by Anna Durand
For a heart-stopping moment, he stared into my eyes with a naked hunger that left me breathless. Then, just when I feared he'd changed his mind, he adjusted his hold on my hands to take both my wrists in one of his hands and skimmed his other palm down my bare arm and across my exposed shoulder to my collarbone. He danced his fingertips up my throat to my chin. With light pressure from his thumb, he urged me to open my mouth wider.
And I surrendered to him.
His hand fell to my hip, curling around it. His mouth covered mine in an open-mouth kiss, his tongue diving deep to ravish me with possessive strokes. My clitoris throbbed and I writhed against him, rubbing my breasts over his chest, rolling my hips into his rigid cock. His erection scraped over my belly as he groaned into my mouth. The vibration of it shot lust through me and I ached to wrap my arms around him, to grind myself into his hard shaft, but he kept me bound to the tree with his body. A frustrated noise burst out of me. His kiss grew wilder, scorching hot, his tongue tangling with mine and our lips mashed together. A need pulsated through my sex, squeezing a whimper out of me.
Aidan peeled his mouth from mine. Breathing hard, eyes glossy, he let his head fall forward until our foreheads touched. "Let me see you again. Please."
"I live in another state."
"And I live in another country." He freed my hands, stepped back a half step, and held my face in his palms. "May I visit you sometime?"
"I guess so." The words tumbled out before I regained the ability to think clearly. Too late to take them back, but anyway, he had no idea where I lived. Besides, I wanted to see him again.
He bent to press a tender kiss to my lips. "Meant to give you a simple kiss, but I lose my mind when I touch you."
"I liked it. Both times."
Aidan reached into his pants pocket, withdrawing his cell phone. "May I have your number?"
I bit my lip as I considered my answer. Since I had only a cell phone, not a land line, he couldn't really track me down that way. Could he? And that stupid, naughty part of me wanted to hear from him. To hear his voice. Deep and sexy, telling me I was bonnie and well-spoken and captivating.
"Sure," I said, gesturing for him to give me his phone. When he did, I found the address book and typed in my number and name, then I handed the phone back to him. "There you go."
His smile melted me again — but my heart this time, not my body. He looked so adorably thrilled to have my number.
Before I could do anything else dumb and reckless, I pushed away from the tree, smoothed out my dress, and said, "Well, it's time for me to head out. Goodbye, Aidan."
He lifted my hand to his mouth and brushed his lips over my knuckles. "Till we meet again, Calli Douglas."
God, I loved the way he said my name. I muttered something unintelligible and tried to walk purposefully away from him, but I stumbled over a tree root and wound up half staggering back toward the building. Times like this, I really wished I was a drinker. At least it would give me an excuse for my behavior. My only viable excuse was that five years of self-imposed exile, five years of staying true to a false vow, had made me ripe for a freak-out. I could never have predicted what would come of doing a seemingly innocent favor for someone I'd considered a friend.
If I could've talked about it publicly — or told anyone about it, even in private — maybe I wouldn't feel quite so trapped. But I couldn't tell anyone. Not Tara. Not my brother, Gavin. Definitely not the sexy Scot who tempted me to do things I'd never imagined I was capable of doing. If he knew my secret, maybe he'd lose interest. He seemed like a decent guy. Only a total sleaze would want to be with a married woman.
Especially one guilty of marriage fraud.
Chapter Five
The next morning, as I finished packing and headed out for my flight home, I wondered what on earth had possessed me. Why had I given Aidan an invitation to call me? And worse, why had I offered to let him visit me at home? If he called, I didn't have to talk to him. Right, and I didn't have to kiss him either. Aidan MacTaggart affected me in ways I couldn't explain, couldn't control, and wasn't sure I wanted to stop. It felt too damn good.
As I dragged my wheeled suitcase toward the door of my hotel room, someone knocked.
I froze, staring at the door. Visions raced through my mind of the door bursting inward and cops flooding in with guns drawn. They'd throw me down on the floor, handcuff me, read my my rights. You're under arrest for marriage fraud, an authoritative voice would declare. I'd be hauled through the hotel. Shoved into a police car. Whisked away to jail and, eventually, prison.
Maximum sentence: five years. Maximum fine: $250,000.
I swallowed back the bile burning up my throat, surging into my mouth. You're being paranoid, I reminded myself. But I couldn't shake the cold sliver of dread wending its way through me.
A fist rapped on the door again.
Shaking my head at my own silliness, I grasped the knob and swung the door open.
My husband smiled at me. In his Croatian accent, lightened by many years in America, he said, "You requested my presence. Here I am, Calli."
Sure, I'd called him yesterday — but not to invite him to my hotel room.
I looked straight into his dark brown eyes. "How did you find me?"
"Caller ID told me you were calling from this hotel." He leaned one shoulder against the door jamb, and the light from within the room painted a sheen on his short black hair. "The man at the desk was kind enough to tell me in which room my wife was staying."
Rade Vukoja was my husband, technically. He could produce the marriage certificate if he wanted, since he'd kept possession of it. Most likely, the desk clerk had simply believed him, and besides, most people were trusting and Rade was charming. For two years before we married, we'd been good friends. The hardest part of all this mess was that I still liked him, though not in any romantic way.
"I asked you to call me, Rade, not show up at my door." I kept my hand on the handle of my suitcase, ready to go as soon as he left. "I have to get to the airport."
"You wanted to serve the divorce papers." He patted his chest. "Here I am."
I hissed out a sigh. "Honestly, you know I can't serve the papers myself. The law says someone unconnected to the case has to do it. That's why I sent a process server, over and over and over again. You dodged him every time."
"Yes, I do apologize for that. I have been very busy."
I glanced back at the bedside clock, seeing I had to leave in less than five minutes. "Listen, you know I have money problems and it costs me at least a hundred dollars every time the server tries to track you down. He's made six attempts in the last ninety days. Now I'll have to file for a second summons, which means more money spent on trying to serve you."
"There's a simple solution." He smiled that congenial smile, the one that made me feel like a jerk even when I was in the right. "Come live with me. I will pay your debts as I did before and help you find work."
"We've been through this how many times? You promised to give me a divorce six months after you got citizenship and that happened over a year ago."
His steady gaze locked onto mine. "I know we entered into a marriage strictly to evade immigration laws, but I'd hoped we could find common ground and forget the divorce."
"I don't love you. Why would you want to stay married to me?" I swung the door wide, intending to squeeze past him. "Let it go, Rade. Please."
We both knew I meant more than letting me out the door. He needed to let me go, let me move on with my life.
Though he stepped aside, he laid a hand on my arm. "Please, Calli, let's talk over this divorce matter."
"We had an agreement. I honored my end. Time to honor yours."
"I don't want this divorce." He released my arm, but gazed at me with a strange longing. "Please."
For a moment, I wondered if he was trying to tell me he'd developed romantic feelings for me. For five years, we'd lived apart. Before that, he'd never given the slightest hint he might feel more than friendship. He co
uldn't have developed a deeper attachment to me.
"You knew this was how it would end," I said as I dragged my suitcase across the threshold and shut the door. "I did you a favor and the least you could do is honor your promise. Next time I send a server, be there to accept the papers. If you really care for me at all, you'll do the right thing."
I hurried down the hall, my suitcase's wheels rumbling across the floor, and got into the elevator before Rade had time to catch up to me. As the elevator made its way to the first floor, I sagged against the wall. I'd had to go for a do-it-yourself divorce, since I couldn't afford a lawyer. Yet even when Rade finally accepted the divorce papers, I had a long road ahead to free myself of my worst mistake. Marrying a guy so he could stay in the country? That was marriage fraud. Marrying a guy I didn't love? That was hell on earth.
Sometimes I wished Rade was a creep I could hate. That might make this easier to take. But he'd always been respectful and even kind to me. Never tried to claim his husbandly rights, so to speak. He knew I didn't have those kinds of feelings for him.
Why, then, was he holding on so tightly to our phony marriage?
The elevator doors rolled open.
I wheeled my suitcase out, heading for the desk to check out, but I hesitated when the door to the stairs burst open.
Rade jogged out and made a beeline for me.
I hung my head, muttering a few choice words under my breath.
He stopped a few feet away, panting from exertion. "If you send another server, I will take delivery of the papers. However, this does not mean I accept losing you. I plan to fight for us, Calli, because I know we can be a genuine couple."
I glanced up at the ceiling, seeking divine intervention or a modicum of patience. The roof probably blocked me from reaching the heavens with my plea. "Why would you want a wife who doesn't love you? I'm not attracted to you either."
"Please." His tone of voice matched his pleading expression.
"We both know you can slow down the divorce if you want to," I said, "but you can't stop it. Eventually, it will go through. Make it easier on both of us and give up the idea of staying married. I don't want to be with a man I don't love. I've known you for seven years, Rade, and I still don't feel that way about you."
His entire body seemed to sag. His face went slack as he turned his gaze down to the floor.
"That's just the way it is," I said. "I'm sorry it's not what you want to hear."
I walked away, suitcase in tow, once again feeling like a jerk for no good reason.
My husband didn't follow me.
Chapter Six
My flight landed at the Houghton County Memorial Airport at a little after one p.m. and I picked up my car to drive home — er, back to the place where I was living. Not home, not exactly. Somebody else owned the place. I paid rent. If the owners knew about my criminal behavior, they might not have rented to me.
Shadows and light alternately slashed slashed across my car as I navigated down the seasonal, two-track road toward the one-story log house nestled in the middle of nowhere. Another car sat parked in the driveway, next to where I always parked. Through the window beside the front door, I glimpsed a white shape springing up and down, and doggy ears flapping. When I clambered out of the car, barking greeted me.
The front door flew open. A figure rushed out and my housesitter slammed the door behind her.
"Never again," Judith Landau declared, hurrying past me with a frazzled expression, her blonde hair flying wild around her head as she shook it. "I am never babysitting for you again. Your babies are demons."
"They're not that bad."
She flung her hands up to the heavens, as if praying for patience. "They leaped on the bed at five o'clock and started licking my face while jumping around like insane rabbits."
I had warned her about my rambunctious puppies, but she'd sworn she loved dogs. "Thanks for taking care of them for me. I'm sorry they were such a handful."
She smiled ruefully. "They can be really cute, when they're not pooping everywhere."
"They were stressed about me being gone. I've never left them before. I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, Calli."
"Still feel bad about it. They know you and I thought they'd be okay."
"Relax. I'm not mad, just frazzled." Judith gave me a quick hug. "Welcome home. How was the wedding?"
"Beautiful. Romantic. I met a lot of new people." A vision of Aidan flared in my mind, but I tamped it down as best I could. Yeah, that worked.
"Glad you had fun." Judith started toward her car. "Gotta get home. Talk to you later, okay?"
"Sure."
I watched her get into her car and waved as she drove off down the road. Judith and I had worked together at a gift shop until three months ago, when the owner had let us both go due to financial reasons. Judith had found another job, but I hadn't. The difference between us was that she'd lived in this area her whole life, while I was a newcomer who'd moved here a year and a half ago. My first job — as a librarian at a public library, the job I'd moved here for — had evaporated for similar reasons as this one. Despite having a master's degree, I couldn't get a job that paid more than minimum wage.
Now I couldn't get a job, period. When my savings ran out in a month or two, I'd probably have to move in with my brother in Minneapolis. He'd invited me to stay with him when he learned I'd lost another job.
The barking inside the house grew more frantic. Through the living room window, I spotted a second, smaller body leaping up to peer out at me while the larger body kept boinging up and down as if mounted on springs.
I trudged into the house, hauling my wheeled suitcase behind me. I'd barely shut the door and let go of the suitcase's handle when two furry bodies launched themselves at me. Mandy and Misty, my all-American mutts, struggled to get high enough to lick me, but their paws reached only to my belly. At six months old, they possessed a level of energy I often envied. I scratched Misty behind her floppy ears, and patted the smaller Mandy on top of her head. They whined and whimpered, too excited to hold still, their tails wagging furiously.
Misty resumed leaping side to side through the air, almost flying in her glee. Little Mandy ran circles around me, her tail wagging so hard it shimmied her whole back end. The two of them resembled a cross between a beagle and a Labrador, their pale golden coats splotched with brown.
I managed to shamble down the hallway to my bedroom despite the puppies scooting around my feet. As I passed the open door to the guest room, where Judith had stayed, I wondered if the poor woman would ever set foot in this house again after spending three days in the company of my wild and crazy puppies. I didn't bother unpacking my suitcase but simply stripped naked and crawled under the covers, desperate for a nap after a sleepless night at the hotel.
The moment my head hit the pillow, my phone rang. Grumbling, I flailed a hand out to grab the phone. "Hello?"
"You sound sleepy. Did I wake you?"
Words deserted me at the soft rumble of Aidan's voice.
"Are you there?" he asked.
"Yes." Here, yes. Able to converse, no.
He cleared his throat. "Is it too soon to ring you?"
"No, I guess not." I pushed up, braced on one elbow, and rubbed my eyes. It was afternoon, not early morning, and I should've been more conscious. "You don't waste any time, do you?"
Aidan sighed and chuckled. "Impulsive, remember?"
Impulsive and determined. Having a man so intent on spending time with me was flattering, but these days a woman had to be careful. Particularly a woman with a husband intent on mucking up the divorce. Which begged the question of why I'd given Aidan my number. Not a clue.
Lying to myself wouldn't help anything. I'd given him a way to get in touch, encouraged him to do so, because I liked him. I wanted to see him or at least talk to him.
"What are you doing?" he asked, sounding casually interested.
"Not sleeping." It came out a little bitchy, so I added,
"Sorry. I get grumpy when I'm tired. Exhausted from the trip."
"Tell me one thing before we say goodbye."
"What do you want to know?"
"Are you with anyone? A husband, a boyfriend, a lover?"
I pondered how to answer without exposing my secret. "I'm not interested in starting anything."
"Hmm." He paused, then said, "You seemed interested at the club and again after the wedding."
My thoughts wound back to the moment in the velvet-encased booth when I'd been dangerously close to compromising myself. Did Aidan think I was an easy score?
"I'm not having sex with you," I said.
"Sex? Didnae mention that. I meant seeing each other, as in dating." His voice dropped to a husky whisper. "But if you'd rather skip straight to the good part…"
"No. I wouldn't rather." I slapped a hand on my forehead, praying for some of my usual composure. The universe ignored my pleas. "I have to go. To sleep. Not with you, just to — Oh forget it. I'm exhausted and I have no idea what I'm saying."
"I am sorry for disturbing you, but I'd love to see you again. I'm tired of the city, hired a car for a drive… anywhere." He cleared his throat and said, in a hesitant tone, "May I come to see you?"
Visit me? A warm little shiver rushed through me and I couldn't stop the words from tumbling out. "Well, we could meet in a public place. When will you get here?"
"I could be there tomorrow. Mid morning."
"Okay. Meet me at the beach." I gave him directions to my favorite beach, punctuating my words with a yawn.
"Better let you go," he said. "Get some rest."
"See you tomorrow."
I shouldn't have invited him. I shouldn't have acted like I was free to hang out with a man who wanted to pursue me. Maybe if I told him about my husband, Aidan would flee back to Scotland on the first flight out. Why hadn't I told him already? Telling Aidan might make him some kind of accessory. I didn't know for sure and I couldn't take the risk — the same reason I hadn't told my brother or Tara. Yet here I was, courting disaster with a stranger.
Mandy and Misty leaped onto the bed, as if they sensed I needed comforting. As they licked my face, tails wagging, I gave up trying to sort out why I was drawn to Aidan. He'd made me feel like a human being again after so long in solitude, but more than that, he made me feel alive again.