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

by Elizabeth Lennox

  “Avi!” a deep voice came from the doorway. Chloe and Avi both spun around, finding her brother standing in the doorway, looking furious. His sharp, dark eyes moved from his sister to Chloe, obviously disapproving of the tears before announcing, “Your finance has arrived, Avi. He’s asking for you.”

  Avi stiffened, her chin tilting defiantly. “Ah, well, then I must go to him shouldn’t I? I’ve been summoned, just like a dog!”

  “Avi!” he snapped, his dark eyebrows lowering with anger.

  She didn’t reply, but only glared back at him. But Girad was the stronger willed and won the contest. With a sniff, Avi turned and headed back into her dressing room to take off the delicate wedding dress.

  Chloe continued to stare at Girad. Other than television or news articles, she hadn’t seen him in over ten years. He seemed bigger now, his shoulders wider; Chloe suspected that there were significantly more muscles on his tall frame. Unfortunately, he still had the same effect on her, which she resented.

  His dark eyes softened as he approached.

  Chloe realized that his anger had vanished, a teasing glint had replaced it. “I see that you’ve grown into the beauty your youth foretold, Chloe,” he murmured, standing close.

  Chloe glared up at him, startled to find that she wasn’t as immune to him as she’d hoped. After ten years, she still trembled when he was close.

  Of course, ten years ago, she’d trembled when he was far, so maybe this was progress!

  He nodded toward the room his sister had just disappeared into. “You don’t approve of Avi getting married, do you?”

  Chloe gritted her teeth, determined to keep her opinion to herself. She shouldn’t say anything. It was none of her business.

  Except…darn it, Avi was her best friend! And this man was forcing Avi into a loveless marriage!

  Facing him head on, she straightened her shoulders and glared back at him. “No. I don’t approve.”

  He stepped closer still as she struggled to not fidget under his intense gaze. “You just don’t understand our culture.”

  She gritted her teeth, refusing to be charmed by him! “Maybe not, but I understand Avi. And she’s miserable!”

  He smiled slightly. “She’ll get over it. More quickly than you might realize.”

  Chloe desperately wanted to slap him! He was so smug. So confident! He had no idea how terribly sad and confused Avi was.

  “So tell, me, oh wise one: how did this fantastic, soon-to-be love match come along?” she demanded as she stepped back, needing more space.

  “Would you be as angry if I told you that Sheik Lugar made an offer of a hundred goats and I accepted?”

  “It might make more sense,” she retorted.

  He laughed, and leaned back against his sister’s desk. “So, tell me why you’re so against this marriage.”

  Girad was more entranced than he wanted to be. Chloe was a golden goddess. Her almost-white hair shimmered in the sunshine and her pale skin was almost translucent. Except when she blushed, he remembered. Damn, he wanted to see her do that again. Her cheeks glowed pink and her lips softened. It was…amazing. Sexy!

  “A man and a woman should marry for love. Not for political gain,” she explained and he swallowed a chuckle at her sarcasm.

  “In your world,” he countered. “In my world, families marry for political purposes all the time. For expediency among other reasons.”

  “So, this is a political marriage? What benefit does Cardaire gain from a marriage with Shardir?” she demanded. “Your country is strong enough. There are already robust economic ties between your countries. There is no war, not even tensions where a marriage might ease the hostilities. So…what’s the gain?”

  “Perhaps stronger ties. Stronger economic agreements.” He stood up and walked towards her. “And maybe, the potential for love and a strong family.” He lifted Chloe’s hand, wrapping his fingers around the delicate bones of her wrist. Looking down, he contemplated the texture of her skin and the contrast of his tanned hand against her pale one. “Or maybe, I just think that Avi needs a man like Lugar. I think that he could be a good influence on her.” His fingers tightened on her wrist, not closing tightly, but loosely holding her in his grip. She felt good, he thought. Despite her angry tone, Chloe Hughes was surprisingly delicate and feminine.

  She pulled her hand away, that delightful pink staining her pale cheeks. But she rallied quickly. “So, you’re saying that Avi needs a strong man to temper her radical and feminine impulses?”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “You said that. Not me.”

  Girad thought that Chloe Hughes was a breath of fresh air. Only his sister dared to challenge him in this way. He reclaimed her wrist, toying with it gently. “Yes, but you think it, don’t you?”

  “I think that Avi is a strong-willed woman. And yes, Luger might be able to temper some of her wilder inclinations. Lord knows I never figured out how.”

  She jerked her wrist, but he didn’t let go. He liked the fire in Chloe’s eyes. And he liked that she was fighting for Avi even better. His sister didn’t have enough advocates in her life. And Chloe was determined and strong enough for several! She was a tigress! Would she be this passionate in bed?

  Girad wanted to find out. Just thinking about all of that fire and passion directed towards him made his body tighten with excitement and need. Damn, she was beautiful! Those soft, rosy lips, which were spewing fire and anger right now, would be incredible when he finally kissed her.

  Idly, he wondered if he’d agreed to Lugar’s marriage offer simply because he knew that Avi would ask Chloe to be her maid of honor, so she’d have come back to the palace for the wedding.

  But no…there was so much more to Lugar’s offer. It was important that the two marry. Imperative, actually.

  Seeing Chloe in his home once again was simply an added bonus.

  “Avi doesn’t need her impulses tempered!” Chloe declared. “She’s passionate about her causes, which is not a bad thing!”

  He laughed. “Have you been down to the stables lately?”

  Her grey eyes sparkled. “No, but Avi has told me about Otis.”

  Girad growled at the reminder of that beast. “I hate that donkey!” he sighed. He stood up, tucking her hand into his arm. “The stupid animal thinks he’s a stallion and keeps nipping at my mares.”

  Her sudden, soft laughter caught him off-guard and he paused in the middle of the hallway, staring down at her.

  Those grey eyes…they were actually laughing at him? Immediately, he thought about kissing her. Would she be this defiant after a kiss? Or would she melt into him, releasing that fire and anger while returning his kiss?

  She didn’t look intimidated by his look of disdain at her laughter.

  “Aww, poor babies. Are they suffering from an alpha male’s ornery temperament?” she mocked. Those taunting eyes turned serious. “I know the feeling.”

  He lifted a dark eyebrow in warning. But wasn’t surprised when the feisty blond beauty ignored it.

  “I’m sure that your prized, million-dollar mares can handle one small, formerly-abused donkey. And if they can’t, then move Otis into another pasture.”

  He sighed. “Tomorrow morning, I’m taking you down to the stables. You are in for a surprise,” he shook his head. “But for now, it is time that you dressed for dinner. It’s formal tonight. We’re having guests and dancing.” He stopped in front of the door to her suite. “Will you save me a dance?”

  She pulled back, blinking up at him with surprise in her eyes and her full, soft lips parted ever so slightly. Damn, she was beautiful!

  “I don’t think so,” she told him. “I think I’m on the side of your mares and want to avoid annoying alpha males.” And with that, she slipped into her suite to the echo of his startled laughter.

  Click HERE to get “That Night with the Sheik”

  (Continue reading for another Elizabeth Lennox excerpt!)

  Excerpt from “Over Heated”

/>   Release Date: October 25, 2019

  Click HERE to get “Over Heated”!

  August sunshine and black wool were not a good combination!

  Roxanne sat on the bench, trying to absorb everything that had happened over the past week. For a long moment, she wondered if she were living in an alternate universe. Or was she being punked? Was there a hidden camera somewhere? Unfortunately, she was too stunned to even look for cameras.

  The papers in her hands were…outrageous! The requirements…impossible!

  Her mother…was gone. After years of verbal and emotional abuse, Myrtle Halley was gone.

  Roxanne’s fingers curled, crushing the edges of the papers as she sifted through the emotions rushing through her. Her mother’s funeral had been last week, but today…today had been the meeting with her mother’s lawyer. Roxanne hadn’t known that her mother had ever needed a lawyer! In fact, Roxanne hadn’t known that a lawyer even existed in this small town! Carlton, Colorado had one grocery store, one bar, one hair salon, one…of everything. Apparently, there was also one lawyer.

  But…growing up, there’d never been a whole lot of money so…it hadn’t occurred to Roxanne that her mother would need a lawyer.

  Correction. There hadn’t been a lot of money for Roxanne. Apparently, Myrtle Halley had saved up a great deal of money! Over half a million dollars in a savings account, plus the woman’s home was completely paid off.

  And a cat.

  Nope, Roxanne definitely couldn’t forget about the cat!

  Everything had been left to the cat! All the money, even the house, had been left to care for the cat!

  Roxanne had learned never to expect much from her mother other than criticism. Nothing Roxanne had done…not the straight As in high school and college, the great job in the hospital surgical department, nothing had been good enough for even a kind word. If she got straight As, Roxanne’s mother would snipe that Roxanne hadn’t taken hard enough classes. If she took the advanced placement classes, Myrtle would ridicule Roxanne for trying to be “uppity”. When Roxanne had landed a coveted job at the hospital an hour away in Denver, Myrtle had complained that Roxanne was abandoning her for a better life. But every time Roxanne had come home, Myrtle had snapped at Roxanne not to expect a meal, or sympathy for traveling an hour just to “sit around waiting for idle chit chat”.

  Nothing Roxanne did was ever good enough for her mother and it had always been a mystery as to why her mother was so….angry.

  And now, there was no way to discover answers to her mother’s angry personality, because she was gone.

  Roxanne lifted her face up to the sunshine, sorting through her emotions. Was she sad? Surprisingly yes. A little. And that felt…wrong somehow. Why was she sad about a woman who had made her life miserable? Roxanne told herself that she should be relieved. Or angry because of what she’d just learned! Sadness had no place in her life right now!

  But in reality, Roxanne was sad. And angry because she was sad. It felt as if there was a gaping hole in her chest…because a woman who had never had a kind word for her daughter had left this earth and…

  Nothing made sense! She shouldn’t be sad! Yet, her eyes burned and her heart ached.

  Her eyes dropped to the papers that outlined her mother’s last will and testament.

  Yeah, Roxanne was angry. Furious, actually. And the anger felt better than the sadness! Anger was easier to deal with, she thought and pushed the sadness away.

  Myrtle had continuously informed Roxanne that she was a hussy. That she was a slut, even though Roxanne rarely dated. Not in high school, because there was no way she’d ever bring a boy home for fear that he might meet the horrid woman. And not in college, because Roxanne had maintained a full class load, plus she’d worked two jobs in order to pay her tuition and the rent on her tiny dump of an apartment, not to mention paying for her books and food.

  And now, Roxanne was supposed to sell her mother’s house and use all of the woman’s savings so that she could care for the woman’s cat? Oh, and let’s not forget that Roxanne was supposed to care for all of those ridiculous, cheap glass figurines! There weren’t just a few of the stupid things. Her mother had been an obsessive collector of glass animals and clowns and…whatever! There were hundreds of them all over her mother’s house! What in the world was Roxanne supposed to do with them? Her mother had dusted those stupid things every week, taking most of Saturday morning to ensure that they “sparkled” in the sunshine!

  There was no way that Roxanne was going to take care of those damn figurines! And the cat? It was evil! Totally evil! The cat hissed at her every time she walked into the house. Her mother used to laugh at the cat when Roxanne jumped back, then pet the satanic feline as if he’d done something miraculous!

  Now Roxanne had to swallow the news that the horrible cat had inherited everything! Roxanne had been listed as the executor of the will and caretaker of the cat. Sheesh!

  What kind of lawyer would write up a will like that?

  Roxanne had thousands of dollars in student debt she still owed, a car that ran only when it felt like it, a tiny apartment that was barely large enough for herself, and now she had to bring in an almost feral cat and thousands of pieces of glass…junk?

  “I need a drink!”

  Roxanne rarely drank alcohol, but after her meeting with the town’s one lawyer, she felt as if she’d earned a strong drink. Looking around, she spotted the bar across the street. Never mind that it was a biker bar with about twenty motorcycles parked in front, all with varying degrees of chrome and steel shining in the hot afternoon sunshine. It was a bar. She needed a drink. Enough said. She barely glanced at the tattoo sign. It was the alcohol that she needed, not a tattoo.

  Stepping through the heavy doors, Roxanne stopped and looked around, blinking her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light. It wasn’t nearly as gross as she had anticipated. But there was nothing elegant about it either. Wood walls. Wood floors stained by decades of use and spilled beer. Pool tables in the back and a wooden bar with neon lights advertising various brands of beers glowing on the wall behind it. Off to one side, there was a door that she assumed led to the tattoo parlor, but she focused on the bar.

  Walking over, she carefully perched on a wooden stool.

  “What can I get you?” a bartender with the most incredible white mustache asked her, leaning against the bar with what she suspected was amusement.

  Roxane looked around, completely aware that she looked out of place and not caring. Her black suit and sensible black shoes were boring. Professional, but boring. She was prim and tedious while the others in the room competed with each other for the most amount of leather on their bodies. Roxanne wasn’t even sure if her shoes were leather! For the amount she’d paid for these stupid, ugly shoes, they were probably pleather. Great. She was outclassed by a biker gang.

  “A beer,” she replied. When the bartender opened his mouth to ask what kind, Roxanne only pointed to the man a few stools away. “Whatever that is, it will work for me.”

  The bartender glanced over at the other man, nodded and grabbed a chilled beer mug. Less than thirty seconds later, a beer with a foam top was placed in front of her.

  Roxanne stared at the beer for a long moment, then glanced at the papers next to her. “A freaking cat!” she snapped, then lifted the beer and, despite the vile taste, downed half of it.

  The deep laughter behind her warned Roxanne that her day was about to get even worse. She recognized that voice, but she wasn’t going to turn around. Not this time. She wasn’t going to do it! Besides, there was no way that he was here! Not in Carlton, Colorado! The town was too small to contain the man she hoped and prayed was not behind her.

  “That was mighty impressive!” the laughing voice commented.

  Resigned, Roxanne turned her head and, sure enough, the man she hated more than anyone else in the world was sliding onto the bar stood next to her.

  “Please,” she whispered, burying her face in her hands,
“let this nightmare end!”

  His husky laugh told her that God had not granted her wish. “What brings the prim and ever-so-proper Roxy to the wrong side of the tracks?”

  Oh, how she hated that nickname! Every horrible thing Roxanne’s mother had said about being a hussy, about being evil and slutty…they all flooded to mind when Doctor Abe McCullough said her name like that.

  “What on earth are you doing here?” she demanded, not bothering to look at him. She couldn’t. Not tonight. She’d look at him tomorrow. Or more specifically, she’d look at his perfectly knotted tie and his impressively pressed, tailored shirt. The man was tall and handsome, with a hard, square jaw and a five o’clock shadow that started appearing around ten o’clock in the morning. And eyes! Goodness, his eyes made all the ladies swoon! Dark, sexy eyes with just a hint of gold towards the iris! He literally oozed charm, was a brilliant trauma surgeon, and had all the nurses cooing over him, bringing him his favorite exotic scented coffee from a specialty store – they all knew what he preferred. Cookies were brought in as a way to impress the hunky doctor with their home-making skills. Too often, one or more of the nurses just happened to have an “extra” sandwich, which they offered to him so that he wouldn’t starve. Right! It was disgusting!

  “It won’t work,” he commented.

  Roxanne sighed, keeping her eyes resolutely on her beer. “I’m not going to ask,” she whispered to herself. “I’m not going to ask!” There was silence for a long moment. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut to try to block out the temptation. But she couldn’t stand it. “What isn’t going to work?”

  “The mug. You can’t kill it with your bare hands.”

  Roxanne opened her eyes and stared down at the beer mug. Sure enough, she’d tightened her grip on the mug until her knuckles were white.

  She released the beer and flexed her fingers. “Doctor…” she turned, ready to blast him in an effort to make him leave her alone. But the sight of the man sitting next to her stopped whatever words she might have uttered.