Irresistibly Charming

by Victoria Pinder

  The lawyer and the justice of the peace brought over the papers for them to sign. Hannah read the part about living in Miami. She clutched a small gold cross she'd hidden under her dress, but then signed the final contract. "That's fine. We’re both from Miami and, honestly, I hate winter. So it's a good place to move."

  "Glad we agree." Logan’s tension eased as he signed everything, his initials next to hers.

  Were things starting to go his way?

  The lawyer and the justice of the peace filed every piece of paper, and once done, his lawyer went immediately and spoke to a guard. Logan assumed they were discussing his bail and release from prison.

  Hannah waited quietly, very composed considering the situation. He flashed her a smile that usually worked on charming women.

  Hannah shrugged off his smile like she hadn't seen it, but she then kept her gaze on the justice of the peace, a man in his fifties that White had found somewhere to do this work as he pocketed his notes about what to say in a marriage ceremony. Logan said, "Agreeing will make our time more bearable. I think the justice of the peace is ready. So, we're about to say I do."

  He reached out and took her hand for the ceremony. A jolt of awareness rushed through him and he stared at her again in pleasant surprise. "Hannah Hughes, the face of my angel."

  “I’m no angel.”

  He ignored the sparks of desire and focused on the ceremony and how soon he’d be free. His family needed him to do this.

  He wouldn’t let anyone down.

  Her breaths came shorter and her face turned slightly red as she whispered, "I wasn't expecting to find you attractive either, Logan. Your pictures don't do you justice and I didn’t remember much about you in school."

  “In high school, my older brother, Oliver, was the memorable one.” He was glad he hadn't lost his looks during this horrible month, though the prince he used to be would shine after a shower and shaving off the beard. He clutched her hand a little harder. "Fair warning, though, that since then, I've always been able to charm any woman I’ve ever met."

  She shook her head but laughed a little easier. "We'll see."

  "Yes, we most definitely will, Hannah." He let the fireworks he felt for her physically explode in his chest—it was like winning the lottery. Perhaps his attraction to her was because she was the first soft, flesh and blood and attractive looking woman he'd seen in a month, but there was more to her. He was going home with this woman as his wife.

  The justice of the peace said something, and Logan pretended to listen. Soon he'd free his parents. Life was good today because after a month of hell he had a mission to accomplish and a beautiful new wife to seduce.

  Chapter 3

  Hannah’s heart beat a mile a minute as Logan Bentley signed the last of the paperwork releasing him from prison. The guards watched carefully, but Logan kept his chin up, more relaxed now that he was a free man. She stayed near the door in the back of the small room she’d been married in and waited for him.

  He signed another paper with his lawyer at his side, and then the men shook hands. She stood straighter. Logan turned toward her, and she asked, “Are you ready?”

  He placed his hand on her lower back to guide her forward to the exit. The sparks that rode through her veins weren’t normal. She shouldn’t let him touch her or want him to. This was temporary.

  He opened the prison door and stared up at the sun as they walked down the small courtyard toward the gate. “Glad to be walking out of here with you.”

  Every cell in her body was aware of him. She stayed near him, torn between putting up her guard or getting to know more about Logan Bentley. She pushed a loose wisp of her hair behind her ear and led him to her black Buick Regal she shared with her best friend. “Well, we’re taking my car to my place for the night I guess.”

  They reached the guard and Logan showed them his valid papers to leave. He asked in a calm voice, “Where do you live?”

  Despite their current surroundings, Logan Bentley had grown up richer than she’d been. This past year for her might not have been prison, but she’d chosen to give up everything personal to follow a false minister.

  They went through the gate together—two prison guards with machine guns on either side. Her skin felt itchy, but she pretended she was fine as she said, “Outside of the city. It’s not a nice area actually.” Her studio at least was next to her neighbor and friend slated to marry his brother, though she kept that information to herself for now. The small room was nothing like her house in Miami or his family’s mansions. “Since we’re moving to Miami tomorrow, per your contract, want to stay at a hotel? I can get us two rooms.”

  He made a “no” sound with his throat. “Let’s just stay at your place. Would you have an old laptop I can use?”

  She clicked her car fob to signal which vehicle in the parking lot was hers. “Sure, I have one. Why?”

  He opened her car door, the driver’s seat, for her. She held her breath and slipped in, his fingers brushing over hers. They were married. She’d figure this out. Perhaps it was fate that they were moving to Miami, so she could talk to Harry and his new fiancée. The return to her life was at hand, finally.

  Logan took the passenger’s seat beside her and locked his door. As she started the engine, he said, “I must raise the funds to make my mother’s bail. First, I need to see if my passwords still work.”

  Her pulse buzzed. “If she could help” almost came out of her mouth automatically, but that impulse was how she’d lost all her money to the reverend. She drove off the lot. “Are you going to end up right back in jail for more crimes?”

  His entire body stilled, and his dark brown eyes seemed to assess her. She could imagine him as a prince, or royalty of some sort. “I was framed.”

  The tingle in her spine that she was in the wrong shouldn’t exist. She ignored the sensation and gazed out the window. “Isn’t that what all imprisoned men say?”

  He leaned back, a mask over his expression. “Think whatever you want, honey. And what does it say about women who marry men like me?”

  She jerked in her seat. Score one for Logan. She tightened her grip on the wheel but glanced at him. “Fair enough. This is just a temporary situation.”

  Her body heated from his nearness, despite how his hand stayed on the console between them—not touching her. “Temporary?”

  There was no way they’d suit forever. He was too attractive and probably had any woman he wanted in his life. The “bad boy who went to jail” bit would only enhance his raw masculinity. Even she felt it and she’d spent years going to church every day to temper her baser instincts. She turned onto a highway that would lead them home. “The contract said we are to be married for thirty days.”

  “Huh.” He crossed his arms. “Mine didn’t say that—mine just said we had to live together.”

  The first 25 million had dinged in her phone app for her bank after she’d signed the contract which was why she’d showed up at the prison in a white dress. Hannah needed to check for the second of four payments, but her phone was in her bag. She searched next to her and then remembered she’d locked it in the trunk before going into the prison. Shrugging, she said, “I get a third payment when I file for divorce, and the rest when it’s finalized.”

  “Can I see your contract?”

  “Sure.” She swallowed and quickly glanced at him. “It’s in the trunk with my pocketbook. I didn’t want to bring my bag in the prison, so I’ll give it to you when we get home.”

  Logan crossed his arms like he was the one being wronged. “Hannah, how much are you getting paid?”

  Her cheeks felt hot. Somehow admitting to Logan what a fool she’d been might be worse than telling Harry, her own brother. Lies rushed through her, but she knew better. The truth was best. She turned off the highway at her exit. “Reverend Jensen helped himself to my hundred-million dollar inheritance. I was told if I married you for 30 days I’d get it all back.”

  His eyes widened consider
ably as he dropped his hands to his knees. “There is more to this than I’d guessed. Whether you believe me or not, I was framed. My family did nothing wrong and now someone wants me to get married and divorced.” His brow furrowed.

  Yeah, okay. She wasn’t born stupid. She’d just spent a year being sad and withdrawn, but she wasn’t going back to that. This time she was going to use her brain.

  Hannah turned the car onto the street near her apartment and started scouting for a spot. The houses were all small apartments now in a broken neighborhood where too many people had cars and there weren’t enough spots. She massaged her neck as she craned it to see every nook and cranny. “Why would Kirno Incorporated, the company who is paying my contract, want to frame you so bad?”

  Finally, she saw one, but she’d have to parallel park to get in, and, honestly, she wasn’t that good at it. She lined her Buick next to the parked Corolla and tried to focus on not hitting the other car.

  “Because my brothers and I are deposed royalty.” She jerked her foot onto the brake and the car shuddered.

  “What?”

  Logan continued, “My father was once king. When Roy gets out, I want to send him your contract too.”

  The newspaper hadn’t mentioned royalty—but he had the look. Roy—she remembered the picture in the paper of the Bentley family. She eased back into her parking method and tried not to react though the hair on her arms was probably standing up straight. “Your brother is getting out?”

  He nodded. “All six of us are to get married and we meet tomorrow for coffee before we head back to Miami.”

  Reverend Jensen was making a fortune. Part of her wanted to sue him in court still, but she kept that to herself. She finished parking as best she could. “Sounds like we have a busy day tomorrow then. We’re here.”

  He opened his door and she saw his foot went onto the street before the sidewalk. Clearly her parking wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t comment. Instead he waited for her to get out of the car, without a word on the slight flood of the sewer drudge near their shoes. “I’m glad. I really need a shower.”

  Calm enveloped her as they walked toward the stoop of her apartment building. Caitlyn was close if she needed backup which was something. She opened the door. The small lobby had a worn rug that might have been blue once, though it seemed more gray now. “I’ll get you fresh soap and a towel.”

  The moment she said that she imagined his muscular body all wet, and her face heated. There was no way she should think any of that.

  She motioned toward the stairs as the elevator was broken. Her apartment was on the third floor, which wasn’t so bad. He held the door for her. “And I’d appreciate clean clothes.”

  Part of living simply was that she’d given up a lot of her worldly goods. She had seven outfits right now and none of them would work for someone of his muscular size, not even her yoga pants. She led him up the steps. “I don’t have any men’s clothes, but I’ll order something if you give me your size. Or we could go shopping.”

  Neither one said much else as she made it to the third floor and her apartment. As she opened the door to her studio, she paused.

  Where would they sleep tonight?

  Being next to Logan wasn’t something she’d planned or thought about. The money was all she’d focused on which didn’t make her very kind. She kept her head down as he walked into her place.

  She closed the door and Logan walked over to her tan couch, staring down at it and the simple sheet that separated her living quarters from her sleeping one. Back in Miami, she’d never have stepped foot anywhere near a 500 square foot studio.

  Her heart raced.

  Logan returned to her side and asked, “Are you bothered by something, Hannah?”

  Wow. They were married. She needed to figure out how to deal with the pulse in her veins when she looked at him. She pushed her hair behind her ear again which her mother would have said was a nervous habit. “I’ve never had a man in here. Actually, I don’t have company at all. This place is not like how I grew up, or you.” Another thought occurred. “I have to go email my boss at work my resignation.”

  He winked and gave her a smile. “It’s clean and tidy and better than prison. I’ll be fine. So what did you do for work?”

  “I answered the phone and gave people directions most of the time to the nearest lab. I hated it.” She pointed to a bathroom door. “Okay, I’ll get dinner started, unless you want to go to a restaurant? Or order in?” Until a few hours ago she wouldn’t have had the money to offer that option. “If you throw out your clothes I can get them washed and dried fast until we order your clothes—they have delivery in less than two hours.”

  “Thanks for ordering new clothes on your app when we walked out of the prison. I’d really prefer to use your computer than go anywhere, but a home-cooked meal would be nice—I don’t want to trouble you.” He didn’t move and instead leaned closer to her. “Are you nervous around me, Hannah?”

  She sucked in her breath, overwhelmed as she met his gaze. “Slightly.”

  He tilted his head closer and rubbed her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his path. He stepped back and said, “Well, let me take that shower we discussed so I’m fresh and then we’ll talk. The last thing I need is a nervous wife, even if it’s temporary. So order whatever you want. I’m not picky.”

  Perhaps he was a nice guy and she’d been wrong in her assumptions. In class, he’d clearly been the teacher’s favorite years ago which didn’t prove anything, but she shouldn’t assume the worst. She bit her lower lip and watched him walk to her bathroom. Before he closed the door, she called out, “Logan?”

  “Yeah?” He turned toward her.

  If they’d met a year ago, under different circumstances, she’d have run away from him too. She’d never figured out how to face herself in the mirror when she felt lightning-fast nerves near a hot guy. Logan was King of the hot guy category. “I’m nervous because the last time I was truly attracted to a guy he broke my heart. I don’t want to feel like that again.”

  He winked at her from the bathroom door. “Don’t punish me for another man’s stupidity. Promise me we’ll be open tonight when we talk. I’d like to kiss you.”

  Now her entire body was on fire at the thought. She imagined how kissing Logan would set her off course, forever. She hadn’t kissed anyone in two years and thought those days were gone. She held onto the wall behind her to keep from falling. “I don’t think kissing should be part of the deal.”

  He shrugged and found a towel in the bathroom. “Don’t run away while I shower, honey.”

  Honey? “Okay. I’ll get dinner.” She immediately felt a scorching heat.

  She sounded like a wife, but a wife would know how to touch and kiss her husband. She was lost, and she knew it. Logan closed the door, and she went into her kitchen to prepare her husband a meal, though her body rattled with confusion. He was handsome, he might have been framed, and he set her blood on fire. If he kissed her, she’d never recover.

  Chapter 4

  Logan checked his smooth jaw in the mirror one more time. As he gazed at himself, he relaxed. He’d probably killed her small pink plastic razor, but his face at least looked clean again.

  He dried himself one more time and put her white towel back on the rack. She clearly only had one of everything—one wash cloth, one bar of soap, one tube of toothpaste. She’d grown up wealthy, but Reverend Jensen had stolen her inheritance.

  And yet, she still smiled and shared what she had.

  He dressed and opened the door, eager to see sweet Hannah. He shrugged into his shirt on his way down the hall to the kitchen. She stirred something in a silver pot. He walked closer to her and said, “I used all your soap.”

  She glanced up at him, her gaze stopping at his open shirt and bare chest before she whipped her head back to whatever she stirred and said, “It’s fine. We’re moving.”

  Right. He wasn’t here to seduce Hannah, though the thought struck something
deep in his core. He ignored the temptation and focused on his mission. He needed to raise money to ensure his mother was freed which should cool his libido. He wandered to the living room, ten feet from her. “Dinner smells good.” Something with chicken he guessed. “Where is the laptop and the contract we talked about?”

  She pointed toward a small corner and a half wall that must lead to her bedroom. “The laptop is on the desk…” She stopped talking so he turned back toward her and she hugged her waist. She still wore the white dress, but she’d slipped off her sandals. “Shoot. I forgot my pocketbook and my contract in the trunk of the car.”

  Clearly she was nervous. He kept his voice soft. “You look busy. Where are your keys? I’ll go and get it.”

  She held the spoon she’d stirred with to her chest and almost trembled, but then she nodded at him. “Okay. Thanks. The keys are on the coffee table.”

  He didn’t blame her for being nervous—she’d just married a supposed convict, yet she trusted him with the keys to her car. He scooped up her keys and kept a relaxed demeanor. “Be right back, Hannah Bentley.”

  Near the door, he buttoned his shirt and made his way down the stairs.

  It was nice to breathe free air and know he could move without guards with guns down the hall, but he also wondered how his brothers and parents were faring. Soon he’d be better able to help.

  He slipped outside in the cold air that nipped at his slightly damp body and shivered. He opened her trunk and found her bag, her phone, and the envelope.

  Tempted to open it and read the contract, he held back. Inside he could ask questions, but as he neared the door, her phone rang in his hand. He picked up the older model phone and saw the name “Jensen” on the screen. Rather than answer and shout at the man for being a crook he slid the phone into the outer pocket of her bag.

  He hurried up the stairs and went inside. Hannah was still in the kitchen though near a rice cooker. Setting her bag on the sofa, he lifted the contract and said, “Reverend Jensen just called you. Why do you have last year’s phone model?”