Spencer cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and I imagined he was getting a taste of what it felt like for the people who were often under his scrutiny. “I just need to ask a few more questions and then I’ll be on my way.”
Stephanie and my dad started to leave, but Spencer called out to them. “I’d like to ask a few questions of you as well, if you don’t mind.”
Warily, each one nodded and came back in, both taking a seat on chairs set around a glass table in one corner of my office. We waited while Spencer shuffled around some papers and then took out a pen from his pocket. He stared at my dad first. “When did you first meet Ms. Elliot?”
“Mrs. Heath,” I growled. The moment we’d had earlier was souring quickly.
“Of course.” He glanced at me and then bent his head, scribbling on a piece of paper. I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair, one hand rubbing gentle circles on Zoe’s back and the other toying with her hair. She was tense but relaxed a bit under my ministrations.
Spencer finally returned his expectant stare back to my dad and waited. I hid another grin when he met Spencer’s look stonily and sat there in silence, making him wait, just to put him in his place. I learned everything I knew from my dad.
“I met her on her first day with Heath Construction. Could have told you right then that she’d end up as my daughter-in-law,” Dad informed Spencer smugly. “Anyone could see my boy was a goner.”
After scribbling a little more, he asked, “How long have Mr. and Mrs. Heath been together?”
“I believe my son asked her out that very same day.”
Spencer’s hand was poised in the air, just above his document, obviously waiting for my dad to expound. Instead, Dad winked at me and grinned. “Like I said, that boy moves fast.” Stephanie laughed, and even Zoe let out a little giggle.
Spencer looked around at each of us with a deadpan expression before silently putting his pen away and stuffing his papers back into his briefcase. “I think I’ve got all I need for now,” he said as he stood. “I’ll be in touch.” I didn’t bother to stand, that would have meant having Zoe leave my lap, so I simply reached across the desk to shake his hand.
As he left, I turned Zoe’s head so I could see her face, and brushed some errant curls away before kissing her nose. “Ready to go home, baby? I’m still on honeymoon time.” I winked and leaned in to brush my lips over hers. Stephanie’s sigh broke the magic of the moment, and I scowled at her as Zoe blushed and ducked her head.
“You’d best give your mother a call tonight, son,” my dad warned. “She’s going to want to plan something”—I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t ready to share Zoe yet, but his look shut me up fast—“and I’m telling you right now, you’re going to let her.”
‘Yes, sir,” I grumbled in annoyance. He ignored me and walked over to my desk to take Zoe’s hand and help her to her feet. “I am truly happy to have you as family, honey.” He wrapped her up in a big bear hug and Zoe closed her eyes, returning his embrace. Well, as best she could since I hadn’t let go of her other hand. When they let go and she stepped back, I heard a little sniffle and jumped to my feet.
“What the fuck, dad? You made my wife cry!”
He threw back his head and roared with laughter while Zoe smacked my arm and huffed. “Don’t yell at your dad, Landon! I wasn’t crying and even if I was, they would mostly be happy tears. He was being very sweet and it made me miss home, that’s all.”
“Your home is with me,” I growled and tugged her against me. It only made my dad laugh harder. When he settled down, he cuffed me on the shoulder affectionately. “Chip off the old caveman.” He continued to chuckle as he walked into the hall but stopped at the door. “Let’s meet tomorrow, I want to discuss the bid I was looking at.” I lifted my chin in acknowledgement and he nodded, then tapped the door frame and left.
“He’s totally right, bro,” Stephanie muttered. “I can already tell that you are going to be as bad as Dad is with Mom.” I shrugged unapologetically. Like I said, learned from the best.
***
“Did you know Penderson Builders was bidding on this project?” my dad asked as he strolled into my office the next day.
I looked up from the paperwork I was studying and frowned. “Which one?” I asked, holding my hand out for the paperwork. Irritation coursed through me as I quickly scanned them. “They really think they can win this?”
Steve Penderson had flunked out of college his freshman year, ruining his father’s dream for him to follow in his footsteps and become a senator. Instead, Daddy had funded his construction start up, probably hoping to gain some respectability out of his son being a business owner. Except, Steve was a snake in the grass. On the outside, they looked respectable and clean, but it was only a matter of time before they bit you by cutting corners and using cheap materials. We’d been hired several times to clean up their mess.
Dad sunk down in one of the chairs across from me and rested an ankle over his opposite knee. “They won’t after today. It’s been kept quiet until the final contracts were signed, but we won the bid last week. I went over the final contract yesterday and signed it this morning.”
My eyebrows shot sky high. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I’d been working on this project for months, determined to win it.
“I didn’t want to disturb your honeymoon, son. Even with good news like this, would you really have wanted me to call?” His tone was knowing and I couldn’t help chuckling. He was right, I’d preferred my uninterrupted time with Zoe.
“Touché.” I grinned and a flash of yellow caught my eye. “Blondie,” I called out.
Zoe stuck her head around the corner and glared at me. “Do you have to call me that?” I would have thought she was really mad but for the twinkle in her gorgeous green eyes.
“Yes, I really do.”
She huffed and hid her smile. “What do you need?”
“That’s a loaded question, baby,” I smirked. Her eyes widened and she glanced at my dad who was shaking with laughter.
“We won the museum bid.” She’d wanted this job as much as I had and had worked as tirelessly to put together the presentation for the bid.
A smile broke out on her face and she did a little happy dance in the doorway. It was sexy as hell and despite having had her for breakfast, I was suddenly ravenous.
“Dad, would you mind if I had a moment alone with my wife?” I couldn’t seem to look away from her bouncing tits as she pranced happily into the room.
“Actually, I’d like a moment with you both.” My eyes snapped from Zoe to my dad. He looked serious and concerned. What the hell? I reached a hand out to Zoe. “Come here, baby,” I commanded softly. She walked around my desk and I pulled her down into my lap.
“This isn’t very professional,” she hissed and tried to get up.
“Too bad,” I grunted and held her tight. She wiggled for a few seconds, until her bottom brushed against my hard as fuck dick and she went rigidly still. Shifting her, I settled her right on top of the bulge, knowing she could feel the heat and pulse from it. Her cheeks warmed and she squirmed for a whole new reason.
Hidden beneath the desk, I slipped a hand under her skirt and slid it up her thigh, almost to her sex. Then paused, lightly rubbing one fingertip over her smooth skin. She tried to hide it, but I could see her slight tremble when she shivered. I didn’t let up, but turned my attention to my dad.
“As I was going over all the paperwork yesterday, I noticed that Penderson had tried to bid a second time.”
My hand stilled. “They reopened the bidding?”
Dad shook his head. “I couldn’t imagine they had, so I gave Clyde a call before I came in here.” Clyde Harrison was the curator of the museum we were going to restore. “He said Steve had come to him with some story about Heath Construction being unreliable and unable to complete the project due to our loss of the interior designer on the project.” Dad’s hazel eyes
hardened as he gave me the information.
“What the fuck?” I roared, causing Zoe to cover her ears and lean forward. I calmed myself enough to kiss her temple and whisper an apology.
She nodded and looked at me worriedly, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. I used my thumb to pull it out and kissed the abused lip.
“Do you know who Senator Penderson plays golf with on Sundays?” Dad asked. I broke my gaze from Zoe’s to look at him questioningly. “Lyle Franklin.”
I thought for a moment, the name sounded familiar. “Former FBI, right? Doesn’t his son work for Homeland Security?”
“You got it,” Dad confirmed. “And, who reports to the director of Homeland?”
Zoe gasped. “USCIS.”
My eyebrows furrowed as I chewed on this information. “It’s a stretch, Dad.”
“But, one worth looking into,” Zoe insisted.
I brushed her hair back over her shoulder and kissed her temple. “Sure, baby. I want to make sure that son of a bitch pays if he was the reason behind your inquiry. But, either way, it doesn’t really matter.”
“What? How can it not matter?” she snipped.
I took her face between my hands. “Because you are married to a U.S. citizen and more than likely have my baby growing in your belly.”
“Oh.”
Rolling my eyes, I kissed her softly before murmuring, “Yeah, oh.”
Somewhere in my conscience, I registered the click of my office door, signaling my dad had left us alone.
My hands slid to her hips and I shifted her until she was straddling me. “But, just in case...”
Chapter 9
Zoe
“Mmmm,” I moaned, waking up to the lash of Landon’s tongue on my clit. Lifting up onto my elbows, I peered down the bed and found him sprawled between my legs. His head was bent low, his light-brown hair mussed from me running my fingers through it the night before. We’d fallen into bed after spending the day moving my stuff from my apartment into Landon’s house. It wasn’t the lazy Sunday I’d been hoping for, but the shock of finding Spencer Teagan waiting in Landon’s office Friday afternoon made it clear we couldn’t wait very long without risking questions we didn’t want to answer. Since Landon had work that required his attention on Saturday, and our week was going to be jam packed, Sunday was our only viable option.
With a few more flicks of his tongue against my clit, I wasn’t thinking about how we’d spent our weekend anymore—I wasn’t capable of thinking about anything other than the zinging sensations running through my body.
“Morning,” he breathed against my sensitized skin. Then he swiped his tongue through my slick folds, making my hips buck upwards.
I threaded my fingers through his hair and rasped, “Please, Landon. Don’t tease me.”
He blew against my pussy, making me whimper in need, before thrusting his tongue into me. With his tongue, teeth and lips, he tortured me for another ten minutes until I couldn’t take it any longer.
“I need to come,” I pleaded.
“And I need to be inside you while you do,” he growled.
He didn’t waste a second, rising up on his knees, tilting my hips and plunging his cock into me. That was all it took, the feel of him deep inside sent me over the edge. He rode me hard while I shook beneath him, my pussy clenching tight. His head was buried in the crook of my neck and his hand gripped mine tight, his thumb rubbing against my rings as he often did when we made love.
“Come with me,” I urged.
He looked down at me with such intensity, his jaw flexing and his eyes filled with need. He slammed into me a few more times and followed me over the cliff, roaring my name. I stayed wrapped around him, his orgasm triggering a second one in me.
“So damn perfect,” he murmured against my lips, giving me a soft kiss before taking me with him as he rolled to his side.
“What a way to wake up,” I sighed, rubbing my cheek against his chest.
“Now that I’ve got you right where you belong, you can have all the mornings like this that you want. Finally.” He gave me a quick squeeze. “If you hadn’t been so damn stubborn, you would have been here months ago.”
I slapped him lightly on the arm. “You’re insufferable. And for the record, even if I had said yes to a date with you, way back when,” I drawled sarcastically. “I wouldn’t have been in your bed right away.”
“Are you sure about that?” He slid his finger down my spine, sending a trail of goosebumps in its wake.
“Impossible man,” I grumbled, since I couldn’t argue my point too hard because I wasn’t sure about it. How could I be when I’d fallen straight into his arms our very first night together?
“That’s what I thought.” His smug tone earned him an elbow in the side as I moved to get up and head to the bathroom. “Hey, I left something on the counter for you when I got up earlier.”
“You did?” I squealed, picking up the pace in my excitement to see what kind of surprise he had in store for me. The pink box wasn’t what I was expecting and was a major disappointment. I picked it up after using the toilet and getting cleaned up, and then marched back into the bedroom. “This is the something you left for me?”
He flashed me a quick grin, his eyes lowering to my belly and staying there—looking at me like he had x-ray vision and could see inside to the baby he was so damn certain he’d planted there. “Yeah, I thought you could take it this morning.”
“It’s too early,” I hissed.
“When is your period supposed to start?”
“My... what?” I sputtered.
“Your period,” he replied, as though it was the most normal thing in the world for us to be discussing. “I did some research, and you can test as early as five days before your missed period with that one. It’s the most sensitive over-the-counter test you can take.”
I should have known he wasn’t going to let it drop so easily, even though he hadn’t brought the tests up again over the weekend. It was kind of adorable how excited he was for me to pee on a stick, but I wasn’t quite ready to handle the confirmation of what I was starting to believe to be true. I needed a little more time while I adjusted to the idea of being Landon’s wife for longer than a couple years. Recalling the date of my last cycle, I did some quick math in my head and heaved a deep sigh of relief. Then, with my face filling with heat, I answered. “We have to wait until Saturday morning.”
“That’s basically the whole damn week,” he grumbled as he climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of pajama pants that hung low on his hips.
I picked up the matching shirt and tossed it over my head, following him down the hall and into the kitchen. When I caught up to him, he was staring into the fridge with an adorable pout on his face. I couldn’t help but take pity on him, not when his disappointment was due to his excitement about the possibility of building a family with me. His enthusiasm was starting to grow on me. “How about I make you some of my famous blueberry pancakes? I can whip some up before we head in to the office. Will that make you feel better?”
“Definitely not better,” he chuckled. “Because I’d end up in the emergency room since I’m allergic to blueberries.”
“I’ll have to keep that in mind,” I teased, pulling ingredients out as the doorbell rang. “Who could that be so early in the morning?”
“Get to work, woman. You’ve got a man to feed.” He dropped a quick kiss on the top of my head and gave me a soft slap on the ass on his way to the door.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I yelped.
“Dammit,” he cursed, right before he yanked open the door. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again quite so soon.”
“I did say I’d be in touch.” The reply was said by a voice I was hoping not to hear for a good, long while. “I just didn’t say when, since the unexpected tends to work well for me when I’m investigating a marriage that could result in one of the parties getting citizenship.”
I left the kitchen and steeled myself f
or what was going to come next as I spied Landon at the door with our visitor. “Mr. Teagan, what a nice surprise.”
“Please, call me Spencer.”
“Not dressed like that she won’t,” Landon growled. “Would you mind giving us a moment while my wife goes and puts on something more appropriate?”
Landon’s tone of voice made it more than clear that he couldn’t care less if Spencer minded. He didn’t even give him time to answer as he dragged me out of the kitchen and into our bedroom to dig in the dresser. He yanked out an old pair of sweats I hadn’t worn since about my freshman year of college and tossed them at me.
“What are we going to do?” I whispered, quickly changing clothes.
Landon wrapped his arms around me and held me tight, giving me the comfort I needed to calm down and stop being so freaked out by the immigration officer’s surprise visit.
“There’s nothing to worry about, baby,” he rumbled softly. “We don’t have anything to hide.”
“But we do,” I cried softly, thinking about the reason we decided to run off and get married in the first place. Things had changed drastically since then, but it would be hard to explain it away if the truth ever came out.
“No we don’t, Zoe. You’re my wife, and nothing’s going to change that. Nobody has the power to take you away from me.”
“That man out there does! He could deny my case if he thinks our marriage is a sham,” I insisted.
“It’s not going to happen,” he reassured me, opening the door and nudging me through it. “But if worse comes to worse, we’ll just move to Canada and I’ll apply for citizenship there.”
“But your business? Your family? They’re all here.”
He stopped at the end of the hallway, turned towards me and cupped my cheeks in his palms. “Don’t you get it, Zoe? Nothing else matters without you.”
Not-So Temporarily Married Page 5