni, her eyes lit with an inner fire. He’d thought that the fire had been for him. Now he knew better. That fire had been for something else: the money that his competitors would pay for information about the inner workings of his bank.

  He suspected that Meredith had paid Deni for the information on their marriage. Had they been laughing about him? Had they compared notes on their bedroom antics? He doubted that. His sex life with Meredith had been…fine. Nothing to brag about, he mused. But his life with Deni…!

  He turned and threw the crystal glass against the glass shelves containing high-end liquor, causing the entire mess to crash down to the floor.

  Revulsion swamped him for the embarrassing display of emotion. Turning away from the mess, he straightened the cuffs of his dress shirt, adjusted his tie, and took a deep breath.

  After that, he walked over to his desk and picked up the file for his next meeting, walking out of his office.

  Pausing by his assistant’s desk, he said, “Have maintenance come and replace the shelves in my office,” and then he walked away, not even noticing the stunned expression in the ever-efficient woman’s eyes.

  Chapter 26

  Deni hurried home that evening, excited to see Chloe and Sebastian. In her mind, she was thinking about which silk nightie she’d pull on for Sebastian after Chloe went to sleep that evening. He really seemed to love seeing her in silk and it turned her on just as much. It was like a light switch and she meant to flip it on as often as she could.

  Stepping into the foyer, she was just about to toss her purse onto the table when she spotted something in the corner. “What in the world?” she muttered, seeing her suitcases lined up against the wall. Looking up, she saw Margaret standing by the doorway, tears in her eyes as she wrung her hands. “Martha, what’s going on?” she asked.

  Before the kind housekeeper could say a word, Sebastian stepped out of his office and glared at her. “Could I have a word with you?”

  The coldness in his eyes warned her that something was wrong.

  “Of course,” she replied, putting her keys down on the polished table. Sebastian disappeared into the office and Deni followed. She didn’t bother to close the office door, thinking that he just needed…something. She had no clue.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, moving closer to him. But as soon as she was halfway across th
e carpet, he moved to stand behind his desk, making a point of putting a physical obstacle between them.

  “Yes. I’m fine. But I need you to leave. Tonight.”

  Deni froze. “I’m sorry…could you repeat that?”

  “You need to leave. I will not allow you to put my child in danger.”

  There was a stabbing pain in her heart. “Chloe is in danger?”

  “Yes. You’ve been telling Meredith about our private lives. She’s suing me for permanent custody of Chloe. So, if you could just leave, I will keep trying to protect my child.”

  Deni shook her head. “But Sebastian, I haven’t even seen Meredith. How could I have told her anything?”

  He tilted his head, looking at her as if she were a cockroach. “Really? Then how does she know we sleep in separate bedrooms?”

  “I don’t know!” She shook her head. “I haven’t said anything! I would never! Our nights together are private!”

  She took a step closer, trying to reassure him that she would never, ever, say anything to anyone. Especially not that they didn’t sleep in the same room! That had always been a bit embarrassing to her. A married woman that didn’t sleep with her husband? It was ridiculous. Especially considering that they spent their nights together. In fact, it was one of the things she’d meant to bring up with him – that perhaps they should start sharing a bedroom. But after what he’d gone through with his ex-wife, Deni hadn’t wanted to rock the boat, loving him too much to scare him away.

  “Then how does she know?” he demanded harshly.

  “I have no idea, but she didn’t hear it from me,” she vowed. “I would never say anything, Sebastian!”

  “Sure you didn’t,” he snapped, obviously not believing her. “Well, it doesn’t matter who told her, she knows that ours is not a real marriage and the judge is demanding another hearing. So your services will no longer be needed. Thank you very much.”